Best Cheap Smartwatch 2026: Budget-friendly and feature-packed wearables

We’re bending the rules slightly here to highlight a watch that is above our usual cap of £250/$250 for this list, but given that it costs just a fraction more and offers so much in return, it would be daft not to include the Xiaomi Watch 5. Despite carrying a price tag of only £269.99 (sadly the watch isn’t available in the US), the Watch 5 takes the reins from the OnePlus Watch 3 where battery life is concerned and ups the game even further.

On a single charge, it is possible to get the Xiaomi Watch 5 to last for up to six days at a time, which is wild for a Wear OS device. What this means is that the wearable works incredibly well as a backup whenever your phone runs out of battery, as you can still have access to key things like NFC payments and, with an internet connection, your WhatsApp messages.

What ups the ante even more though is that if you’re heading away for a week and you forget to pack the watch’s charger, you can simply toggle the low power mode and stretch the run time to 18 days. Of course, you do end up sacrificing quite a few features when this is toggled including notifications and background tracking, but you can still keep tabs on essentials like the date, time and your step count.

When you are using the Xiaomi Watch 5 as a typical smartwatch however, there’s a lot to like. Everything is wonderfully zippy thanks to the dual-processor system onboard, so whether you’re tracking a workout or trying to navigate your way around via Google Maps, you shouldn’t encounter any noticeable slowdown.

What would have been nice is if Xiaomi could have paid a bit more attention to the overall look of the Watch 5 itself. Not too dissimilar to the TicWatch models of old, it’s a functional aesthetic but not one that’s going to have people complimenting your sense of style. If you’re not that fussed about looks however then you’ll get on just fine.

The Redmi Watch 5 is fronted by a beautiful 2.07-inch AMOLED display, which isn’t just easy to read outdoors when getting in a quick run, it also does justice to the great selection of watch faces included as part of Xiaomi’s HyperOS.

Speaking of which, Xiaomi’s UI is wonderfully intuitive, with a clean layout that makes it easy to understand after just a short time of use, and it’s complemented by the fact that it all runs incredibly well. In our testing, we never came across any moments of performance lag that would otherwise compromise the experience.

Most surprisingly is that, even with the aforementioned AMOLED display in tow, the Redmi Watch 5 is still able to achieve something otherworldly when it comes to battery life. Under the right circumstances, you can get this thing to last for up to 24-days on a single charge, which even outdoes some of the best Garmin watches which almost all go for a much higher price tag.

Bear in mind however that if you’re an iPhone user, you won’t be able to enjoy the music playback controls (it’s been reserved for the Android crowd only). Heart rate tracking also leaves a lot to be desired, but this might be less of an issue if you’re not too fussed on diving into the details of every workout you take on.

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In the world of budget smartwatches and fitness trackers, Amazfit has been an excellent brand to recommend, consistently putting out wearables that go above and beyond in value, and now the Amazfit Active 3 Premium continues that trend with aplomb. If you’re just starting out on your fitness journey, particularly as a runner, then this is a great option to go for.

There’s an extensive Training Library of recommended running workouts on the watch itself, so if you’re coming to the practice with absolutely no prior experience, the Active 3 Premium can guide you to the right plan to suit you. Everything is covered here from warm-up stretches to minimise the risk of injury, as well as prompts to maintain a certain pace and improve your skill level over time.

As you become more confident with your running ability, you can start to lean on more advanced tracking metrics such as your stride length, ground contact time and VO2 Max, all of which give you an understanding of whether or not your workout routine is headed in the right direction, or if you need better rest and recovery to scale with your energy expenditure.

Even though it only carries a price tag of £169.99/$169, the watch still packs a fairly premium (as its name implies) stainless steel casing, alongside a bright and visually potent 1.32-inch AMOLED display. Throw in the fact that you’re getting up to 12 days of battery life on a single charge and it’s hard to argue with Amazfit’s value proposition.

Where the Active 3 Premium does struggle is in keeping up with certain competitors on pure smarts. It’s not a complete washout as you can enjoy NFC payments via Zepp Pay, and take calls on the watch itself over Bluetooth, which can be handy if you’re in the middle of a run and don’t want to fish out your phone. Compared to the full-on app stores and third-party support that Apple and Samsung enjoy however, anyone wanting the full smartwatch experience should look elsewhere.

