Apple Watch Ultra

MSRP $799.00

“The Apple Watch Ultra’s expertly made special features give it surprisingly wide appeal, with the long battery life and characterful, luxurious design making it a fantastic choice even for those not planning any daring adventures.”

Pros

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• Highly durable build
• Luxury materials
• Three-day battery life
• Expertly judged special features
• Characterful design
• Does everything the normal Apple Watch does
• LTE as standard

Cons

• Twice the price of the Series 10

Apple makes amazing products almost anyone can pick up, use, and enjoy. When you first hear about the Apple Watch Ultra, however, it doesn’t sound like it’s for everyone. It’s for those few with $800 to spend on a smartwatch that’s seemingly only supposed to be used in the sea, up a mountain, or covered in mud in a bog. Or is it?

I’ve not been anywhere like that during my time with the Apple Watch Ultra, and I think it’s one of the most exciting, technically impressive, and characterful products Apple has ever made. You’re skeptical, aren’t you? Allow me to explain.

About our Apple Watch Ultra review

Christine Romero-Chan wrote the second opinion section in August 2023, offering another perspective on the Apple Watch Ultra. In September 2024, Andy Boxall updated the review again, having spent a few days with the Watch Ultra after updating it to watchOS 11.

Wearing the Apple Watch Ultra in 2024

In late 2024, you’re probably not looking to buy a new Apple Watch Ultra, as the Apple Watch Ultra 2 has replaced it. That said, you may be considering whether to upgrade your original Ultra. After all, not only does the Ultra 2 have a few additional features but the new Apple Watch Series 10 looks seriously tempting with its larger case and screen, depth gauge, and Double Tap feature.

I’ve already committed to trade-in my Apple Watch Ultra for a titanium Series 10, but having now revisited the Ultra with watchOS 11 installed ahead of sending it away, I’m fairly sure I’d have still been perfectly satisfied with the Ultra for at least another year if it wasn’t part of my job to try out new models. WatchOS 11 runs perfectly on it, and I love the new Flux watch face, especially as it comes in a blue and orange color scheme that reminds me of the Gulf livery, a personal favorite.

I have noticed the new software (as well as an aging cell) may have shortened the battery life a little, as it lasts two days without a recharge, including sleep tracking, whereas before, I could extend the battery to three days. This is still pretty good, though. The Vitals app works with the original Ultra, which is great news, but the smartwatch does not support Apple’s sleep apnea monitoring feature. If you want this, you’ll have to get the Series 10, the Series 9, or the Ultra 2. However, if sleep apnea isn’t a concern, I don’t think Double Tap on its own is a reason to get rid of your Ultra.

Much as I like the new satin black color scheme for the Ultra 2, the brushed silver titanium finish on the Ultra still looks excellent, and the design itself hasn’t changed at all. The casual observer will never know if it’s the original or not. I’ve really enjoyed wearing the Apple Watch Ultra again, to the point where I almost don’t want to trade it in. If you’re still enjoying yours, I’d think very carefully about swapping it for a new model. It’s still the same long-lasting, rugged, feature-packed, surprisingly wearable, and also shockingly characterful smartwatch it was at launch, with the added (and free) benefit of the latest software.

Apple Watch Ultra: design

The Apple Watch Ultra is quite big. The 49mm by 44mm by 14mm case is larger than the Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch SE 2, but it’s not all that different from the 47mm x 47mm x 12mm Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, or seriously sporty smartwatches like the 46mm x 46mm x 14mm Garmin Forerunner 955. If you’ve got slim wrists, it’s going to look pretty big, but not because it’s badly proportioned — no, it’s because the watch is so large. I’ve compared the size with other large watches to give you an idea of whether it’s going to suit your wrist or not.

However, the Apple Watch Ultra is recognizably an Apple Watch, just chunkier. It’s as if the Series 9 has been reimagined by Tonka. Retaining the now-classic Apple Watch shape is the right decision, as — despite the size and 61-gram (95-gram with the band) weight — it’s very comfortable to wear. The sharpness of the bezel isn’t repeated anywhere the watch touches your skin, where that familiar curved case ensures it never prods or pokes uncomfortably.

The button and Digital Crown guard don’t dig into your wrist either, which is even difficult for some large traditional watches to avoid. My watch has the Ocean Band, and I have found it perfectly wearable. I chose it because I wear dive watches a lot, and I particularly like Seiko’s supplied rubber straps. This has the same degree of flexibility, doesn’t get too hot, and allows for masses of adjustments to make it suitable for all wrists and to wear over a wetsuit.

On the opposite side of the case from the Digital Crown is the new, bright orange Action Button. By default, it activates the Workout mode, but it’s surprisingly customizable, with the stopwatch, torch, and dive modes as other options, in addition to adding a waypoint when using GPS. If you keep the default setting, you can also set the button to start a specific workout, bypassing the usual countdown.

