Do I miss anything?
When not using VPN, the VPN icon on the system tray is gray with a red dot. Clear!
When using VPN, the VPN icon on the system tray is green with a lock symbol. Clear!
BUT - when using smart VPN, the VPN icon on the system tray still says “no VPN”. Therefore, browsing the VPN app settings is the only way to figure out if the Smart VPN is ON or the VPN is entirely off.