Even though it’s only been around for a relatively short time compared to the likes of Garmin or Fitbit, the Coros brand has made quite a name for itself with tremendous smartwatches that have gone all in on three things: fitness, battery life and durability. What’s even more impressive is that the brand has been able to tackle those aspects at various ends of the price spectrum, and for the more budget-friendly crowd, the Coros Pace 4 fits the bill rather well.

With a price tag of just £229.99/$249.99, the Pace 4 is an excellent buy for anyone after their first fitness watch but who also doesn’t want to spend a ton of money. Right off the bat, it’s worth knowing that there are a few things that you don’t get with this watch, namely NFC payments, as well as offline Spotify storage (although you can enjoy offline playback of MP3 files) so if those features are a must-have then you’re better off picking up a Garmin or Apple Watch. If you don’t consider those to be within your list of priorities then you’ll love what Coros has cooked up elsewhere.

For starters, the Pace 4 absolutely destroys the competition when it comes to battery life. It’s possible to get up to 19 days of use from a single charge which, if you’re used to the single-day longevity that tends to be offered by most Apple and Samsung Galaxy Watches, will feel like tech from another age. Not only does this give the Pace 4 more of a chance to collect your health and fitness data without interruption, but it also means that you have one less device that you have to charge daily.

In terms of keeping tabs on your fitness, the Coros software packs tons of training tools and recovery metrics, the latter of which is particularly important for those who are just starting out and need to give their body a chance to adjust. We’ve heard of far too many instances where fitness hopefuls go too hard at the beginning and abandon their plans early on because they feel too tired, whereas the Pace 4 can help to keep any encroaching fatigue in check.

The 1.2-inch OLED display is lovely to look at, and bright enough that you don’t have to squint when using the watch outdoors. What’s quite impressive for the price is that you get dual-band GPS tracking here, a feature that can paint a more accurate picture of your route from a run and to help you understand which sections your body struggled with the most.

Anyone who’s stayed on top of our coverage will know that the previous-gen Garmin Forerunner 165 is an amazing budget-friendly watch, so much so that if you currently own it then there isn’t really any reason to upgrade to its immediate successor. However, if you’re looking to buy your first Garmin watch then the Garmin Forerunner 170, though not a complete reinvention, is a great place to start.

This watch takes the foundations of the Forerunner 165 and injects it with some of the health tracking features that were previously locked behind more expensive wearables from the brand. For instance, Training Readiness takes into account your recent exertion and the amount of rest you’ve had, and lets you know in a concise way whether or not you’re ready to handle a taxing day.

There are new quick workouts also available on the watch, so if you’re someone with a fairly hectic timetable who struggles to make time for exercise then this can help to give you a nudge in the right direction. This sits on top of the already excellent heart rate tracking that Garmin is known for, alongside sleep monitoring to make sure that you’re getting the right amount of rest.

Although there is a cheaper, standard version available, we recommend picking up the Garmin Forerunner 170 Music as it gives you access to, you guessed it, offline music playback. For those quick runs when you want to travel light, this feature lets you leave your phone behind and enjoy playlists and podcasts that you’ve downloaded ahead of time.

The watch itself feels nice and light on the wrist, partially helped by a slimming down to fit a 42mm case as opposed to the 43mm variant used for the Forerunner 165. Even with the slightly smaller case, the battery life can still keep up in the way that you’d want as you can get 10 days of use from a single charge. Even with heavy use, you can easily get the watch to last for the better part of a week.

Between the likes of Garmin, Coros and Polar, the race for having the best fitness-first watch at the more affordable end of the market can feel like a crowded one, but even with all of that competition at its doorstep, Suunto is still making enough of the right moves to be a contender, and if you’re someone who engages with a lot of sports as well as running then the Suunto Run might just be the watch for you.

Before you even switch the thing on, the Suunto Run is designed to catch your attention particularly if you opt for the yellow or coral orange colourways. You can go for something more understated with either black or grey, but where’s the fun in that? Timepieces are supposed to work as fashion accessories, so the more colourful options feel like a better way of expressing your tastes.

