> starting at $1,200

So I am not their target market. I'll stick with Pebble, then.

For $450 you can have Instinct 2X Solar, which is a very useful tool watch, surprisingly functional without phone connection and with a month of battery life. Can probably be used without ever connecting to a smartphone, I'm not 100% sure but everything seems to be configurable from the watch itself. Almost useless for reading text messages though. Basically a polar opposite to Apple Watch for a similar price.

Pebble is nice as a concept, with E-Ink and easily programmable watchfaces, but its hardware is arguably quite ugly, and has way less sensors.

The target market is affluent endurance athletes and outdoor enthusiasts. It's a limited niche but Garmin has a bunch of other smart watches targeting different customers at a range of price points.