Why People Ditch Smartwatches for Something Simpler

The promise never matched the reality. If you make it small enough to be as nice on the wrist as a simpler (electro) mechanical, it has crap battery life. Nobody worked out how to package a round display without a massive cable bulge or a rim, and the designs are Jony Ive passé (it's a square with rounded corners mate) or frankly B grade.

Not that I'm totally satisfied with the four most recent non smart watch buys I've made this last 2 decades. The most functional (a cheap tissot) had inadequate waterproofing for the battery, the least electrical (an automatic winder Japanese down market brand "j springs") was highly inaccurate, the Timex "Will Farrell wore it well" iron Man did exactly what it said on the label but when the alarm broke Timex didn't fix it, and the citizen solar radio synced watch I've wound up on has two dials which basically repeat UTC instead of usefully showing a second timezone.

But i have the pleasure of making raspberry pi JJY/DCF/WWVB repeater station synced to ntp. Newer ones are gps synced which is probably easier but less entertaining. (Australia isn't even fringe reception for radio time signals)

Digital smart watches make complications boring. The whole point is to have paid a Swiss gnome to make an entire universe in a space the size of a pea.

I do kind of envy my apple watch friends who can track our rowing pace and pay for coffee without a phone. The other stuff I can leave alone. Wearing a watch to bed does not appeal so sleep tracking was never for me. My son says soft awakening before the alarm goes is very nice. A gentle thrum on the wrist to bring you to a light doze.