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Title: The best cheap fitness trackers for 2025

Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2025 07:00:36 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/wearables/best-cheap...

If youΓÇÖre looking to get healthier without spending a fortune, the best
cheap fitness trackers prove you donΓÇÖt need to splash out on the best
smartwatches to stay on top of your goals. Whether you're counting steps,
keeping track of heart rate monitoring or trying to improve your sleep
patterns, these affordable wearables pack serious tracking capabilities into
wallet-friendly packages.

The best budget fitness trackers are perfect for everyday activity tracking,
whether you're going for a jog, hitting the gym or just aiming to move a bit
more. Many also include extras like support for third-party apps, basic
smartphone notifications and wellness insights that help you form better
habits over time.

No matter your price point, thereΓÇÖs a tracker out there that can help you
build a routine, stay motivated and maybe even make fitness fun. WeΓÇÖve
rounded up the top picks that strike the right balance between features,
accuracy, and affordability ΓÇö so you can find the best fitness tracker for
your lifestyle.

Table of contents

Best budget fitness trackers for 2025

What to look for in a cheap fitness tracker

Other budget fitness trackers we tested

Best budget fitness trackers for 2025

What to look for in a cheap fitness tracker

All of the best fitness trackers should have at least three features: a
program for activity tracking, the option to monitor and collect data about
your sleep patterns and the ability to do things like heart rate monitoring
and blood oxygen level tracking (though, the readings might not be super
accurate). DonΓÇÖt set your sights too high and expect metrics like blood
pressure monitoring; for that, youΓÇÖd need to invest in a more expensive
wearable like a Samsung Galaxy Watch, which falls under the best smartwatches
category and will set you back over $400.

Fitness features

A cheap workout tracker can be great for someone looking to keep tabs on
small, achievable goals like 10,000 steps before sundown or 30 minutes of a
HIIT workout to get your heart rate peaking. An experienced long-distance
runner looking to train for a triathlon might opt for a more expensive device
that can measure cadence or ground contact time, and can track more
customizable workouts, offer different sports modes or give deeper insights
into performance data.

At the very least, a budget workout tracker should be able to offer fitness
tracking features beyond walking and running ΓÇö otherwise, it would just be
a pedometer. The number of activities a device will recognize varies. Some
will get funky with it and consider skateboarding a workout, while others
wonΓÇÖt be able to track a jumping jack.

At this price point, you can expect a device to measure a mix of cardio,
machine workouts and strength training. With each, you might get a numerical
or visual breakdown of heart rate activity, overall pace, and calories burned
per session. Although some cheap trackers can offer a really good overview of
heart rate zone activity during a workout, a more technically advanced device
might be able to go a step further and explain what your results mean and
coach you on how to keep your heart rate in a specific bracket so that you
can burn more fat per workout. I found that the more budget-friendly the
device, the more likely it is that a tracker will fall short when it comes to
smart counseling or offering predictive insights beyond a given workout. If a
budget tracker does happen to offer some semblance of a coaching program, you
can expect it to sit behind a paywall.

Workout tracking and planning your recovery is just as essential to any
fitness journey. A sub-$100 device should be able to tell you how long
youΓÇÖve slept and provide a breakdown of deep, light and REM sleep patterns.
It's not a guarantee that you will get a sleep ΓÇ£scoreΓÇ¥ or insights on how
to get better rest ΓÇö that data is usually found on more expensive
wearables. Also, because these trackers arenΓÇÖt designed for bedtime
specifically ΓÇö be mindful of comfort. The bands and watch face on a budget
fitness tracker may not be ideal for getting some good shut-eye.

Connectivity and practicality

Not all of the best budget fitness trackers are designed to seamlessly
integrate with a smartphone. The trackers tested for this roundup canΓÇÖt
directly make calls or send texts to contacts on a paired iPhone or Android
smartphone. They can, however, display and dismiss incoming calls and
notifications via a Bluetooth connection. You can forget about checking your
email or paying for a coffee from your wrist using these more affordable
devices.

Most cheap fitness trackers also won't include built-in GPS tracking.
Instead, they usually depend on a paired smartphone to gather location data.
The drawback of using a fitness tracker without GPS is that it might not
provide as precise for tracking distance or pace. You also can't use a budget
tracker to get turn-by-turn directions during a walk or while running
errands. For the more outdoorsy consumers, having GPS could be a key safety
feature if you want this kind of functionality at your fingertips.