Also activated with the orange Action Button is the emergency siren, which Apple says can be heard up to 180 meters away. It’s a shrill, escalating, unpleasant sound rather than a copy of Apple’s Radar or Alarm ringtones. A friend who heard it said it’s such a hateful noise that it would make him head in the opposite direction just to get away from it, so it’ll definitely get some attention if you set it off in Starbucks. Set it off in the wilderness, and no one will think it’s being activated for fun, and that’s exactly what you want.

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The finely grained titanium case, sapphire crystal, and ceramic case back give the Apple Watch Ultra luxury credentials as well as toughness, which is enhanced further by the IP6X dust resistance and 100-meter water resistance. It has also been tested to MIL-STD 810H standards. It feels like it’s built to last, and looks like it’ll take a considerable beating. When you turn off the Water Lock after the watch has been in the water, it fizzes and whirs as it spits out any unwanted droplets, giving it a surprisingly mechanical feel — like it’s almost alive.

It’s still a smartwatch, but this, along with the purposeful looks and go-anywhere attitude, gives the Apple Watch Ultra a surprising amount of character. That character (and the size) made me wear it with my sleeve tucked behind it, showing it off. All this led to the realization you could actually bond with the Apple Watch Ultra, especially if you end up sharing adventures with it over time. I really never expected to think that about a smartwatch, and it speaks volumes about what Apple has created here. The Apple Watch Ultra looks and feels identical to the Apple Watch Ultra 2, and with the new black version launched alongside the Apple Watch Series 10.

Making the Apple Watch Ultra more comfortable

I’ve worn the Apple Watch Ultra with the Ocean Band it came with since launch, but wanted to make it a little more comfortable to wear all day, every day. There’s nothing wrong with the Ocean Band, but it’s chunky enough that it can get in the way when you’re not adventuring, and it takes up a lot of room under my cuff.

The solution was to pair the Apple Watch Ultra with the rubber Solo Loop. In doing so, I found it suited the smartwatch far more than I expected. The lines work, and it makes it much more comfortable to wear for extended periods. It didn’t entirely disappear on my wrist, but it definitely became less noticeable, as the overall weight dropped to 75 grams. Apple doesn’t list the Solo Loop as being a band “made” for the Apple Watch Ultra, but don’t dismiss it because of this. At $50, the Solo Loop isn’t one of the expensive official Apple bands either. Try it, and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Apple Watch Ultra: fitness tracking

Open the Workout app either with the usual icon or by using the Action button to see a cool flash of orange on the screen to signify it’s transporting you directly there. You’ll find the same workout modes and system found on other Apple Watch models. If you track a run it displays heart rate zones (based on its own algorithm, or you can manually set them yourself), while the general overview can be modified to show stride length, vertical oscillation, and ground contact time. While this information is not exclusive to the Watch Ultra, the larger smartwatch lets you see six different data sets on the screen at one time, making it more informative at a glance.

Operation of the watch’s workout features is also the same as other Apple Watch models. The workout modes are varied and easy to access, and all the relevant data is shown on the big, bright screen. I can see the time, check my heart rate, and quickly jump between it, the compass, and other apps without any slowdown. When you open the Dock using the side button, the compass app even starts working in the helicopter view. It’s all so slick and simple.

The Apple Watch Ultra uses both L1 and L5 GPS antennas to better lock onto satellites and provide more accurate location data. I compared the performance of the Watch Ultra (connected to an iPhone 14 Pro) against that of the Apple Watch Series 8 (connected to an iPhone SE (2022) to see if there were any obvious differences. The Apple Watch Ultra recorded a more linear and logical route, whereas the Series 8 showed me wandering more, which I didn’t really do. It’s not much of a difference, but I think it’s there, so in my anecdotal tests, the Watch Ultra’s GPS does appear to be more accurate.

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The maps produced in Apple’s Fitness app are detailed, with helpful colors along the route to show your pace, and you can zoom right in to see almost exactly where you walked, ran, or cycled. Compare it to the mapping in the Samsung Health app, and there’s definitely more detail in the Fitness app, but whether it’s truly helpful may depend on your needs.

I still find the split between Apple’s Health app and Fitness app confusing, and would really prefer a single app to handle everything, plus the information presented isn’t as detailed as apps from Garmin or even Samsung. While the Apple Watch Ultra may be more hardcore, the apps and data presented in them aren’t any different to what you get with other Apple Watches, so if you’re just going to track simple workouts there’s no software advantage to owning the Watch Ultra. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t, just don’t expect it to offer much more for the casual exerciser.

Apple Watch Ultra: Wayfinder face and compass app

It may seem strange to dedicate an entire section to a watch face and compass, but these two features demonstrate how beautifully integrated everything is in WatchOS 9, which launched with the Watch Ultra, and where it stands out against the other Apple Watch models.

The Wayfinder watch face is exclusive to the Watch Ultra and is hugely customizable. The bezel can show elevation and incline or latitude and longitude, plus there are eight complications to set, meaning you have tons of information ready at a glance. While the completed face is busy, it’s not confusing thanks to the very clever, readable, watch-like design and option to change various colors. It also really suits the Watch Ultra. Plus, the Night mode — activated using the Digital Crown — looks amazing when it turns the entire face red. I’ve left it on that mode a lot just for its cool sci-fi looks.

