I meant the clock itself doesn’t need an internet or local network connection, with which it could do things other than syncing the time.
The clock could set itself from radio signals: standards-compliant.
The clock could have WiFi or Ethernet and use [S]NTP: standards-compliant.
The clock could have a SIM and use NITZ: standards-compliant.
But BT it is. So now rather than having a dependency on standard or generic resources, it requires a BT pairing with the right kind of phone Ridiculous.
This was my thinking as well, and why I rejected the idea. I'm not installing some rando company's information-harvesting data-selling garbage app on my phone to do something that the clock should do itself.