Budget Fitness Trackers: The best cheap smart bands to help you stay healthy

Samuel J Tan Fitness Tecnology, Fitness Tracker 0

Budget fitness trackers are now as common and as affordable as your conventional watches yet it does so much more. These less expensive options are cut down smart watches that focus on purely on fitness and health alone. Here are some of the best and affordable smart bands to help you stay healthy.

What does cheap Fitness Tracker Smart Bands track?

So what do you look for in a budget fitness tracker? Everything! While they may cost a fraction of your premium smartwatches, they have almost all the features of their high end counterparts. Standard sensors include:

Optical heart rate sensor
SpO2 blood oxygen saturation sensor
3-Axis Accelerometer sensor
Gyroscope sensor

Sensors that are hard to come by, typically reserved for smart watches are:

Skin temperature
Electrical heart sensor ECG
Altimeter
High-g accelerometer for fall and crash detection
ambient light sensor

Beyond the sensors, what other features can you expect from the smart bands? With clever use the data collected using the sensors above, the fitness smart band can track the following:

monitor irregular rate rhythm, atrial fibrilation
alert you if resting heart rate is too high or too low
monitor blood oxygen level and alert you if it is below optimum level
monitor sleep quality and offer suggestions to resolve sleep related issues
monitor stress levels and offer ways to manage this
time your breathing and help you take deeper breaths
let you know its time to get up and move to stay active

As for workouts, the fitness tracker got you covered with the ability to track as many as 120 different workouts including running, cycling and swimming. Plus, if you are serious about sports, some smart bands can also track VO2Max (maximum oxygen), recovery time, running ability index and training effects.

It s worth mentioning that while most affordable trackers do not come with onboard GPS, it uses connected GPS, piggy backing on the phone’s GPS so you can track the pace, distance and route taken as part of your outdoor workout.

The Affordable Fitness Tracker in 2023

We round up 8+1 of the best and affordable budget fitness tracker in 2023. They include fitness trackers from Xiaomi, Honor, Huawei, Fitbit, OnePlus, Amazfit and Redmi (a sub-brand of xiaomi). Here’s the list.

1. Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro

The Pro receives a bigger AMOLED touchscreen compared to the standard Smart Band 7 and this makes it stand out from the rest of the tall and narrow fitness trackers here. Its rectangular watch face is still narrower when compared to the Huawei Watch Fit 2 but big enough for touch. Our only complain is its uneven black border with its chin bezel being visibly bigger.

The Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro comes with over 110 different sport modes. Onboard sensors are capable of monitoring heart rate, blood oxygen level and the usual fitness parameters like steps, calories etc. It even comes with GPS tracker which for a band this price is practically unheard of. If you are a runner, you are in for a treat. With its runner’s hat on, the Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro even comes preloaded with run programmes to help you train. Other useful features include waterproof case up to 5ATM, Alexa voice assistant built in and u

Search Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro on Amazon

1.64-inch rectangular AMOLED touchscreen with 2.5D curved glass, 5ATM water resistance, over 150 watch faces
Blood oxygen and heart rate monitor, stress level, sleep monitor, menstrual cycle, deep breath exercise
GPS for route tracking, on-wrist running courses
Battery Life: up to 12 days typical use, 6 days heavy use.

2. Honor Band 7

The Honor Band 7 looks suspiciously like the Huawei Band 7, it even has the same 1.47-inch AMOLED touchscreen wrapped in 2.5D curved glass. Just like the Huawei Band 7, it covers 96 workout from swimming, to running to cycling and beyond. You also get round the clock heart rate and blood oxygen level tracking. The latter vibrates when oxygen level is low while the former alerts you when the resting heart rate is either too high or too low.

Besides the standard fitness tracking, it also tracks sleep, stress and menstrual cycle. Unfortunately, there is no onboard GPS so no route tracking. At the end of the day, the only thing different to the Huawei Band 7 is the case and its colour options, it has a more muted and fewer colour options (3 vs 4) and standard case colours (black, gold or silver). Viewed from the side, when comparing the two, Honor Band 7 and Huawei Band 7, the Honor has a more squared edge while the Huawei has a rolled or rounded edge.

