Which watch for a newbie? - eviltoast

My partner has recently sounded AW curious for the first time recently. Her main motivation seems to be fitness functions. She gone through 3 Fitbits over the last few years, and they have all been cheap pieces of crap that died prematurely.
My main question is how does an SE stack up compared to and AW7/8/9? We are both in our mid 60s and I got my first AW a couple of years ago for health reasons because I’m kind of a wreck. She on the other hand is relatively healthy and maybe is less concerned about the heart related functions that appeared to be less robust on the SE. i’m assuming that once she got to watch she would use it for more than just fitness, but it’s hard to say. She is a Pokémon Go fiend though, and walks the dog every night with a phone in each hand. And when at home adds an iPad to the mix, lol. Would a watch add anything to her Pokémon experience? While she’s relatively tech savvy for someone our age, she’s never been one to need the latest and greatest device. When she bought her iPhone 14 last summer, that was probably the first time she’s ever had a current generation phone.