I'm a huge Trek fan. I only watched the first episode of Discovery and decided to pass. To me, this seems more like a comic-book version of Trek. It's very visually-oriented. It looks spectacular. But it doesn't look like Star Trek.
I also am not a big fan of the re-design of the Klingons. That seems unnecessary to me.
And a smaller complaint, but still...is that everything seems just so different and even more advanced than TOS. It's supposed to be set 10 years prior to TOS. And I get it...it's the alternate timeline. So I call this a small complaint. It just gives it an unfamiliar feel. Doesn't even feel like the new Abrams movies.
I do like the characters they came up with and especially the alien crew-member. They also chose really good actors. Production values are fantastic. I'll say it again...it looks great. Those are theater quality visuals.
But mostly, like you, I don't really have any desire for another monthly charge. So that's really why I stopped at episode 1. If it were free or on Netflix or some other service with more than just Star Trek (that I'd actually watch), I'd probably give it more of a chance. But time is precious, as are funds. I think they made a big mistake here. It's probably going to end up being pirated like crazy, and I don't want anything to do with that. Maybe when it comes out on blu-ray I'll give it a go.