When you actually dive into the watch, it’s the amount of tracking features onboard that really draw you in. There’s a total of 34 sports modes that can be tracked, including everything from cycling to swimming, and even multi-sport events like triathlons. The Suunto Run even offers up the opportunity to change the mode being tracked during the event itself, which lets you change things up on the fly.

For those who are purely interested in just using the watch for running, there’s plenty to like here too. There’s dual-band GPS tracking onboard so you can build a detailed understanding of the routes you undertake, seeing where the tougher points are and where you can improve next time.

There are training insights too that will let you know how intense a particular workout was for your body, alongside staples like VO2 Max which gives you an understanding of how much your body is capable of undertaking. To top it all off you’re looking at 12 days of battery life and up to 40 hours for continuous GPS usage which is great news for marathon runners.

After a disastrous foray into the world of smartwatches with its very first wearable, OnePlus has been taking significant strides to correct matters with each new iteration. While the brand has since enjoyed much success by embracing Google’s Wear OS platform, the OnePlus Watch Lite goes down a different route by using its own operating system, allowing it to carry a much cheaper £179/€179 price tag as a result.

What’s arguably most impressive about the OnePlus Watch Lite is that, in spite of it being the most affordable wearable that the brand puts out, you’d never guess as much just to look at it. This is a very sleek watch that sits almost flush on your wrist. It’s strange to say that we wish more pricier smartwatches would adopt a design like this, but it’s one heck of an achievement on OnePlus’ part to build something that feels so great to wear and is still affordable.

While there are two colourways available, Black Steel and Silver Steel, we recommend picking up the latter as it just does a better job of standing out from the crowd. The included watch band has a great-looking off-white aesthetic with orange stitching near the lugs. It also helps that OnePlus has included a solid collection of watch faces for users to jump between, something which often gets overlooked at this end of the market.

As a fitness tracker, the Watch Lite does a tremendous job of offering up a suite of data for folks to follow, and we found the heart rate data collected to be quite in line with a chest-worn HRM, which again just isn’t something you’d expect at this price range. Throw in the fact that it can last for up to 10 days on a single charge and you won’t have to worry about it running out of juice mid-workout.

Where the Watch Lite struggles is with smart features, or rather, a lack thereof. There was always going to be a trade-off by not having Wear OS here, but it would have been nice to have had some features make the cut such as NFC functionality. Still, even with that in mind it’s hard to argue with the lower price, and the fact that the Watch Lite absolutely nails it on practically every other front.

Even though there’s no shortage of competitors, Xiaomi often takes the crown for putting out some of the best fitness trackers we’ve ever tested, and if you’re looking for a fairly solid wearable on the hardware front that doesn’t cost a fortune, then this is where you should be looking. To that end, the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 Pro is the brand’s most recent entry and it’s well worth considering.

It’s worth mentioning that the previous-gen option, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro, is still an amazing device that is arguably worth picking up if you can find it at a massively reduced price, but at £69.99, its successor hardly breaks the bank, and you do get a handful of great upgrades here, particularly with the display.

Now boasting a larger 1.74-inch panel, the display of the Smart Band 10 Pro is brighter too, with the ability to reach a peak of 2000 nits. With that kind of tech in tow, you won’t have any worries with trying to read what’s on the watch when you’re outside on a run. Speaking of which, the watch still packs all the fitness tracking tech that we’ve come to expect from Xiaomi, and it’s great for most people.

There are over 150 sports modes to tap into so even if your exercise of choice is fairly niche, there’s a good chance that the Smart Band 10 can track it. If you are more of a runner then you’ll be glad to know that the GPS tracking is quite reliable on this device, which is saying something as we’ve tested plenty that are more expensive and aren’t quite as on the ball here.

What’s sure to appeal to anyone who doesn’t want to have another device that requires a daily charge, the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 Pro can go for a whopping 21 days at a time, and the process of charging to a full battery only takes about 90 minutes. For what it excels at, there’s a lot to like here, just don’t expect much in the way of smart features and you won’t be disappointed.

When it comes to fitness tracking, Huawei has been one of the best brands to side with, and after praising so many of the features that the Huawei Health app brought to the table, it’s been fascinating to see them reappear in the ecosystems of competitors over time. Given the lack of smart features that Huawei has to play around with after the company was shut out from being able to use Google services, it only makes sense to focus on fitness as a result, and if you’re tied to a budget then the Huawei Band 11 Pro is a great way of seeing what all the fuss is about.

