Unfortunately, I think you're right about viable competition. Google's equivalent seems to be the closest in terms of features but from what I've seen the watches are buggy and slow, as well as having privacy issues.

I've got the latest watch and it is very good, so although the price is high it does not seem particularly unreasonable.

iPhones, on the other hand, give me the impression of being very expensive for what they offer and I find them unsatisfactory in a variety of ways. Currently, I plan to keep the iPhone 8 for as long as I can then decide what to do depending on the state of the market; this will probably involve getting a reasonably-priced Android phone with a custom ROM and some sort of fitness tracker.