Apple released both a Series 8 and an Ultra version, ranging in prices starting around $300 for the lowest-end Series 8 on up to $800 for the lowest-end Ultra. I know that many brands of watches can be quite expensive, heading in to the thousands to tens of thousands for special models. Apple has released Watch versions  in the past that also treaded into the thousands. My biggest problem with such expense is the lack of adequate battery life, especially for the Ultra. A battery life of 36 hours to 60 hours depending on operational mode is totally unacceptable for a Watch that starts at $800, especially one aimed at the outdoor extreme sport techbro. What minimum battery life between charges would I find acceptable?

At a minimum, I want at least 8 consecutive days, or 192 hours, with the same level of functionality I currently enjoy with my Series 7.

That would allow me to charge my watch once/week every Saturday or Sunday, or any other weekday that fit my schedule. It would allow me to wear my watch uninterrupted for a full seven days, 24 hours per day, to pick up my sleep patterns. These days I wear my Apple Watch Series 7 because I’m tracking as much of my health as possible, sharing that with my doctors. As it is I now have a schedule where I charge my Series 7 twice/day, once in the morning at breakfast for about 30 minutes, and once in the evening after supper, again for 30 minutes, before I head off to bed. That works out here at home, but that’s an untenable schedule while on a camping trip. Fortunately for me I have a ten-year-old Citizen Eco watch that’s solar charged and has been running continuously since the day I took it out of its box and put it on my wrist. In an ideal world I’d have a Citizen watch that had the same sensor suite as the Apple Watch, and that communicated via Bluetooth with my iPhone in place of my Apple Watch.

Before you say anything I’m aware of Citizen’s CZ Smartwatch for $400. The problem with the watch is two-fold: it was released running on the old and busted Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor instead of the 4000 and with Google Wear. If you want long battery life up to a week between charges, then the only function you can have active on the watch is the time, which makes it pointless to own. You might was well actually save a little money and purchase a low-end Apple Watch.

It’s been two months since I replaced my aging Apple Watch Series 3 with an Apple Watch Series 7 on sale from Amazon, and so far I have no regrets. Even on sale what I paid for the Series 7 was still more than I would have liked to pay; it still requires a recharge every other day (and I’ve outlined my charging regimen above) so it certainly can’t meet my ideal charging requirement. The Series 7 is a compromise between high functionality and battery life. While I’m certainly using it around my home, it’s not a device I’d use outside on long travel. I have ways to keep my iPhone recharged away from home, but that’s all I’m willing to support in that way.

Who knows. By the time I’m ready to replace the Series 7, perhaps Apple will produce my watch with my ideal battery life, but at a price much closer to my Series 7 than the Ultra.