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Apple Watch Ultra Review: The Most Exciting Change in Years

«Honey, I blew up the Apple Watch.»

Editors’ note, Nov. 16: Apple has rolled out a low-power mode for workouts which extends the Apple Watch Ultra’s battery life even further. Along with its great fitness-tracking features, bright screen and durable design, we’ve awarded the Apple Watch Ultra an Editors’ Choice. Our review, originally published in September, follows.


Even if you’re not an endurance athlete, there’s still plenty of reasons you might want the $799 ( 849, AU$1,299) Apple Watch Ultra. It has a bigger battery, more durable titanium casing and a screen that’s twice as bright as the Apple Watch Series 8. Like the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple has reserved some key features for the Ultra that set it apart from the rest of the Apple Watch range. There’s a dual-frequency GPS for more accurate tracking, extra microphones for improved voice calls and a customizable Action button to quickly start activities, or transition from one leg of a triathlon to another.

8.8

Apple Watch Ultra

You’re receiving price alerts for Apple Watch Ultra

Like

  • Action button is fantastic
  • Bright, big screen
  • Best battery life of any Apple Watch
  • Dual-band GPS is more accurate than earlier watches

Don’t Like

  • Too big for some wrists
  • No native offline mapping capabilities
  • Limited recovery metrics

For the first time on an Apple Watch, LTE connectivity is included by default. That immediately sets it apart from many other sports and fitness watches that don’t have any cellular option. The Ultra only comes in one 49mm case size, which might be too big for some to wear comfortably.

Then there’s the hefty price, which is $400 more than the 41mm GPS Apple Watch Series 8 and could have you wondering whether the Ultra really is worth that much more. Even if you don’t consider yourself an adventurer, there might be enough here to justify the cost — especially if you want a more-durable watch with increased water resistance and battery life that’s at least twice as long as other Apple Watch models.

Considering the $749 45mm Apple Watch Series 8 in stainless steel costs almost as much, I think the Ultra is a better overall value, given that you get additional hardware features like the Action button (which I’ve come to love), an emergency siren and extra microphones to boost call quality.

It’s also priced competitively with other sports watches that have a similar titanium construction and OLED screens, like the $999 Garmin Epix 2. The Apple Watch Ultra’s battery doesn’t last as long, and it doesn’t have anywhere near as many navigation features as the Epix 2. But it’s easier to use, has heart features like an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) app, cellular connectivity and seamless integration with the iPhone.

If you’re someone who wants a true hybrid smartwatch and sports watch, the Ultra is the one to beat.

Apple Watch Ultra design is big and bold

The Ultra is a souped-up Apple Watch in every respect. All the familiar elements are here, just bigger and bolder than previous models. The side button has its own housing that protrudes from the case and the digital crown has deeper ridges, making both easier to control if your fingers are sweaty, dusty or wearing gloves.

When taking the Ultra out of the box for the first time, I thought it was going to be too large and heavy for my wrist. But it’s deceptively light to wear, thanks to its titanium construction. Even with the smallest watch strap that best suits my wrist size, I’m able to get a snug and comfortable fit during the day.

This isn’t a one-size-fits-all design, though. The Apple Watch Ultra will likely overwhelm smaller wrists. I would have loved to see a smaller case option, even at the expense of battery life. For example, I’m a side sleeper who rests my hand under my pillow, so the Ultra isn’t the most comfortable watch to wear for sleep tracking; I can feel every edge of the watch at night.

The 49mm case makes this the biggest Apple Watch to date, though the active area on the display itself is only a hair bigger than the 45mm Series 8. So rather than a bigger screen, you’re really choosing the Ultra over the Series 8 for the extra protection you get from the titanium casing’s raised edges. The screen also has flat edges, which some might prefer over the slightly curved screen on Apple’s other watches.

