Just like the stainless steel models of the Apple Watch that sold for much more than the base model, the Apple Watch Ultra has a sapphire crystal to protect the screen. As one of the hardest minerals known, sapphire is extremely difficult to scratch – making it perfect for high-end watches.
This is exactly what JerryRigEverything wanted to compare when comparing the sapphire crystal of the Apple Watch Ultra to other smartwatches that have a similar glass.
An interesting comparison between the best-selling watches
The YouTuber, known for performing resistance tests with electronic devices of all kinds, has published a new video in which he measures the hardness of the sapphire coating of the Apple Watch Ultra as well as the Galaxy Watch 5 from Samsung and the Garmin Fenix 7. The main objective of this test was to find out if these three watches actually incorporate sapphire crystal as the companies promote.
As Zack explains in the video, sapphire is a material with a level of hardness close to that of diamond. On the scale of mohs, which measures the hardness of minerals from 1 to 10, the YouTuber shows how scratch-resistant the screens of devices such as phones and smartwatches are. While glass scratches at level 6, sapphire scratches at level 8, or even 9 depending on its purity.
Apple has claimed to use sapphire in its devices since the iPhone 5, which was the first to have a sapphire coating on the camera lens. However, Apple actually uses sapphire composite material, which is not as hard as the pure material. But what about the Apple Watch Ultra?
JerryRigEverything’s tests show that the Apple Watch Ultra’s display is actually covered in genuine sapphire, but there are a few things to keep in mind. In testing, Apple’s tocante coating showed minor scratches at levels 6 and 7, while real damage begins at level 8.
The results were similar with the Galaxy Watch 5, although the abrasions at levels 6 and 7 were less visible than on the Apple Watch Ultra. The YouTuber explains that this is likely due to impurities in the material or polishing issues. As for the Garmin Fenix 7, the tests show that it has the purest sapphire crystal of the three watches, since it only showed a few traces at levels 6 and 7.
But in conclusion, neither Apple, nor Samsung, nor Garmin are lying when they claim that their watches have sapphire crystal – even if the Apple Watch Ultra’s screen seems to be a little more susceptible to scratches than that other watches.
You can watch JerryRigEverything’s full video below:
The new Apple Watch Ultra has been on sale for a few weeks for €999 and has since received excellent reviews, especially from fans of hiking, diving and extreme sports in general.