The best budget smartwatch you can get – our handpicked models
Smartwatches are everywhere nowadays – they have quickly morphed from a peculiarity to a necessity, and you can spot one of these gadgets on almost every hand now. Now, “budget” is a relative term, if you own a private jet, obviously you won’t have any problem buying a swiss watch worth thousands of dollars but for the purpose of this article we will assume everything priced below $200 to be “budget.”
Furthermore, a minimal amount of “smartness” is also required to distinguish the said budget smartwatch from a plain fitness band. So, armed with this information it’s time to see what’s the best budget smartwatch you can get in 2023.
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The best budget smartwatches at a glance:
Amazfit BIP U Pro
Best budget smartwatch overall
The first Amazfit Bip watch was quite successful, and one of the main reasons for that success was its 45-day battery life. The original BIP also came equipped with some core smart features normally reserved for much more expensive devices.
The Amazfit Bip U Pro takes on where the original Bip left off. It’s even lighter – only 31 grams – and still very comfortable to wear. The built-in GPS is present, alongside the heart-rate sensor, and you can monitor your blood oxygen saturation levels, stress levels, breathing, quality of sleep, and sleeping patterns.
Get your Amazfit Bip U Pro here:
Amazfit Bip U Pro Smart Watch
Buy at Amazon
You get smart notifications, Alexa integration, 50 watch faces, 60+ workout modes, plus 5ATM water resistance. The only thing that’s not up to the original Bip is the battery life. The 9 days on a single charge still sound pretty amazing, especially compared to other premium one-day smartwatches, but the Bip U Pro is nowhere near the 45-day battery life of the first model.
Pros
- Lightweight and comfortable
- All the basic features are present
- Built-in GPS
- Health and fitness tracking
- Amazing price
Cons
- It’s a plastic built
- Battery life not on par with the original Bip
- No LTE connectivity
- Screen resolution is on the lower side
Garmin Forerunner 55
best for runners
The Garmin Forerunner 55 is a budget smartwatch that’s perfect for runners who want to take their training to the next level but don’t want to empty their wallets completely. It’s jam-packed with features that will help you track your runs, track your progress, and achieve your goals while remaining reasonably priced.
Get your Garmin Forerunner 55 here:
Garmin Forerunner 55
$199
99
Buy at Garmin
First off, it’s got built-in GPS, so you can leave your phone at home and still track your route, distance, and pace. This is great for runners who prefer to run phone-free. Another cool feature is the heart rate monitor. It provides real-time heart rate data, so you can see how hard your heart is working during your runs.
You also get the best of Garmin’s fitness expertise in the form of the Garmin Connect app, which offers a wide range of features. You can view your running data on your phone, share your runs with friends, and even compete with other runners. The Forerunner 55 is on the threshold of “budget,” as you can often find it under $200, so keep an eye on this space for the best deal if you’re into hitting the track often.
First off, it’s got built-in GPS, so you can leave your phone at home and still track your route, distance, and pace. This is great for runners who prefer to run phone-free. Another cool feature is the heart rate monitor. It provides real-time heart rate data, so you can see how hard your heart is working during your runs.You also get the best of Garmin’s fitness expertise in the form of the Garmin Connect app, which offers a wide range of features. You can view your running data on your phone, share your runs with friends, and even compete with other runners. The Forerunner 55 is on the threshold of “budget,” as you can often find it under $200, so keep an eye on this space for the best deal if you’re into hitting the track often.
Fitbit Versa 3
Best-looking budget smartwatch
Fitbit made a bold move with the original Versa, which turned out to be pretty successful. The company decided to offer premium design and features in an affordable package. Now, the Fitbit Versa 3 takes that idea a step further, bringing the price under $200, and offering one of the most affordable smartwatches on the market.
The Versa 3 looks great and can deal with notifications – it offers short customizable answers, so you can actually get away with using only the watch. On top of that the watch offers WiFi, onboard music storage and great battery life.
Get your Fitbit Vesa 3 here:
Fitbit Versa 3 Smartwatch
Buy at Amazon
The Versa 3 also sports NFC, which means you can use it to pay your bills. This smartwatch offers hundreds of apps and watch faces, some of which are pretty useful. It’s far from a full-fledged smartwatch, but at $149 we can’t complain much about it (also, there are great deals on the Versa 2, often bringing the price under $100).
The Versa 3 also sports NFC, which means you can use it to pay your bills. This smartwatch offers hundreds of apps and watch faces, some of which are pretty useful. It’s far from a full-fledged smartwatch, but at $149 we can’t complain much about it (also, there are great deals on the Versa 2, often bringing the price under $100).
Pros
- Great design
- GPS
- Lightweight and comfortable
- Mobile payment
- Onboard music storage
- Good battery life
Cons
- Not exactly the cheapest out there
Amazfit BIP S Lite
Best battery life
This means that you don’t need a backlight to keep the display visible under direct sunlight, and the implications on battery life are tremendous. The Amazfit Bip S Lite is advertised to last up to 30 days on a single charge! And even if these numbers are a bit exaggerated, you can get a solid month out of this watch. Now about that S – the original Bip has been discontinued and the S is its spiritual successor. The screen is better, there are more workouts, the water resistance is now 5ATM, it’s a better version altogether.
