I take it you don’t have a garmin? You can play music directly from it (spotify, YouTube music, etc apps). You get phone notifications, can respond to text messages, make payments, and newer versions include LTE. They are absolutely a smart watch.
My Enduro 2 lasts around that long, with about 1.5-2 hours of daily GPS tracking for running, part of 4 hours total exercise tracking per day, and underlying background fitness data collection (HR, respiration, temperature etc. including sleep).
As I write, it's at 37% with 6 days left of charge. And it charges 0 to 100% in around 2 hours.
I used to use a fancy Movado / Android Wear watch that without word of a lie could die before 8pm on almost minimal use. It was an absolutely redundant item to own.
Yup. Garmin battery life is insane. I keep seeing people comment how they charge their watches on a near daily basis and that's just insane to me.
I charge my fenix 7 solar maybe once a month. My use case is about 10 hours a week of activity tracking, usually trail runs. This goes up to about 20 hours a week in the summer but i dont recharge much more often. I use garmin pay and occasionally listen to podcasts on my watch while running. I also use the on-watch maps quite a bit on my trail runs.
I get notifications for text messages, phone calls, and emails on my VivoActive 6. There are also good apps; for instance, the built-in (free) golf app is great. Battery lasts over a week, too. So far, I'm pretty happy with it and don't feel the need to get an Apple Watch which requires charging every day.
