Review The Best Cheap Smartwatch 2023: Great Wearable Tech That Won’t Cost The Earth

The finest inexpensive smartwatch models allow you to track your health and fitness from your wrist and are less expensive than luxury ones. Some are a couple of years old but still work fine, while others forego certain features to keep the price as low as possible. Nevertheless, just because they’re inexpensive doesn’t mean they can’t help you on your wellness journey.

The greatest smartwatches, such as the Apple Watch Ultra, may have greater capabilities, but not everyone requires all of them. The Ultra has a siren to draw attention, a brometer and altimeter, next-generation GPS, and can operate in harsh temperatures. If all you want to do is run a 10K around your neighborhood park, an inexpensive watch would suffice. You don’t need a high-end wearable unless you want to take regular ECGs, train for an ultramarathon, or spend your days hiking in the woods.

You could be tempted by a Google Pixel Watch or a Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, but the finest affordable smartwatches listed below will suffice. Several of these low-cost smartwatches can include essential functions like as GPS, heart rate monitoring, or a stunning, responsive screen, though at lower price points, you’ll have to pick and choose which features are most important, as they won’t all be available on a single device.

We’ve tried almost every smartwatch on the market, so we know what makes a good one tick, even if it’s a low-cost model. Check out our selections for the best affordable smartwatches below, which include some of the top Android smartwatches and iPhone smartwatches.

1. The Apple Watch SE

Although though it is more expensive than the most of the cheap entries on this list, as Apple’s cheapest watch, this is the greatest option for iPhone owners seeking for a future-proof fitness watch that isn’t too expensive. It’s ‘nylon-infused’ at the back, which means it’s partially constructed of fabric to save weight (the new 40mm Apple Watch SE is around 13% lighter than the previous model, and 18% lighter than the 41mm Series 8). as well as the price.

However, the screen is still as durable as ever, and it has the same excellent watch OS 9 as its more expensive contemporaries, so on-wrist running power, vertical oscillation, and other key metrics for runners (which even Garmin can’t do without an HRM yet) make this one of the best cheap smartwatches for runners. Additional fitness features include stroke counts for avid swimmers and the option to close your rings with movement, whether in the wide outdoors or with Apple Fitness+, to which you also have access.

You also receive extra health benefits, such as crash detection, which can register impacts and automatically contact emergency personnel in the event of an accident. Depending on your demands, it is available in two sizes: GPs and GPS+Cellular.

2. Fitbit Versa

The Fitbit Versa 2 demonstrates that low-cost smartwatches can compete with pricier versions. Although though it’s an older smartwatch, having been replaced by the Versa 3 in 2020 and the Versa 4 in 2022, it’s still one of the finest inexpensive smartwatches, thanks to a slew of wonderful features that budget-conscious fitness fans will appreciate.

During our testing, we discovered the Versa 2 to be a near-perfect fitness tracker. It has an easy-to-use interface that allows even non-beginners to focus on the task at hand rather than attempting to figure out where to go to record their workouts. Even if you forget, any action lasting 20 minutes or more counts as exercise.

Although having Alexa is a wonderful advantage, we found the feature to be inconsistent during testing. Furthermore, because there is no GPS, you must always have your phone with you to reliably collect location and distance-based information whether hiking or running. Nonetheless, we bring our phones with us on hikes and runs, so this isn’t much of a disadvantage.

3. Amazfit Bip U Pro

If you’re looking for an inexpensive smartwatch, the Amazfit Bip U Pro is the finest option. The brand is well-known for their dependable and well-built inexpensive smartwatches, so you can rely on one of their best-sellers to meet your daily activity monitoring requirements.

This model is an enhanced version of the extremely popular Bip U. Furthermore, for a low-cost smartwatch, it includes a built-in GPS for outside tracking and a speech assistant with Amazon Alexa integration. In fact, it’s one of the few low-cost wearables with GPS. Amazfit did not simply include it for the sake of having it. Throughout our testing, we discovered that the GPS tracking on this watch works flawlessly and provides accurate data.

It is perhaps the most significant addition to this update, but there are plenty others to highlight. It has several fitness and wellness capabilities, including heart rate, SpO2, sleep, and breathing tracking, as well as over 60 workouts and activities and a camera shutter.

4. Garmin Forerunner 55

There are smartwatches and then there are running smartwatches. Furthermore, the Garmin Forerunner 55 is the greatest low-cost smartwatch for running on the market, undercutting the Apple Watch SE 2 in price while virtually matching it in running functionality. It’s an entry-level model, costing considerably less than other advanced running smartwatches, but it’s a well-designed one that’s a step up from a basic fitness tracker with a user-friendly design.

Throughout our testing, we discovered that the new workout suggestions are the most valuable aspects because they not only motivate novices but also broaden their workout alternatives and allow them to find new ones. The prescribed rest period at the end of a workout is also excellent.

Of course, it has Garmin’s fantastic on-board GPS, which is ideal for runners. In our tests, it rapidly established a lock and recorded a three-mile path to within a few yards. This is in addition to the other tools available to help you become a great runner.

5. G1 Garmin Descent

Although we have not yet examined the Garmin Descent G1, it is a highly recommended smartwatch for divers seeking for a less expensive choice. Diving watches aren’t cheap for a reason, but this one from Garmin provides budget-conscious and rookie divers an alternative that’s nearly half the price of its competitors while still featuring a slew of dive-specific functions.

This includes a crystal clear display, especially in dive mode, leak-proof buttons, and a dive rating of up to 100m. There are also numerous dive modes available, such as apnea and apnea hunt mode, as well as freedive options. Moreover, the display provides important diving information like as a 3-axis compass, depth, deco-stop needs, and residual nitrogen.

Because this is more of a lifestyle-slash-dive smartwatch combination, it includes lifestyle functions such as health monitoring, biometric tracking, and sleep monitoring. Most of all, it boasts a dive battery life of 25 hours and a smartwatch battery life of up to four months.

All View

Aside from the price, it’s critical to examine its compatibility with your phone, as some smartwatches, for example, are incompatible with an iPhone. There’s also the battery life and features to consider.

If you’re a runner, the best cheap smartwatch for running will contain running-specific features that others may not have. If you need to track your sleep, a longer battery life is essential because you don’t want to charge it twice a day.

Expect the latest Apple or Samsung flagships to be absent from the list, as those tend to be much more expensive and out of reach for consumers searching for a cheaper option. Yet, as previously said, ‘cheap’ might be relative. A low-cost ordinary smartwatch will be significantly less expensive than a low-cost diving smartwatch. Keep this in mind while you consider your options.