Best cheap smartwatch for Android 2024

If you want to try a wearable device but would rather not drop hundreds of dollars, purchasing one of the best cheap Android smartwatches might be the answer. These affordable devices are designed to perform well and last a long time without breaking the bank, even if you are sacrificing some of the most cutting-edge features.

With Black Friday 2024 swiftly approaching, there's never been a better time to buy an affordable smartwatch, and this guide has all of the best options listed in one place. I've tested dozens of smartwatches over the years, so I'm equipped to tell you which of these wearables are worth trying out and which you can safely skip.

The best Android smartwatches typically cost between $300 and $500, but here, we're defining the best cheap Android smartwatches as those that are $200-and-under, or at least as close to this price point as possible. The Samsung Galaxy Watch FE is a great option, the most affordable new smartwatch in the popular line. But I have others to suggest, too.

Written by

Written by

Michael Hicks

Michael Hicks is Android Central's resident smartwatch geek, having reviewed or tested dozens of wearables from Samsung, Google, Apple, Garmin, Fitbit, Coros, Polar, Withings, Amazfit, and others. He spends his free time running or hiking while wearing several watches at once, testing which is most accurate.

At a glance

Best overall

Samsung makes our favorite Android watches, but the Galaxy Watch 7 and Watch 6 are too expensive for this list, and our old favorites like the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 4 are mostly out of stock or sold by shady resellers. Plus, they'll lose software support from Samsung fairly soon. However, Samsung just launched the Galaxy Watch FE, a slightly redesigned Galaxy Watch 4 due to receive years of software support.

Like the Galaxy Watch 4, the Galaxy Watch FE offers heart rate with passive AFib data, blood oxygen, ECG readings, and body composition scans for body fat percentage. It has IP68 dust and water resistance, plus military-grade protection against shock. Tap-to-pay and support for both Google Assistant and Bixby means you can make payments right from your wrist.

What's different about it? Samsung added fun stitching to the default watch bands for a signature look and a Sapphire Crystal layer to the 1.2-inch display. And this new release resets the clock on software support. So even though it has an older Exynos chip than the latest Galaxy Watch, it should still get Wear OS updates for years. Still, this is essentially a watch with tech from 2021 and 2022, repurposed for 2024. That's what you have to accept for the discount!

Honorable mentions: With the Galaxy Watch 7 officially here, you may find discounted Galaxy Watch 6 models available for not much higher than the Watch FE. Our Samsung Galaxy Watch FE vs. Galaxy Watch 6 guide runs through the differences. Otherwise, Samsung watches are in a class of their own.

Best runner-up

Most Wear OS watches today are on the pricey side. But the TicWatch E3, which originally launched with Wear OS 2 but now has Wear OS 3, is the rare option that's quite affordable, especially since it frequently goes on sale. You'll simply have to accept some downsides for the low price.

First, the positives. Most of our other cheap Android smartwatch picks are fitness watches with proprietary OSs and no app support. The TicWatch E3 gives you all the apps you could want, and it affords longer battery life than the Galaxy Watch FE—especially in Essential mode.

Our TicWatch E3 reviewer had a laundry list of positives when describing it. He noted "little to no delay in opening apps or loading up the Play Store on the watch," something you can't say for many fitness watches. And on that note, it has heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring for workout and sleep tracking, with the results on par with those he measured on Samsung and Amazfit watches.

In exchange for the low price, you're getting an LCD with a thick bezel that our reviewer called "a bit excessive." You also have to rely on the touchscreen, which may bother you if you're used to a digital crown. The TicWatch E3 has less RAM and storage than the Galaxy Watch FE, as well. But since we've seen it discounted for half the price of Samsung's cheapest watch, these are fair compromises.

Honorable mentions: We've also seen the TicWatch Pro 3 and TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra discounted into the $150 range. They have the same software and performance, but far stronger battery life, AMOLED displays, and better materials. We just can't guarantee they'll be as cheap as the E3 at any given moment.