The beautifully designed compass is a separate app and part of the Wayfinder face, plus it can be added as a complication for quick access. It updates constantly as you alter direction, there are buttons to mark a waypoint and activate the Backtrack feature, and a tab that provides a greater level of detail. Twist the Digital Crown, and you can not only change what’s shown on the screen, but also see a larger map view in the center of the compass.

I wanted to single these out because I’ve not changed the Wayfinder watch face yet. I haven’t felt the need to, and it’s the first time I’ve ever wanted to use a compass app. And then when I did, I was actually impressed by it. I think they both sum up Apple’s minute attention to detail here. The deep integration is what makes WatchOS 9 such a pleasure.

Apple Watch Ultra: Backtrack

What about the Backtrack feature? It’s activated from the Compass app, where all it takes is a single tap on the little icon shaped like two feet. If you use the Wayfinder watch face, there’s instant access to the compass using one of the complications. To operate, it does require an additional location setting, called Significant Location, to be switched on (it’s hidden away under Settings > Location > System Services). With this done, Backtrack works away in the background.

You don’t notice it until you need it. Tap the footsteps icon again, and Backtrack will lead you back to where you started in the event you get lost. Except don’t expect it to directly lead you back. Backtrack uses the compass app, where a small arrow points you in the right direction, rather than retracing your steps exactly. It’s as the crow flies, which does mean you still have to make decisions along the way.

For example, at a junction, Backtrack showed I should go in a different direction than the way I came, which I knew would still absolutely return me to my starting point, but not in the way I arrived at the point originally. You’ll have to bear this in mind and trust both your instincts and the Watch Ultra’s compass. Depending on the terrain, this could mean encountering situations where you may have to backtrack on Backtrack.

The feature is very simple to use. I didn’t notice any additional battery drain when using it compared to when I’m not. And because it works through the Compass app, it’s available regardless of the fitness-tracking app used, so it’s very versatile. This is a different approach to Samsung’s similar feature, where you have to use a GPX map in order to use the Route Back feature on the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro.

If Backtrack sounds like something you’d use or would like to have in reserve, remember it’s a WatchOS 9 feature and also available on Apple Watch models. Testing it back-to-back with the Series 8 upon release revealed that the Watch Ultra’s stronger GPS gave more precise directions. While the Series 8 would still have gotten you back, the Watch Ultra was clearly the more accurate of the two. In some situations, those few degrees may make a lot of difference. You can see the variations in the gallery above, just look for the white marker on the inner bezel.

Apple Watch Ultra: screen, software, and performance

The Apple Watch Ultra’s Retina LTPO OLED screen can suddenly boost the brightness to 2,000 nits in sunlight — and it’s highly effective. It’s so noticeable that it’s like you flicked on a light switch. The flat sapphire crystal doesn’t affect viewing angles as I feared, but it is susceptible to reflection.

It’s sharp and colorful too, but with a 1,164 square-millimeter viewing area, it’s not all that much bigger than a 45mm Apple Watch model like the Series 9’s 1,143 square-millimeter display. The size of the case is more about housing the battery and increasing durability than it is about making the screen larger. However, clever use of the software means that in some situations, you do see more on the screen at one time compared to the Series 8.

Apple’s WatchOS 9 was installed at launch, and the Watch Ultra supports the latest WatchOS 11 version too. The software is fluid, logical, and reliable. I prefer not to overload it with apps (which helps minimize distractions) and rely on the standard apps and few choice additions most of the time. Apps of all types load and operate quickly, and the App Store is a joy to browse thanks to sensibly sized icons and clearly organized sections.

The powerful S8 processor is also the same one inside the Series 8 and Watch SE 2, the haptics are wonderful — especially when you twist the Digital Crown or when an alarm sounds — and the speakers are seriously loud too. Apple Pay works seamlessly and is really easy to set up. I don’t have any plans to try the crash detection or fall detection, but I’m pleased they are there. I feel similarly about warnings about my health from the electrocardiogram, heart rate sensor, and blood oxygen monitoring features.

I haven’t been able to try all the features on the Watch Ultra. I don’t dive, so the most I’ve done is submerge the watch in the sink, where it automatically activated the easy-to-read dive gauge with water temperature readout. A special version of the Oceanic+ app is available for the Watch Ultra, and it allows you to plan dives, use the compass, and get more in-depth safety and experience features. Apple says the Watch Ultra is aimed at Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI)-qualified divers to a depth of 40 meters. I compared the app to the G-Shock Frogman’s dive computer here.

The Apple Watch Ultra does everything a regular Apple Watch can do and so much more, adding a wealth of niche features and durability. Then, to make sure you can enjoy every bit of the smartwatch for longer, it pushes one key aspect further ahead — which we’ll come to next.

