I've got this simple smart band from Garmin that I don't have to charge for over a week, and they have other models that hold even longer.

Even if the only thing it would do is vibrate when I'm getting a call, that would be worth it.

I also hate charging things all the time, I'm sure you'd like it more.

If you just want sleep and activity tracking, I am pretty happy with garmin so far. I charge it about once a week or less. I don't use it for notifications or any other smart stuff. Just weather, sleep, and activity tracking.

I mean some years ago Apple (or someone in the industry, don't quote me this is now just rumours and hearsay) that they intentionally optimized for about a day of battery life; the technology is there to make a smartphone last for a week, but that means cutting down on performance and whatnot.

I'm pretty confident that iOS 1.0 or 2.0 or whichever would last for a week on a modern-day iphone, even without all the optimizations they've done since then. Battery capacity tripled or quadrupled, and there's been multiple generations of chip design since then.

I am the same way. My watch is firstly a watch, secondly needs to do minimal things (HR, step counter, sleep analysis, notifications). For that the Withings Steel HR [1] was perfect.

I bought it at the start of the pandemic after seeing it on my local news, and wore it every day/night for 5-6 months before needing to take it off to charge, and when I did that, I realized I lost the charger.

It was an amazing watch though. Simple and elegant.

1: https://www.withings.com/us/en/steel-hr

That was exactly how I felt about the smart watch, right up until I got one. Before then, I had not warn a watch daily for decades. Previously, when I did wear one, I actually wore 2 as a soccer referee, but never for much longer than 90 mins. The charging thing is a thing, but it charges so damn fast that I can charge it on my desk while working and not even think about it. The headphone jack is still an issue for me, and is one of the main reasons I still drive an iPhone 6S+.

With all of that, as much as I hate to admit I like it, but I do like my smart watch. I keep finding things about it that I like the longer I have had it. There are a few things I wish I could do with it, but that's more of the app available on my phone doesn't have a watch version.

I am happy with a Mi Band... 4. Tracks steps, sleep, heart rate and exercise, relays notifications, allows me to find my phone, lasts 2 weeks on a charge. And it's not going to be a disaster should I lose or damage one. The Mi Band line is top bang for buck. The thing that's putting me off from buying a newer model is that they got rid of the capacitive home button. For me swiping back is just not as quick. Sometimes to check time or step count while my hands are busy, I just tap it with my nose :^)