I am fine without a smartwatch
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I bought a Garmin Fenix 5s when they came out. It's not like a Samsung or Apple smart watch: no touchscreen, no bright colourful OLED. Just a pretty simple waterproof watch with 5 physical buttons, GPS, WIFI, heart rate sensor, altimeter and notification mirroring from my phone. I look at it when I want to know the time or when I get a notification. That's is.
This morning I was in the kitchen making coffee and I logged into a website on my laptop. It sent me an SMS verification code, but my phone was still upstairs... Wait .. hold... "bzzzzz!" My wrist has the code. This was the main reason I bought it. It helps with phone addiction. I no longer have to pull my phone out of my pocket for 90%+ notifications. After being on a very busy on-call for years, this was a huge deal for me. I had unwittingly turned into Quick Draw McGraw because of the constant practice of pulling my phone out to ack an alert. Once your phone is in your hand, it's amazing how quickly you flip from the notification to social media or the web. The watch changed all of that, and I got some of my sanity back.
https://www.fratellowatches.com/evolution-of-the-casio-g-sho...
There's a regular online joke that the watch is more survivable than its user.
While the brand has gone all-in on new modern designs and loud limited editions, Casio still makes a faithful direct descendant of that original G-Shock for around $50, that's certified for NASA flight. They make mid-market models with solar and radio-controlled time adjustment for $120 that look exactly the same, but will never run out of battery or have the wrong time. And for true collectors, they make $4,000 models that look... exactly the same, but in hardened, blackened titanium instead of rubber.
I see a watch as a tool. aside from the date and time that any watch should provide reminders, the current temperature/weather, media controls for my phone, something to let me know my phone is blowing up when i've got it muted or it isn't in my pocket, and maybe a calculator is really about all a smart watch should do.
open and extensible enough to be able to roll your own tools or maybe hack together something like a remote garage door opener or a remote for a tv or pc would be nice, or a data logger of some sort (steps,temperature, location, barametric pressure, altitude,etc) but there are probably items that could get the same job done, just as easily, possibly better.
Heart rate/glucose monitoring may be helpful for some people with medical issues or an interest in their personal fitness/health, gps could be handy for hikers or certain careers..
but to be honest, the vast majority most of the features of "smartwatches" are solutions looking for a problem and manufacturers have proven over and over they have no clue. a watch that has to be charged daily is almost pointless. a bright multicolor screen and enough processing power to play hd video on a 1-3" inch screen is pointless and a waste of battery.
advertisers, marketplaces, etc are a bit too much. you probably could get a few accidental ad clicks on a scientific calculator but if you need money that bad you're doing something wrong or trying to save up to be able to move planets with a spoon.
"smart watch" utility/design peaked somewhere between the pebble and the amazfit bip.
Here in Finland Apple watches are the most obvious "standard", as seen on over half the people taking the tram or bus. But in other circles the Rolex Daytona, or Submariners are ubiquitous.
I collect mechanical watches, with about forty that I rotate through depending on my planned activities, or mood. But it has to be said I own one quartz watch and it is the Casio terrorist watch!
But if I do then often these are fitbits/applewatches. regardless of the phone they own.