Even though we still rate the likes of the Huawei Watch GT 6 if you want a more traditional smartwatch, the Band 11 Pro is ideal for budget buyers thanks to a miniscule price tag of only £69.99. From a screen perspective, it’s hard to feel like there’s any compromise at all thanks to the massive 1.62-inch display which can reach a peak brightness of 2000 nits.

What this translates to is an amazing screen that’s not only easy to read against direct sunlight, but it’s large enough so that text and notifications have the space to spread out so you’re never left squinting. Circling back to Huawei Health, one of the things we appreciate is that when it comes to sleep tracking, the information collected is presented in a clear and concise fashion with actionable advice presented alongside it. So many other wearables drop the ball here by simply bombarding users with stats.

If you do plan on using the Band 11 Pro as a 24/7 wearable to ensure a deeper insight into your health and wellness, you’ll be glad to know that the battery life paves the way for very few gaps in coverage. The device can offer up to 14 days of use from a single charge, and you can claim back about 25% of the battery life from just a 15-minute top-up, so you won’t be waiting around long either.

For those who are worried that there’s something getting in the way of them performing at their best, the Band 11 Pro may be able to help as there’s now a new feature known as Pulse Wave Arrhythmia Analysis. This added bit of tech can keep an eye out for any signs of disruption in your heart’s natural rhythm which might speak to an underlying condition. It’s the type of thing you hope never to use but it is nice that it’s here, and for such an affordable price.

No, this isn’t an Apple Watch although you’d be forgiven for thinking as much. Huawei has clearly worn its inspiration on its sleeve for this particular device, but if you are going to copy a brand’s homework, why not mimic the best? Given that all Apple Watches are some of the most stylish wearables you can buy, it means that, almost by default, the Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro is also something of a headturner.

There are three colourways available, but if you want the one that is easily the most eye-catching of the bunch then the Orange Nylon is an instant recommendation. Now that the iPhone 17 Pro has brought orange back into the spotlight, this particular colourway matches that perfectly, and the dashes of orange around the chassis are a nice touch too.

Although previous Huawei Watch Fit wearables have been a bit light on smart features, the Fit 5 Pro introduces a crucial one in the form of NFC payments, now available to those with a Curve account. It’s not quite as robust as having access to all types of banks in the way that Apple or Google Pay have, but it is a decent workaround for when you want a cheeky post-run beverage.

The screen itself is lovely to look at, using a 1.92-inch AMOLED panel that has just the right amount of space for workout information and notifications to spread out so you’re never having to squint at anything. This is also bolstered by the 2000 nits of peak brightness which really comes in handy when you’re trying to get in an outdoor run and you want to keep tabs on your laps and heart rate.

Speaking of workouts, there are now mini workouts that can be completed entirely on the watch, so if you’re someone who leads a very busy life and struggles to get to the gym regularly then this can be a great way of making sure that you step away from your desk for a small bit of time at least.

I know that some of you may decry the Fitbit Charge 6 as being more of a fitness tracker than a smartwatch, and while there’s some weight to that argument, there’s no denying that the Charge 6 does so much right that it’s simply an easy wearable to recommend to most people.

While Fitbit has some stiff competition from the likes of Apple and Samsung at the upper end of the smartwatch market, the same can’t be said about the budget market, where it sometimes feels like Fitbit stands in a class of its own.

As such, the Charge 6 is the go-to option in the budget market for those who want accurate daily tracking, rock-solid sleep monitoring and advanced health features without paying hundreds. It sports an updated design with the return of the handy side button compared to the Charge 5, with a plethora of new Google services like Wallet, Maps and YouTube Music now also available on the wearable.

Fitbit has also worked hard to improve the reliability of its tracker with a new AI-based heart rate algorithm that should improve the accuracy of HR readings. However, our reviewer found that the GPS performance is still pretty poor. Hey, the budget nature had to shine through somehow.