The Apple Watch Ultra is also twice as bright as the Series 8 and is easy to see on a sunny day with a maximum 2,000 nits. I’ve taken the Ultra on long hikes, an outdoor bike ride and my everyday walks and runs. It’s readable in all of these situations, especially when just glancing down to see stats on the always-on display. The flat sapphire glass cover is more reflective than I’d like, but the edge protection around it will pay dividends in long-term durability.

Coming from a 41mm Apple Watch Series 7, everything is easier to see, from workout stats on the always-on display to notifications. The font size is adjustable and can get big, which is great for readability, similar to the 45mm Series 8. And it sounds simple, but I like how the Ultra has room on its screen for up to six lines of workout stats. I no longer have to scroll down to another page just to see a particular metric, which makes all the difference.

Over the past week, I have gotten used to the size of the Ultra, though there are times when I missed the sleeker feel of the regular Apple Watch on my wrist. That’s especially true for the Series 7 and Series 8, with their curved screens and contoured cases that make everyday wear more enjoyable.

Apple Watch Ultra’s Action button has plenty of uses

You can’t miss the bright orange Action button on the left of the Apple Watch Ultra. It sits flush with the case and has an indentation that helps you feel it under your thumb. Next to the larger capacity battery, this is my favorite new hardware feature on the Ultra. It’s going to be hard to go back to an Apple Watch Series without one.

You can customize the button from the Settings menu to do things like add a waypoint, launch the stopwatch, open the flashlight app or instantly start one of your regular workouts and skip the «3, 2, 1» countdown.

On previous Apple Watches, I set a complication to launch the workout app, then select the workout type using the touchscreen. It’s not only easier to do this with the Ultra’s Action button, but it’s far more customizable because the button also changes depending on context.

If you’re on an outdoor run and press the Action button again, you can mark a segment. You can also pause a workout by pinching the side button and Action button together. The same pinch combo resumes your workout, so there’s no need to swipe to the right on the screen to stop and start (although you still need to swipe to end a workout). The button can also transition from one leg of the race to another if you’re participating in a duathlon or triathlon.

I wish that the other two buttons could be used for controlling and navigating the watch (particularly if you can’t use the touchscreen with gloves), or locking the screen during a workout like you can on some other sports watches. As with other Apple Watch models, you can only lock the Ultra’s touchscreen if you’re doing an underwater activity such as swimming or diving.

I’d like to see Apple add some of these customization features into other Apple Watches, so you could swap out the multitasking function of the side button to launch a workout instead, for example. Other sports and outdoor watches have similar ways to customize buttons, such as the hot keys on Garmin watches. But Apple’s implementation is arguably easier to use, and I hope to see even more customization options added in future software updates.

You can also use the Action button to launch Shortcuts once you’ve set up the app on your iPhone and I love the additional flexibility this gives. One of my favorite ways to use a Shortcut has been to get Apple Maps directions home from a set location when I have a signal, like when I’m on a bike ride in the city and just want to find the best route home without using my phone.

Apple Watch Ultra bands also work with older Apple Watches

At launch, the Apple Watch Ultra will come with a choice of three new watch bands: a textile Alpine Loop, an elastomer Ocean Band and a nylon Trail Loop. The good news is you can use existing bands from 44mm and 45mm Apple Watches with the Ultra, or use any of the three new Ultra bands on the same sizes of Apple Watch. It won’t be an exact fit, but it’s still nice to have some backward-compatibility.

I really like the Ocean Band, which is designed for water sports and diving as it’s able to stretch over a wetsuit, because it feels the most similar to a regular watch strap. But it’s a little chunky for everyday use.

During my testing, I mainly used the Alpine Loop, which is more suited for trail adventures. This has a titanium hook fastener but can be a little fiddly to get on. It seems like it will take a few more weeks to completely break in the fabric. The Trail Loop with pull tab is the most practical for everyday use because it’s slightly elasticized and it’s the one I default to the most. Similar to the Sport Loop from earlier Apple Watches, it has velcro to ensure a precise fit. I can’t wait for more options with more muted colors and designs that will work everywhere from the office to the trail.