Search Honor Band 7 on Amazon

1.47-inch AMOLED touchscreen and Always On Display, 5ATM water resistance
All day blood oxygen tracker, heart rate monitor, professional sleep tracker, cycle tracker, stress and mindfulness app
Battery Life: up to 2 weeks (14 days), 10 days with heavy use, fast charging supported

3. Huawei Band 7

With a 1.47-inch AMOLED touchscreen, this is slightly on the big side with a tall and rectangular display but no bigger than Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro or even Smart Band 7. Bigger touchscreen is always good for visibility and ease of navigation. Huawei made the most of the extra screen real estate by packing bigger widgets and more live stats. The TruSeen 4.0 optical biometric sensor monitors heart rate and bloody oxygen level. The sleep tracker now recommends ways to improve your sleep if it picks up any wacky sleep pattern.

With a compatible (Android) smartphone, you can read notifications and text messages and even send quick pre-programmed replies without reaching for the phone. And, just like the Honor Band 7, it relies on the GPS on your phone as there is no GPS onboard. But, even with all that, it still manages to keep its case slim at just under 10mm and light at 16 grams. Case and band colours include black, green, rose gold (pink) or red. It is worth noting that while still not available to buy, the Huawei Band 8 is already announced on their website.

Search Huawei Band 7 on Amazon

1.47-inch AMOLED touchscreen with over 4000 watch faces and Always On Display, 5ATM water resistance
All day blood oxygen tracker, heart rate monitor, professional sleep tracker, cycle tracker, stress and mindfulness app
Battery Life: up to 2 weeks (14 days), 10 days with heavy use, fast charging supported

4. Fitbit Inspire 3

In comparison to the other smart fitness tracker bands here, this Fitbit unit isn’t exactly cheap but it is the cheapest of Fitbit’s offerings, even cheaper if you get nab an offer. It is a no-nonsense compact tracker that doesn’t get in the way of your workouts or life in general. But the real reason for getting Fitbit is to access the impeccably designed app. Yes, you still get the oxygen saturation, heart rate, sleep and stress monitors but the data look so much better on screen when the information is presented in a well thought out app. Of course, there is a price to pay if you choose to go with Fitbit Premium membership, with added features.

Search Fitbit Inspire 3 on Amazon

5ATM
Heart rate monitor check for irregular heart rhythm, SpO2 blood oxygen tracking, menstrual health tracking, sleep and stress monitors
Battery life: up to 10 days

5. Amazfit Band 7

Offered at the same price as Huawei and Honor Band 7 above, Amazfit is taking on the big guys. With the company focused almost entirely on wearables ie. smart bands and smartwatch it is not about the miss out on the basic of fitness trackers, the smart band. It even called their fitness tracker the same name so you won’t miss it, the Band 7. That means Huawei, Honor, Xiaomi (below) and now Amazfit have their version of the Band 7. The smart band has a large 1.47-inch AMOLED display and can track 120 different sports modes with the ability to automatically recognise walking, running, elliptical and rowing machine workouts.

The Amazfit Band 7 goes one up on the other smart bands here with built-in Alexa voice service on their home. grown Zepp OS. All that tech is enclosed in a case with 5ATM water resistance so you can take it into the pool and it will track your swim. For colours, there are black, beige, blue, green, pink and orange to choose from although they are more pastel colours vs bright. Finally, for more health matrix, there is PeakBeats that shows you stats like maximum oxygen update, full recovery time, training load and training effect after every workout and PAI Health Assessment System for a quick overall score of your health.

