Smartwatches used to be expensive luxuries – devices that you didn’t really need, but that could make life a little bit easier. While they still haven’t entered the realm of essential for most people, they are a lot more useful than they used to be.
And you can get all of their most useful features on affordable devices, as there are now plenty of cheap smartwatches too.
These massively undercut the likes of the Apple Watch 5 and many of the other best smartwatches, but still in many cases have GPS, NFC, heart rate monitors, nice designs and more. We’re talking wearables like the Fitbit Versa Lite and TicWatch E2.
Some of them won’t have all these things, or will have other issues that mark them out as less than premium, but there’s still a decent selection to choose from, and you’ll find the very best cheap smartwatches below.
As well as listing and ranking them, we’ve also included pros and cons, so you can see what’s good and bad, along with a specs list and a brief overview for each.
And all the wearables below really should be affordable – we’ve aimed only to include those that cost under around $150 / £150, though note that prices do fluctuate.
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- Or perhaps you specifically want to run? The best cheap running watches
You’ve probably already heard of the Fitbit Versa in your search for a new smartwatch, but did you know the company now has a less feature-rich and therefore more affordable version of it? It’s called the Fitbit Versa Lite, and it’s now our best cheap smartwatch.
It isn’t the most comprehensive smartwatch experience as notifications are limited, you can’t listen to music and there’s no contactless payment tech, but all of that said, if you’re looking for an attractive timepiece that tracks your workouts as well as offering a few basic smartwatch features this may suit you.
Before you buy the Fitbit Versa Lite, we’d recommend checking prices for the Fitbit Versa. In some markets it has cost a similar amount to the Lite, and if you can get the original watch you’ll get additional features such as music and swim tracking too.
If not, the Fitbit Versa Lite is a great companion if you’re looking for a fitness focused smartwatch.
Read our full Fitbit Versa Lite review
The TicWatch E2 isn’t a phenomenal upgrade upon the TicWatch E, but it will offer a waterproof design and better battery life for a similar price to the original watch.
The design of this watch hasn’t been improved much, so it still doesn’t feel particularly premium on your wrist but it’s still a good looking piece of tech that we’re happy to wear at all times of day.
You’ll get around two days of battery life from the watch, there’s GPS built-in and swim tracking as well if you like to take your devices into the pool for a dip.
One of the biggest frustrations is the lack of NFC which means you can’t use Google Pay on the watch, but you do get all of the rest of the benefits of Wear OS here. That’s something nothing else on this list offers.
Read our full TicWatch E2 review
OK, this isn’t the most inventive smartwatch you’re going to find to buy in 2020, but it is one of the cheapest. In fact, it may even be the most affordable watch that is actually worth buying.
It looks quite like an Apple Watch, but this device is a whopping six times cheaper than a top-end Apple Watch Series 4 when bought brand new.
It doesn’t do anywhere near as much as the Apple Watch, but it does sport some incredible battery life at 45 days and lots of features for cyclists and runners including a heart rate sensor.
Read our full Amazfit Bip review
The Garmin Forerunner 30 is the first dedicated fitness watch you’ll find on this list, and this is mostly built for runners. It’s a device you’ll want to wear if you’re big into your jogging, but it does have some features suitable for cyclists too.
It has GPS onboard, a heart rate monitor – that we found to be accurate in our testing – and a few other features that make is stand out as one of the most affordable running watches.
It has a VO2 Max monitor, which allows you to record your fitness level over time. That’s something that is usually reserved for top-end devices, and this is one of the cheapest devices to feature that.
There’s no touchscreen here to interact with the watch, but it does have a fantastic app that you’ll be using to control it.
Read the full Garmin Forerunner 30 review
The Polar M200 is one of the most affordable running watches money can buy and you’ll find it includes almost all of the fitness features you’ll want from a smartwatch.
We found the GPS could be a little slow at times, and the design isn’t as premium as some of the other devices we’ve seen from Polar, but apart this is a solid running watch with great battery life.
This won’t offer notifications and apps like some of the other devices on this list, but if fitness is the main aim for you the Polar M200 is an affordable choice that offers a variety of top features.
Read the full Polar M200 review
- Ready to spend a little more? Here’s our guide to the best smartwatches
Photo illustration: TechRadar; Mobvoi; Amazfit; Garmin