Here it is. The original Amazfit Bip! Wait a minute, what’s that S in the name? And what’s “Lite” about it? We’ll come back to it in a minute. When it first came out this watch was in a league of its own, due to its reflective LCD screen. It’s old tech but very clever – the display lets ambient light pass through and the brighter the light is, the more readable the display becomes.This means that you don’t need a backlight to keep the display visible under direct sunlight, and the implications on battery life are tremendous. The Amazfit Bip S Lite is advertised to last up to 30 days on a single charge! And even if these numbers are a bit exaggerated, you can get a solid month out of this watch. Now about that S – the original Bip has been discontinued and the S is its spiritual successor. The screen is better, there are more workouts, the water resistance is now 5ATM, it’s a better version altogether.
Get your Amazfit Bip S here:
Amazfit Bip S Lite Fitness Smartwatch
Buy at Amazon
There are some drawbacks though – when there’s not enough light the display is quite dim, and the resolution is not the highest out there, to begin with. And yeah, the build is a bit plasticky and the watch looks like a cheap Apple Watch imitation but it’s really lightweight and comfortable to wear. Plus, you get a dedicated GPS chip inside, smart notifications, heart rate monitoring, and the watch works equally well with iOS and Android. The price is also really good, you can find it well under the $100 mark.
There are some drawbacks though – when there’s not enough light the display is quite dim, and the resolution is not the highest out there, to begin with. And yeah, the build is a bit plasticky and the watch looks like a cheap Apple Watch imitation but it’s really lightweight and comfortable to wear. Plus, you get a dedicated GPS chip inside, smart notifications, heart rate monitoring, and the watch works equally well with iOS and Android. The price is also really good, you can find it well under the $100 mark.
Pros
- The best battery life in the business
- Smart notifications
- Onboard GPS
- Translucent LCD screen
- Affordable
Cons
- Plastic build
- No onboard music storage
- No mobile payment
TicWatch E3
Best budget Wear OS smartwatch
The TicWatch E3 is your budget gateway to Wear OS – Google’s powerful wearable operating system. It’s the future – many manufacturers are moving toward Wear OS with the latest example being Samsung and its new Galaxy Watch 4 range.
So, back to the TicWatch E3. It’s not the best budget smartwatch on the market, nor is it the best-looking. What you’re getting for your $199 or so is a smartwatch with some pretty decent hardware specs – a Snapdragon 4100 chipset, 8GB of onboard storage, 1GB of RAM, WiFi, GPS, Google Assistant.
Get your TicWatch E3 here:
TicWatch E3 smartwatch
Buy at Amazon
This covers all the basic smartwatch functionality but there’s more, the TicWatch E3 sports NFC and mobile payment through Google Pay. The battery life is decent for this hardware, it’s a powerful watch with a great display, after all. The design is a bit bland and the watch itself – a bit bulky, but you won’t find a better Wear OS deal out there. The main drawback is the price, though. You can find the TicWatch E3 for $199 here and there, and it’s sits on the absolute limit that we’ve set earlier.
This covers all the basic smartwatch functionality but there’s more, the TicWatch E3 sports NFC and mobile payment through Google Pay. The battery life is decent for this hardware, it’s a powerful watch with a great display, after all. The design is a bit bland and the watch itself – a bit bulky, but you won’t find a better Wear OS deal out there. The main drawback is the price, though. You can find the TicWatch E3 for $199 here and there, and it’s sits on the absolute limit that we’ve set earlier.
Pros
- Powerful internals
- Wear OS
- Voice commands
- Mobile payments
- Comprehensive fitness/sleep tracking
- IP68 rating
Cons
- No the most inspiring design
- Bulky
- Expensive
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4
Best deal at the moment
The Good
The Bad
Now, here’s an unusual face in the budget smartwatch category. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 has been overthrown and overshadowed by the Galaxy Watch 5 but this only means that there are some crazy deals on the Watch 4 available. It’s a great smartwatch, stylish, comfortable, pretty powerful, and sporting an amazing Super AMOLED display – Samsung’s bread and butter.
The watch can serve two masters and be your stylish, formal dinner device, as well as a comfortable and lightweight sports watch. The design is really ambivalent, and it can fit different styles and occasions – just put on a leather strap, and you’re good to go for that business dinner. Slap a rubber band on, and you can sweat in the gym all you want.
The watch can serve two masters and be your stylish, formal dinner device, as well as a comfortable and lightweight sports watch. The design is really ambivalent, and it can fit different styles and occasions – just put on a leather strap, and you’re good to go for that business dinner. Slap a rubber band on, and you can sweat in the gym all you want.
This watch has some serious features on board. Smart notifications, GPS, onboard storage, NFC for mobile payment, all kinds of fitness and health tracking features and apps. The whole package! The only problem is the price. Normally, this watch goes for about $300, which is way above our budget threshold. Right now? You can find it under $200 (check out the Amazon link in the widget)! And at that price, it’s a real bargain!
