I never had an apple watch, what about Garmin it's a huge leap from FR230 to Fenix7pro. With both models you can control your music player, Fenix allows your to listen to music from watch (I never use it). What about text messages, there's an option to quick answer from watch if you use Android. You write most common answers in Garmin connect and then use it on watch

I can't say my Garmin Fenix is slow, it runs with my pace