Is it worth buying cheap smartwatches

By Isabella Storyclaire

last updated September 17, 2024

Contributions sourced from

Best cheap smartwatches in 2024

The best cheap smartwatches offer affordable ways to get connected on your wrist. While they might not keep up with the best smartwatches in every aspect, the top-rated budget models might have all the features you need.

Many of the best cheap smartwatches mirror smartphone notifications, track activity, control music playback and more. Some are older versions of models we've tested, too. So while they might not have all the latest features (their screens might be a bit smaller, and some of their sensors not as sophisticated) they were probably considered excellent smartwatches in our initial reviews of their performance, and are still quite good.

The best cheap smartwatches you can buy today

Best cheap smartwatch

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The best cheap smartwatch overall

Specifications

Sizes: One size

Battery Life (Rated): 6 days

GPS: Yes

Sleep Tracking: Yes

Swim-Proof: Yes

Heart Rate Monitor: Yes

Reasons to buy

Good battery life

Custom training programs (with subscription)

Great sleep analysis

Reasons to avoid

Can only use one voice assistant at once

The best cheap smartwatch for those interested in a full-featured experience Fitbit Versa 3, the next-generation of the popular Fitbit Versa series. The Versa 3s standout upgrade is on-board GPS. Even when you leave your phone at home, the Versa can track your location during outdoor exercise. A curvy, large display is great, too.

Plus the Versa 3 has a great motivational workout feature, Active Zone Minutes. Introduced with the Fitbit Charge 4 and now a staple of Fitbit devices, Active Zone Minutes monitors the time you spend in the fat burn, cardio or peak heart-rate zones while exercising. Your goal is to earn the AHAs and WHOs recommended 150 Active Zone Minutes each week. Again you can use your Fitbit Versa 3 for phone calls and speak to voice assistants for queries, but note you can only enable one voice assistant at once. The watch is compatible with both iOS and Android devices, which we'd consider a huge perk.

Read our full Fitbit Versa 3 review.

Best cheap Apple Watch

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The best cheap Apple Watch

Specifications

Sizes: 40mm/44mm

Battery Life (Rated): 18 hours

GPS: Yes

Sleep Tracking: Yes

Swim-Proof: Yes

Heart Rate Monitor: Yes

Reasons to buy

Premium-feeling design

Huge app library

Large screen

Though it's been phased out by the second-generation Apple Watch SE (2022), the original Apple Watch SE can still be bought at select retailers as one of the best cheap smartwatches. What's more, it's still packed with premium features. You get a larger display, international emergency calling, fall detection, noise monitoring, and optional LTE support to go phone-free.

Comparing the Apple Watch SE (2022) vs. Apple Watch SE, there's not too many big differences. Apple Watch SE's design is basically that of every other Apple Watch that came before, and it has a heart rate monitor for fitness tracking. The overall performance might not be as zippy compared to the Apple Watch Series 8, but it can be updated to watchOS 10, the latest Apple Watch software version.

Read our full Apple Watch SE review.

Best cheap Samsung smartwatch

(Image credit: Future)

The best cheap smartwatch for Samsung users

Specifications

Works with: Android

Display: 1.4 inch AMOLED (450x450)

Heart Rate: Yes

GPS: Yes

LTE: Yes

Battery Life: 24-36 hours

Water Resistance: Swim-proof

Reasons to buy

Slimmer design and new watch faces

New Wear OS feels like Tizen, but with more apps

First major smartwatch with body composition analysis

Reasons to avoid

Battery life can be inconsistent

Samsung's fourth-gen Galaxy Watch is the best cheap smartwatches for Android users or people with Samsung's phone. Not only does it look similar to the new Galaxy Watch 5, but it's now available at steep discounts. The Galaxy Watch 4 was the first smartwatch to run the latest Wear OS platform, and offers a full suite of health tracking features. It even has a body composition analysis feature.

There aren't many differences between the Galaxy Watch 5 vs. Galaxy Watch 4, making the Galaxy Watch 4 a great choice, especially at a discounted price. Though it's technically been discontinued, you can still find new at many retailers.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 review.

The best cheap smartwatch for sleep-tracking

Fitbit Versa 2. Credit: Tom's Guide (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The best cheap smartwatch for sleep-tracking

Specifications

Works with: Android, iOS

Display: 1.4 inches

Heart Rate: Yes

GPS: Connected to phone

LTE: No

Battery Life: Five days (two with always-on display)

Water Resistance: Swim-proof

Mobile Payments: Fitbit Pay

Reasons to buy

Good battery life

Customized training programs (via subscription)

Sleep tracking

Reasons to avoid

Lacks on-board GPS

Alexa works inconsistently

The Fitbit's Versa 2 makes slight tweaks on the original Versa, including an AMOLED display and built-in Alexa. Fitbit's smartwatch offers all of the features we liked in the original Versa, such as accurate heart-rate tracking, lengthy battery life, colorful touchscreen display and in-depth sleep analysis. That's why the Versa 2 made it to our best cheap smartwatch list and is one of the best Fitbit devices you can still buy.