Best value

When it comes to cheap Android smartwatches, Amazfit is one of the best brands around. It sells a dozen or more watches at any time, most of which cost $230 or less. Our best Amazfit smartwatch guide runs through several great options, but we're highlighting our top pick here: the Amazfit GTS 4.

Like our previous pick for this spot—the Amazfit GTS 3—the GTS 4 has all of the essentials, from continuous heart, blood oxygen, stress, and breathing data to hundreds of sports modes (with 8 auto-recognized activities like running or cycling). They both have Alexa commands and simple apps like weather and alarms. You also get a gorgeous 1.75-inch AMOLED display with 1,000 nits of brightness and 341 pixels per inch.

With the GTS 4, Amazfit added a speaker so you can make Bluetooth calls and hear Alexa's responses instead of reading them. It also added dual-band GPS for more accurate tracking results. Unfortunately, it still lacks NFC for contactless payments, and the revamped "BioTracker 4.0" cuts the battery life down compared to the GTS 3. But it's still just as long-lived as most other fitness watches, and the battery lasts longer than a Wear OS watch.

We appreciate how Amazfit takes your workout data and judges your fitness level, training load, and other data via its PeakBeats algorithm. You don't get the Zepp Coach AI of some of the newer watches, but it'll still help guide you to get fitter, without the subscription that our next pick charges.

Honorable mentions: As we said, Amazfit has plenty of cheaper options that eliminate specific features like the mic and speaker. Look at the Amazfit GTR Mini for a more circular design, or the Amazfit Active for a cheaper squircle. You may also want to look at fitness trackers, which aren't proper "watches" but are often significantly cheaper.

Best cheap fitness watch

The Fitbit Versa 4 is a bit of an odd fitness watch. After Google acquired Fitbit, it made the company change some of its design and hardware strategy, and that played out in the Versa 4. Our reviewer wasn't a big fan of its cutbacks, but it still gives you Fitbit's respected health and fitness insights for $100 less than the Sense 2, making it a lock for this list.

Compared to the Fitbit Versa 3, the Versa 4 lost the old Fitbit OS' third-party apps, replaced by Google Maps and Google Wallet—arguably more useful. More frustratingly, it no longer supports Google Assistant, nor music storage or playback controls like the Versa 3 did. That makes it less of a "smart" watch than its predecessor. You still have Alexa commands, but the Wi-Fi antenna is disabled, making responses slower than they should be.

Still, you get a 6-day watch with a gorgeously bright AMOLED display, built-in GPS with an altimeter for judging elevation, Bluetooth calling, continuous heart rate, blood oxygen, heart rate variance (HRV), and breathing rate. It's enough for Fitbit to give you a ton of insights into your Daily Readiness and your overall wellness, so long as you keep subscribing to Fitbit Premium after the free 6-month trial ends.

Honorable mentions: We've seen the Fitbit Sense 2 dip to $199 during various deal events in the past couple of years; if you spot it at that price, you can upgrade to get an ECG and stress sensors, among other perks. You may also want the cheaper Fitbit Charge 6; you lose the pretty squircle display and altimeter but gain YouTube Music controls, the ECG, an upgraded HR sensor for accuracy, and a lighter fit.

Best hybrid watch

Most cheap Android smartwatches have cheap, toy-like appearances, whether you choose a squircle or circular display. That's why many gravitate towards hybrid smartwatches that pick style over substance. But since most of our favorite hybrids are expensive, we're picking the reasonable Garmin Vivomove Sport for this spot.

Shipping in Ivory, Cocoa, Cool Mint, or Black, the Vivomove Sport looks like a traditional watch, with actual watch hands and a subtle monocolor OLED touchscreen on the bottom half of the watch. It's designed to passively track your heart rate, stress, blood oxygen, Body Battery, and other data for you to check in the Garmin Connect app.

