Best cheap smartwatches under £100 and £200

Smartwatches are becoming increasingly popular, and there's a wider range of price points available so you're more likely to find one that suits your budget. 

However 'cheap', when it comes to smartwatches, is a relative term. Smartwatches can cost well over £600, so we're counting 'cheap' as products costing up to £200 - the lower realms of prices you'll find.

You can buy super-cheap smartwatches online for less than £3, which may seem tempting when they look so similar to the real deal, but you should treat such products with extreme caution. Ultra-cheap smartwatches can be uncomfortable, awkward to use, inaccurate and, in a worst case scenario, expose your data to hackers. 

It's best to choose one from a well-known brand that we've thoroughly vetted. Get our recommendations on the best cheap smartwatches under £100 and under £200 below. 

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Best cheap smartwatches: budget wearables under £100 and £200

You're unlikely to find a top-rated smartwatch for less than £100, other than in a sale. That's not to say there aren't good models around – just be prepared to sacrifice a little in terms of features, flexibility and performance when buying a watch that's less than £100 at time of launch. 

We've picked models that still score well overall, so you can see what £100 or £200 will get you and any downsides to be aware of.

Some of the models on this page were more than £200 at time of launch but are now heavily discounted as newer models have replaced them. 

Older models can still be a good bet, just be sure to check whether the manufacturer says the model is still receiving security support, so you aren't left with a slow or poorly secured product.

Overall, if you can stretch, it's worth going slightly over £100 to get the best options.

Only logged-in members can view our recommendations in the table below. If you’re not yet a member, you can get instant access by joining Which?.

Some smartwatches under £100 earn our Great Value endorsement. Check out all our reviews of Great Value smartwatches. 

If you're willing to up your budget, you'll find a far bigger range of smartwatches for less than £200, including some Best Buys. You'll often get a better build quality and a sleek design for the extra money, along with more advanced features, such as dedicated exercise modes. You should expect built-in GPS for a smartwatch over £100, too. 

Just want to know which smartwatches came out best in our tests regardless of price? Head to our round-up of Best Buy smartwatches.

Cheap Apple Watches

You won't be able to buy a new Apple Watch that anyone would describe as cheap, but the Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), £259 at time of launch, is pitched as a cheaper alternative to Apple's flagship Series 8 model. Read our full review of the Apple Watch SE (2nd generation) to find out what we thought of it. 

Check our Apple Watch reviews to find the best, or head to our guide on which Apple Watch to buy to read about the key differences between each one.

Should I buy a cheap smartwatch?

Yes – if your wants are fairly modest: steps, heart rate and notifications, for example.  If you have specific requirements – say, you're a runner or you want the health features like fall detection – you might not get what you're looking for at a budget price. 

If buying a budget smartwatch, do check our smartwatch reviews to make sure you're not buying one that struggles to track accurately: something we do see more often at the cheaper end of the spectrum. Great Value smartwatches combine decent performance with a cheaper than average price. 

Or you could consider a fitness tracker instead: fitness trackers are typically more basic and cheaper than smartwatches, unless you're comparing a high-end fitness tracker with a basic smartwatch. Check out our activity tracker or fitness tracker reviews.

Which brands make cheap smartwatches?

Below we've listed some more smartwatch options for under £200 from popular brands. Not all of these models fared brilliantly in our tests, though, so do read the reviews before you buy. 

Cheap Amazfit smartwatches

Amazfit is lesser-known brand than the likes of Apple, Fitbit, Garmin and Samsung, but is making a name for itself at the cheaper end of the market. Not all of its smartwatches are cheap, but it does offer a range of comparatively cheap ones. 

Some of its smartwatches adopt a square-faced design reminiscent of the Apple Watch. For example, the:

• Amazfit GTS 2 Mini
• Amazfit GTS 3
• Amazfit GTS 4 Mini
• Amazfit GTS 2e

Others have a round face more akin to a traditional watch. Eg:

• Amazfit GTR 2e
• Amazfit GTR 3 Pro
• Amazfit GTR 3

Read all our Amazfit smartwatch reviews.

Cheap Huawei smartwatches

As with Amazfit, not all Huaweis are cheap: some go up to nearly £600. But Huawei does produce a good number of smartwatches for under £100 and under £200. Less expensive Huaweis include:

• Huawei Watch Fit
• Huawei Watch Fit 2 Active

all of which have a curved rectangle face. Round-faced Huawei watches include:

• Huawei Watch GT
• Huawei Watch GT3

Read all our reviews of Huawei smartwatches.