Design

You also might find that an inexpensive fitness tracker is harder to navigate
than a more advanced smartwatch. Whether it be a screen size issue or simply
not having a smart enough interface, don't expect every feature to be one
that you can engage with directly on your wrist. YouΓÇÖll likely need to use
your phone to input data or access detailed wellness metrics.

Build quality will also vary. While you wonΓÇÖt get premium materials or
ultra-bright OLED screens, most best cheap fitness trackers include some
level of sweat and water resistance ΓÇö perfect for everyday wear and casual
workouts.

Other budget fitness trackers we tested Amazfit Bip 6

The Amazfit Bip 6, an $80 smartwatch from Zepp Health, didnΓÇÖt quite make
the cut. As a fitness tracker, itΓÇÖs decent, but itΓÇÖs a frustrating
smartwatch substitute. For workouts, the built-in GPS tracks runs and rides
without your phone and, combined with the heart rate and blood oxygen
sensors, collects a good amount of data to create accurate pictures of your
exertion levels, cadence and pace. ItΓÇÖs remarkably lightweight but
doesnΓÇÖt feel cheap and the AMOLED screen is bright and sharp. ItΓÇÖs not an
always-on display, but lifting your wrist wakes it reliably.

The sleep tracking data is on par with what we measured on other smartwatches
and thereΓÇÖs even a daily readiness score that compares your sleep quality
and the previous dayΓÇÖs exertion to estimate how physically prepared you are
for the day ahead ΓÇö similar to what Pixel Watches, Fitbit devices and
Garmin watches offer. And since the watch battery lasts for over a week on a
charge, you may be a lot more apt to wear it to bed than a watch you have to
charge daily.

We werenΓÇÖt expecting an $80 device to be a serious Apple Watch challenger,
but the Bip 6ΓÇÖs glitches and overly complicated interface (both on the app
and on the watch itself) were disappointing. During a week of testing, I got
multiple repeated notifications, even after they were deleted, along with
suggestions to stand when I was actively doing chores around the house. The
watch faces are not customizable, so it was hard to get the info I needed at
a glance (the Zepp app has lots of paid watch faces that may have what I
wanted, but I didnΓÇÖt want to pay $3 for something thatΓÇÖs free elsewhere).

Marketing details state that the Bip 6 can auto-detect workouts, including
walking and bike riding. During testing, I walked once or twice per day for
over one mile and went on two bike rides, but no workout was ever detected.
The watch integrates with Apple Health, so I was able to see how it compares
to the data my Apple Watch gathers. After a week of wearing the Bip 6, with
no changes to my daily routine, I averaged 400 fewer calories burned and 2.4
fewer miles tracked each day. That was possibly the biggest disappointment of
all. ΓÇö Amy Skorheim, Senior Reporter

Wyze Watch 47c

I didn't have high expectations of the Wyze Watch 47c, but I was shocked at
how little this tracker can do. The 47c can only track walks and runs. It has
a dedicated widget, a small logo of a man running, and when you tap it, it
begins measuring your pace, heart rate, calories burned and mileage. It does
not auto-detect or auto-pause workouts and it doesn't differentiate between a
run and walk. Most importantly, this device canΓÇÖt track any other
exercises. ItΓÇÖs basically a glorified pedometer.

The 47c was also my least favorite to sleep with, mainly because the square
watch face is so large and heavy. Even if I did manage to sleep through the
night with it on, it only gave me a basic sleep report. ΓÇö M.S.

Garmin vivofit 4

The Garmin vivofit 4 has a tiny display that is not a touchscreen and all
navigation happens through one button. The watch face is impossible to read
outdoors and the exercise widget is also very finicky. To start tracking a
run, you have to hold down the main button and flip through some pages until
you get to a moving person icon. Once there, you have to press the bottom
right corner of the bar and hold down and if you press for too long or in the
wrong spot, itΓÇÖll switch to another page, like a stopwatch. ItΓÇÖs
incredibly frustrating.

Once you start a run though, it will start tracking your steps, your distance
ΓÇö and that's pretty much it. It does not auto-detect or auto-pause
workouts. It doesn't alert you of any mileage or calorie milestones. ΓÇö M.S.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/wearables/best-cheap...
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