For me:

• It tells time and is always correct, also during daylight saving season
• It tells the weather forecast, I check it before leaving my house.
• I like that the alarm wakes me up with vibration mode, but not my partner (yes I wear my watch at night, but around my ankle, pro-tip)
• I like to easily read important notifications (I am quite strict in what it does show, so only texts from important people, my calendar and like bank notifications get through). Added benefit is that I don’t get distracted with other stuff because I don’t open my phone.
• I often lose my phone, my watch is able to find it.
• I use my watch to get simple navigation option when I go running/inline skating in an area I don’t know yet. Works better than the phone because I don’t have to hold the phone in my hand.
• I set it up so my partner can see where I’m at. When I see a notification from them asking where I am I can easily (and safily) start the tracking without having to pull out my phone.
• It tracks my heartrate, so I can do heartrate based training.

So is it really necessary? No obviously not, I will survive without it, but I do like it a lot and would miss it of it wasn’t there. But that’s how it is for me, that does not mean it will be the same for you.

I use my bicycle for commuting. I often forget to text my partner that I’m on my way home. It’s smart to text them when I’m on my way home in case if I get hit by a car. I want to be able to quickly send a text while riding my bike. It is an inconvenience to do so with a phone.

But I also like the idea of having a pedometer, heart rate monitor.

For me, hourly movement reminders and medication reminders without having to constantly keep my phone in my pocket has been a godsend. Keeping track of my heart rate (especially while asleep) has also been great for being more aware of when my PTSD symptoms are acting up. I’m also never going back to a sound based alarm instead of a vibrating one, no idea if regular watches have that now too or not.

I am also a bicyclist with three different bikes. One watch replaces three bicycle computers. I can track performance metrics, longevity of components, and service intervals… for all of my bicycles.

My watch also has functions for sailing performance metrics, kayaking, hiking, running, and lots more sports.

That’s ignoring the other watch functions: timers, find my phone (great for when the phone slips between cushions and I didn’t notice), compass, barometric trends, notification filtering…

My partner has the same watch. The longitudinal health stats from her watch was one of the key factors in getting her health complaints taken seriously. One medical facility completely, repeatedly dismissed her concerns as “nothing serious.” Turns out she had Stage-IVb cancer (now recovered).

For me personally, I want to limit interactions with my phone by reading notifications on my wrist, only allowing certain apps to send notifications through, and maybe sending a quick reply through the watch if needed.

That said, most smart watches now are overcomplicated bloat, it’s all been downhill since the Pebble Time IMO