Wayfinder is the new Apple Watch Ultra face

The Apple Watch Ultra comes with one exclusive watch face called Wayfinder. It has room for up to eight complications, so you can heavily customize the look and feel of this face to whatever activity you choose. It also includes a compass that indicates the north point when you rotate your wrist, and you can also view elevation data. There is a night mode that turns all the elements red and is triggered by rotating the crown. But it’s only available with the Wayfinder watch face.

I wish Apple had more than just one exclusive face for the Ultra, even though you could potentially tailor Wayfinder to have one for hiking, one for diving and one for everyday use, for example. The Apple Watch Ultra also supports all the regular watch faces you’re used to and new ones in WatchOS 9 including Metropolitan and Astronomy.

Apple Watch Ultra is for marathons, hikes, dives and everyday workouts

Don’t be fooled by its rugged exterior and adventurous positioning. The Apple Watch Ultra is just as suitable for a regular run as it would be for an endurance race. Just like any other Apple Watch that uses WatchOS 9, including the new SE and Series 8, the Ultra has:

  • A multisport mode to automatically switch between different workout types
  • Running metrics like ground contact time, power and vertical oscillation
  • Heart-rate zones
  • Enhanced custom workouts

The Apple Watch Ultra can also track the same workout types as any other WatchOS 9 device, plus it can autodetect activities like walking, running and cycling. Later in the year, automatic track detection will also come to the Ultra. When the watch detects you’re on a 400m track, it lets you choose the lane you’re running in to get more accurate pace and distance results.

But there’s no hiding the fact that the Apple Watch Ultra is also tailored to endurance athletes and adventurers. Its WR100 rating means the Ultra is water resistant up to 100m (328 ft.) and up to 40m for diving. There is a new Depth app that’s exclusive to the Ultra and can be started manually, or launched automatically when the watch is submerged 1m (3 ft.) underwater. The app shows a depth gauge, water temperature sensor and time spent underwater. There’s also a new Oceanic Plus app that turns the watch into its own dive computer. That app isn’t available yet and will come out later in the fall. We plan to do more specific dive and underwater testing with the Apple Watch Ultra.

For cardio-based workouts away from the water, the Apple Watch Ultra’s heart-rate sensor accuracy is excellent when compared against a chest strap. Results vary depending on factors like how it sits on your wrist and your arm movements. But for a 3-hour outdoor cycling workout, the Ultra is one of the closest and most accurate smartwatches I’ve ever used for heart-rate tracking. It matched the strap almost beat-for-beat. It’s also the same sensor on the Apple Watch Series 8, so that means you might not necessarily need to pay the premium for the Ultra if heart rate accuracy in workouts is your main priority.

Just like other Apple Watches, you can pair some gym equipment with the Ultra, such as the Peloton Bike. There’s no native support for heart-rate broadcasting that can let you see your heart rate on a device like a cycling computer. You also can’t pair the watch with power meter bike pedals, but there are third-party workarounds. Still, considering the cost of the Ultra, it’d be nice to see Apple consider broader compatibility to communicate with other supported fitness equipment. The Ultra does sync with GymKit equipment like ellipticals and treadmills, but those are generally for indoor use only.

Backtrack and mapping options on the Apple Watch Ultra

The Apple Watch Ultra has a new compass app in WatchOS 9, the same that’s found on other Apple Watches from the Series 6 onward. It shows three different views when you rotate the digital crown: a hybrid screen with an analog and digital compass; a technical screen with coordinates and elevation; and an orienteering view where you can see any waypoints you’ve added. This screen also shows Backtrack, which uses GPS to help you retrace your steps and navigate back to your starting point.

I enjoyed using it on my hike when I was off the grid so I could get back to my car, and found it easy to follow the path shown on screen. But I wish you could also overlay that path onto a map view in, say, Apple Maps, like the similar Track Back feature on the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro.

That’s something I also miss on the Ultra compared to other sports and outdoor watches — being able to download offline maps on the watch for when I’m away from cellular signal, or have topographic map options without downloading a third-party app.