Compared to the best Garmin watches, the Vivomove Sport is pretty limited. You won't find Garmin Pay, built-in GPS, or robust training tools like Garmin Coach. This is much more of a subtle tool for basic stats like Intensity Minutes, steps, calories burned, and sleep insights. But we think plenty of people will prefer a simplified, stylish experience.

Honorable mentions: Most Garmin watches cost $400 and up, with a few hitting $1,000! So even though they're too expensive for this list, the $250 Garmin Forerunner 165 and Garmin Venu Sq 2 are relatively cheap for the brand. The Forerunner is a fantastic training tool for runners with workout suggestions and post-run recovery time; the Venu gives you the squircle look and a solid 11-day battery life.

Best rugged watch

As we mentioned with the GTS 4, Amazfit makes a variety of cheap Android smartwatches. The Amazfit T-Rex 2 is basically the opposite of the GTS 4, which is much daintier and focused on a traditional smartwatch experience. Our T-Rex 2 reviewer said that this watch "will likely outsurvive you" thanks to its rugged durability, and that's a nice reassurance when most cheap watches aren't built to last long.

The T-Rex 2 weighs a hefty 66.5g, making it noticeable on your wrist compared to most of the thin, shorter-lived entries on this list—but significantly lighter than the stainless steel T-Rex Ultra. It survived over a dozen MIL-STD-810G certifications and has a 10ATM water resistance rating, twice as deep as most smartwatches can handle. Plus, it can last for weeks per charge under normal conditions.

Otherwise, this watch and the GTS 4 aren't that different. You get a ridiculous number of sports modes and automatic tracking for eight exercises, plus data on your heart rate, blood oxygen, stress, and breathing. It even has the Zepp Coach AI, though not the GTS 4's mic/speaker combo or its newer HR sensor LEDs that are supposed to be 33% more accurate.

Honorable mentions: We've already brought up other cheap Amazfit watches to consider, and other rugged watches like the Garmin Instinct 2 are too expensive for this list. We also like the T-Rex Pro, though it has an even older health sensor suite, a smaller display, and other downsides. If you don't need ruggedness and just want a cheap fitness watch, consider the Polar Pacer or Coros Pace 3.

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How we test

When our wearables team — led by senior editor Michael Hicks — reviews a new smartwatch, the device in question undergoes a series of hands-on tests and use-case scenarios to prove that its a proper match for our favorite Android phones.

I'm talking about tests for performance speed, battery life for both heavy and light usage, and a particularly rigorous focus on health and fitness tracking metrics. After all, if you're using a smartwatch to track health metrics, accuracy is vital, and we don't take manufacturer claims at face value.

That means that Michael is hitting the streets with chest and arm straps to verify heart rate accuracy, wearing a pedometer to confirm step counts, and comparing the results of multiple GPS watches simultaneously to test mapping data.

How to choose

Choosing among the best cheap Android smartwatches

Hopefully, this list will make it clear that you can find a cheap Android smartwatch that doesn't feel like a complete downgrade. Most of them have a baseline of features that you'll want: health and sleep tracking, notifications, and solid battery life. But in other ways, you'll have to accept compromises.

Your first big decision is whether to choose Wear OS or a secondary option like Fitbit or Garmin OS. We appreciate the Galaxy Watch FE and TicWatch series for giving you access to Play Store apps and the ability to respond to notifications on your wrist. But in exchange, you'll have to charge them every one to two days, while other picks on this list will last a week or more.

Some fitness watches are smarter than others, and most of our picks sacrifice features that you may really want. You'll want the Versa 4 for Bluetooth calling, but not for music playback. Amazfit watches don't have tap-to-pay. Hybrid watches typically don't have built-in GPS. Make sure to do your research before you buy, so you don't end up regretting your choice.

The Galaxy Watch FE looks smart and superior next to our other picks, but do remember that it's a downgrade compared to other full-priced smartwatches. Specifically, it has less RAM, an older CPU, and a thicker border around its display than the Galaxy Watch 7. You may want to hunt for deals instead of compromising.

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