Apple Watch Ultra: battery

The Apple Watch Ultra’s battery has a 76% larger capacity than those in the Series 8 and Watch SE 2, and Apple claims the battery will last for 36 hours on a single charge without a cellular connection — twice what you should expect from the other models. The good news is it’s not bluster; the Apple Watch Ultra’s battery life is excellent.

Here’s an example. I recharged the battery on its second cycle at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, then used it normally each day. I left it switched on overnight and tracked two indoor workouts, plus a one-hour walk and a 30-minute walk with GPS and Backtrack engaged, over the course of the next few days. At 6 p.m. Thursday, there was still 10% remaining — so I turned on the Low Power mode, and it still had 5% left at 11:30 p.m. On my first days of use, the battery lasted for three full days without as much GPS use.

The Apple Watch Series 7 regularly returned two days of use on a single charge, but that was only with turning it off overnight. To get up to three full days of use from the Watch Ultra with its brighter screen, plus all its extra ability, is great — and a genuine reason to buy. How does this compare with the competition? Samsung’s rival smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch Ultra, only lasted for two days without a recharge.

However, while the Watch Ultra’s battery is good, it can’t beat the marathon battery life provided by dedicated running or activity smartwatches. The $600 Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar’s battery is good for two weeks, and even the smaller, more design-led $180 Vivomove Sport’s battery will last for five days. The Withings ScanWatch 2 can last for several weeks before requiring a recharge. The Apple Watch Ultra’s battery is powerful for an Apple smartwatch, but in the wider world of high-performance activity smartwatches, it still falls behind.

Should this be a concern? How much this will impact your everyday life depends on what you do in your everyday life. If you regularly run hundreds of miles, hike each weekend, and don’t always have access to power (or intend to use the GPS and Cellular connection every day), then the Apple Watch Ultra will still need charging every couple of days. But if you do these activities every so often, then you’ll spend a lot less time visiting the charger than you would otherwise and three days of use between charges is entirely achievable. The longer battery life really sets the Apple Watch Ultra apart from its sibling smartwatches, and it’s a strong reason to buy this model over any other.

Apple Watch Ultra: Low Power Mode

As part of watchOS 9.1, Apple introduced Low Power Mode on the Apple Watch. The Watch Ultra already has great battery life, but with Low Power Mode, it’s expected to increase to 60 hours in some situations. I put this to the test and was impressed with the results as they surpassed expectations.

Using the Apple Watch Ultra fairly normally, with notifications, some light activity tracking, and controlling music, the battery lasted for five days before it needed recharging. This was without GPS or cellular, and the Low Power Mode switches off the heart rate tracking. The watch definitely isn’t working hard, but this is still a lot longer than even Apple indicates.

What it does is make the Apple Watch Ultra even more versatile. I took the smartwatch away for a long weekend, and even without Low Power Mode, it was still operational (without sleep tracking) on the third day. I could have switched on Low Power Mode at that point and extended the battery life for a couple more days, with only a small drop in usefulness. The Apple Watch Ultra continues to be a battery monster, even six months into its life.

Apple Watch Ultra: a second opinion, from a woman’s perspective

I recently upgraded to an Apple Watch Ultra after a bit of skepticism. Originally, despite liking the hardware for the Action Button and the much-improved battery life over the main Apple Watch Series wearables, I was a little hesitant because of the large 49mm size of the Apple Watch Ultra. But as it turns out, the large size is not an issue, despite my smaller wrists.

At first, I kept making comments that the Apple Watch Ultra with the Alpine Loop simply looked too large on my wrist, as the band caused the watch to hang off a bit on the sides. Once I switched out the band to the classic Sport Band, the Apple Watch Ultra no longer looked comically large on my smaller wrists, and it’s been a lot more comfortable to wear. The titanium casing makes the Apple Watch feel lightweight, so it never really feels heavy while being worn. The flat edges take a bit of time to get used to coming from previous Apple Watches, but I’ve ended up preferring the flat edges and display.

As someone who was using the Apple Watch Series 5 for the past few years, battery life was becoming an issue. Since getting the Apple Watch Ultra, however, I no longer have to check how much battery life remains for the day. Even without using Low Power Mode, the Apple Watch Ultra can end the day with around 60% to 70% battery. As someone who doesn’t like Apple’s sleep tracking (the Oura Ring does it better), however, the Apple Watch Ultra ends up on the charger every night to be topped off for the next day. With the Optimized Charging Limit feature, it helps preserve the battery lifespan, which is helpful. But if I was without the charger, the Apple Watch Ultra would easily last at least two or three days with my typical usage — and more with Low Power Mode.

Though the Action Button is a bit limited, it’s one of the best things about the Apple Watch Ultra. With just a push of the button, I can immediately launch a workout in a few taps, and with my most frequent workout, Outdoor Walk, it’s easy to mark segments when needed. When I say limited, I mean it’s a little disappointing that there are only a handful of preset actions you can assign without diving into the complicated world of creating your own Siri Shortcut. Still, the Action Button has proven to be a wonderful little shortcut for some commonly-used Apple Watch functions, and it’s become hard to imagine an Apple Watch without it. Hopefully, the rumored Action button on the iPhone 15 will have even more functionality and customizability.