Apple Watch Ultra’s dual-frequency GPS

The Apple Watch Ultra uses dual GPS bands, L1 and L5. We’ve been using the L1 band for years, but it has limitations — especially when you’re surrounded by tall buildings or even trees that can block the signal. I tested the Ultra in the heart of downtown San Francisco and compared it to a Series 7. While both watches quickly achieved a GPS lock on their own, the Ultra more accurately tracked my path when I went underneath an overpass, while the Series 7 under-calculated my total distance by about 100m at the end of my workout.

It’s now also easier to tell when you get a GPS lock on the Apple Watch Ultra compared to other models. An arrow icon appears at the top left in the workout app when you start an outdoor activity. Once it gets a lock, the icon turns blue.

There’s a new emergency siren on the Ultra, too. It’s 86 decibels, which doesn’t sound particularly loud on paper. But in practice, it emits two distinct sound patterns including the universal SOS pattern to help attract attention. Apple says it can be heard up to 600 feet away (182 meters), and of course I had to try it out.

I trekked out that approximate distance from my hiking companion while on a trail in Purisima Creek Redwoods Preserve in Northern California, and he could clearly hear the siren. You can pull up the siren by a long-press of the Action button, selecting Siren from the app list, or by pressing and holding the side button. It appears as the top option on the emergency pane, from which you can swipe across the screen to activate the alarm.

I also appreciate the additional microphones on the Apple Watch Ultra that help isolate your voice and reduce wind noise, thanks to new algorithms. I used the watch to call a colleague in 18 mph winds, and the caller on the other end remarked how little wind he could hear. You can hear the full audio in the video on this page.

Apple Watch Ultra: Car-crash detection, ECG, temperature sensor

All the other health features are the same as the Series 8. The Apple Watch Ultra has an ECG, high and low heart-rate alerts, fall detection, emergency SOS, international emergency calling, car-crash detection, a blood oxygen sensor, sleep stage tracking and a new temperature sensor. It takes five days to calculate a baseline and display trends in the Health app on iPhone. But I did find the actual skin temperature readings in the health settings menu on the watch itself if you want to take a peek at the raw numbers.

As my colleague Scott Stein wrote in his Apple Watch Series 8 review, it’s difficult to judge the temperature sensor’s usefulness right now. Apple isn’t integrating the temperature data into broader features like a readiness score, similar to Oura and Fitbit. But you will be able to use it for ovulation tracking right off the bat. Apple says all health data collected by the watch is encrypted on your account and in iCloud, so if two-factor authentication is on, no one else can access it.

The Apple Watch Ultra could definitely go one step further in terms of tying all these different data points together. Right now, the watch can track your sleep, skin temperature overnight, heart-rate variability, blood oxygen levels and, of course, your overall activity levels, including measurements like VO2 Max. I would love to see the Ultra do more in terms of recovery metrics, like some other sports and endurance watches.

Garmin has the Body Battery that gives you a good indication of how your body is coping with your training routine, while Polar has cardio and muscle load that shows up after a workout. Both can be really helpful tools to help you from overtraining, or to give you the nudge to keep up your workouts by showing progress over time.

All the elements are gathered on the Apple Watch, but the onus is on you to interpret it all. Some third-party watch apps like Training Time give you a visual score and indicator showing your readiness to train, but I’d also love to see Apple’s take on pulling together all this data.

Apple Watch Ultra battery life

Inside that big frame is also the biggest battery on any Apple Watch. Even if the sports and outdoors features don’t appeal to you, the size and battery life of this watch might justify its nearly $800 price tag.

For regular usage with a GPS workout, the always-on display turned on, notifications and time checks, Apple rates the Apple Watch Ultra battery up to 36 hours. I wasn’t quite able to meet that number, though I did manage 33 hours of runtime with rigorous use including a 2-hour hike, always-on display and sleep tracking. You’ll get almost two full days out of the watch, but it’s clear that heavy use of workout and GPS features will drain your battery faster. If you choose to skip sleep tracking and go easy on workouts, I’ve been able to get close to three full days from the Ultra before needing to charge.

