The Apple Watch Ultra 4 and Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 are premium, rugged smartwatches launched this summer, with the main differences stemming from their ecosystems, software and specialist features. Both use titanium cases, support submersion to 100 metres and include safety functions such as fall detection, emergency calls and sirens, making them aimed at serious athletes, swimmers and divers.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 has a Snapdragon Wear Elite chip, Google Gemini, 64GB of storage, 2GB of memory and a brighter 5,000-nit display, while Apple’s Ultra 4 uses an S11 chip, Siri and a 3,000-nit screen. Apple claims up to 50 hours of battery life, compared with Samsung’s 60 hours, and offers more accurate five-second heart-rate readings and a Readiness app; Samsung counters with features including blood-pressure estimates, antioxidant readings and Trail Run guidance. Prices start at $700 for Samsung and $799 for Apple.