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Waterborne finishes are often promoted with "poly" in the name as a marketing gimmick. So far I haven't seen any of the high quality waterborne that looked plastic. The problem is that hey will do nothing to change the wood color or accentuate the grain. I like applying them over shellac to pop the grain and adjust color. The two I like are GF 450 and SW A100 Acrylic. The A100 is not quite as clear as the 450 but is a whole lot cheaper. If you don't want to change the woods appearance just use the 450/A100; depending on the wood you may get a slight darkening.
Don't mess with spar varnish! It is a real pain compared to waterborne and unless you use Epifanes (will darken the wood) you will waste your money and time.
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I agree the waterbornes are primarily acrylic finishes and don't have the plastic look of a polyurethane finish. But when you mention the "feel and color" of the wood, I'm thinking you want an oil finish similar to a danish oil...most of them (IMHO) aren't very well suited to outdoor use. Without a change in your criteria, I'm thinking one of the outdoor deck finishes is as close as you'll get. If you decide a film finish is acceptable then there are much better choices available.
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You will search high and low and never find a product that works well outdoors w/o at least some maintenance, many require a lot of it. If you want to feel the wood you should use an oil finish like Ipe' oil or any of the others offered and promoted. None of them last very long without cleaning and recoating. I put Ipe' oil on my new Ipe' deck. Looked great for about 2 months and faded out badly after 4. I'll be doing it again in late Spring, probably with another product in hopes of it looking good all Summer.
Film finishes will look great, just like indoor furniture, but you MUST maintain them regularly. That generally means you have to clean and reapply at least one coat every year, maybe every two years if you store the furniture under cover in the Winter. If you don't follow the maintenance schedule the UV inhibitors will break down, the film will crack, water will get under it, and you will have a real chore to restore it. The only exterior film finish I've used is Epifanes Marine Varnish. It's great stuff - as long as you follow the maintenance schedule.
Leaving outdoor furniture uncovered outdoors through the Winter (I live near Niagara Falls) seems to result in much faster degradation of a film finish than if you cover it or better still store it in a shed, etc.
John
