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Fitness trackers can be a useful tool for improving your health and achieving your fitness goals. However, they also can be expensive, with some costing several hundred dollars.
There are several products, though, that offer health and fitness tracking without breaking the bank.
Keep reading for our picks of the 9 best cheap fitness trackers.
- Best overall cheap fitness tracker: Fitbit Charge 5
- Best overall cheap fitness tracker runner-up: Halo View
- Best cheap fitness tracker with long battery life: Huawei Band 6
- Best cheap fitness tracker with GPS: Amazfit Bip U Pro Smart Watch
- Best cheap fitness tracker for running: Garmin Forerunner 45
- Best cheap fitness tracker for cycling: Lintelek ID115Plus Fitness Tracker
- Best cheap fitness tracker for sleep tracking: Fitbit Inspire 2
- Best screenless cheap fitness tracker: Whoop Strap 4.0
- Best thin band cheap fitness tracker: Garmin Vivosmart 4
A fitness tracker is a band with sensors that is designed to keep tabs on your health and fitness. Fitness trackers can range from very simple bands that count your steps to more advanced models that can track your heart rate, sleep, and location.
Basic fitness trackers display collected data on the band’s display screen. However, many of the more advanced fitness trackers have an app where the collected information is stored. This can be used to compare data and track your fitness over time.
When determining which fitness trackers to include, we considered:
- Additional features. The more advanced fitness trackers include heart rate monitoring, smartphone integration, sport-specific workout modes, and sleep tracking. We strove to include fitness trackers with accurate tracking and many of these features.
- Price. We tried to include fitness trackers that cost less than $150 and provide a good value.
- Customer reviews. There are some things only an actual user can know about a product. Since we know you value consumer feedback, we strongly considered what users had to say.
- Vetting. All the products included have been vetted to ensure that they meet Healthline’s medical and business standards.
When shopping for a fitness tracker, you’ll want to take time to consider how you plan to use it, how much you want to spend, and which features you’re willing to live without.
Intended use
The most important considerations are how you plan to use a fitness tracker and which type of data you’re most interested in.
For example, some trackers are primarily designed to provide key insights on your health, such as your sleep habits and stress levels, while others are geared more toward helping you improve your athletic performance.
If you’re primarily interested in sports metrics, make sure to choose a tracker that offers specific sports modes or functions that are relevant to your fitness routine.
This is especially important for swimmers, as only a few trackers are specifically designed to be accurate in the pool.
On the other hand, if you’re more curious about health metrics, you’ll likely want to choose a wearable that offers continuous heart rate monitoring and sleep tracking.
Budget
There’s a major difference between a cheap product and a quality budget pick. One of the best ways to tell the difference is to read customer reviews. Specifically, look out for comments that mention the durability and reliability of the wearable.
In addition to the up-front cost, be sure to account for other expenses, including subscription plans or accessories.
Additional features
Once you know how you plan on using your tracker and what your budget is, consider which extra features you can or can’t live without.
Additional features may include built-in GPS, phone notifications, smart pay capability, long battery life, music storage, and waterproof rating.
A note on price
General price ranges with dollar signs ($–$$$) are indicated below. One dollar sign means the product is rather affordable, whereas three dollar signs indicate a higher cost.
Generally, prices range from $29.99–$130, though this may vary depending on where you shop.
Pricing guide
- $ = under $50
- $$ = $50–$100
- $$$ = over $100
Best overall cheap fitness tracker
Fitbit Charge 5
- Price: $$$
- Heart rate monitor: yes
- Sleep tracking: yes
- Smartphone notifications: yes
- Battery life: up to 7 days
- Display: color AMOLED
- Water resistance: up to 50 meters
The Fitbit Charge 5 is easy to use, relatively affordable, and packed with fitness-related features, securing its spot as one of the best fitness trackers of the year.
It’s equipped with built-in GPS, continuous heart rate monitoring, and more than 20 exercise modes to track your activities throughout the day.
It also connects to your smartphone, allowing you to control your music and receive texts and phone calls from your wrist.
