A smash burger isn't a gimmick and it isn't about being fancy. It's chemistry. When we press a loose ball of beef onto a screaming hot flat-top, all that surface area meets all that heat at once, and you get the browning that cooks call the Maillard reaction. That's the deep, savory crust you taste before you even hit the meat.
The trick most folks miss is that you only smash once, and you do it right away while the beef is still loose. After that first press, you leave it be. Smashing a second time just squeezes out the juice you worked to keep. We salt the top the second it hits the steel, flip it once those edges go lacy and brown, and that's it.
Thin is the whole point too. A thin patty means more crust per bite, which is why two smaller smashed patties usually beat one thick one. More steel contact, more browning, more of that beefy flavor folded into every layer of the stack.