There are also a couple of things that make the Apple Watch Ultra great for women in particular. First, the body temperature sensor in the Ultra (along with the Series 8) is more useful for women as it can be used to help track ovulation, which helps with family planning. Secondly, the siren that can be activated from the Action Button is useful for females who could find themselves in dangerous situations. Once it’s activated, a shrill pitch sound will emit from the Apple Watch Ultra, which will certainly draw attention to you. Though its original purpose is to signal for help in remote areas, it’s just as useful if you need to get help when there’s a dangerous person lurking about.

Again, as someone with smaller wrists, I wasn’t sure whether I would like having the largest display, as I’ve been getting the smallest Apple Watch size in the past. But the Apple Watch Ultra has shown me that there are many benefits to having a large display, and honestly, you get used to it after wearing it for a while. The 49mm size of the Ultra means you get to have a lot of glanceable information on certain watch faces, so you get more data with a single look. And it’s also been a lot easier to read incoming notifications since more screen estate allows more to be shown. Typing is also possible on the screen, and the on-screen keyboard actually works better than I thought, though sometimes dictation is still easier.

And as someone who skipped the past few Apple Watch releases, the peak brightness of 2,000 nits outdoors has definitely made a difference. Since I live in sunny Southern California, the Apple Watch Ultra’s high brightness levels outdoors in direct sunlight make it possible to clearly see the display, no matter the situation. The Apple Watch Series 5 I was still using definitely looked dim in comparison with the Ultra. If you are the type of person who does a lot of workouts outdoors, then the Apple Watch Ultra’s bright display is a big selling point.

I originally was skeptical of the Apple Watch Ultra, but it’s become one of my favorite Apple products in recent years. There’s just so much good stuff about the Apple Watch Ultra, from the incredible battery life to the convenient Action Button to the display. Even if you don’t do extreme activities (I certainly don’t), the Apple Watch Ultra is a great smartwatch for everyone.

Apple Watch Ultra: price and availability

Apple Watch Ultra: verdict

While I’ve been using and writing about the Apple Watch Ultra, I’ve called it simply the Apple Watch on more than a few occasions. When I began to give this some thought, it seemed appropriate. The Apple Watch Ultra is clearly the beginning of something new for the company, rather than a one-off or the product of a lazy marketing campaign. What Apple has done with the Watch Ultra is to make it genuinely different from the regular Apple Watch in almost every respect. Not better or worse, but something that stands on its own.

This is the way you should be thinking about it before you buy it. It’s not really an alternative despite being closely related. It serves different purposes, has its own strengths and weaknesses, and has a series of unique features that wouldn’t fit on a regular Apple Watch. You will buy this instead of the Series model. Remember the Ultra we’re reviewing here has been replaced by the Apple Watch Ultra 2 though, which also comes with the Double Tap gesture control that is not available on the original Apple Watch Ultra.

The surprising thing is, the Apple Watch Ultra is quite easy to justify as a purchase. The long battery life is a huge selling point that everyone will appreciate, as is the absolute bulletproof nature of the build and materials. Plus, if you do anything remotely adventurous, it’ll easily keep up all day long. But the thing I didn’t expect was to connect with it personally. It has a character all of its own, and that’s something very few smartwatches accomplish. What’s more, the new features and the simplicity of use is rather inspirational and encourages you to go out and give them a try.

Against the odds, Apple has made a rugged smartwatch that non-rugged people will want to own — and they’ll be very pleased with it when they do. It’s a fantastic start of something really exciting and really different for Apple’s superb smartwatch range.

For a while now, Google has been ramping up the editing options in its Photos app. The company has added multiple new features, including some powered by artificial intelligence. Now, the company has updated Google Photos’ video editor to offer more possibilities. There are even new AI-powered presets that will let you do wonders in just a few taps.

Google Photos is one of the most popular services out there, so getting new features is good news for millions of people. While the photo editor has become more and more complete, the video editor seemed to be lagging a bit behind. It appears that the company was aware of this, so it now has new editing options exclusively for videos.

Google Photos getting an updated video editor with new options

First, the cropping tool has become more precise. This means that you will struggle less when trying to crop your videos at an exact point. Sometimes it could happen that the cropping bar went a little further than you were looking for. Well, everything should work much better after the update. Google has also shipped an “Auto Enhance” button for videos that, as the name suggests, automatically applies enhancements to the file with a tap. The app’s image editor already offered a similar option.

The updated Google Photos’ video editor also includes a new “Speed” tool to freely modify the pace of your videos. The feature will allow you to convert videos or sections of videos to slow motion, or on the contrary, increase the speed.

In addition to these “traditional” editing tools, Google Photos is getting AI-powered presets for videos. “These presets can automatically trim the video, adjust lighting, control speed, or apply effects like dynamic motion tracking of main subject, zooming in the main action, or applying slow-mo,” Google says in its blog post.

