14 pro max here. Always on. I thought I would turn it off but have never felt the need.
Besides, pictures of my pets are cycling through the dimmed screen so always nice when I glance.
I turned this feature off. I don’t see the benefit and 10 years of habitually putting my iPhone to sleep and seeing a black screen is hard to overcome.
I prefer to minimize distraction. I wouldn’t want that screen on when I’m not actively trying to read something from it. In very specific circumstances I would just turn off auto lock for the occasion. I also don’t like reading about any associated battery drain. Waste is waste, will only get worse over time, and I don’t like that.
So I wasn’t planning on turning it on when I get my 15. Rumors indicate this could remain a “Pro” feature anyway though, so likely not anything I’ll be needing to worry about. 
My phone’s lock screen is black with no picture. I changed the font to red. Whenever I set my phone down I can see the date and time. I am retired and sometimes lose track of the days of the week. It is great to just glance at my phone to see the date and time.
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This made me curious, so I tested it by turning my iPhone 14 Pro face down on a glass-topped table and looking underneath. My testing wasn’t rigorous, but no matter what I did, the Always-On display stayed on. Maybe there’s a delay?
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I also don’t have an iPhone 14 (I’ve an 8) but I’d like to see a poll on what models tidbit users use to put this poll into perspective.
I’ve got an 8+. It does all I want it to do, but I am wondering if today will usher in an outstanding new iPhone.
The technological wizardry these devices need is bigger batteries. That said it isn’t possible that keeping the screen on has absolutely no impact on the power consumption and I wouldn’t want to add anything unnecessary. To me keeping the screen on is certainly unnecessary. I can’t think of anything I need to see that often that the screen needs to stay on.
I use a wallet case with my iPhone (to each their own). The always on display is not important to me but I appreciate why some use it.
Hah, I guess the glass top did let light through? Now I recall that the display turns off when the Face ID sensor array is covered.
Not only do I keep always on for my iPhone 14 Pro off, I keep it off for my Apple Watch Ultra. I’d much rather have the battery life. I have to lift my hand to see my watch, it’ll turn on. I typically need to pick up my phone to see it and it will turn on. I don’t need it to waste batteries when idly laying on a desk or in a pocket.
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I had it enabled without realizing it was on. Your question has prompted me to go a few days with it off to see if I notice any difference.
I have enough distractions in my life. I don’t need my phone screen to always be on.
Same with my Apple Watch: I have to tap it to see the screen. Fine by me.
My iPhone is too old but I’ve tried the always on function on my Apple Watch for a couple of days and it didn’t add anything for me (and used too much battery). I suspect I’d be switching off the function immediately whenever I upgrade to an iPhone 14 or newer…
I ordered an iPhone 15 to replace my 12 mini. The AOD was not something that would have tempted me to go for a 15 Pro instead.
Use AOD and enjoy it on 14 Pro. My successful workaround for the horrible battery drain is to keep no apps running. Use an app and quit the app. Slightly annoying, but battery is almost as good as it was in my XR
The always-on display is pretty dim, so I don’t find it particularly distracting. If it has a significant impact on battery life, it doesn’t seem to matter for my usage pattern. I find the always-on display convenient, but it’s not a must-have feature.
I’m glad you’re having good results, but force-quitting apps (which is the only way to quit apps on an iPhone) is generally not a useful thing to do unless an app is frozen or misbehaving. I wrote about this several years ago.
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Not few will point out with the way memory management works in a modern OS such as iOS or even macOS, that doing this is likely to, if anything, actually increase battery drain.
In terms of reducing battery drain caused by app background activity, there’s an appropriate setting for this at Settings > General > Background App Refresh where you can turn it off for individual apps. Personally, every single app where I don’t know for certain that I rely on it also working when backgrounded (eg. Maps, MyShake), I turn that setting off.
My iPhone 14 Pro was running out of power every day after 10-12 hours of usage (or less). Apple support suggested turning off Always-On Display, and, while I doubt that it contributes much to this problem, I haven’t turned it back on.