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Have you looked at/tried the Garmin smart watches? I wear an Instinct 2, and from your list I’d say: - Battery life is around 25 - 30 days (it would be longer

Have you looked at/tried the Garmin smart watches? I wear an Instinct 2, and from your list I’d say: - Battery life is around 25 - 30 days (it would be longer if I was outside more and got more benefit from solar charging) - The screen is always visible - The UX on the watch is pretty terrible, not going to lie. - Not a problem at all. When it is very, very, dark I have to press a button to temporarily activate the backlight.

mikestew 4y ago
When it is very, very, dark I have to press a button to temporarily activate the backlight. The Fenix 3 I wore like ten years ago had a setting to turn the backlight on when I turned my wrist. It was not as reliable as the same functionality on Apple Watch, but good enough. I’m an Apple Watch guy myself, but I’ve got a drawer full of Garmins, and they might make a fine choice for OP.
- marcus0x62 4y ago
  I don’t think the instinct line does this, but it does highlight something worth mentioning for anyone considering Garmin watches — these aren’t like Apple watches, where there are a few key differences between the various models. The UX and feature set is wildly different, and there isn’t even a real hierarchy where you can say “model a has features 1 and 2; model b has that plus feature 3; etc.”
tolger 4y ago
I second the Garmin Instinct Solar as a really good everyday watch. I got tired of charging my Apple Watch everyday and getting annoying notifications all the time. I just wanted something to keep track of my walks, track my sleep and give me basic watch functions such as alarms, timers and stopwatch. The Instinct is perfect for that. I also have it set so that the backlight turns automatically on when it's dark and I flip my wrist. I wear it to bed (sleep tracking) and I can always check the time if I wake up in the middle of the night.

mikestew 4y ago

When it is very, very, dark I have to press a button to temporarily activate the backlight. The Fenix 3 I wore like ten years ago had a setting to turn the backlight on when I turned my wrist. It was not as reliable as the same functionality on Apple Watch, but good enough. I’m an Apple Watch guy myself, but I’ve got a drawer full of Garmins, and they might make a fine choice for OP.

marcus0x62 4y ago
I don’t think the instinct line does this, but it does highlight something worth mentioning for anyone considering Garmin watches — these aren’t like Apple watches, where there are a few key differences between the various models. The UX and feature set is wildly different, and there isn’t even a real hierarchy where you can say “model a has features 1 and 2; model b has that plus feature 3; etc.”

tolger 4y ago

I second the Garmin Instinct Solar as a really good everyday watch. I got tired of charging my Apple Watch everyday and getting annoying notifications all the time. I just wanted something to keep track of my walks, track my sleep and give me basic watch functions such as alarms, timers and stopwatch. The Instinct is perfect for that. I also have it set so that the backlight turns automatically on when it's dark and I flip my wrist. I wear it to bed (sleep tracking) and I can always check the time if I wake up in the middle of the night.