Cheap Garmin smartwatches

Garmin is one of the most popular smartwatch brands and has a wide range of models at different price points. These include pricey, more specialist smartwatches, costing upwards of £400, but you can find some cheaper options.

Its Forerunner range, which, as the name suggests, is aimed at runners and offers features such as preset training plans, can be quite expensive. The cheapest Forerunners we've tested are:

• Garmin Forerunner 45
• Garmin Forerunner 55

All-rounders for under £200 include:

• Garmin Vivomove Sport
• Garmin Venu Sq
• Garmin Venu Sq Music

Or head to our full set of Garmin smartwatch reviews.

Cheap Fitbit smartwatches

Fitbit is well known for its fitness trackers but it also makes smartwatches, often costing less than £200.

Below we've listed some models in Fitbit's sporty Versa series costing less than £200:

• Fitbit Versa 2
• Fitbit Versa 3
• Fitbit Versa 4

Models in Fitbit's Sense range have more of an all-round health focus. The Fitbit Sense currently costs less than £170. 

Head to our Fitbit smartwatch reviews to see the rest.

Cheap Xiaomi smartwatches

Like Amazfit, Xiaomi wearables have become more upmarket over the past few years, although they're still cheap compared to many other brands. 

As with Amazfit and Huawei, Xiaomi makes smartwatches with both a round and square face. Square-faced Xiaomis for under £200 include:

• Xiaomi Redmi Watch 2 Lite
• Xiaomi Redmi Watch 3

And ones with a circular watch face include:

• Xiaomi Mi Watch
• Xiaomi Watch S1 Active. 

Browse all our Xiaomi smartwatch reviews.

Cheap Smartwatches from Amazon and other marketplaces

If you've shopped around for a cheap smartwatch on an online marketplace, such as Amazon or eBay, or seen them on deal websites such as Groupon, you might be wondering why you should pay more than £20.

There are a wide range of brands doing the rounds at tantalisingly cheap prices. Many of these have lots of positive customer reviews and some may even be labelled with an endorsement such as Amazon's Choice. But we don't recommend buying one.

In December 2022, we tested 12 cheap smartwatches and fitness trackers sold online and found worrying security flaws, including:

• Excessive location tracking – To comply with GDPR laws, data should be collected for a clear purpose. Eight of the watches we tested were tracking precise coordinates instead of general whereabouts. Supposedly, this precise tracking was for weather reporting – but the devices tracked positioning even when the weather app wasn't in use.
• Data not being stored securely – A smartwatch we purchased on AliExpress stored all data on infrastructure controlled by the seller, instead of on the watch or phone.
• Lack of encryption – we found smartwatches that weren't encrypting user data when sending it to and from their back-end services. If a hacker intercepted the data, they’d be able to read it.

Our testers also noticed they seemed to be tracking heart rate or steps when just placed on a table, casting doubt over their effectiveness.

Many of these affordable devices seem to be packed with features, but rarely look or feel as high quality as they might appear on a product photo. They can also be frustratingly awkward to use and inaccurate.

For more on security flaws found in smartwatches, read our full cheap smartwatch investigation.

What to look for in a cheap smartwatch

Shape and style

A basic but important first question to ask is what sort of watch are you looking for? Designs are usually square or circular, some come with thick bezels and others adopt a more slimline approach. Settle on your preferred style to narrow down your initial options. Some watches look beautiful online but cheap and plasticky in person – our reviews reveal when that's the case. 

Size and weight

This applies to any watch, not just cheap ones. It's often difficult to tell how big a watch is from a photo. Pay careful attention to the watch face size and dimensions – including weight. Some smartwatches can be quite large and chunky, which is fine if that's the style you like, but may be uncomfortable on smaller wrists.

Removable strap

Most smartwatches come with removable straps – which is important because it means you can change it if your strap breaks or degrades over time. It also allows you to switch up your style for different occasions. If you're buying a discounted older watch, then it's worth checking if the strap is removable. 

Key features (eg: heart-rate monitor, GPS)

Check to make sure the features you really want are included. Every watch should have the basics, such as a step counter and notifications and, these days, a heart-rate monitor. But a few still don't have built-in GPS, so that's worth checking for. The presence of heart-rate monitoring also doesn't guarantee it's accurate - use our reviews to find the ones proven to record info accurately in our tests. 

Pick the perfect smartwatch - read our guide on the best smartwatches.

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