Google is already rolling out the new features

The new video editing options are available only on Android phones. On the other hand, the AI-powered presets for videos are arriving on Android and iOS devices alike. Lastly, Google says that they are “starting to roll out” the updated Photos’ video editor, so it shouldn’t take long for it to appear on your phone.

When Sony released the PlayStation 5 in 2020, it wasn’t possible to expand the console’s storage. Thankfully, that changed with a software update that the company pushed out less than a year later. And with how big some game installs have become in recent years, it’s a good thing, too: the PS5’s built-in 667GB of space may have been good enough in the system’s first year, but in 2024, the default drive is absolutely limiting.

The good news is a standard PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 NVMe SSD can solve all of your PS5 storage woes. If that mess of acronyms has you recoiling, don’t worry: you’ll see that it’s not all that complicated. And if all you want to know is what the best PS5 SSDs are, they’re right at the top.

Read more: These are the best SSDs in 2024

Best PS5 SSDs in 2024

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Corsair

Capacity: Up to 8TB | Sequential read performance: 7,100MB/s | Sequential write performance: 6,800MB/s | Connection: M.2

The Corsair MP600 Pro LPX makes it to the top of our list for the best PS5 SSD for being the complete package. It’s fast, offering excellent performance and read speeds of up to 7,100MB/s. It also comes with a pre-installed heatsink and a five-year warranty. Best of all, the MP600 is affordable. After launching at $190, you can routinely find the 1TB variant on sale for less than $100, while the 2TB model will set you back between $160 and $210. It’s not the fastest NVMe on this list, but as far as no-fuss options go, it’s hard to beat the MP600.

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Pros

• Built-in heatsink
• Affordable

Cons

• Not the fastest Gen4 model

$95 at Amazon

Crucial

Capacity: Up to 4TB | Read performance: 7,300MB/s | Write performance: 6,800 MB/s | Connection: M.2

If you want to save a bit of money by installing your own heatsink, the Crucial T500 is a great option. With read speeds of up to 7,300MB/s, it more than meets Sony’s technical requirements, and you can frequently find the 1TB model for as little as $60 when it’s on sale. Crucial also offers a version with a heatsink, so it’s worth adding both the Corsair MP600 and Crucial T500 to a price watch list and buying whichever model is cheaper when you’re ready to upgrade your PS5.

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Pros

• Fast
• Available with or without heatsink

$82 at Amazon

SABRENT

Capacity: Up to 8TB | Sequential read performance: 7,000MB/s | Sequential write performance: 6,600MB/s | Connection: M.2

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Of all the SSDs on this list, the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus is the most interesting. It comes with a unique heatsink that you install in place of the storage expansion slot’s metal cover. Sabrent claims this design improves cooling performance. Expect to pay more than you would for a model with a more generic heatsink, with the 1TB variant coming in at $130 and the 2TB model costing between $230 and $280.

Pros

• PS5-specific heatsink design

Cons

• Not as fast as other options
• Expensive relative to other drives

$130 at Amazon

SAMSUNG

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Capacity: Up to 4TB | Read performance: 1,050MB/s | Write performance: 1,000MB/s | Connection: USB 3.0

As I explain below, you can’t run PS5 games from an external drive — but you can use one to store any games you aren’t playing at the moment (and that includes older PS4 games). One of my favorite portable drives is the Samsung T7. It can write files at a speedy 1,000 MB/s. If you plan to use the drive exclusively for at-home use, you can save money by buying the standard model instead of the Shield variant, which has a rugged exterior for extra protection for those who are always on the go. I’ve been using T7 drives to store my photos, music and games for years, and I have yet to see one fail me. The latest model, the Samsung T9, boasts read/write speeds of up to 2,000MB/s.

Pros

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• Affordable
• Reliable
• Rugged variant available

Cons

• Can’t play PS5 games from external drive

$70 at B&H Photo

How we test PS5 SSDs

After helping to maintain this guide for the past two years, I’ve tested most of the SSDs recommended on this list, either for PS5 or computer use. I also bought and used our top pick in my own PS5.

How much PS5 storage do I need?

The PlayStation 5 will accept internal drives with between 250GB and 8TB of storage capacity. If you already own a PS5, chances are you have a reasonable idea of how much storage you need ​​for your game library. If you’re buying an SSD with a new PS5, or buying for someone else, it’s more difficult to tell what you might need for a high-performance experience.

PS5 games are a little smaller on average than their PS4 equivalents, typically taking up between 30GB and 100GB, with some notable (and very popular) exceptions. If you’re a fan of the Call of Duty series, installing Modern Warfare III and Warzone 2.0 will require about 250GB. In other words, a full Call of Duty install will take up more than one-third of the PS5’s internal storage. If you’re not a CoD fan, though, chances are you’ll be good to store between six to 10 games on your PS5 internally before running into problems.

You also need to consider your internet speed. If you live in an area with slow broadband, the “you can just download it again” rationale doesn’t really work. At my old home, a 100GB download took me around eight hours, during which time it was difficult to simultaneously watch Twitch or, say, publish articles about upgrading PS5 SSDs. Keeping games around on the off-chance you’ll want to play them at some point makes sense.