The Charge 5 comes in three colors and includes a 6-month free Fitbit Premium membership, which provides access to on-demand workouts, community activity challenges, mindfulness sessions, healthy recipes, wellness reports, sleep scores, and daily readiness scores.
After your trial ends, you can choose to renew your membership for $9.99 per month, though a subscription isn’t required to use the Charge 5.
Pros
- color touch-screen display
- supports mobile payments
- heart rhythm assessment with EKG
Cons
- no altimeter for elevation tracking
- no music control
- Fitbit Premium membership required to access sleep and readiness scores
Best overall cheap fitness tracker runner-up
Halo View
- Price: $$
- Heart rate monitor: yes
- Sleep tracking: yes
- Smartphone notifications: yes
- Battery life: up to 7 days
- Display: color AMOLED
- Water resistance: up to 50 meters
Like the Fitbit Charge 5, the Halo View stands out due to an impressive amount of features for its cost.
An upgrade to the Halo Band fitness tracker, which didn’t have a screen, the Halo View includes a color display.
It also claims to offer insights on your body composition and provides more standard sleep and activity tracking.
Although you can use most of the basic functions with the device alone, an Amazon Halo membership offers additional features, including workouts, sleep tracking, and nutrition programs.
You’ll also gain access to Tone, which analyzes the quality and tone of your voice to help improve the way you communicate.
Your purchase includes a free 12-month Amazon Halo membership, which you can renew for $3.99 per month.
Pros
- color display
- variety of band styles and colors
- up to 7 days of battery life with 90 minutes of charging
- access to exercise classes, meditations, and nutrition programs with Halo membership
Cons
- new product, so there may be bugs that need to be fixed
- Halo membership required to access some analytics
Best battery life
Huawei Band 6
- Price: $$
- Heart rate monitor: yes
- Sleep tracking: yes
- Smartphone notifications: yes
- Battery life: up to 14 days
- Display: color AMOLED
- Water resistance: up to 50 meters
If you’re looking for a budget-friendly fitness tracker that you don’t have to worry about charging regularly, check out this smartwatch from Huawei.
On a single charge, the watch can last up to 2 weeks with typical use and up to 10 days with heavy use. Plus, when your battery does run out, it takes just 5 minutes to fully charge.
The Band 6 is also equipped with modes to track pool or open-water swimming, as well as other activities like running, walking, cycling, and rowing.
Furthermore, it’s one of the few affordable fitness trackers that measures blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), or the amount of oxygen in your blood. This feature may be particularly beneficial for those with chronic health conditions such as asthma or heart disease.
Pros
- up to 2 weeks of battery life when fully charged
- requires just 5 minutes of charging time
- monitors SpO2 and heart rate and notifies when too low
- offers 96 exercise modes
Cons
- limited watch faces
- not great at smartphone pairing
Best cheap fitness tracker with GPS
Amazfit Bip U Pro Smart Watch
- Price: $$
- Heart rate monitor: yes
- Sleep tracking: yes
- Smartphone notifications: yes
- Battery life: up to 9 days
- Display: TFT LCD screen
- Water resistance: up to 50 meters
Featuring a lightweight design, built-in GPS, and seamless smartphone integration, this activity tracker from Amazfit is a great choice for those headed out and about.
In addition to tracking your daily activity, it measures your stress levels, sleep patterns, SpO2, and heart rate.
It’s also water resistant up to 164 feet (50 meters) and can be used for activities such as swimming. Plus, it offers more than 60 sports modes and, with 50 watch faces, can be customized to fit your mood.
Pros
- built-in GPS
- 50 watch faces
- 60+ sport modes
- stress monitoring and menstrual cycle tracking
Cons
- features an LCD panel rather than an AMOLED screen
- can’t make or receive phone calls
Best cheap fitness tracker for running
Garmin Forerunner 45
- Price: $$$
- Heart rate monitor: yes
- Sleep tracking: yes
- Smartphone notifications: yes
- Battery life: up to 7 days
- Display: color display controlled by push buttons on the sides
- Water resistance: up to 50 meters
For runners looking for an inexpensive fitness tracker, it’s hard to beat the Garmin Forerunner 45. After all, Garmin is well known for making accurate sport watches designed specifically for runners.