This Versa doesn't have onboard GPS like the newer Fitbit Versa 3, which would make it a more capable Apple Watch rival, and its app store isn't as well-stocked as Apple's. But with five-day battery life, cross-platform compatibility, an affordable price and sophisticated sleep-tracking features, the Versa 2 is a solid smartwatch for most people.

Read our full Fitbit Versa 2 review.

Best cheap smartwatch for style

(Image credit: Future)

The best cheap smartwatch for style

Specifications

Works with: Android, iOS

Display: 1 inch

Heart Rate: Yes

GPS: Connected to phone

LTE: No

Battery Life: Five days

Water Resistance: Swim-proof

Mobile Payments: No

Reasons to buy

Stylish, lightweight design

Best display of any Garmin lifestyle watch

On-board pregnancy tracking app

The Garmin Lily is a small and stylish smartwatch that will make you forget the bulky GPS wearables the brand is best known for. A fashionable offering designed with first-time, female smartwatch users in mind, the $199 Garmin Lily is a gamble for the company that's paid off.

In addition to a small and barely-there feel, the display is accentuated by a patterned lens that somehow doesn't obstruct the content you'd want to see at a glance. Of all the best Garmin watches, even the previous lifestyle model attempts made by the company, this one looks the most like actual jewelry.

Read our full Garmin Lily review.

Best cheap smartwatch for outdoor sports

(Image credit: Future/Tom's Guide)

The best cheap smartwatch for outdoor sports

Specifications

Works with: Android, iOS

Display: 1.3-inch AMOLED

Heart Rate: Yes

GPS: Yes

LTE: No

Battery Life: 20 days

Water Resistance: Up to 50 meters

Mobile Payments: No

Reasons to buy

Affordable for a GPS watch

Rugged design

Impressive battery life

With a large display, on-board GPS, built-in compass and enough durability certifications to survive Jurassic Park, the Amazfit T-Rex 2 one of the best cheap smartwatches ever made for the outdoors. At $199, its less than half the price of the Garmin Instinct and other popular GPS smartwatches, making it an affordable alternative.

Like other devices on ourbest sports watchpage, the T-Rex offers an impressive battery life, variety of sports modes and sleep tracking all wrapped in its impenetrable shell. With all the sensors you could want, the T-Rex is a beast to be reckoned with, plus who doesn't want a device named after a dinosaur?

Read our full Amazfit T-Rex 2 review.

Best cheap golf watch

(Image credit: Future)

Best cheap golf watch

Specifications

Works with: Android, iOS

Size: 43mm

Heart Rate: No

GPS: Yes

LTE: No

Battery Life: 30 days

Mobile Payments: No

Reasons to buy

Most affordable Garmin golf watch

Dependable GPS accuracy

Long-lasting battery life

Golf watches can be pricey, and especially for new or casual players, the upfront cost of the game tends to add up. So for the $199 Garmin Approach S12 to pack many of the key game features found in the brands higher-tier devices including 43,000 preloaded courses, shot-distance measurements and compatibility with Garmins other golf accessories its value is hard to beat.That's why it's one of the best cheap smartwatches for golfers, if not the best overall.

It doesnt have the finesse of Garmin's higher-end golf watches, and the lack of a heart rate monitor means it can't replace your fitness tracker. But for mirrored notifications and a simple, yet customizable watch face, there's plenty of versatility on and off the green.

Read our full Garmin Approach S12 review.

How to choose

How to choose the best cheap smartwatch for you

When shopping for a cheap smartwatch, you should look for the same things as if you were shopping for a higher-priced model. First, what kind of smartphone do you have? If you own an iPhone, we recommend sticking with the Apple Watch Series 3 (or some other version), as the Apple Watch is the only smartwatch that fully works with the iPhone.

If you have an Android smartphone, your best choice is either a Samsung or Wear OS smartwatch; both of those platforms fully support Android phones, such as making and receiving calls from your wrist, as well as crafting messages. Wear OS has a much larger app library than does Samsung's Tizen-based operating system, but we prefer the interface on Samsung's smartwatches, and they tend to have much longer battery life.

After that, you want to find a smartwatch that best fits your wrist or style. You have the most options with Wear OS, as many of Fossil's brandsDiesel, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Misfit, Emporio Armani, and moreall have their own smartwatches, with a multitude of styles, bands, sizes, and more. Both Apple and Samsung offer far fewer options in terms of style and size.