Low-power mode turns off certain features like the always-on display and blood-oxygen readings. With low-power mode turned on under similar usage patterns, I got about 50 hours. Realistically, you probably won’t use low-power mode on a fully charged watch, instead turning it on as needed to stretch the battery, especially if you are considering taking it on a weekend hike or backcountry expedition.

If you’re using it off the grid with GPS only, Apple quotes about 12 hours total battery. Using the watch exclusively connected to LTE rather than tied to your phone via Bluetooth, expect the battery to drain faster. I’ll update this review with exact cellular runtime numbers soon.

With the latest WatchOS 9.1 update, Apple’s rolled out a new battery optimization that extends the battery even further to up to 60 hours, including 15 hours of workout time, by reducing the number of heart-rate and GPS readings. Theoretically, that’s enough time for something like an Ironman. Go to Settings > Workout then turn on both the Low Power Mode toggle and «Fewer GPS and heart rate readings». The always-on display will also be disabled and cellular connectivity will be reduced to one update every hour.

Fast charging, like we first saw on the Apple Watch Series 7, is also supported. You can go from flat to full in about an hour and a half, but I never really let the Ultra get to 0% and always found it was charged up in less than an hour. The Ultra comes with the same USB-C magnetic charging puck as other, newer Apple Watches, but it has a nice braided cable instead of a plastic casing. The 20W charging brick needed to get those fast charge speeds is sold separately.

By far and away, this is the best battery on any Apple Watch. But it doesn’t yet get close to the week — or weeks-long — battery life from other sports and endurance watches, even ones that have similar OLED screens like the Garmin Epix 2.

Who is the Apple Watch Ultra really for?

I feel there are two types of people who will be drawn to the Apple Watch Ultra. The first is anyone who wants a bigger, tougher Apple Watch with a battery that lasts twice as long as the other models. And if you’re looking at a 45mm Series 8 in stainless steel, it’s almost the same cost as the Ultra — in the US anyway — so I think the Ultra is the better overall choice.

Anyone who considers themselves an endurance athlete or outdoors adventurer is obviously the other huge market. Apple’s done a great job of having a little bit of everything, whether you’re a triathlete, marathon runner or diver. However, we’ll have to wait a little longer until the Oceanic Plus app launches to determine if those dive features are actually helpful.

The Ultra might not match the sports and mapping features on a higher-end Garmin, Coros or Polar watch, but the tight integration with iPhone might be worth more to you. Mobile payments, a wide selection of third-party apps, speaker, microphone and LTE connectivity all make the Ultra capable of doubling as an everyday watch and adventure companion — unless you need a battery that lasts a week or more.

The next step is for Apple to connect all the dots with all these data points it’s collecting to paint a broader picture of your health and fitness. Here’s hoping that’s just around the corner.

Technologies

The Future’s Here: Testing Out Gemini’s Live Camera Mode

Gemini Live’s new camera mode feels like the future when it works. I put it through a stress test with my offbeat collectibles.

«I just spotted your scissors on the table, right next to the green package of pistachios. Do you see them?»

Gemini Live’s chatty new camera feature was right. My scissors were exactly where it said they were, and all I did was pass my camera in front of them at some point during a 15-minute live session of me giving the AI chatbot a tour of my apartment. Google’s been rolling out the new camera mode to all Android phones using the Gemini app for free after a two-week exclusive to Pixel 9 (including the new Pixel 9A) and Galaxy S5 smartphones. So, what exactly is this camera mode and how does it work?

When you start a live session with Gemini, you now how have the option to enable a live camera view, where you can talk to the chatbot and ask it about anything the camera sees. Not only can it identify objects, but you can also ask questions about them — and it works pretty well for the most part. In addition, you can share your screen with Gemini so it can identify things you surface on your phone’s display. 

