On the subject of e-ink smart watches, I love my Pebble Time for exactly this reason. One of the backlight settings is Off, and the display is gorgeous. I forget it's even e-ink, because I'm so used to thinking of Kindles when I think of e-ink, with their weird flickering page refreshes. This thing has buttery smooth animations and looks like any other screen to me. The 5-day battery life is certainly helped by this.
The notifications thing really did bug me at first, but fortunately the app allows you to silence notifications. I have mine set to ping me about calendar appointments and text messages, and pretty much nothing else. That strikes a good balance for me.