You also want to consider what you plan to do with the smartwatch. If you're into fitness, you'll want a smartwatch that's water-resistant and has GPS and a heart rate monitor.

How we test

How we test the best cheap smartwatches

We test cheap smartwatches the same way we do pricier models: By wearing them. We first see how well the watches fit on our wrists, and how easy the displays are to read (especially in sunlight and navigate. Depending on its capabilities, we also test the watches' sensors, such as GPS and heart rate monitors.If you need a watch that can track your workouts without your phone, check out our guides to the best GPS watches and best running watches instead.

Other criteria that factor into our ratings include the number of apps available for a smartwatch, how well it interacts with our smartphone, and battery life. In all of this, we also take into account the price of the smartwatch. The less a watch costs, the more leeway we're inclined to give it. Still, there are a lot of lousy cheap smartwatches and plenty of good ones under $200 so our tolerance only goes so far.

Best budget smartwatches: 7 cheap but good options

If you're looking for a budget smartwatch, there's never been more choice. And unlike in the past, cheap sub-$100/100 smartwatches stack up as very useable options.

The likes of Amazfit, Honor and Xiaomi are making genuinely powerful smartwatches for low prices - and we're seeing plenty of competition emerging from the likes of Redmi, Poco and Realme.

While top smartwatches like the Apple Watch Series 9 and Google Pixel Watch 2still command top prices for features like ECG and a wide array of third-party apps, there's an influx of less expensive devices going big on features and little on price.

If you want something slightly more established than the dregs sold on Amazon, check out our guide pulled from devices we've tried and tested.

Amazfit Active

Wareable

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Amazfit Active key features

1.75" AMOLED display, bright & clear
14-day battery life (typical use)
Tracks heart rate, sleep, GPS & activity
Smart features: calls, music, Alexa

A new entrant into our best budget smartwatch round-up, the Amazfit Active is a true all-rounder that impressed us in our testing.

The $149/129 price tag puts it at the upper end of what we'd class as a budget smartwatch but you get so much for your money here.

It's not the best looking smartwatch ever, but it's sleek and lightweight.

The AMOLED screen is a big upgrade on the Bip 5 (below), and Amazfit packs in new health and fitness features such as Daily Readiness and its AI coaching.

We put it through its paces and found GPS accuracy to be more than passable, and as long as you wear it nice and tight, heart rate accuracy was on par with big-name rivals, too.

The health features are a little lacking, but sleep tracking is detailed and well presented, and the Amazfit app offers a good experience with plenty of analysis.

The only real downside is the general feel of the OS, which is certainly very basic.

In short, the Amazfit Active is a superb budget fitness smartwatch, which offers way more than its price tag should allow.

Amazfit Bip 5

Wareable

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Amazfit Bip 5 key features

10-day battery
24/7 heart rate tracking
Over 120 sports modes + GPS
Alexa on the wrist

The latest Bip the Amazfit Bip 5 brings a host of improvements that make it a seriously good budget smartwatch pick. The screen has been enhanced, with a 320x380 TFT display. Its not AMOLED quality (which falls short of the CMF Watch Pro and Honor Watch 4) but it just about does a good enough job to hide its budget status.

The Bip 5 offers GPS, which produced decent accuracy results in our testing, with a heart rate sensor with SpO2. While heart rate while exercising wasnt excellent, it produced some good sleep and basic health data all well analyzed within the mature Zepp Health app.

Battery life is also excellent, and 10 days is easily achievable with the advanced breathing and health tracking turned on. And the Bip 5 even has Alexa support built in.

The main downside is the build. Its chunky and plasticky, and its not a pleasing watch to wear. The aim is to drive people towards the more premium Amazfit GTS 4 Mini but if you can look past design, theres a lot to like here.

Honor Watch 4

Wareable

129.99 | Honor Store

Honor Watch 4 key features

1.75" AMOLED display
14-day battery life
GPS
100+ workout modes

The Honor Watch 4 seriously impressed us in the budget smartwatch category and ended up with our Best Affordable Smartwatch 2023 award.

It brings an excellent mix of sleek looks, impressive fitness smarts, and a slick experience.

Unlike many budget smartwatches, you get a quality 1.75-inch, 450 x 390 resolution AMOLED display.

Its a well-constructed smartwatch with a nicely weighted aluminum case that's matched up with a silicone strap.

And it goes further than just looks. It's fair to say Honor offers a lot on the fitness and sports tracking front.

The Honor Watch 4 includes navigation features that can point you back home when youre tracking outside. It also enjoys built-in GPS that stood up to our accuracy testing.

Overall, its a good all-rounder, with a sleek design that doesnt feel cheap. The Honor Watch 4 is a top pick if you're shopping on a budget.

Read our full Honor Watch 4 review.