It also retains key bits of smartwatch functionality such as incoming notifications, alarms, timers and ‘find my phone’, but the real meat here is in Fitbit’s operating system and accompanying app. There’s no shortage here of workouts to track, and Fitbit’s week-on-week style metrics are a lot easier for beginners to get into than the standard ‘reach this goal today’ method. The catch is that some features and metrics lay behind a Fitbit Premium paywall.

Even though the Huawei Watch GT 5 slightly pushes the barrier for what could be considered an ‘affordable’ price tag with a starting rate of £229.99, there’s no getting around the fact that if you want a stylish wearable that doesn’t break the bank then the GT 5 really is your best option.

Huawei adopted its ‘fashion forward’ with the Watch GT 4, wherein the design held the biggest prominence in manufacturing and other features were built around it, and that approach has continued here in the GT 5.

Compared to most other smartwatches, you have an abundance of style options in the GT 5, ranging from the traditional brown leather look that goes with most items of clothing, to the black silicone strap pick that’s far better suited for the gym.

Speaking of fitness, the GT 5 boasts a suite of workout tracking capabilities and in our testing, it performed admirably where heart rate and GPS tracking are concerned. There’s also detailed advice on how to improve the quality of your sleep, making it a great option for those looking to be more active.

The obvious downside is that with this being a Huawei watch, you don’t have access to key third-party apps in the way that you would via Android’s Wear OS or Apple’s watchOS, so bear this in mind before making a final decision.

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If you want a wearable that looks good and can still accurately measure your workouts, then the CMF Watch 3 Pro is one for you. Available in four unique colourways, the CMF Watch 3 Pro undoubtedly stands out from the crowd – in a good way. 

While its predecessor was able to swap out bezels, this is a feature that’s missing from the Watch 3 Pro. It’s a shame, especially as we quite appreciated the customisation option, however it’s certainly not a reason to not opt for the Watch 3 Pro. 

Its 1.43-inch display is not only bigger but, at 670 nits, it’s brighter too which makes using it outdoors much easier. Plus, the display is responsive too and we never felt any moments of slowdown, even when jumping from one app to another. 

Speaking of design, the UI is a simple, monochrome colour palette that helps keep the watch looking slick in everyday use. This helps make vibrant colours pop even more when introduced.

However, it’s worth noting that the Watch 3 Pro isn’t equipped with the likes of NFC payments or many third-party apps. While you can access your calendar and even your camera app, if you’re used to using a smartwatch in your day-to-day then you’ll struggle. 

Even so, the Watch 3 Pro is first and foremost a fitness tracker, and this is where it excels. Not only can it monitor plenty of workouts, but it’s also fitted with dual-band GPS support for more accurate tracking. Once you’ve completed a workout, you’ll receive key information and metrics, which although generally is fairly accurate, the average BPM does tend to vary a bit. 

Otherwise, with up to 13 days on a single charge and plenty of health and fitness tracking features all housed in a sleek wearable and for under £100, the CMF Watch 3 Pro is hard to beat.

While it’s not the cheapest option on this list, if you want a stylish smartwatch that also benefits from Garmin’s useful health and fitness tracking features, then the Venu 4 is an easy recommendation. 

Unlike some of the best Garmin watches that sport a more rugged finish, the Venu 4 looks and feels more like an everyday watch, thanks to its stainless steel finish and crisp 1.4-inch (or 1.2-inch if you opt for the smaller model) AMOLED display. 

Although it looks more like a regular watch than a smartwatch, it’s still worth remembering that there’s plenty of tracking tools at play here. Perhaps most notably, as it’s a Garmin, is its GPS tracking which is brilliant for runs or hikes.

However, there’s also sleep tracking and, via the Garmin Connect app, which shows metrics like Body Battery, Training Readiness and Training Condition too. You can also see your fitness age, respiration rates and track your cycle too. As an all-rounder, you couldn’t do much better.

While all of those features do come as standard, there is the option to pay for the premium Garmin subscription which uses AI to analyse and explain your data. 

Aside from its stylish design and in-depth tracking, the Garmin Venu 4 also benefits from up to a whopping 12 days of battery life. Sure, this will vary depending on your own usage, but it certainly blows the likes of the Apple Watch Series 10 out of the water.

Although it’s not the cheapest, if you want an all-round Garmin smartwatch that doesn’t look too much like a fitness tracker, then the Venu 4 is a great option.