I did it when I used to work in the office, and it was pretty nice. I have the first generation Apple Watch, so the phone still had to be nearby, but I could keep my phone in my pocket, and it freed up a little space on my desk.

My wife uses the current Apple Watch with AirPods at work, and only uses her phone at home. She leaves her phone in her purse, and seems happy to not have to carry anything else around.

I did it last summer for running. I have an Apple Watch series 4. It's pretty restrictive -- you must use Apple Music, and you can only play Apple Music playlists -- i.e., you can't just search for music and play that. It was nice running without a phone, but I have a Flip Belt this year and it doesn't bother me.

I have a watch with cell service and AirPods. I leave my phone at home when running and biking. Works fine for music and emergency comms, with negligible weight to bounce around. Also stops me leaving my phone behind in the gym.

Out of topic for sure, but I tried the same combination and my AirPods keep falling off while running. Do you have any solutions to this?

If you just need the basics - phone calls, simple messages you can do via voice, directions, streaming and local music/podcasts. It works well.