# Apple Watch Ultra 4 review: same $799 price, a more accurate heart sensor, missing software

Source: https://idevice.com/apple-watch-ultra-4-review-same-799-price-a-more-accurate-heart-sensor-missing-s
Published: 2026-09-29

> Gizmodo's review of the Apple Watch Ultra 4 finds better heart-rate accuracy and no price increase, but key Apple Intelligence health features aren't live yet.

The Apple Watch Ultra 4 costs exactly what its three predecessors cost: $799. Most gadgets have gotten more expensive this year as memory costs rise, so Gizmodo's review flags holding the line as notable by itself.

The bigger change sits under the strap. Apple built a new "Health Sensing System" into the Ultra 4 and the Watch Series 12, adding a larger ECG electrode, revamped optical sensors and bigger green LEDs. The result is continuous heart rate readings every five seconds instead of every five minutes, and heart rate variability checked every five minutes instead of every two hours. Apple compared the new sensors against rivals including the Garmin Forerunner 970, the Galaxy Watch 8, the Oura Ring 5 and the Whoop 5, though not the newest Pixel Watch or Galaxy Watch models.

That data feeds a new Readiness Score, a 0-to-10 rating built from recent sleep, activity and overnight vitals. The review found it a useful shorthand for how the body is doing, with the usual catch that a good score only helps if the wearer actually acts on it.

What the Ultra 4 doesn't yet have is most of what Apple announced alongside it. The redesigned Health app, with its Apple Intelligence summaries and a Longevity tab for estimating health age, only reached developer and public betas in the past week, well after the watch itself started shipping. The "Audio Intelligence" features, Live Rewind and Siri Recap, aren't arriving until "later this year." A review published this deep into the release window is still describing a watch that isn't finished shipping its own launch features.

On hardware, little else moved. The 49mm titanium case, diving computer, 5G cellular, satellite connectivity and Action button all carry over unchanged, and the review is openly ready for a new design after four generations in the same shell. The case for anyone already on an Ultra 3 is thin. For anyone on an older Ultra, or coming from a regular Apple Watch, the pitch is simpler: better sensors, longer battery life, no price increase, and a promise that the software half of the upgrade is still on its way.