When the new camera feature popped up on my phone, I didn’t hesitate to try it out. In one of my longer tests, I turned it on and started walking through my apartment, asking Gemini what it saw. It identified some fruit, ChapStick and a few other everyday items with no problem. I was wowed when it found my scissors. 

That’s because I hadn’t mentioned the scissors at all. Gemini had silently identified them somewhere along the way and then  recalled the location with precision. It felt so much like the future, I had to do further testing. 

My experiment with Gemini Live’s camera feature was following the lead of the demo that Google did last summer when it first showed off these live video AI capabilities. Gemini reminded the person giving the demo where they’d left their glasses, and it seemed too good to be true. But as I discovered, it was very true indeed.

Gemini Live will recognize a whole lot more than household odds and ends. Google says it’ll help you navigate a crowded train station or figure out the filling of a pastry. It can give you deeper information about artwork, like where an object originated and whether it was a limited edition piece.

It’s more than just a souped-up Google Lens. You talk with it, and it talks to you. I didn’t need to speak to Gemini in any particular way — it was as casual as any conversation. Way better than talking with the old Google Assistant that the company is quickly phasing out.

Google also released a new YouTube video for the April 2025 Pixel Drop showcasing the feature, and there’s now a dedicated page on the Google Store for it.

To get started, you can go live with Gemini, enable the camera and start talking. That’s it.

Gemini Live follows on from Google’s Project Astra, first revealed last year as possibly the company’s biggest «we’re in the future» feature, an experimental next step for generative AI capabilities, beyond your simply typing or even speaking prompts into a chatbot like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. It comes as AI companies continue to dramatically increase the skills of AI tools, from video generation to raw processing power. Similar to Gemini Live, there’s Apple’s Visual Intelligence, which the iPhone maker released in a beta form late last year. 

My big takeaway is that a feature like Gemini Live has the potential to change how we interact with the world around us, melding our digital and physical worlds together just by holding your camera in front of almost anything.

I put Gemini Live to a real test

The first time I tried it, Gemini was shockingly accurate when I placed a very specific gaming collectible of a stuffed rabbit in my camera’s view. The second time, I showed it to a friend in an art gallery. It identified the tortoise on a cross (don’t ask me) and immediately identified and translated the kanji right next to the tortoise, giving both of us chills and leaving us more than a little creeped out. In a good way, I think.

I got to thinking about how I could stress-test the feature. I tried to screen-record it in action, but it consistently fell apart at that task. And what if I went off the beaten path with it? I’m a huge fan of the horror genre — movies, TV shows, video games — and have countless collectibles, trinkets and what have you. How well would it do with more obscure stuff — like my horror-themed collectibles?

First, let me say that Gemini can be both absolutely incredible and ridiculously frustrating in the same round of questions. I had roughly 11 objects that I was asking Gemini to identify, and it would sometimes get worse the longer the live session ran, so I had to limit sessions to only one or two objects. My guess is that Gemini attempted to use contextual information from previously identified objects to guess new objects put in front of it, which sort of makes sense, but ultimately, neither I nor it benefited from this.

Sometimes, Gemini was just on point, easily landing the correct answers with no fuss or confusion, but this tended to happen with more recent or popular objects. For example, I was surprised when it immediately guessed one of my test objects was not only from Destiny 2, but was a limited edition from a seasonal event from last year. 

At other times, Gemini would be way off the mark, and I would need to give it more hints to get into the ballpark of the right answer. And sometimes, it seemed as though Gemini was taking context from my previous live sessions to come up with answers, identifying multiple objects as coming from Silent Hill when they were not. I have a display case dedicated to the game series, so I could see why it would want to dip into that territory quickly.

Gemini can get full-on bugged out at times. On more than one occasion, Gemini misidentified one of the items as a made-up character from the unreleased Silent Hill: f game, clearly merging pieces of different titles into something that never was. The other consistent bug I experienced was when Gemini would produce an incorrect answer, and I would correct it and hint closer at the answer — or straight up give it the answer, only to have it repeat the incorrect answer as if it was a new guess. When that happened, I would close the session and start a new one, which wasn’t always helpful.

