What are the best cheap fitness trackers?
As a runner and cyclist, I went down the Garmin rabbit hole and now use the obscenely expensive Garmin Fenix 6. Recently I reviewed the Huawei Watch GT, and I am currently reviewing the Honor Band 5, which sits at the opposite end of the spectrum at just £30.
This made me wonder what are the best options for someone wanting basic fitness tracking at an affordable price.
Like many, I started off with Fitbit, and it was a good introduction to fitness tracking, as I got into running, I eventually moved to a GPS enabled device for accurate tracking. While Fitbit dominated the step tracking market scene for years, dozens of new products have launched at more attractive prices, and in the past few years, they have started to struggle.
Letsfit Fitness ID115U or Letscom – £15 – 20.00
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I have reviewed the Letsfit Fitness ID115U, and there are several other options around this price point. They are about as cheap as you can get, but they do work quite well and are very much like the older versions of Fitbit charge.
Honor Band 5 – £29.90
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Depending on your requirements, I think the Honor is the best affordable option on this list. £30 is just insane value for money for what you are getting, the price is well worth the extra compared to Letsfit.
This has an AMOLED touchscreen display which is easy to use and provides useful phone notifications including the contents of text messages. Step and sleep tracking are accurate, while it doesn’t have GPS natively it can use assisted GPS from your phone to track a run. Following a recent update it will even monitor your blood oxygen levels.
Xiaomi Mi Band 4 – £30.99
- 0.95 inch color screen: The large screen displays complete and readable activity information. Just lift your wrist to see the time directly and press the button to display steps, heart rate and other activity information. The bracelet vibrates when your phone receives calls, messages or other notifications from applications such as Facebook, Twitter, or WeChat, but it can also display details directly on the screen, such as message content and name or ID of the caller etc.
- 135mAh Battery Capacity: With built-in 135mAh lithium-ion polymer battery. Long battery life. After fully charged, the battery lasts more than 20 days under normal use. With soft and skin-friendly TPU strap, and secure locking mechanism makes the Mi Band 4 comfortable to wear during low or high intensity activities.
- Bluetooth 5.0: Download the APP "Mi Fit", connect via Bluetooth (Android 4.4 / iOS 9.0 or later phones) to see app message notifications (WhatsApp, Facebook, etc.), incoming calls, caller identity, SMS and activity goals. Note: Only support Chinese and English. Before the device is paired with your phone, the default language is Chinese. If your phone's language is English, the device will display the language of the phone, wherever you are.
- 50M Waterproof Smart Bracelet, Suitable for Swimming: 50M Waterproof Rating. The Xiaomi Mi Band 4 smart bracelet can work underwater up to 50m, which is enough for all your daily needs, like surfing, swimming or running in the rain. 5ATM (swimming or showering with warm water). Displays swimming time, speed, distance, calories and other data.
- Heart Rate Monitor & Sleep Tracker: This activity tracker measures your heart rate 24 hours a day, automatically and continuously. You can check the dynamic curve of your heart rate throughout the day on the app, while carefully analyzing data such as sleep time, sleep depth and waking up, to improve your sleep quality.
I have not used the Mi Band 4, but functionally, from what I can tell, it is almost identical to the Honor Band 5. The app will be different, and some people may prefer how Xiaomi do things, but the Huawei Health app has marginally better reviews on the play store. The Mi Band does not track blood oxygen levels from what I can tell.
Amazfit Bip Smartwatch – £63
- Look as Good as You Feel: With a range of colors and options, the Bip is designed to be worn as an extension of your personal style. Weighing only 1.1oz (32g), and with a bright, transflective always-on 1.28" display, the Bip can be worn all day.
- Go the Distance: Use the Amazfit Bip for up to 30 days on a single 2.5-hour charge.
- Don't Miss a Beat: Optical heart rate monitoring and built-in GPS allow you to accurately track in real-time your steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, and quality of sleep. Special sport modes (running, treadmill, cycling and walking) give you even more detailed insights into your most frequent activities.
- Be in the Know: The perfect companion to keep you organized and productive all day long. Receive one-way notifications for emails, SMS messages, and incoming phone calls (prompting you to take action on your smartphone), as well as alerts for Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Snap, Slack, weather forecasts, and other mobile apps
- SatisfactionBuy with confidence. Amazfit offers a 30-day policy, and 12-month new
This is the cheapest GPS enabled watch on the list and well worth considering for anyone that wants to track activities outside. It has a rated battery life of 45 days which is longer than any other device on the list. Unfortunately, it only supports four sports profiles, and if you want to export your data to any third party service, such as Strava, it is extremely difficult.
Fitbit Inspire HR – £88 (Prices have been as low as £69.99)
- All-Day Activity Tracking
- Sleep Tracking
- Automatic Exercise Recognition
- Reminders to Move, Calorie Burn Tracking
- Syncing requires Bluetooth LE and Internet connection. Windows 10 computers that do not have Bluetooth LE will need a wireless sync dongle in order to sync
While Fitbit doesn’t offer the best value for money, it is not always the cheapest that is the best. Fitbit still has a large user base, and their step count tables and challenges have always been one of the selling points of the Fitbit ecosystem. While a lot of people will buy a tracker and then barely use it, many users, including me, would always try and hit their daily goals or try to walk further to get to the top of the league tables/challenges.
Garmin Forerunner 35 – £99.99
- Lightweight and easy-to-use running watch with high-resolution display and built-in GPS that tracks how far, how fast and where you run
- Tracks heart rate at the wrist day or night, to provide more accurate calories burned information
- Connected features include smart notifications, music control, automatic uploads to Garmin Connect and the ability to track your runs with LiveTrack software
- All-day activity tracking counts steps and intensity minutes and reminds you when to move
- Meet your fitness goals with activity profiles, run/walk mode, intervals and vibration alerts to keep you motivated
The Amazfit Bip is a cheaper GPS enabled device, but getting your data to Strava or other apps is hard, Garmin will happily sync to Strava, and they make it easy to download your GPX/Fit file for import into other services.
Garmin are the leader in sports tracking devices, they have a large user base, and you can have friends list with various challenge options. The whole Garmin connect service is well designed and makes fitness and health tracking much easier.
The newer Forerunner 45 is out now, but you will have to pay a premium for that.
Overall
My recommendations, depending on your budget and requirements, would be the Honor Band 5 for basic tracking at an incredibly low cost, or the Garmin Forerunner 35 for anyone that want to accurately track outdoor activities.