Search Amazfit Band 7 on Amazon

1.47-inch AMOLED touchscreen, 5ATM
Heart rate & Oxygen Level Sensor, Sleep Quality and Stress Monitor
Battery Life: up to 18 days typical use, 12 days heavy use, 28 days battery saver

6. Xiaomi Smart Band 7

Just as popular as its predecessor, the Xiaomi Smart Band 6, this affordable fitness tracker even manages a 1.62-inch AMOLED Touch Screen for a bright display with vibrant colours but is tall and narrow. It supports over 110 different sports modes and ticks all the boxes when it comes to a wholesome fitness tracker. It supports all day SpO2 blood oxygen saturation tracking, sleep monitor, heart rate and VO2 max workout analysis. Plus, the case is 5ATM water resistant so it will go where you go. We have to say, the interface has matured and instead of a tall rectangular display, it has a pill shape. with the watch face, graphics and interface built around this. Talking about watch faces, there are over 100 different dynamic faces to choose including always on faces. As for colour options, these are your modern ivory, olive, orange, blue, black and link.

Search Xiaomi Smart Band 7 on Amazon

1.62-inch AMOLED touchscreen, 5ATM
Heart rate & Oxygen Level monitor, sleep and stress monitors, menstrual cycle tracker, personal activity index
Battery Life: up to 14 days typical use, 9 days heavy use

7. Redmi Smart Band 2

An alternative to Xiaomi’s Smart Band 7 above is the Redmi Smart Band 2. Redmi is a sub-brand of the same company. In fact, both Xiaomi and Redmi products are available online at the mi store (mi.com). The Smart Band 2 has a conventional 1.47-inch rectangular TFT touchscreen. Even though it misses out on bright AMOLED, the TFT panel is still capable of 450nits maximum brightness. It supports over 30 different workout modes and comes with your usual sensors for blood oxygen level, sleep tracker, menstrual cycle tracker, stress monitor and heart rate monitor. It is ultra light at only 14.9 grams and measure 9.99 mm slim. Notable features include 5ATM water resistance rating, access to over 100 different stylish band faces and. Lastly, the moulded TPU strap is available in 5 different colours.

Search Redmi Smart Band 2 on Amazon

1.47-inch TFT display, 5ATM water resistance
All day heart rate, sleep, SpO2 oxygen level monitoring
Battery Life: 14 days typical use, 6 days heavy use

8. OnePlus Smart Band

Droping down to the ultra budget segment is this fitness tracker from OnePlus. Yes, the flagship killer smartphone maker that we heard so much about. It is now into making headphones, tablets and wearables. No surprise that, it’s what every smartphone companies are doing. It supports 13 exercise modes only which is a far cry from the 90 to 120 you get with other bands here. Still, it is IP68 rated against water and dust penetration and is water resistant up to 5ATM. For sensors, you get the usual blood oxygen saturation and heart rate monitors on top of the basic steps and motions sensors (3-axis accelerometer and gyroscope). The OnePlus Band as it is know has a small 1.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen and is their first jab at wearable. Launched in 2021, it looks a bit dated now in terms of design. In some market, this is no longer offer, not even the OnePlus Watch. It might just be your last chance to grab the band on Amazon.

Search OnePlus Smart Band on Amazon

1.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen, 5ATM and IP68 case
optical heart rate and blood oxygen sensors, sleep tracking
Battery Life: 2 weeks (14 days)

BONUS: Huawei Watch Fit 2

At the top end of affordable fitness tracker is the Huawei Watch Fit 2. Huawei would rather you call it a watch than a Smart Band but you can’t fool anyone. It has all the hallmarks of a fitness tracker with an all-in-one fitness program that supports 97 workout modes, on-screen animated exercises and programs to warm up and cool down after a run. The screen is also bigger at 1.74-inch which makes viewing the stats and interacting with the watch easier. A feature worth mentioning is the workout route. With the connected GPS on your phone, you can export, import and share your workout routes so you never get lost. Plus, there are 7 different colours to choose from including two leather straps and two metallic bracelets.

Search Huawei Watch Fit 2 on Amazon

1.74-inch AMOLED FullView touchscreen, Always On Display (AOD), 5ATM water resistant
SpO2 blood oxygen monitor, hear rate monitor, sleep and stress monitors, quick workout animations
Battery Life: 10 days typical use, 7 days heavy use, quick charge 5 mins for a days worth

How to choose the right fitness tracker?

