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Jul 7

Best cheap fitness trackers of 2024 – Tom’s Guide

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Getting fit doesn't have to cost a fortune. The best cheap fitness trackers can help you get in shape for $100 or less and monitor heart rate, physical activity and sleep quality. We tested popular options from big-name brands like Fitbit and Garmin, and smaller budget-minded ones, like Wyze, to identify the best values.

Many of the best cheap trackers including the Fitbit Inspire 3 and Garmin Forerunner 55, our top pick have companion apps for diving deep into metrics. Plus, the best affordable models are smaller and lighter than more advanced trackers and are ideal for casual users wishing to keep tabs on things like step counts, minutes active, workout routines, restfulness and the like.

To make our selection, we put the best cheap fitness trackers to the test by running, cycling, swimming, working out and sleeping with them on our wrists. While assessing, we looked at how easy they are to operate, how comfortable and stylish they are to wear, and how well they monitor movement. Read on to see our top picks for the best cheap fitness trackers in 2024.

Heres the best cheap fitness trackers you can buy right now based on our testing and reviews. Scroll on for our full in-depth analysis of each.

Best overall

Best overall

The Fitbit Inspire 3 is an attractive and petite budget-friendly tracker. For $100, youre getting ten days of battery life, a colorful band, a bright screen, and heart rate and sleep monitoring.

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Best GPS

Best with GPS

The Fitbit Charge 6 ticks all of the boxes when it comes to affordability though it does tend to be $50 more than the Inspire 3 including built-in GPS, a bright screen and plenty of fitness tracking metrics.

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Best Garmin

Best Garmin

Without onboard GPS, the Garmin Vivosmart 5 falls short compared to the Fitbit Charge 6. That said, it gives you all your fitness data for free and is an excellent sleep tracker.

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Best subscription

Best subscription

It's not for everyone there's no screen, and no built-in GPS. That said, if you're hoping to gain real insight into your heart rate and recovery data, the Whoop 4.0 ticks the right boxes.

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Best Alexa

Best with Alexa built-in

This tracker puts Alexa on your wrist for around $50, plus it has a week-long battery life and connects to the companys other devices. That said, The Wyze Band probably isnt one for serious fitness fanatics.

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Best running

Best for runners

If youre serious about tracking your training, spend a little more and get the Garmin Forerunner 55. It offers accurate GPS location tracking and a healthy serving of sleep, workout and recovery tools.

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The best cheap fitness tracker

Size: 1.5 x 0.7 x 0.5 inches

Weight: 0.62 ounces

Display: 0.7-inch AMOLED

Water resistance: 50 meters

Heart rate monitor: Yes

GPS: No

Sleep tracking: Yes

Smartphone notifications: Yes

Battery life: 10 days

Bright AMOLED screen

Lightweight

Excellent battery life

6 months of Fitbit Premium included

Small screen wont be for everyone

No on-board GPS

The Fitbit Inspire 3 is the best cheap fitness tracker because it nails the basics: heart rate monitoring, accurate workout tracking and logging sleep stages. The fact that it doesn't have a built-in GPS is slightly disappointing. On the other hand, battery life is excellent.

For $100 or less, you'll get Fitbit's Active Zone Minutes metric, 10 days of battery life, touch controls, and, in the biggest update from the Fitbit Inspire 2, a bright, beautiful AMOLED screen. The Fitbit unit itself is only available in black but is sold in three different band colors black, lilac, and morning glow. The wristband comes in two sizes: small, and large.

During testing, we loved how comfortable and easy-wearing this diminutive tracker was, even at night. We also appreciated how much more premium the tracker felt with a color screen. It won't be for everyone, but if you're looking for an affordable fitness tracker, you can't go wrong with the Inspire 3.

Read our full Fitbit Inspire 3 review here.

The cheap fitness tracker with built-in GPS

Size: 1.4 x 0.9 x 0.4 inches

Weight: 1.3 ounce

Display: 1.4-inch AMOLED

Water resistance: 50 meters

Heart rate monitor: Yes

GPS: Yes

Sleep tracking: Yes

Smartphone notifications: Yes

Battery life: 7 days

Support for Google Maps, Youtube Music and Google Wallet

Light, slim and comfortable design

Accurate heart rate sensor

Bright, crisp touchscreen

No support for Spotify

Some limitations in sports modes

Although it's Google's flagship fitness tracker, the Fitbit Charge 6 is a fairly affordable device, not to mention, easy-wearing. Plus, it boasts several exciting updates compared to the Fitbit Charge 5, including the return of haptic side buttons, which make the 6 far easier to navigate. It can also now be used as a heart rate tracker on NordicTrack, Peleton and other exercise machines.

The Charge 6 isn't only about fitness though. Unlike the Inspire 3, it offers support for Google Maps, YouTube Music and Google Wallet, though you will need a Google account to use any of the above.

In addition to access to useful Google apps, the Charge 6 also features an onboard GPS. This makes it heavier than its more affordable sibling, the Inspire 3, but it still doesn't weigh much. More importantly, the built-in GPS lets you accurately track runs, hikes, bike rides and more, without the need to carry a paired smartphone.

During testing, we were impressed by how comfortable the Charge 6 is around the wrist and how easy it is to read in the bright sunlight. The screen is a bit larger than that found on the Inspire 3 though nowhere near as large as those found on the latest Apple Watches.

Ultimately, if you want a petite and capable fitness tracker with some useful smartwatch features and are okay with breaking the $100 price barrier, the Fitbit Charge 6 is a total home run.

Read our Fitbit Charge 6 review here.

This best cheap Garmin tracker

Size: 0.8 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches (small), 0.8 x 0.4 x 10 inches (large)

Weight: 0.9 ounces

Display: 0.8-inch OLED (B&W)

Water resistance: 50 meters

Heart rate monitor: Yes

GPS: No

Sleep tracking: Yes

Smartphone notifications: No

Battery life: 7 days

Good sleep tracking

Lightweight design

Comprehensive companion app

No built-in GPS

A little fiddly to use

It's not just huge adventure watches that Garmin make, they also have smaller fitness trackers, that won't cost the earth. The best of these is the Garmin Vivosmart 5 a little tracker, that does a lot more than just counting your steps.

The Vivosmart 5 has a monochrome OLED display, that is 66% larger than the display on its predecessor. This does make it easier to read messages on the watch, and unlike the Vivosmart 4, text can now scroll across the screen, which prevents messages from being cut off. Additionally, you can see at least three stats on the screen at one time.

The Vivosmart 5 gives you GPS tracking through your phone, blood oxygen monitoring, and continuous heart rate monitoring.Like a lot of the otherbest Garmin watches, the Vivosmart 5 is pretty good on a sleep-tracking front. Its lightweight and comfortable enough to wear when youre sleeping (compared to theGarmin Fenix 7, its quite literally, a dream), and gives you a good picture of your sleep patterns. Like a lot of the more premium Garmin watches, the watch will also give you a body battery score when you wake up, which takes into account your previous days activity levels, and your sleep quality.

The body battery tool is similar to Fitbits daily readiness score, but Garmin has one huge benefit over Fitbit in this category unlike Fitbit, it doesnt put its premium tracking features behind a paywall. All of Garmins data is free of charge and available in the Garmin Connect App, which is intuitive and easy to use.

Read our full Garmin Vivosmart 5 review.

The best fitness tracker subscription

Size: 1.5 inches x 1 inch x 0.5 inches

Weight: 1 ounce

Display: n/a

Water resistance : 10 meters

Heart rate monitor: Yes

Excerpt from:
Best cheap fitness trackers of 2024 - Tom's Guide

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