Semi-smart watch

[reuben]

Well, I didn't buy anything two years ago when I started this thread. I was close to retirement (retired in early 2023), my mom died, I bought a house, I sold a house, and I've been spending goo gobs of time, money, and energy on the new house and land (read: no cycling). But life is settling down. Trips and activities are moving back to the fore.

And two years is not only forever in the land of technology, but also in the land of fitness. Alack, alas.

To refine my specs:

Requirements:
Solar powered with optional charger, preferably USB-C
Long battery life - days/weeks with solar charging
Heart rate - optical is fine

Wants:
Simple display. I'm a minimalist at heart, shaking my fist at 21st century clouds. Apparently Garmin can do this with 3rd party downloads from Connect IQ.
Simple operation. I don't want to have to press N+1 buttons to view something.

No need for:
GPS
Maps
Music
Alerts
Wifi
Bluetooth
Various exercise modes
Logging
Uploading data
Touchscreen
et cetera

Solar/battery - There can be multiday, and even multiweek periods of clouds and rain in both northern Scotland and southern Patagonia, hence the desire for long lasting battery and efficient solar charging - even if I'm outside for 16 hours/day, there may not be much power to collect. Plus, I'm lazy, and don't like plugging stuff in. On the other hand, I'd be going into town every 7-14 days to resupply with food, so I don't need unlimited battery life and super duper solar charging.

Heart rate - Informational only. My old Suunto with an optical sensor told me everything I needed to know (one thing - HR), and it was an older sensor. Garmin is now up to the Gen5, or at least Gen4 sensors, on all of its watches. Gen4 would be fine for me.

Display - Simple is good. Apparently the Garmin faces/displays can be customized using third party plugins. This appeals to me if I can get a simple one, like this ASAP face. That display with HR would be smartwatch utopia for me.

This would be an everyday watch - local day hikes, backpacking for a month at a time, cycling, watching sports on TV without spilling undue amounts of cheese on my shirt, planting garlic, harvesting chestnuts, etc.

I like my old Suunto, but they seem to have fallen by the wayside. If they have something comparable to Garmin I'd surely be open to it. Or any other manufacturer for that matter.

The Garmin Enduro 3 is looking good, as are the updated Instinct models. Fenix looks cool, but I don't see the benefit of them for my desires (I try to put vanity aside).

Date, time, occasional HR, good battery life, and good solar charging are all really want. I realize that I'm gonna get a lot more than that, but such is life in the 21st century. If I can turn off some features because I don't want them for my own use, don't want them to drain my battery (e.g. GPS), or don't want Garmin/Google/whatever to track me, that would be a plus.

Thanks.