Now that you know what you are getting into, here is a list of selection criteria when choosing the best cheap fitness tracker to suit you.

Design: Budget fitness trackers are your run-of-the-mill silicone bands with screens not much wider than the band itself. However, there are those that stand out with metallic bezel, option to switch to straps other than silicone based ones and bigger displays. It is very much a personal choice like the style, colour and material that appeals to you.
Comfort: This is not something you can tell by just looking at it or even wearing them in store to try them out. It is only with long term use that you can decide if it is comfortable. What you can do is to feel the material, its finish and . Look for things like sweat re
Display Size: There is only so much you can do on a small screen let alone see. Unfortunately, cheap fitness trackers come with small displays. It’s not a bad thing as it means, the smart band does not get in the way of your workouts. But, for those who prefer to see stats, alerts and information on the screen, look for one with a bigger display. And, while you are at it, a bight one. AMOLED panels are brighter so you can see it outdoor under bright sunlight. Be warn that the bigger the display the bigger its impact is on its battery life.
Water Resistance: Nowadays, even the cheapest of fitness bands are water resistant. Look for the water resistance rating. 5ATM is common. The other feature to look out for is the IP or intrusion protection rating. IP67 or IP68 means better resistance to water and dust. E.g. products rated IP68 can withstand fresh water to a depth of 1.5meters for up to 30 minutes. On the other hand 5ATM certification means the product is water resistant up to 50 meters in depth for 10 minutes. This means they are suitable for a multitude of shallow water activities including swimming.
Battery Life: The battery may be small on a fitness tracker but they do last days and sometimes weeks (2 or more) on typical use. On heavy use, the battery life can be cut short, sometimes down to half. But, even so, it would still be days or up to a week. Gone are the days when you have to charge your tracker every couple of days. Of course, the size of the display and Always On Display (AOD) will have a direct impact on the battery life. Be sure to pick one that lasts at least up to a week (7 days) on a typical use.
Connectivity: Fitness trackers connect to the smartphone through Bluetooth. Smart watches on the other hand has option to connect via Bluetooth and/or WiFi. But the real connectivity you need to look into is its ability to connect to other fitness apps including native apps like Apple Health and Google Fit. This allows the app and tracker to synchronise its data and give you a wholistic picture of your health and fitness.
Compatibility: The smartphone world is split down the middle with Apple iOS on one side and Google Android on the other. Most trackers will support both operating systems, writing companion apps for each. Just to be sure, check the feedback on their companion apps in the respective App stores. Look for any signs that point to incompatibility or issues arising from the use of the app on the platform.
Companion App: The accompanying app needs to be easy to use and will connect seamlessly with the fitness tracker to sync and download fitness data wirelessly over Bluetooth or WiFi. The app will then analyse and display it the data graphically in a manner which is easy to understand. It also needs to be user friendly and easy to navigate. You need to be able to find what you need quickly and learn about the parameters easily.
Warranty and Support: Most gadgets these days are reliable but should you need support, help or warranty further down the road, you want to be sure of the response time, good customer service and a no-hassle warranty claim. Here is where looking up the reviews and brand’s trust rating will help. Take a balanced approach, look at both good and bad reviews. Also look for reviews on how easy it is to get help on defective units. Manufacturers that offer good customer support and long warranty period offer peace of mind.
Price: We already established that these are your budget fitness tracker smart bands. However, there are those which are super cheap, nay ultra cheap and at the other end of the low cost segment, those that are affordable but not necessarily cheap. Whatever the price, set a budget for yourself and decide how much leeway you have if you were to splash out for a higher model. Everyone wants to get the best value for their money and getting the best fitness tracker in this category is no different.

Finally, do your research. You can research all the aspects mentioned above online including its price and where best to buy it. Read reviews, like ones published here and check out feedbacks on retailers sites left by those who actually own the fitness tracker. Long period of use allow users to actually identify any issues or how useful the features are. Consider these when you narrow down your choices and pick your fitness tracker smart band.