This is the main value of the watch to me. I like it as a standalone tool in the wilderness. I am not in the market for a phone peripheral. To me, the phone app is a peripheral to setup/maintain the watch and manage its data. But during hikes they are not connected at all.

I also really like the "course following" navigation on the watch and the customizable data pages. So I can have at my wrist a concise dashboard of timing, distance, elevation, ascent/descent, and upcoming turn guidance as I approach trail junctions. It's there at a glance.

I do also have mapping software on the phone for redundancy and other purposes, but the watch will get me to my destination on its own.