Off the bat, there’s basically no point in going for a 250GB PS5 SSD. Economically, 250GB drives aren’t that much cheaper than 500GB ones — and practically, that really isn’t a lot of space for modern games to live on. 500GB drives, coming in at around $60 to $80, are a decent option, but the sweet spot for most is to opt for a high-capacity 1TB drive, which should run you about $100. That will more than double the PS5 storage you have available for games without breaking the bank.

If you have the money, 2TB drives sometimes offer marginal savings per gigabyte, and can often be found when other models are out of stock. Unless you’re rolling in cash and want to flex, 4TB and 8TB models should mostly be avoided, as you’ll end up paying more per gigabyte than you would with a 1TB or 2TB drive.

While the 825GB PS5 only provides 667GB of storage, that’s largely due to storage being reserved for the operating system and caching. If you install a 1TB PS5 SSD, you’ll have, within a margin of error, 1TB of storage available for games.

Lastly, all of our recommendations will work with the PS5 Slim and PS5 Pro.

Can you play PS5 games on an external SSD?

External hard drives tend to cost less than internal SSD counterparts (and there’s a good chance you might own one already). But unfortunately, there are restrictions on what you can do with them. An external SSD connects to your PS5 via USB, and is only suitable for playing PlayStation 4 games, or storing PS5 titles. This is useful if you have anything but the best high-speed internet — it’s faster to move a PS5 game out of “cold storage” on an external drive than it is to re-download it — or want to keep your PS4 library on hand.

Due to the limitations here, you don’t need the highest-performing model, although you should opt for SSDs over HDDs for improved transfer speeds and load times. Any basic portable drive from a reputable brand will do, with the Crucial X9 Pro and Samsung T5 being options we’ve tried and can recommend.

Which SSD cards are compatible with the PS5?

The official answer to this question is an “M.2 Socket 3 (Key M) Gen4 x4 NVME SSD.” But even within that seemingly specific description, there are still more things to consider. The main requirements Sony has laid out for compatibility come down to speed, cooling and physical dimensions.

For speed, Sony says drives should be able to handle sequential reads at 5,500MB/s. Early testing showed that the PS5 would accept drives as slow as 4,800MB/s, and that games that tap into the SSD regularly — such as Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart — would cause no issues. Pretty much the only thing the PS5 will outright reject is one that doesn’t match the Gen4 x4 spec.

In our opinion, though, using a drive slower than the specification is a risk that, if you don’t already have that drive lying around, is not worth taking. Just because we haven’t found issues yet doesn’t mean there won’t be games that could be problematic in the future. The price difference between these marginally slower Gen4 drives and the ones that meet Sony’s spec is not huge, and you might as well cover all your bases.

Slightly more complicated than speed is cooling and size. Most new SSDs are going to be just fine; the PS5 can fit 22mm-wide SSDs of virtually any length (30mm, 40mm, 60mm, 80mm or 110mm, to be precise). The vast majority of drives you find will be 22mm wide and 80mm long, so no problem there.

It should be noted that the system can fit a 25mm-wide drive, but that width must include the cooling solution. Speaking of, Sony says SSDs require “effective heat dissipation with a cooling structure, such as a heatsink.” The maximum height supported by Sony’s slot is 11.25mm, of which only 2.45mm can be “below” the drive.

This previously meant some of the most popular heatsinked Gen4 SSDs, including Corsair’s MP600 Pro LP, would not fit within the PS5’s storage expansion slot. Since Engadget first published this guide in 2021, most NVMe makers, including Samsung, have come out with PlayStation-specific models that meet those requirements. That said, if you want to save some money, bare drives are often cheaper, and it’s trivial to find a cooling solution that will work for the PS5.

The only component in an NVMe SSD that really requires cooling is the controller, which without a heatsink will happily sear a (very small) steak. Most SSDs have chips on only one side, but even on double-sided SSDs, the controller is likely to be on top, as manufacturers know it needs to be positioned there to better dissipate heat.

So, head to your PC component seller of choice, and pick up basically anything that meets the recommended dimensions. A good search term is “laptop NVME heatsink,” as these will be designed to fit in the confines of gaming laptops, which are even more restrictive than a PS5. They’re also typically cheaper than the ones labeled as “PS5 heatsinks.”

One recommendation is this $6 copper heatsink, which attaches to the PS5 SSD with sticky thermal interface material. It works just fine, and in performing stress tests on a PC, we couldn’t find anything metal that didn’t keep temperatures under control. When you’re searching, just make sure the solution you go for measures no more than 25mm wide or 8mm tall (including the thermal interface material) and has a simple method of installation that’s not going to cause any headaches.

One last thing. When shopping for a PS5 NVMe, there’s no reason to buy a Gen5 model over a more affordable Gen4 model. As things stand, Sony’s console can’t take advantage of the new standard, and though Gen5 drives are backward compatible, they’re more expensive than their Gen4 counterparts. Just buy the fastest and highest-capacity Gen4 model you can afford.

