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, Oppo 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 8 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 still 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.
- No money constraints? Check out the best smartwatches
- Find out the best smartwatches for Android users and iPhone users
- Svelte and stylish: All of the current best smartwatches for women
Amazfit Bip 3 Pro
Wareable
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Amazfit Bip 3 Pro's key features
- Compatible with iPhone and Android
- 44mm case size
- 1.69-inch, LCD display
- A week of heavy-use battery life
When it comes to budget smartwatches, the Amazfit Bip 3 Pro rules the roost. We’ve been big fans of the Bip line-up since its launch back in 2020, and the Bip 3 was no disappointment.
What impressed us most is the sheer number of features – and the maturity of the app platform, which is unmatched by most budget smartwatches.
Sports tracking stacks up with smartwatches at three times the price, and if you opt for the Bip 3 Pro, you can get built-in GPS, which works accurately for outdoor runs and cycles.
There are payoffs, of course. The build quality and plastic case are pretty basic – and you get an LCD, rather than the bright AMOLED of rivals. It’s boxy and plasticky and certainly won’t attract any compliments.
But it’s also an adept fitness tracker, and the built-in heart rate sensor produces some decent insights, such as PAI activity score, heart rate analysis, and stress tracking within the Zepp Health app.
It’s a no-frills experience, but you get so much here at a truly exceptional price tag.
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 Oppo’s 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. It’s 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 there’s 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.
Xiaomi Watch Lite
Wareable
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Xiaomi Watch Lite's key features
- Compatible with iPhone and Android
- 41mm case size
- 1.4-inch TFT color display; 320 x 320 resolution
- GPS
- A week of heavy-use battery life
The Xiaomi Watch Lite is one of the most exciting budget smartwatches on the market, and it offers excellent value.
It boasts a 1.4-inch TFT color display with a 320x320 resolution and 5ATM water resistance. That puts it on par with the Amazfit Bip U.
It features 11 workout profiles, with running, cycling, swimming with an open water mode, trail running, trekking, and cricket tracking. You also get GPS built-in for the accurate tracking of outdoor workouts.
Battery life is also excellent and Xiaomi quotes the GPS battery life as 10 hours, and it will last seven days between charges.
There’s a heart rate monitor on board, but no SpO2, which appears on pretty much every smartwatch these days.
We've spent serious time with the Mi Watch Lite. While it's not the most exciting-looking watch, it's well-built and offers good enough screen quality for the price. Core features work well enough and it's an easy watch to get along with.
Amazfit GTS 2 Mini
Wareable
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Amazfit GTS 2 Mini's key features
- Compatible with iPhone and Android
- 40mm case size
- 1.55-inch, AMOLED display
- GPS
- 14-day battery life
We need to preface this entry by stating that the Amazfit GTS 4 Mini is now available – and we're working to review this ASAP. It's not a huge upgrade on the GTS 2 Mini, and the GTS 2 is also available at bargain prices.
The build of the GTS 2 Mini is a little more stylish than the Bip 3 Pro, and you get a superior AMOLED display.
The case materials are better and it's a smaller watch, too. It's only $20/£20 more than the Bip 3 Pro, and we think it's worth that little bit extra.
In terms of sports tracking, there are 60 workout profiles built-in, and you get the same feedback in the Zepp app – plus support for third-party APIs such as Strava. It's compatible with Android and iPhones offering smartwatch basics like notification support and will track your daily activity and sleep with reliable results.
Battery life is officially a whopping 14 days – we found much less with real-world use, but it's still good for more than a week.
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.
It’s 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.
There’s 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.
There’s 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 don’t work out much will get more.
Overall, the Poco Watch is an impressive performer offering excellent value for money. It comes recommended.
Redmi Watch 2 Lite
Wareable
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Redmi Watch 2 Lite's key features
- Compatible with iPhone and Android
- 41mm case
- 1.5-inch, 320x360 TFT display
- GPS
- 10 days of battery life (five days of heavy use)
The Redmi Watch 2 Lite is a square smartwatch option from the Xiaomi spin-off company that offers a strong feature set for both Android and iPhone users.
It's a little easier to get in the UK than it is in the US right now, though.
Design-wise, it shares a close resemblance with the Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite we've also tested, but it offers a 41mm matte plastic case with a 1.5-inch, 320x360 TFT display that's generally up to the task in terms of viewing angles and responsiveness.
