Picking the best cheap smartwatch from the plethora of brand new devices is increasingly tough. Gone are those horrible lumps of plastic, with the likes of the Apple Watch Series 2, Samsung Gear S3, Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 and the Fossil Q range challenging classic watches in terms of design. There are important considerations to be made about the choice of operating system, battery life and fitness features as well. But wearing a watch is also about expressing your personality as well and design is a sticking point for many buyers.
Smartwatches are still a very new thing to a lot of people, and for good reason. You don’t absolutely need one to get through the day, and some of the best smartwatches are much too expensive for many folks out there. With that said, they are good for a lot of things. They can provide you with an easy way to get information, allow you to dismiss or reply to new messages without having to pull out your phone, and much more.
5 Best Cheap smartwatch
- PEBBLE WATCH
- SONY SMARTWATCH 2
- SONY SMARTWATCH 3
- SAMSUNG GEAR FIT
- Hiwatch Bluetooth Android Smartwatch
Pebble
A double winner – not bad for a smartwatch that's essentially DOA. Yes, that the company has been snapped up by Fitbit, buying its smartwatches is arguably a terrible idea. Support is finite and the company could turn its servers off at any moment killing its devices dead. And it is 1st best cheap smartwatch in our list.
But when it comes to battery life, Pebble is king. Think a whole week off charge, with an always on scree and bags of functionality.
The best bit is that you can grab a Pebble for a bargain basement price and it will last a week on a single charge thanks to the low-power e-paper screen tech. There's also a heart rate monitor and a decent fitness tracking and health platform, that was really picking up pace before the sell out. There are tonnes of apps to play with and the Timeline interface is pretty useful. If you're dipping a toe into smartwatch waters, the Pebble 2 wins on two counts.
Feature check: Heart rate monitor, week long battery, 1,000s of Pebble apps.
verdict:
"The Pebble 2 packs in a lot for its price, and there's plenty to love, but it's let down by design. If you're after an entry-level fitness tracker and don't care too much about how it looks, this is a solid choice.
SONY SMARTWATCH 2
Next up best cheap smartwatch is Sony. Sony hasn't exactly gone overboard on design, with the Smartwatch 2 a relatively uninspired square slab of glass, metal and plastic. That's not to say it's ugly, it just doesn't break any new ground.
It feels solid and there is a certain premium appeal about the Smartwatch, plus it's waterproof (sort of) so you won't need to take it off when you wash your hands, or cover it up when the rain comes down. The Smartwatch 2 carries an IP57 certificate, meaning it will happily last up to 30 minutes in fresh water up to a depth of 1 meter - plus it also means it's dust-proof too. Although I've heard reports that this might not be the case, so don't go jumping into the swimming pool just yet.
You also get a trio of touch sensitive keys below the 1.6-inch "Transflective" LCD display, and if you're an Android user you'll instantly recognize these as the back, home and menu keys. On the left is a covered micro USB port to allow you to charge to the Smartwatch 2, with the flap obviously being a vital part of making the watch waterproof.
There's a number of colors to pick from too, with two leather finishes in black and light brown, plus five plastic offerings comprising of black, pink, purple, turquoise and yellow.
SONY SMARTWATCH 3
Next up best cheap smartwatch is also from Sony.The Sony SmartWatch 3 is more than just a smartwatch, it's also got ambitions as a capable fitness watch, thanks to the inclusion of GPS. It doesn't make the most stunning first impression, especially when compared to the more traditional circular stylings of the Moto 360 and Huawei Watch. The Sony SmartWatch 3 rocks a square shape that's more similar to the Pebble Time than other Android Wear devices.
But, where its appearance might fall flat, it surprises in other ways. For one thing, the mere fact that it runs Android Wear is a bit of a shock, given that Sony has spent the last few years shying away from it, attempting to perfect its own system instead.
But it's a decision that I welcome. Android Wear is still finding its footing and with Sony jumping into the mix can only be a good thing. Its 1.2GHz quad-core processor and 512MB of RAM pack it with power, even to today's standards. And with GPS built in, it's a more fully-functional fitness accessory than most other smartwatches available.
Each Android Wear watch is, functionally, very similar to the other and Sony's SmartWatch 3 is no exception. Android Wear is far more locked down than the version of Android found on smartphones.
In many ways that's a good thing, as it keeps bloat down on a system which really can't afford to be bloated, but it can also make it hard to stand out, which could be a problem when you're asking people to pay an above average price. Read on to find out if and how Sony's latest stands out.
SAMSUNG GEAR FIT
Paramount to the Fit's design ID is the curved touchscreen. Don't worry, it didn't go anywhere. It's back with the Gear Fit 2, vibrant (and shiny) as ever, although slightly reshaped. This rectangular display is now wider than before, offering more screen real estate for fitting in additional information. That means extra words in a notification, a more robust media player, and a full map of your run provided by the built-in GPS function, to name a few use cases that take advantage of it best.
The Super AMOLED touch-sensitive display found here is a bit smaller than before (1.5-inches down from 1.84-inches), but it boosts the pixel density up to 322ppi, which trounces the original's 245ppi display.The bezel surrounding the display has also seen a reworking to its benefit. It's been reduced, giving the Gear Fit 2 a more edge-to-edge look. Unfortunately, this move cuts out the shiny visual elements of the original Gear Fit, if that was your thing.
Hiwatch Bluetooth Android Smartwatch
The HiWatch Bluetooth Smartwatch’s biggest draw is its low price but that is also a double edged sword as it cuts both ways. Due to having a low price tag, it also means that it will suffer in regards to quality and material. The material used here is standard rubber which offers good enough durability. In the apps department, it has a rather limited technology but pushes itself far enough to be reliable. There is also the issue that a specific and necessary app must still be downloaded and paid for to fully appreciate this device. Not a big deal but it is still a surprise to find out when it’s already out of the box. And it is last best cheap smartwatch in our list.
The device allows you the standard smartwatch functionalities such as notifying you of any SMS and incoming calls straight from your smartwatch. You will also be able to answer calls straight from your wearable device without actually needing to pull out your smartphone. You will also get alerts for any sort of updates from your favorite smartphone apps like Twitter, Facebook, and Skype etc.
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