I was looking up the term "no-nonsense and got the following synonyms:
earnest, grave, humorless, no-nonsense, po-faced [British], sedate, severe, sober, sobersided, solemn, staid, uncomic, unsmiling, weighty
Words like sedate, grave, and humorless all make no-nonsense sound like a negative word, but I don't think that has to be the case. Same story with no-frills:
austere, spartan, stark
Again, these make no-frills sound like a bad thing. Austere and spartan are rarely used in a complimentary sense.
But I don't think that has to be the case! I know that a no-nonsense car is going to deliver something that's simple and effective. A no-frills car would get me from point A to point B without trying to upsell me on crazy features and trendy marketing.
So, is there a word to describe something that is 'no-nonsense' or 'no-frills' that would put it in a positive light?