Amazfit with Gadgetbridge.
I bought one a couple of years ago and it works great. Gadgetbridge keeps all the smart functionality local to your phone.
I’ve heard good things about the Garmins as well which I think are mostly also supported in Gadgetbridge.
Yeah, just use the Beta, it’s extremely stable. Don’t get it from the Play Store though, as you’ve seen it hasn’t been updated in years. Just get it from their GitHub.
I’ve tried quite a few after leaving Nova a few years ago and have settled on Lawnchair. It seems to be the most stable and is under active development.
Best alternative for WhatsApp would be Signal
I’d recommend checking out Gadgetbridge. It is an open source app, with no network permission requirements, that replaces the OEM app for a large number of watches. I’m running an Amazfit GTS 4 with it and it has been almost flawless.
I see Garmins are being recommended but if you are looking for something cheaper, I’ve been extremely happy with my Amazfit watch. It has pretty much all the same functions as the Garmins but at a fraction of the cost, and is fully compatible with Gadgetbridge, so all your data is stored locally.
It would be great if you could credit the OC when you post these.
But if I comment then I’ll break my 9 year record of being a lurker on social media!
I use Syncthing for files/photos/videos and Nextcloud for calendar and contacts.