CMF Watch Pro

Wareable

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CMF Watch Pro key features

1.96" AMOLED display
Bluetooth calling with AI noise reduction
GPS and 110+ sports modes
Up to 13-day battery life

Smartwatches dont come much cheaper than the CMF Watch Pro which comes as a sub-brand for tech upstart Nothing. The build and design are excellent, with a 47mm case and aluminum alloy construction thats lightyears ahead of rivals at this price.

That big case houses a lovely 1.96-inch, 410 x 502-pixel resolution AMOLED touchscreen, and again, it's rare to see a screen of this quality and size on a smartwatch that costs less than $100/100.

However, its important to note that this smartwatch only has an IP68 rating, so its not fully water resistant for swimming.

Theres also GPS, which produced decent accuracy over long runs if not quite up to the best in the business.

The only let-downs here are some bugs in the software and heart rate accuracy was also poor in testing but if those arent your focus, this is a great wearable at a top price.

Read our full CMF Watch Pro review.

Huawei Watch Fit 2

Wareable

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Huawei Watch Fit 2 key features

Compatible with iPhone and Android
GPS
1.74-inch, AMOLED display
A week of heavy-use battery life

The Huawei Watch Fit 2 is a fantastic hybrid fitness/tracker and smartwatch, with a focus on exercise tracking, and a super low price.

Every edition features 46mm-sized cases that measure 10.8mm thick, and include a 1.74-inch, 336 x 480 resolution AMOLED touchscreen display with a single physical button on the side of the case. It's a gorgeous screen, which isput to good use with the 100+ workout profiles, and reading notifications and messages.

In terms of metrics, the Watch Fit 2 brings tracking steps, sleep, heart rate, stress, blood oxygen levels, and menstrual cycles.Huawei also includes its Health Living clover, reminders to remind you to drink water, smile, and keep your step counts up among other things.

Huawei has improved outdoor tracking and has added dual-band, five-system GPS, so you can track outdoor workouts. Its app isn't the best for analyzing workout data, but it will sync to Strava, so you can have your data live there.

Heart rate accuracy during exercise was generally fine for steady-paced workouts, but it was no surprise to find it struggled to keep up with sudden spikes and drops in heart rate during high-intensity use.

In more heavy usage, you are looking at a week of use between charges and we'd say that's based on regularly using the GPS, having the screen nice and bright.

Read our full Huawei Watch Fit 2 review.

Oppo Watch Free

Wareable

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Oppo Watch Free's key features

Compatible with iPhone and Android
46mm case size
1.64-inch, AMOLED display
A week of heavy-use battery life

The Watch Free is Oppos riposte to the likes of the Huawei Watch Fit 2, a smartwatch-fitness tracker hybrid with a focus on fitness.

It features a full AMOLED display, which is a big upgrade on the likes of the Bip 3 Pro and improves visibility and usability. Its adept for reading notifications and workout data.

Battery life of 14 days catches the eye, but with heavy use, advanced sleep-tracking, and SpO2 turned on, we found it was more like 4/5 days.

When it comes to tracking your fitness and health, there's a focus on elements such as sleep, heart rate, and continuous blood oxygen tracking.

There are 100 sports tracking modes, with some decent analysis and importantly, solid HR accuracy on steady workouts. But theres no GPS here, so if you want to go for a run and have it tracked accurately, you will need to take your smartphone along for the ride.

The Oppo app platform is well-presented with lots of watch faces to choose from but lacks third-party integrations, and there are no third-party apps.

Poco Watch

79 ($84/66) | Poco, Power Plant Online

Wareable

Poco Watch's key features

Compatible with iPhone and Android
1.6-inch AMOLED, 320 x 260 resolution
39mm case size
GPS
14 days of' typical use' battery life

A clone of the Mi Watch Lite and Redmi Watch 2, the Poco Watch brings an AMOLED display with a 1.6-inch, 320 x 260 pixel-per-inch resolution to the party. And it even has an optional always-on display, which is very rare at this price point.

Its compatible with Android and iOS smartphones, too, as well as bringing 100 fitness modes and GPS to the party, meaning it can track the likes of outdoor runs or cycles more accurately.

Theres a heart rate monitor that unsurprisingly produced some iffy results in our testing, but, for those looking for basic tracking of workouts, we found solid distance tracking when the GPS was used.

Theres also some decent health tracking, with slightly over-generous sleep tracking, but reasonable accuracy for a device at this price.

Poco touts that the 225mAh capacity battery can last up to 14 days in 'typical usage mode'. From our real-world testing, we'd say it's about seven days half of Poco's estimate. But that's still a decent return, and those who dont work out much will get more.

Overall, the Poco Watch is an impressive performer offering excellent value for money. It comes recommended.