The best cheap smartwatches offer affordable ways to get connected from your wrist, monitor your health and stay on top of your fitness goals. Ranging in price from $99 to just under $300, these wearables offer no shortage of bang for the buck
Many of the best cheap smartwatches, like the Apple Watch SE 2022 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 boast similar features to their pricier, higher-end siblings and can often be found on sale for a discount. Others, like the Amazfit Active 2 pack a punch for under $100 and play nicely with both Android and iOS devices.
We tested dozens of the most popular smartwatches out there while working out, sleeping, running errands, walking the dog, washing the car... you get the idea, and these are the best cheap smartwatches you can buy right now.
The best cheap smartwatches you can buy today
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The quick list
Amazfit smartwatches keep getting better and better. Thankfully, the brand's pricing remains extremely competitive. In 2025, the best bang-for-the-buck Amazfit model (and arguably all-around smartwatch), is the Active 2. Starting at $99, it's sleek, long-lasting and packed with legit health and fitness-tracking tech.
The Apple Watch SE (2022) technically starts at $249 but finding one on sale in 2025 requires very little effort. In fact, I've seen it on sale for as low as $149, which is a seriously good deal for a wearable that offers 90% of the features you get in the Apple Watch Series 10 and Ultra 2.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 starts at $299 but can often be found for around $50 less. Samsung's equivalent to the Apple Watch 10, the Galaxy Watch 7 offers impressive AI-backed wellness tools including my favorite sleep reports. It's also easy to wear and comes in two sizes.
The Garmin Forerunner 55 is an entry-level GPS running watch that punches well above its weight class. Originally launched for $199, you can easily find the Forerunner 55 for $150 or less. Yet it offers rock-solid GPS tracking accuracy, impressive fitness training tools and epic battery life.
The Garmin Approach S12 is a fairly entry-level golf watch but it checks all the key boxes including a long-lasting battery, super-accurate location tracking data, course support for a huge number of global golf courses and a durable, easy-to-use design. Priced at $199, the Approach S12 often goes on sale for $50 off.
Best cheap smartwatch under $100
The Amazfit Active 2 is the best cheap smartwatch you can buy in 2025 for less than $100. Compatible with both Android and iOS devices, it boasts an impressive set of fitness, health and sleep-tracking tools, outstanding battery life, a stylish and comfortable design, and a handful of useful smart features.
That said, the operating system is nowhere near as refined as the latest watchOS or Wear OS builds, but for under a Benjamin, the Active 2 punches well above its price class. It also features onboard GPS for location tracking without a smartphone, support for offline maps, a questionably-useful AI voice assistant and surprisingly gorgeous display.
Read our full Amazfit Active 2 review
Best cheap Apple Watch
The second-generation Apple Watch SE (2022) is the best cheap smartwatch you can buy in 2024, offering a ton of functionality in an attractive, well-built package for the price. You get a large and immersive display, international emergency calling, fall detection, noise monitoring and optional LTE support to go phone-free.
It may be Apple's entry-level model but it still has excellent health and fitness tracking features — especially if you upgrade to the latest watchOS 11 — and more third-party apps than you can shake a stick at. Battery life is rated at just 18 hours but you can push that to closer to 24 hours in low-power mode.
Read our full Apple Watch SE (2022) review
Best cheap Android smartwatch
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 boasts a slim, lightweight and comfortable design, two size options, a bright and responsive AMOLED touchscreen and excellent health and fitness tracking features.
Like the Apple Watch SE, there are an impressive number of third-party apps to try out, as well as the option to add LTE connectivity. However, compatibility is limited to Android devices only and some features, like sleep apnea detection, require a Samsung Galaxy phone.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 review
Best cheap smartwatch for fitness
The Garmin Forerunner 55 is the brand's most entry-level running watch but don't let the dissuade you. This thing is absolutely brimming with high-end training features, health sensors and holistic insights. These include tools to help you stay on pace while training, effectively recover after particularly challenging workouts and prep for upcoming events.
The watch's battery life and build quality also impress. However, non-workout features are virtually non-existent. For example, there's no NFC for mobile payment or onboard storage for music. That said, you do get accurate GPS tracking and a super-rugged overall design.
Read our full Garmin Forerunner 55 review
Best cheap smartwatch for golf
Golf watches can be pricey, and especially for new or casual players, the upfront cost of the game tends to add up. So for the $199 Garmin Approach S12 to pack many of the key game features found in the brand’s higher-tier devices — including 43,000 preloaded courses, shot-distance measurements and compatibility with Garmin’s other golf accessories — its value is hard to beat. That's why it's one of the best cheap smartwatches for golfers, if not the best overall.
It doesn’t have the finesse of Garmin's higher-end golf watches, and the lack of a heart rate monitor means it can't replace your fitness tracker. But for mirrored notifications and a simple, yet customizable watch face, there's plenty of versatility on and off the green.
Read our full Garmin Approach S12 review
How to choose
When shopping for a cheap smartwatch, you should look for the same things as if you were shopping for a higher-priced model. First, what kind of smartphone do you have? If you own an iPhone, we recommend sticking with the Apple Watch SE or Series 9 (or some other recent version), as the Apple Watch is the only smartwatch that fully works with the iPhone.
If you have an Android smartphone, your best choice is either a Samsung or Wear OS smartwatch like the Google Pixel Watch 2; both of those platforms fully support Android phones, such as making and receiving calls from your wrist, as well as crafting messages.
You also want to consider what you plan to do with the smartwatch. If you're into fitness, you'll want a smartwatch that's water-resistant and has GPS and a heart rate monitor.
How we test
We test cheap smartwatches the same way we do pricier models: By wearing them. We first see how well the watches fit on our wrists, and how easy the displays are to read (especially in sunlight and navigate.
Depending on its capabilities, we also test the watches' sensors, such as GPS and heart rate monitors. If you need a watch that can track your workouts without your phone, check out our guides to the best GPS watches and best running watches instead.
Other criteria that factor into our ratings include the number of apps available for a smartwatch, how well it interacts with our smartphone, and battery life. In all of this, we also take into account the price of the smartwatch.
The less a watch costs, the more leeway we're inclined to give it. Still, there are a lot of lousy cheap smartwatches — and plenty of good ones under $200 — so our tolerance only goes so far.
Frequently asked questions
What new cheap smartwatches are expected for 2025?
Several new, potentially cheap, smartwatches are expected in 2025 — though, not certain — including an Apple Watch SE 3 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 8. Given past release cycles, we're likely to see the next-gen Galaxy Watch in the summer and the latest entry-level Apple Watch in the fall.