With built-in GPS, the Forerunner 45 easily measures the pace and distance of outdoor runs and walks. Plus, it offers Garmin Coach, which provides adaptive training plans to help improve your running performance.
The watch also pairs with compatible smartphones, letting you receive notifications and control your music while you work out.
As a bonus, the Forerunner 45 automatically uploads your data to Garmin Connect, a free fitness community that tracks your progress to help you meet your goals.
Just keep in mind that unlike other Garmin watches, the Forerunner 45 supports only a few activities: running, cycling, gym cardio, elliptical training, stair-stepping, and yoga.
Pros
- works with free Garmin Coach adaptive training plans
- allows you to control your music (requires connection to a smartphone)
- incident detection safety feature to send location information to emergency contacts
- built-in GPS
Cons
- not compatible with third-party apps
- limited sports modes
- no swimming mode
Best cheap fitness tracker for cycling
Lintelek ID115Plus Fitness Tracker
- Price: $
- Heart rate monitor: yes
- Sleep tracking: yes
- Smartphone notifications: no, but can vibrate to let you know of incoming calls and messages
- Battery life: up to 7 days
- Display: OLED touch screen
- Water resistance: IP67 (up to 1 meter for 30 minutes)
For cyclists seeking a convenient and cost effective fitness tracker, this model from Lintelek is worth a try.
The tracker offers 14 sports modes, including cycling and running, and features a lightweight design to maximize comfort. It also measures your heart rate and sleep cycles.
Note that the IP67 waterproof rating means the device can withstand being submerged in standing water up to 3.3 feet (1 meter) deep for up to 30 minutes.
Replacement bands are available in a variety of colors to let you switch up your style.
One thing to keep in mind is that it doesn’t include built-in GPS. As a result, you’ll need to keep your phone in your pocket or bag in order for the tracker to connect to GPS.
Pros
- alerts when you’re sedentary for a prolonged period
- vibrates to notify of incoming calls and messages
- supports 14 activities, including cycling
- costs less than $50
Cons
- companion app is more bare bones than some others
- no built-in GPS
Best cheap fitness tracker for sleep tracking
Fitbit Inspire 2
- Price: $$
- Heart rate monitor: yes
- Sleep tracking: yes
- Smartphone notifications: yes
- Battery life: up to 10 days
- Display: monochrome OLED touch screen
- Water resistance: up to 50 meters
The Fitbit Inspire 2 is slim, comfortable, and easy to use. It’s also a great option if you’re interested in tracking both your activity levels and your sleep patterns.
Unlike other watches that simply tell you how long you sleep, the Inspire 2 analyzes the amount of time you spend in each sleep phase and provides a sleep score, along with suggestions for how to improve your overall sleep quality.
It also monitors your daily activities and heart rate, offering 20 exercise modes to help you reach your goals.
Purchase of the Fitbit Inspire 2 includes a 1-year free trial of Fitbit Premium, which provides in-depth insights on your health, as well as personalized guidance.
After the free trial, Fitbit Premium costs $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year.
Pros
- slim design
- up to 10 days of battery life
- monitors sleep stages, breathing, and heart rate variability at night
- activity tracking
- continuous heart rate monitoring
- slim design
Cons
- no built-in GPS
- no color display
- some features, such as the daily readiness score, require Premium membership
Best screenless fitness tracker
WHOOP Strap 4.0
- Price: free tracker with $30 monthly WHOOP membership
- Heart rate monitor: yes
- Sleep tracking: yes
- Smartphone notifications: no
- Battery life: up to 5 days
- Display: none
- Water resistance: up to 10 meters
If you’re looking for something a little different, the Whoop Strap 4.0 offers a lightweight, screenless option.
Available in a variety of colors, prints, and fabrics, the WHOOP strap is designed to be comfortable enough for all-day wear.
