Best Cheap Smartwatches Under $100 (2026)

What are the best cheap smartwatches under $100 in 2026?

Summary

Two of the guides we read put the Amazfit Active 2 first among smartwatches under $100. Tom's Guide calls it "the best cheap smartwatch you can buy in 2026 for less than $100", and TechRadar, which gave it five stars, keeps it as its best cheap smartwatch overall even after adding Amazfit's newer and dearer Active 3 Premium. Tech Advisor and Wareable recommend it too, and Android Central lists it as an alternative. In TechRadar's run beside an Apple Watch Ultra 2 it matched the GPS route and the distance to two decimal places. [src1, src2, src3, src5, src6, src7]

It is also the pick that is hardest to buy on Amazon right now: when we checked on 2026-10-09, Amazon's listing for the standard model with a black sport strap had no new offer, only a used one. Amazfit's own US store listed the Active 2 in stock at $99.99, with a red sport strap, the same day. That is a note about where to buy it, not a change to the ranking. [src20]

Below it the guides split between two watches that cost about the same at list price. The Amazfit Bip 6 ($79.99 list) has the bigger, brighter screen, a 5ATM body with swim tracking that Wareable found accurate, free offline maps and the longest battery of the three, but its single-frequency GPS under-read distance in Wareable's test. The CMF Watch 3 Pro ($79 list at Nothing's US store) has dual-band GPS that TechRadar called "rock-solid" and GSMArena found accurate enough to leave the phone at home, and a design Wareable calls the best-looking in its price bracket; it is IP68 only, and Nothing advises against swimming in it. We make the Bip 6 the value pick for what it adds for the money, and the CMF the budget pick because it sells for less: Nothing's US store had it at $59 when we checked on 2026-10-09. The table below carries both watches' current Amazon prices. [src11, src12, src8, src10, src5, src21]

Two cheaper alternatives stay on the card. The CMF Watch Pro 2 is Android Central's best ultra-cheap watch and keeps the swappable bezels its successor dropped, though Android Central itself calls the Watch 3 Pro "probably the better choice". The Xiaomi Smart Band 10 is a fitness band rather than a watch, and Tom's Guide's best cheap fitness tracker under $50: 5ATM, with pool tracking Tech Advisor found reliable, but no built-in GPS. [src7, src14, src15, src18, src16, src17]

Earlier versions of this card also listed the Fitbit Inspire 3, the Amazfit Bip 5 Unity, the Xiaomi Redmi Watch 5 Active and the TOZO S3. None of the current guides we read recommends any of them, and we found no review of the Bip 5 Unity, the Redmi Watch 5 Active or the TOZO S3 from the testing outlets we rely on, so all four are off the card. The Inspire 3 is a fitness band, and Tom's Guide's budget-tracker guide now recommends the Fitbit Air and the Smart Band 10 instead. [src18]

Top 5 Models Compared

The Price column is the Amazon US price from our daily price check for the exact listing linked, updated daily; a dash means the check has no new Amazon offer to show. List prices and other stores' prices are in each product's section below. Battery figures are the maker's typical-use claim, then what the named outlet measured; specs are the testing outlets' figures, from the sources cited in each section.

Best for Each Use Case

Top Pick: Amazfit Active 2 — Check price

Tom's Guide calls the Active 2 "the best cheap smartwatch you can buy in 2026 for less than $100", and TechRadar, which gave it five stars, keeps it as its best cheap smartwatch overall. [src1, src2] TechRadar's reviewer ran with it on one wrist and an Apple Watch Ultra 2 on the other: it "nailed the GPS route map and the exact distance within two decimal places" and read an average heart rate of 136 bpm against the Ultra 2's 135, and its battery held to Amazfit's heavy-use claim. It has a 1.32-inch, 2,000-nit AMOLED, a stainless steel bezel, five-system GPS, 164 sport modes, 5ATM water resistance and the Zepp Flow voice assistant. [src3] Tom's Guide liked its offline maps and backtrack feature but found turn-by-turn directions "cumbersome and unreliable" (they flagged about half the turns on its test route) and its elevation figures inflated; Tech Advisor found its heart-rate data less accurate than it had hoped. [src4, src6] Wareable adds that it can pair an external heart-rate sensor for better accuracy. [src5] The $99.99 standard version this card links has no NFC: contactless payment, sapphire glass and a leather strap come with the $129.99 Premium. [src3, src6] Amazon's listing for the standard Active 2 with a black sport strap had no new offer when we checked on 2026-10-09, only a used one; Amazfit's own US store listed the Active 2 in stock at $99.99 with a red sport strap the same day. [src20]

