Got mine on holiday in the US a couple of months ago. Mine is the brown leather strapped version (not blue like this one). The strap did feel very stiff and naff for a few days, but it's now become a bit more supple and is really comfortable and hasn't scuffed or scratched. Not sure what the blue one will be like.

I agree that for the first few days, battery life was a bit random, but it's now really good. I still charge it every night, but it's normally still on 70% at the end of the day. WiFi does seem to be a bit hit and miss though, generally I leave it off as there's not a huge benefit as far as I can see. Stability is pretty good too. I've only had to restart it a couple of times in a couple of months (+3 times for software updates).

I've not had issues with charge dropping as soon as I take it off the charger in the morning... except that the charging magnetic connector is a bit rubbish. The strap on mine is a continuous loop, so you can't put the watch down on its back. Instead you have to balance it on the strap, put it on its side or put it face down. The watch is quite light, so the cable pulls the watch off the table, or the connector rocks slightly and it stops charging. I'm going to 3d print myself one of these to make it easier.

The Zenwatch 2 is one of the few watches with a speaker inside. It's currently disabled, but the expectation is that with Wear 1.4 (on the watch, not the phone app) will mean notifications will ping on the watch... and maybe also allow phone answering, Dick Tracy style:

No phone and watch uses Bluetooth to send/receive texts emails etc it can connect to home network via WiFi if phones is off or out of Bluetooth range still get emails for example

Always on screen goes to black n white/monochrome to save battery, looks naff. You can have watch set to light up when move wrist or movement off so have to touch screen or press button for it to light up, I have mine set to screen off as lights up constantly when your are eating for example just wasting battery

Not seen any for sale yet with metal straps. The straps are standard size 22mm from mem so you can swap out to anything you want, I ve put it on to a black rubber strap. The watch is quite big for small wrists so you might prefer more flex in your strap.

Apple aren't keen on others muscling in on their walled garden. I've heard (disclaimer: Android user) there's some quite serious limitations when using Wear watches on an iPhone. At the moment, you get Wear watch faces through the Google Play store as downloads to your Android phone, which obviously isn't possible in iOS. If you're on iPhone you are stuck with the default face choices. I believe the level of interaction with the phone is nowhere near as deep as is possible when you stay 'on brand'.