The WHOOP Strap measures the amount of strain on your body, your sleep quality, and key vital signs such as heart rate, skin temperature, and SpO2.
The strap requires a WHOOP membership, which costs $30 per month, but there are discounts if you commit to a 12- or 18-month membership.
With your subscription, you’ll get unlimited access to key health, performance, and recovery data, as well as individual coaching, an online community, and weekly, monthly, and annual progress reports.
Pros
- lightweight
- designed for all-day wear
- measures strain put on your body and calories burned
- analyzes key metrics to determine your recovery score
- WHOOP app allows your health reports to be transferred as a PDF to coaches, trainers, and healthcare professionals
- available in a variety of prints and fabrics
Cons
- requires monthly subscription
- requires a smartphone to view your data
Best thin band fitness tracker
Garmin Vivosmart 4
- Price: $$
- Heart rate monitor: yes
- Sleep tracking: yes
- Smartphone notifications: yes
- Battery life: up to 7 days
- Display: OLED
- Water resistance: up to 50 meters
Looking for a tracker that you’ll want to wear all day? The Garmin Vivosmart 4 is slim and fashionably designed but still offers plenty of features, including stress monitoring and activity tracking.
The tracker vibrates to notify you of incoming calls and texts. If you’re an Android user, it also allows you to reply to texts.
While it doesn’t include built-in GPS, it can connect to your smartphone to track your outdoor adventures.
Pros
- thin design
- sleep tracking and all-day stress monitoring
- text reply for Android users
Cons
- small screen that some users complain isn’t the most responsive
- no built-in GPS
Here’s a quick look at how the specs of our top picks compare:
| Fitbit Charge 5 | Halo View | Huawei Band 6 | Amazfit Bip U Pro Smart Watch | Garmin Forerunner 45 | Lintelek ID115Plus Fitness Tracker | Fitbit Inspire 2 | Whoop Strap 4.0 | Garmin Vivosmart 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $$$ | $$ | $$ | $$ | $$$ | $ | $$ | free with $30/month WHOOP membership | $$ |
| Max battery life | 7 days | 7 days | 14 days | 9 days | 7 days | 7 days | 10 days | 5 days | 7 days |
| Built-in GPS | yes | no | no | yes | yes | no | no | no | no |
| Waterproof rating | up to 50 meters | up to 50 meters | up to 50 meters | up to 50 meters | up to 50 meters | IP67 | up to 50 meters | up to 10 meters | up to 50 meters |
| Bluetooth | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Heart rate | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| SpO2 | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes | yes |
| Sleep tracking | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Stress monitoring | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes |
| Menstrual cycle tracking | yes | no | yes | yes | no | no | yes | yes | yes |
| Smart notifications | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | no | yes |
| Smart pay | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Number of sport modes | 20 | not disclosed | 96 | 60 | 5 | 14 | 20 | 84 | 9 |
What does a fitness tracker do?
A fitness tracker is designed to keep tabs on your physical activity and health. Basic ones can measure steps walked and calories burned. More advanced models can track your heart rate, sleep, activity time, and even your location.
The fitness tracker can either display this information on the display screen or have an app where you can view it.
What are the different types of fitness trackers?
Basic fitness trackers will count your steps and calories burned. More advanced fitness trackers will have sensors that can monitor your heart rate, respiration, and more. Some fitness trackers also include GPS monitoring.
Fitness trackers vary in their designs and specific features. As technology continues to develop, there are more and more options available. For example, fitness tracker rings are now available for those who don’t want to wear a wrist style.
What is the difference between a smartwatch and fitness tracker?
While a fitness tracker is focused on collecting data, a smartwatch is an extension of your phone.
The biggest difference between a smartwatch and a fitness tracker is the extra communication features that a smartwatch offers. A typical smartwatch can reply to text messages, take phone calls, and allow you to access apps, in addition to tracking your activities.
Fitness trackers offer a simple way to give your workout routine a boost.
While some models can cost several hundred dollars, more affordable options are available.
In addition to your budget, be sure to consider which features are most important to find a product that works for you.