How to install an SSD into your PS5

Before attempting to add more storage via a PS5 SSD, ensure that you have Sony’s latest software installed. Once you’re up-to-date, installation of a PS5 SSD is fairly straightforward. Sony recommends a #1 Phillips or crosshead screwdriver, but this isn’t rocket science. Any crossed screwdriver of a similar size will do fine.

1. Power everything down to remove the stand

Before attempting to add more storage via an NVMe, ensure that you have Sony’s latest software installed. Once you’re up-to-date, installation of a PS5 SSD is fairly straightforward. Sony recommends a #1 Phillips or crosshead screwdriver, but this isn’t rocket science. Any crossed screwdriver of a similar size will do fine.

Begin by powering down your PS5, unplugging everything, removing the stand and flipping it over to its underside. If you have a launch PS5, that’s the side with the disc drive; if you have the launch Digital Edition, it’s the side without the PlayStation logo cutout.

Sony has a video guide to popping off the outside cover here, but the gist is you gently lift up the opposing corners and slide the panel toward the flat end of the console. There’s a knack to this, and it requires very little effort or strength. If you’re not getting it, rather than force things, readjust your grip and try again.

2. Access the drive bay

Once you’ve got everything open, you’ll see a rectangular piece of metal with a screw holding it in place. Remove that screw and you’ll be able to access the drive bay.

You’ll see five holes inside, each numbered corresponding to the standard SSD drive lengths I mentioned earlier. The one numbered 110 will have a metal insert and screw inside. You need to unscrew the screw with a screwdriver, and then unscrew the insert with your fingers and move it to the relevant hole. For most drives, it’s going to be 80.

3. Slot in the SSD

Then take your SSD and slot it in. The slot is at the edge closest to the number “30,” and SSDs are keyed to only fit in one way, so again, no force is required. If it’s not sliding in, don’t force it. You’ll notice the SSD doesn’t sit flat. That’s fine and is as intended.

4. Screw the drive bay back in

Once the SSD is seated, take the screw you removed from the insert, line it up with the little notch at the end of your SSD, and push down so it meets the insert. Give the screw a few turns — it doesn’t need to be very tight — and you’re done.

Replace the metal cover and screw it down, and then slide the plastic outer shell back on.

When you first turn on the PS5, it’ll prompt you to format the drive. Do that! You have now successfully expanded your console’s storage, and can set about downloading and moving games to it.

We’ll be updating this guide as more SSDs come to market and onto our test bench, so feel free to bookmark it for when you need it.

If your startup is only remotely related to working with data pipelines, you’re probably trying to figure out how to capitalize on the current moment: Enterprises are trying to figure out how to best use data to power generative AI products, and to do that, they need robust data services. Airbyte, which launched in 2020, started with a focus on building a low-code/no-code open source data integration platform. Since then, Airbyte raised a total of $181.2 million, including a massive $150 million Series B round during the somewhat anomalous days of late 2021.

After four years, the company is now launching Airbyte 1.0 — and the focus, of course, is on AI, both as an addition to Airbyte’s own tools and to help its users build their own AI-based services.

Indeed, the company is now leveraging AI in a clever way to expand on its overall low-code/no-code philosophy: Its model will be able to look at the documentation for an API and automatically create a connector based on that. You simply point it at the documentation, and it’ll handle the rest (at least in theory; time will tell how well that works in practice, of course.)

As Airbyte co-founder and CEO Michel Tricot told me, he believes that one area where large language models are transforming how enterprise use their data is by making unstructured data far more useful — and usable.

“Structured data is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to leveraging data’s full potential,” he said. “With the rise of LLMs, we can now efficiently tap into previously untouched unstructured data. … We’ve seen massive demand for handling multi-modal data. Our latest developments have been geared toward supporting intelligent, context-aware pipelines, optimizing frameworks like RAG, and automating pipeline creation based on customer data workflows. These innovations are crucial to unlocking advanced use cases and enhancing LLM performance.”

Because Airbyte is now so much better at managing unstructured data, its users can now leverage their existing pipelines to do that, without having to rely on additional tools.

In non-AI news, Airbyte’s connector now also supports GraphQL, which should help users access many additional datasets without even having to build custom pipelines.

With this release, Airbyte is also making its self-managed enterprise service generally available. Like with so many open source companies, the enterprise version, which is available on the AWS and GCP marketplaces, will offer features like single sign-on (SSO) and role-based access control (RBAC), as well as Airbyte-specific features like sensitive data masking and advanced observability.

Airbyte says it has 7,000 enterprise customers and has seen over 170,000 deployments by now. Its customers range from Calendly and Coupa to Perplexity AI and Siemens.

“Every company is a data company — to drive decision-making and as the foundation for AI initiatives,” Tricot said. “Only Airbyte, with our open source strategy enabling hundreds of connectors, can give enterprises the ability to leverage any data they choose. As AI continues to drive transformation, we’re delivering the technology and ecosystem required for organizations to build the data infrastructure needed for AI-driven innovation.”