One trick I found was that some conversations did better than others. If I scrolled through my Gemini conversation list, tapped an old chat that had gotten a specific item correct, and then went live again from that chat, it would be able to identify the items without issue. While that’s not necessarily surprising, it was interesting to see that some conversations worked better than others, even if you used the same language. 

Google didn’t respond to my requests for more information on how Gemini Live works.

I wanted Gemini to successfully answer my sometimes highly specific questions, so I provided plenty of hints to get there. The nudges were often helpful, but not always. Below are a series of objects I tried to get Gemini to identify and provide information about. 

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Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for April 26, #1407

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle No. 1,407 for April 26. Hint: Fans of a certain musical group will rock out with this puzzle.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.


Today’s Wordle puzzle isn’t too tough. The letters are fairly common, and fans of a certain rock band might get a kick out of the answer. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

There is one vowel in today’s Wordle answer.

Wordle hint No. 3: Start letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with the letter C.

Wordle hint No. 4: Rock out

Today’s Wordle answer is the name of a legendary English rock band.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a violent confrontation.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is CLASH.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, April 25,  No. 1406 was KNOWN.

Recent Wordle answers

April 21, No. 1402: SPATE

April 22, No. 1403: ARTSY

April 23, No. 1404: OZONE.

April 24, No. 1405: GENIE

What’s the best Wordle starting word?

Don’t be afraid to use our tip sheet ranking all the letters in the alphabet by frequency of uses. In short, you want starter words that lean heavy on E, A and R, and don’t contain Z, J and Q. 

Some solid starter words to try:

ADIEU

TRAIN

CLOSE

STARE

NOISE

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Technologies

T-Mobile Adds New Top 5G Plans, T-Satellite and New 5-Year Price Locks

The new top unlimited plans, Experience More and Experience Beyond, shave some costs and add data and satellite options.

Just two years after expanding its lineup of cellular plans, T-Mobile this week announced two new plans that replace its Go5G Plus and Go5G Next offerings, refreshed its prepaid Metro line and wrapped them all in a promised five-year pricing guarantee. 

To convert more subscribers, the carrier is also offering up to $800 to help customers pay off phone balances when switching from another carrier.

In a briefing with CNET, Jon Friar, president of T-Mobile’s consumer group, explained why the company is revamping and simplifying its array of mobile plans. «The pain point that’s out there over the last couple of years is rising costs all around consumers,» Friar said. «For us to be able to bring more value and even lower prices on [plans like] Experience More versus our former Go5G Plus is a huge win for consumers.»

The new plans went into effect April 23.

With these changes, CNET is already hard at work updating our picks for Best T-Mobile Plans, so check back soon for our recommendations.

More Experiences to define the T-Mobile experience

The top of the new T-Mobile postpaid lineup is two new plans: Experience More and Experience Beyond.

Experience More is the next generation of the Go5G Plus plan, which has unlimited 5G and 4G LTE access and unlimited Premium Data (download speeds up to 418Mbps and upload speeds up to 31Mbps). High-speed hotspot data is bumped up to 60GB from 50GB per month. The monthly price is now $5 lower per line than Go5G Plus.

The Experience More plan also gets free T-Satellite with Starlink service (the new name for T-Mobile’s satellite feature that uses Starlink’s constellation of satellites) through the end of 2025. Although T-Satellite is still officially in beta until July, customers can continue to get free access to the beta starting now. At the start of the new year, the service will cost $10 per month, a $5 drop from T-Mobile’s originally announced pricing. T-Satellite will be open to customers of other carriers for the same pricing beginning in July.

The new top-tier plan, Experience Beyond, also comes in $5 per line cheaper than its predecessor, Go5G Next. It has 250GB of high-speed hotspot data per month, up from 50GB, and more data when you’re traveling outside the US: 30GB in Canada and Mexico (versus 15GB) and 15GB in 215 countries (up from 5GB). T-Satellite service is included in the Experience Beyond plan.

