Best cheap smartwatch for Android 2025

Choosing the best cheap Android smartwatches comes down to what you value. All of our favorite affordable wearables have compromises compared to the $300+ watches we typically recommend, but still deliver a positive experience rather than a cheap one!

Among the best Android smartwatches, the $300 Galaxy Watch 7 offers the best mid-range value, but it's not truly a "cheap" or "budget" watch. This guide will focus instead on watches in the $200-or-less range, cutting out fantastic options like the OnePlus Watch 2R, COROS PACE 3, or Garmin Forerunner 165 that fall just above that ceiling.

Having tested dozens of wearables over the past few years, I'm confident in my choices about which low-cost smartwatches are actually worth buying, and which ones you can skip.

The easiest recommendation is the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE, if you want a proper Wear OS experience to go with your Android phone. But read on for a wider range of options, from long-lived fitness watches to other great smartwatches.

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 some of our favorite Android watches, and it frequently discounts its newest models, so the Galaxy Watch 7 is surprisingly affordable. But now that the Watch 6 and older models are largely out of stock, the Galaxy Watch FE is your most consistent and affordable Wear OS watch, promising years of Wear OS software updates and access to Google Assistant.

Designed as a refresh of the Galaxy Watch 4, the Galaxy Watch Fan Edition adds Sapphire Crystal protection to the display and a skin temperature sensor from the Galaxy Watch 5. Otherwise, it's very similar to the 4th-gen watch, with the same Exynos W920 processor, memory, storage, other health sensors, military-grade resistance to falls and water damage, and software.

It's clear that the Galaxy Watch 7 beats the Watch FE for performance, storage, battery, location accuracy, and other small differences, with the Watch FE relying on last-gen tech. But in the grand scheme of things, the Galaxy Watch FE is still a fantastic value because Samsung's quality control and Google's OS make its older tech much better than other brands' new hardware.

You're still getting years of Wear OS updates, Google Assistant (and possibly Gemini later this year), Galaxy AI health insights, and Play Store apps instead of relying on a proprietary OS. In this price range, that's hard to find.

Honorable mentions: As already mentioned, the Galaxy Watch 7 sometimes falls close to $200; spending an extra few bucks over the FE price will give your watch much better longevity. Similarly, the OnePlus Watch 2R is $30 too expensive to fit on this list, but it has multi-day battery life and faster performance that makes it a compelling alternative.

Best Wear OS alternative

For all their smarts, Wear OS watches are typically expensive and require charging every 1–2 days. Amazfit watches can't compete in some ways, but it's always been one of our favorite value brands, with most of the best Amazfit watches falling in the sub-$200 range. The Amazfit Balance, as its name implies, is the best well-rounded smartwatch, but you can find great (cheaper) alternatives, too.

The Amazfit Balance has a built-in mic and speaker to support Bluetooth calls, but the mic also lets you make commands for several key tools. You can talk to Amazon Alexa or Amazfit's offline voice assistant, but the newest perk is the Zepp Flow AI backed by Chat-GPT-4o that lets you reply to messages without typing, ask about your health stats, check the weather, and so on. It could sometimes be glitchy during our review period, but it's only gotten smarter with time.

Amazfit is also well-known for its health and fitness insights. It has 150+ sports modes, a daily readiness score, an AI coach that guides your workout suggestions, offline maps and routes, and meditation tools. It's still missing AFib detection and skin temperature readings, but you can at least take quick readings of your heart rate, blood oxygen, and stress levels at any time.

Overall, the Amazfit Balance delivers a strong experience for $200, and a more well-rounded one than other Amazfits that don't have calling, voice commands, or contactless payments through Zepp Pay.

Honorable mentions: As I said, Amazfit has plenty of cheaper options that eliminate specific features. Consider the Amazfit Active 2 if you want similar health and fitness tools for half the price of the Balance, or the Bip 6 squircle for even less if you want something a bit more basic for reading notifications.

Best cheap fitness watch

The Fitbit Versa 4 is a somewhat odd fitness watch. After Google acquired Fitbit, it cut back a lot of the smarts found in the Versa 3 — third-party apps, Google Assistant, music storage, playback controls, or Wi-Fi downloads — and prioritized Google's own apps with Google Maps, Google Wallet, and YouTube Music.

But even though our reviewer was frustrated by these cutbacks, the Versa 4 remains one of the best cheap smartwatches on the market, and it's frequently discounted during sales events to be especially affordable.

