Longtime Joplin [1] user here, how does the most recent version of Zettlr compare? I have grown really comfortable with the simple interface of Joplin, plus using S3 for sync makes life easy for me as I'm living on my own infrastructure.
Also forgot to mention if it wasn't obvious - I'm not a STEM researcher and don't have aspirations to use a notes app beyond notes, but I am curious about efficiency, simplicity and workflow.
[1] https://joplinapp.org/