Apple Watch Ultra 2 VERY dim inside and dark enviroments..

Same problem with my Series 9 (not Ultra).

I did find one thing somewhat helpful: I turned the "Always on" feature "ON" to see if that helped. It did help. Still not great, but better. Give it a try. I'm hoping Apple has a "fix" in a future Watch OS update so that I can turn off the "Always On" feature to save battery life.

Is your daughter's watch updated to 10.2? Because they clearly changed things for the better in 10.2 . Or so is the case on my Series 9. Still, id like option to control the brightness, but it is readable now.

JDEEBEE1 wrote:

I have just bought the ultra 2. My first watch from apple. I decided on that rather than another Garmin. It was fantastic in the day but when I went out for a night run I couldn’t see or read the display as it was too dim. I wear glasses for reading but could read this display in daylight, unfortunately not at all in low light with the dim screen. I also work in low light conditions. This watch is useless to me. I have decided to return the watch and buy a Garmin. All apple need to do is put an option for dimming on or off. Simple software update. I will not recommend this watch to anyone in my running community

Tell Apple:

Product Feedback - Apple

if you tap the face it will temporarily brighten up. the higher your brightness setting the brighter it temporarily illuminates

Me too. Disappointing. However, today I called support and was escalated to level 2. I was told Apple is aware of the issue and is looking for a fix, but there’s no ETA

Return it, and make sure they note the REASON for returning.

All: Download 17.2 now and post back your thoughts...

I for one am not satisfied that I cannot still adjust to full brightness in the dark.

Is it better? Yes. Not good enough IMO...

This morning I have noticed a similar problem on a new Apple Watch Series 9, the display dims more than expected if I have the window in front of me and a dark wall behind. The problem seems more noticeable with bright light in front and dark behind. I didn't notice the same problem with my Watch Series 7 after updating to WatchOS 10, so the problem might be only on the Series 9 and Ultra 2 ranges. (I erased the Series 7 last night ready to re-home with my sister so I can't check again).

I'm off to Feedback - Watch - Apple to post a change request!

We are all having this intentional design problem/decision of too dim a display to be useful when you want to use it in a darker environment.

I get the ultra dim config when not in use but raised to use or adjusting the controls should or must have a user preferred setting for the dark room scenario. Even just double the current max brightness might be enough. This would be easy for Apple to code up as another selection in the display brightness setting for dark mode.

Do not respond with a working as designed and battery life choices. The watch is used for moments so a tiny percentage of reduced battery power is acceptable.

We all spent $800+ on this luxury item

and our older models do not have this issue. I say issue as enough unhappy customers means you need to make a change. It is so obvious we all cannot fathom how this got released and it seems an endemic problem on other models.

This issue really does reduce the quality and overall experience of the watch. Having owned enough Apple products over the years, it seems they need outside users to test their products who are not the design engineers that clearly have different goals and will not use the product.

I’m an engineer and I would fix this ASAP.

I like the overall product but this has me seriously questioning my purchase.

Please post this on your UX groups window for next update release.

Thanks

I notice there is a new OS out (10.0.2) - maybe they have fixed it already..... I am downloading now to see if it fixes my Ultra 2.

Not impressed so far, came from a Series 7 and now night / dark rooms is really difficult on a premium product!

If you haven't sorted it Apple - you need to......

Agree. If this is not fixed within the return period, I WILL return this. Even worse… Watch OS 10 RUINED made my Ultra 1 DIMMER TOO!!! Also… A brightness workaround on the ultra 1 was rendered useless with the WatchOS 10 update… So BOTH Ultras are literally ruined for me!

RIDICULOUS. iPhones have an auto-brightness OFF switch in options, so we can choose our brightness…but on the watch?? No such control. I am seriously ticked because I can return the Ultra 2…bit now Apple has ruined my Ultra 1 as well??? Wow.

How about visually impaired (me!)?? We don’t even have an override in Accessibility options for the visually impaired?? Apple REALLY did damage to existing owners here.

So last night after barely being able to see anything on my watch, I moved from one low light room to another. The second low light room seemed to be light enough, because my watch suddenly brightened and it was readable. I then found the wayfinder watch face and turned off night mode as suggested by someone in this thread. I’ve since tested it in a fully dark space as well as very low light, and it now seems ok, but I have to have to adjust the display to full brightness for it to be ok.

I’m not sure if this is fixed now or if I should still go back to the store for a swap. It seems a bit flaky, but I don’t know. There’s issues transferring my mobile data, too, so maybe there’s more going on. But for now at least I can see the screen ok.

For the price I’d have liked a better first day experience with this watch, though. This hasn’t been fun.