You get a 6-day watch with a gorgeously bright AMOLED screen, integrated GPS with an altimeter for judging elevation, Bluetooth calling, continuous heart rate, blood oxygen, heart rate variance (HRV), and respiratory rate tracking. There's no messaging like you'd get on a proper Wear OS watch, but at least there are Alexa commands.

The Versa 4's health data is highly accurate, and while you need Fitbit Premium for some insights, you do at least get the Daily Readiness Score for free now. Plus, Google ported its Fitbit Cardio Load from the expensive Pixel Watch 3 to its Fitbits, so you can better track your daily effort to see if you're improving.

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 (cEDA) sensor, among other perks. You may also want the cheaper Fitbit Charge 6; you lose the pretty squircle display and altimeter, but gain the ECG and skin temp, an upgraded HR sensor for accuracy, and a lighter fit.

Best cheap Wear OS watch

Most Wear OS watches fall on the pricey side. If you want to spend less than $100 but still get the core Wear OS experience, Mobvoi is selling the TicWatch 3 for $79 these days, making it especially affordable. You'll simply have to accept some downsides for that low price!

First, the positives. Most of our other cheap Android smartwatch picks are fitness watches with proprietary operating systems and not much in terms of app support. Conversely, the TicWatch E3 gives you a wide range of apps and has comparable battery life to the Galaxy Watch FE — beating it in Essential mode.

Our TicWatch E3 reviewer had a laundry list of pros lined up 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 affordable 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 for all the interaction, which may bother you if you're used to a digital crown. The TicWatch E3 also has less RAM and storage than the Galaxy Watch FE. But that's the cost of getting it for such a low price!

Honorable mentions: While it's inconsistent, we'll occasionally see the TicWatch Pro 5 under $200, and I can't stress how much better it is than the E3: The 1.43-inch AMOLED has a tiny bezel, you get doubled RAM with a faster processor and quadrupled storage, the battery capacity is almost doubled, and you get newer Wear OS 4 software — though still no Google Assistant. Seriously, wait for the Pro 5 to fall on sale if you're flexible on price and want something with better longevity.

Best hybrid watch

Most cheap Android smartwatches have a cheap, toy-like appearance, whether you choose a squircle or circular display. That's why many users gravitate towards hybrid smartwatches that offer both style and 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 regular wristwatch, 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. To see the information, you need to check 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 details like Intensity Minutes, steps, calories burned, and sleep insights. Still, I think many buyers will prefer the 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, offering workout suggestions and post-run recovery time; the Venu gives you the squircle look and a fabulous 11-day battery life.

Best ultra-cheap watch

Closing out our list of the best cheap Android smartwatches, we had to include the CMF Watch Pro 2, a smartwatch that sounds expensive but actually costs less than half what you'd pay for our top budget picks.

Nothing managed to squeeze a surprising amount of features into a sub-$100 watch. You get the basics like heart rate and blood oxygen tracking, as well as built-in GPS and a mic and speaker for Bluetooth calls — neither of which is usual at this price point. And there are tools like a calendar, reminders, and alarms, if not as smart as the ones you get on Wear OS.

The AMOLED display isn't the brightest at 620 nits, but its 353ppi pixel density and 60Hz refresh rate matches higher-end watches. It easily lasts over a week per charge, and Nothing promises dozens of hours of GPS battery life, too. The rotating crown is useful for navigation, and its distinct aluminum bezel is interchangeable if you want to switch up your style.

This low price point comes with trade-offs in terms of accuracy and performance, and you certainly won't find the robust apps you'd expect on a Galaxy Watch FE. But you can't deny how impressive it is that Nothing squeezed this much value into such a low price tag; I can't think of any alternatives in its range that I'd trust to recommend.

• Back to the top ^

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 it's a proper match for our favorite Android phones.

We're 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

Why you can trust Android Central Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Hopefully, this list will make it clear that you can find a cheap Android smartwatch that doesn't feel like a complete downgrade from the pricier options. 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 some compromises.

Your first big decision is whether to choose Wear OS or a secondary option like Fitbit OS 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 from 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 the majority of our picks sacrifice features that you may really want. You'll want the Versa 4 for Bluetooth calling, but not for music playback or voice commands. Hybrid watches typically don't have built-in GPS or proper smarts. Most cheap watches don't have AFib detection, and many don't have calls and assistants.

Make sure to do your research before you buy, so you don't end up regretting your choice. There's no point "saving money" on a cheap watch that doesn't serve your needs!

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

• Smartwatch deals: Best Buy | Walmart | Amazon | Samsung | Dell