Read More:
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 review
Apple Watch SE 2
Best budget watch for iPhone users
View full specs
The good old Apple Watch is bound to appear on this list. It’s the new Series SE 2 iteration, which starts at $249 at the moment, making it just eligible for our best budget smartwatch competition. The Apple Watch SE 2 is brand-new and featuring some of the cool Series 8 features (crash detection, SiP8 chip), so it’s a good deal. You’re getting all the bells and whistles of an Apple device, and frankly, this is one of the best budget smartwatch choices if you have an iPhone.
This is also the only smartwatch on the list to offer cellular connectivity at this price point (the Galaxy Watch Active 2 is much more expensive outside deals). You also get your familiar WatchOS experience with notifications, WiFi, camera shutter controls, music streaming, and more. The battery life is 18 hours, which is kinda the standard that Apple aims for, even on newer models like the Apple Watch 8 and SE 2, so there’s no real drawback here.
This is also the only smartwatch on the list to offer cellular connectivity at this price point (the Galaxy Watch Active 2 is much more expensive outside deals). You also get your familiar WatchOS experience with notifications, WiFi, camera shutter controls, music streaming, and more. The battery life is 18 hours, which is kinda the standard that Apple aims for, even on newer models like the Apple Watch 8 and SE 2, so there’s no real drawback here.
Get your Apple Watch SE 2 here:
Apple Watch SE (2022) 40mm
Buy at Amazon
Apple Watch SE (2022) 44mm
Buy at Amazon
Honor MagicWatch 2
The dark horse
The Honor MagicWatch 2 is the dark horse on our list. Yes, Honor was a Huawei brand not that long ago but both brands make some top-notch wearables. In the case of the MagicWatch 2 you get a unique blend of classic and modern – the watch is very stylish, very elegant.
Like all Huawei/Honor smartwatches and fitness trackers, the MagicWatch 2 is a stamina champion, which comes at the price of features, at least to some degree. If you’re coming from an Apple Watch of any model, or a Galaxy Watch, you’ll feel a bit limited with the MagicWatch 2. Some people even call these watches fitness bands in disguise. Of course, it’s not fair.
Get your Honor MagicWatch 2 here:
Honor MagicWatch 2 Smart Watch,
Buy at Amazon
The MagicWatch 2 has cellular connectivity baked in (although it’s a bit tricky making it work), there are smart notifications, a great health and fitness suite, and the price of this watch is just insane, considering the premium materials and build quality.
The MagicWatch 2 has cellular connectivity baked in (although it’s a bit tricky making it work), there are smart notifications, a great health and fitness suite, and the price of this watch is just insane, considering the premium materials and build quality.
Read More:
Honor MagicWatch 2 review
Pros
- Amazing battery life
- Stylish look
- Phone calls enabled (46 mm model)
- Well fleshed-out Health suite
Cons
- UI is choppy with a low framerate
- No extra apps to download
- Limited choice in watchfaces, most are unimpressive
- Could use more workout modes
OnePlus Watch
The new kid on the block
The OnePlus Watch is the company’s first attempt at wearables and in this regard it’s a success. There are three main factors that OnePlus had taken into consideration when designing this watch. The first is pure aesthetics – the OnePlus Watch looks much more premium than it really is. Clean and stylish lines meet to form one of the best-looking devices in this price range.
The second is battery life. Tired of charging your smartwatch every day or even twice a day? The OnePlus Watch can last 10 solid days on a single charge, and even if you squeeze everything out of it, the watch will go through a whole week easily. The third pillar is the price. This thing costs fitness band money. Sadly, in order to achieve all this, OnePlus had to make some compromises.
The second is battery life. Tired of charging your smartwatch every day or even twice a day? The OnePlus Watch can last 10 solid days on a single charge, and even if you squeeze everything out of it, the watch will go through a whole week easily. The third pillar is the price. This thing costs fitness band money. Sadly, in order to achieve all this, OnePlus had to make some compromises.
Get your OnePlus Watch here:
OnePlus Watch
$159
Buy at OnePlus
For starters, the watch is not very smart. You have the basics – notification support (although pretty limited), you can take calls but you need your phone connected, and there’s limited space for widgets, or Cards, as OnePlus calls them. At the end of the day, though, the biggest advantages of the OnePlus Watch are its looks and its battery life.
Read More:
OnePlus Watch review
Pros
- Premium and stylish design
- Long battery life
- Affordable
Cons
- Fitness tracking not accurate
- Smart features pretty much non-existent
- No third party software
- Glitches and bugs
- Only one size (46mm)
Conclusion
The best budget smartwatch is a strange bird indeed. What was once premium-priced can now be considered budget (the Apple Watch SE being a great example). That’s how fast the mobile technology is moving – and today we’re living in a golden age indeed. For less than one hundred dollar bill you can get so much – active health monitoring, notifications on your wrist, GPS – something that worth hundreds of dollars by itself a couple of years ago!
So, this list isn’t final! It will be updated with great care and attention. So stay tuned for new and fresh budget smartphone entries soon!