For smartwatch features, you're getting notifications, the ability to download watch faces, control music playing on your phone, and view weather updates. While interacting with the screen has its laggy moments, it's software that is easy to get to grips with.
When it comes to tracking your fitness, there's a heart rate monitor, blood oxygen monitoring, and support for GPS,
It also tracks swims, too, with 5ATM water resistance.
If you're a Strava user, you can also fire your workout data over to the third-party app. You're also getting something that will simply track steps and monitor sleep and it does it in a largely reliable way.
Battery life is anywhere from up to 10 days in typical use to 5 days in heavy usage and it did live up to those numbers in our testing.
The Redmi Watch 2 Lite impressed us in our testing, but, for US readers, availability is patchy. There's no official release there like we've seen in the UK/Europe, but sites like Ali Express are listing a global version with international shipping.
TicWatch GTH
Wareable
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TicWatch GTH's key features
- Compatible with iPhone and Android
- 43mm case size
- 1.55-inch, 360 x 320 LCD display
- 10 days of battery life
TicWatch has doubled down on budget smartwatches, and its GTH goes big on health.
It's not much of a looker, however, with a plastic case and a display set inside a sizeable black frame and bezel. It uses a 1.55-inch 360 x 320 LCD panel, so the display is quite basic compared to the AMOLED you’ll find on the Amazfit GTS 2 Mini - though it is, at least, on par with the Bip U Pro.
It has 14 exercise profiles on board, including walking, indoor and outdoor running, indoor and outdoor cycling, jump rope, swimming, rowing, freestyle exercise, mountain climbing, gymnastics, soccer, basketball, and yoga.
But there is no GPS, which means this tracking of outdoor activity lags devices such as the Amazfit Bip U Pro mentioned higher up.
The real appeal here is that it can continuously monitor heart rate, stress, body temperature, and blood oxygen levels. There are few watches at this price that offer that continuous monitoring.
As a smartwatch, it's pretty basic and the notification support is a bit archaic. The health monitoring features work well, though they didn't win us over heart rate monitoring and sleep tracking.
We should mention that there is now a newer TicWatch GTH Pro, which offers upgraded health features in the way of being able to track arterial health and monitor factors that could potentially lead to heart disease.
We haven't been able to test the Pro out just yet, so we'll include the original GTH for now.
Realme Watch S
Wareable
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Realme Watch S's key features
- iPhone and Android
- 1.3-inch, 360 x 360 touchscreen AMOLED
- 15-day typical usage
Realme’s second budget smartwatch is a much more polished affair than the first with a round design and AMOLED display.
Front and center is a 1.3-inch, 360 x 360 touchscreen AMOLED display, so it looks like the business, even if it’s lacking under the hood.
There’s no GPS, and only boasts an IP68 water-resistant rating, which unfortunately means it's not suitable for swimming or showering. That’s slightly unusual, even in the budget smartwatch world.
Despite the lack of GPS, you do get 16 sports profiles, including running, cycling, table tennis, basketball, and indoor rowing and cycling.
There’s an optical heart rate sensor that tracks resting heart rate and measures effort levels during workouts. It can also take blood oxygen measurements using the SpO2 sensor.
On the battery front, you've got a 390mAh capacity that Realme claims can get you up to 15 days before you need to reach for the charger.
It’s not shaking it with the Amazfit army, at similar prices to the Bip U Pro, and US availability is shady.
Amazfit Neo
Wareable
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Amazfit Neo's key features
- Compatible with iPhone and Android
- 40mm case size
- 1.2-inch STN black and white display
- 28-day battery life
The Amazfit Neo isn't a full-fat smartwatch like the rest of the watches on this list, but if you like the idea of owning a hybrid watch with real retro styling that packs in a surprising amount of features that work well, we think it's worth taking a look at the Neo.
The 40mm plastic case keeps things light with a 1.2-inch STN black and white display controlled by four physical buttons. That display is split up into sections to show off heart rate data, and weather forecasts, and get pinged when a notification lands on your paired phone.
It also tracks steps and sleep, with motion sensor-based tracking for running, walking and cycling. That's topped off with up to 28 days of battery life even with continuous heart rate monitoring and sleep tracking in use.
It's a basic smartwatch experience, but it works surprisingly well. If you like the idea of simple smartwatch features packaged into a retro design, don't discount the cheap Amazfit Neo.
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.