However, one small change to the Experience plans affects that pricing: Taxes and fees, previously included in the Go5G Plus and Go5G Next prices, are now broken out separately. T-Mobile recently announced that one such fee, the Regulatory Programs and Telco Recovery Fee, would increase up to 50 cents per month.

According to T-Mobile, the Experience Beyond rates and features will be «rolling out soon» for customers currently on the Go5G Next plan.

The Essentials plan is staying in the lineup at the same cost of $60 per month for a single line, the same 50GB of Premium Data and unlimited 5G and 4G LTE data. High-speed hotspot data is an optional $10 add-on, as is T-Satellite access, for $15 (both per month).

Also still in the mix is the Essentials Saver plan, an affordable option that has ranked high in CNET’s Best Cellphone Plans recommendations.

Corresponding T-Mobile plans, such as those for military, first responders and people age 55 and older are also getting refreshed with the new lineup.

T-Mobile’s plan shakeup is being driven in part by the current economic climate. Explaining the rationale behind the price reductions and the streamlined number of plans, Mike Katz, president of marketing, innovation and experience at T-Mobile told CNET, «We’re in a weird time right now where prices everywhere are going up and they’ve happened over the last several years. We felt like there was an opportunity to compete with some simplicity, but more importantly, some peace of mind for customers.»

Existing customers who want to switch to one of the new plans can do so at the same rates offered to new customers. Or, if a current plan still works for them, they can continue without changes (although keep in mind that T-Mobile earlier this year increased prices for some legacy plans).

Five years of price stability

It’s nearly impossible to think about prices these days without warily eyeing how tariffs and US economic policy will affect what we pay for things. So it’s not surprising to see carriers implement some cost stability into their plans. For instance, Verizon recently locked prices for three years on their plans.

Now, T-Mobile is building a five-year price guarantee for its T-Mobile and Metro plans. That pricing applies to talk, text and data amounts — not necessarily taxes and other fees that can fluctuate.

Given the uncertain outlook, it seems counterintuitive to lock in a longer rate. When asked about this, Katz said, «We feel like our job is to solve pain points for customers and we feel like this helps with this exact sentiment. It shifts the risk from customers to us. We’ll take the risk so they don’t have to.»

The price hold applies to new customers signing up for the plans as well as current customers switching to one. T-Mobile is offering the same deals and pricing to new and existing subscribers. Also, the five-year deal applies to pricing; it’s not a five-year plan commitment.

More money and options to encourage switchers

The promise of a five-year price guarantee is also intended to lure people from other carriers, particularly AT&T and Verizon. As further incentive, T-Mobile is offering up to $800 per line (distributed via a virtual prepaid Mastercard) to help pay off other carriers’ device contracts. This is a limited-time offer. There are also options to trade in old devices, including locked phones, to get up to four new flagship phones.

Or, if getting out of a contract isn’t an issue, T-Mobile can offer $200 in credit (up to $800 for four lines) to bring an existing number to the network.

Four new Metro prepaid plans

On the prepaid side, T-Mobile is rolling out four new Metro plans, which are also covered by the new five-year price guarantee:

• Metro Starter costs $25 per line per month for a family of four and there is no need to bring an existing number. (The cost is $105 the first month.)

• Metro Starter Plus runs $40 per month for a new phone, unlimited talk, text and 5G data when bringing an existing number. For $65 per month, new customers can get two lines and two new Samsung A15 phones. No autopay is required.

• Metro Flex Unlimited is $30 per line per month with autopay for four lines ($125 the first month) with unlimited talk, text and 5G data.

• Metro Flex Unlimited Plus costs $60 per line per month, then $35 for lines two and three and then lowers the price of the fourth line to $10 per month as more family members are added. Adding a tablet or smartwatch to an existing line costs $5. And streaming video, such as from the included Amazon Prime membership, comes through at HD quality.

See more: If you’re looking for phone plans, you may also be looking for a new cell phone. Here are CNET’s picks.

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