Best cheap smartwatch for Android 2025

Choosing the best cheap Android smartwatch depends on what features matter most to you. Every affordable wearable on this list has trade-offs compared to the $300 and up models we usually recommend. But the good ones still deliver a reliable, enjoyable experience without feeling like a downgrade.

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.

After testing dozens of wearables over the years, I've learned which budget smartwatches are genuinely worth it. Not every affordable model delivers where it counts, but the right one can offer a great experience without breaking your budget. I'm confident in my choices about which low-cost smartwatches are 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 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 more affordable than you'd expect. However, with the Galaxy Watch 6 and older versions becoming harder to find, the Galaxy Watch FE now stands out as the most consistently available and budget-friendly Wear OS option, complete with years of software support and full 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. That kind of reliability is rare at this price.

Honorable mentions: As already mentioned, the Galaxy Watch 7 sometimes costs close to $200; spending an extra few bucks over the FE price will make your watch last longer. Similarly, the OnePlus Watch 2R is $30 too expensive to make this list, but its multi-day battery life and snappier performance make it a compelling alternative.

Best Wear OS alternative

For all their smarts, Wear OS watches are typically expensive, and you need to charge them every 1–2 days. Amazfit watches can't compete in some ways, but it's consistently been one of the best bang-for-your-buck brands we recommend, 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 includes a built-in mic and speaker for Bluetooth calls, but the mic does more than that. You can use it to control the key tools like Amazon Alexa or Amazfit's offline voice assistant. Its newest feature, Zepp, powered by ChatGPT-4o, takes things further, letting you reply to messages hands-free, ask about your health stats, check the weather, and more. It was occasionally glitchy during our review period, but it has continued to improve and get smarter over 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 it is more well-rounded than other Amazfits that don't offer 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 on many 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 apps with Google Maps, Google Wallet, and YouTube Music.

Even with those frustrating cutbacks, the Versa 4 still stands out as one of the best cheap smartwatches you can buy. It often sees deep discounts during significant sales, making it an even more appealing budget-friendly option.

You get a 6-day watch with a gorgeously bright AMOLED screen, blended GPS with an altimeter for judging elevation, Bluetooth calling, continuous heart rate, blood oxygen, heart rate variance (HRV), and respiratory rate tracking. You won't get full messaging support like a proper Wear OS watch, but at least Alexa commands help fill the gap.

The Versa 4 delivers impressively accurate health data. While some insights are locked behind Fitbit Premium, you now get the Daily Readiness Score for free, which is always a welcome bonus. Plus, Google ported its Fitbit Cardio Load from the costly 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 might also be interested in 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 are pricey. If you're looking to stay under $100 and still get the core Wear OS experience, Mobvoi's TicWatch E3 is a standout pick, selling for $79. That low price makes it incredibly appealing, but you'll have to live with a few compromises to get there.

First, the positives. Most of our other cheap Android smartwatch picks are fitness watches with proprietary operating systems and little app support. Conversely, the TicWatch E3 gives you a wide range of apps and has a battery life comparable 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. Building on that, it includes heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring for workouts and sleep, with results matching our reviewer's results on Samsung and Amazfit devices.

At that price, though, you can't have it all. The TicWatch E3 has a thick-bezel LCD that our reviewer called "a bit excessive." It lacks a rotating crown, meaning you'll rely entirely on the touchscreen for navigation. It also has less RAM and storage than the Galaxy Watch FE, but those are the compromises you make for a smartwatch that is this affordable.

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: You get a 1.43-inch AMOLED display with minimal bezels, double the RAM, a faster processor, four times the storage, and nearly twice the battery capacity. All of this is running on the newer Wear OS 4. The only major omission? Still no Google Assistant. Seriously, wait for the Pro 5 to go on sale if you're flexible on price and want something with better longevity.

Best hybrid watch

Many cheap Android smartwatches, whether they have a squircle or circular design, tend to look and feel toy-like. That's why many users gravitate towards hybrid smartwatches that offer both style and substance. But since most of our favorite hybrids are pricey, we're picking the reasonable Garmin Vivomove Sport for this spot.

You can grab this wearable in Ivory, Cocoa, Cool Mint, or Black. The Vivomove Sport looks like a regular wristwatch, with actual watch hands and a subtle mono-color OLED touchscreen on the bottom half of the watch. Garmin built it to passively monitor your heart rate, stress levels, blood oxygen, Body Battery, and more, but viewing that data requires a trip to the Garmin Connect app.

Compared to the best Garmin watches, the Vivomove Sport is pretty limited. You won't get Garmin Pay, built-in GPS, or advanced training features like Garmin Coach here. This minimalist watch focuses on essentials like Intensity Minutes, step count, calories burned, and sleep tracking. Still, for many buyers, the streamlined experience and stylish design will be precisely what they want.

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 terrific runner training tool, offering workout suggestions and post-run recovery time; the Venu gives you the squircle look and a fantastic 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 costs less than half what you'd pay for our top budget picks.

Nothing packed an impressive number of features into this sub-$100 smartwatch. Alongside essential features like heart rate and blood oxygen tracking, you also get a built-in GPS, mic, and speaker for Bluetooth calls, which are rare at this price point. It even has tools like reminders, calendar, and alarms, though they're not quite as advanced as what you'd find on a typical Wear OS watch.

The AMOLED display isn't the brightest at 620 nits, but its 353ppi pixel density and 60Hz refresh rate match higher-end watches. You can use it a whole week without charging it, and Nothing promises dozens of hours of GPS battery life, too. The rotating crown is helpful 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 accuracy and performance, and you indeed won't find the robust apps you'd expect on a Galaxy Watch FE. That said, it's genuinely impressive how much Nothing squeezed into a watch this affordable, and I can't name another in its price range I'd trust enough to recommend.

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How we test

When our wearables team—led by senior editor Michael Hicks—reviews a new smartwatch, the device 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 test for performance, battery life under heavy and light use, and, most importantly, health and fitness tracking accuracy. After all, accuracy matters if you rely on a smartwatch for health data. That's why we never 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

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Hopefully, this list shows that you don't have to settle for a cheap Android smartwatch that feels like a major step down. Most of these options still offer the core features you'd expect, like health and sleep tracking, notifications, and reliable battery life. You'll still have to make a few compromises in software, design, or extra features.

Your first big decision is whether to choose Wear OS or a secondary option like Fitbit OS or Garmin OS. We value the Galaxy Watch FE and TicWatch series for giving you access to Play Store apps and wrist-based replies for messages and notifications. 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 usually lack built-in GPS and advanced smart features. Most budget-friendly models also lack AFib detection, voice assistants, or Bluetooth call support, which you'd find on more premium options.

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

The Galaxy Watch FE does look smart and superior 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 chipset, 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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