Despite the reliance on smart phones it does not provide notificationsPerformance-wise it excels as a heart monitor

In use, since I am a walker/hiker for exercise and have a minor heart condition, I absolutely love the real time heart rate monitoring.

If you work out hard and get your heart rate into the higher zones, this is definitely NOT the monitor you want.

I think it could be a really good fitness monitor with some simple changes

Those don't take away from the fact that it's a usable fitness monitor.

I think this device excels as a heart rate monitor

I am a pretty active person and over the last year I and my family have used a number of fitness trackers.