Best Value: Amazfit Bip 6 — Check price

Wareable calls the Bip 6 "one of the best budget smartwatches available", T3 "one of the best budget-friendly smartwatches on the market right now", and Tech Advisor names it its best budget watch for battery life and "a top value option". [src11, src12, src6] It has a 1.97-inch, 2,000-nit AMOLED in an aluminium frame, 140+ sport modes, Bluetooth calling, 5ATM water resistance and built-in five-system GPS with free offline maps, at $79.99 list. [src12, src11] T3's tester found it usually locked onto GPS within 10 seconds and reached for the charger every 12 to 14 days; Wareable got about 10 days with regular use and less than a week with the always-on display. [src12, src11] Wareable found its pool swim tracking accurate against two other swim trackers, but its single-frequency GPS under-read distance beside a dual-frequency watch and sometimes veered off course. [src11] Tom's Guide found its sleep tracking worked "incredibly well"; deeper insights sit behind Amazfit's optional Zepp Aura membership, and on an iPhone it cannot reply to texts. [src13, src12]

Best Budget: CMF Watch 3 Pro — Check price

Tech Advisor's best-value budget smartwatch and TechRadar's best cheap smartwatch for Android; Wareable's reviewer concluded that "if you don't have more than £100/$100 to spend, then you won't find a better smartwatch", and Trusted Reviews names it its best budget smartwatch for design. [src6, src2, src9, src19] Its dual-band L1+L5 GPS is the reason: TechRadar's tester found it "so accurate that it knew which side of the street I was on", Wareable timed a lock at about 6 seconds, and GSMArena found it accurate enough to leave the phone at home. [src8, src9, src10] It has a 1.43-inch, 670-nit AMOLED in an aluminium case, 131 sport modes and a running coach, and works with Android and iPhone through the Nothing X app. [src8, src9] Nothing claims 13 days of battery; GSMArena got 7 with the always-on display off, and TechRadar and Wareable got four to five with heavy use or the always-on display on. [src10, src8, src9] Wareable's chest-strap comparison put its heart rate within about 2 bpm in hard intervals but up to 5 bpm off at times. [src9] Its limits: it is IP68 and Nothing advises against swimming in it, there is no NFC and no third-party apps, the always-on display is hard to read outdoors, and the swappable bezels of the Watch Pro 2 are gone. [src8, src9, src6] TechRadar priced it at $99 at launch; Nothing's US store listed it at $59 against a $79 list price when we checked on 2026-10-09. [src8, src21]

Previous Generation, Swappable Bezels: CMF Watch Pro 2 — Check price

Android Central's best ultra-cheap watch: "If you want to spend as little as possible on a smartwatch that still works with Android, get the CMF Watch Pro 2." It adds that the Watch 3 Pro is "probably the better choice", but that the Pro 2 "is where to start" if price is your priority. [src7] TechRadar called it "a brilliant cheap smartwatch" at its $69 launch price, and Trusted Reviews "an excellent pick for those on a tight budget". [src14, src15] It has a 1.32-inch, 620-nit AMOLED, interchangeable bezels, Bluetooth calling, built-in GPS and an 11-day battery claim; Trusted Reviews got four to five days with the always-on display on and found the GPS slow to lock (minutes, even in open areas) though accurate once it did. [src7, src14, src15] It is IP68, and Nothing warns against wearing it to swim or in the shower; there is no NFC. [src14] Buy it for the bezels, or when it costs less than the Watch 3 Pro.

If You Only Want a Band: Xiaomi Smart Band 10 — Check price

A fitness band rather than a smartwatch, and the cheapest device on this card at list price: Tom's Guide names it its best cheap fitness tracker under $50, and its review, an Editor's Choice, priced the standard edition at $51 on Amazon US. [src18, src16] It has a 1.72-inch, 1,500-nit AMOLED, 5ATM water resistance and 159 activity modes. Tom's Guide found its step counts in line with an Oura Ring's, but got about 7 days of battery against the 21 claimed. [src16] Tech Advisor took it into the pool beside two other swim trackers: it detected a switch from breaststroke to freestyle correctly and was one length out on distance; its battery lasted about 9 days with the screen always on. [src17] There is no built-in GPS; outdoor routes use your phone's. [src17, src18] Wareable points swimmers who want a cheap tracker to it rather than to the CMF watches. [src9] The listing this card links is the Global Version, and when we checked on 2026-10-09 it was sold by a marketplace seller rather than by Amazon, so warranty runs through the seller.

Key Market Trends (2026)

• The big brands skipped the budget tier: Tom's Guide notes that none of Apple, Google or Samsung released a dedicated budget model this year, so its cheapest picks from them are discounted older watches; under $100 the guides we read recommend Amazfit and Nothing's CMF instead. [src1, src2, src6]
• Dual-band GPS has reached the bottom of the market: the CMF Watch 3 Pro brings L1+L5 positioning to a watch Nothing now lists at $79, and three testers found it quick to lock and accurate. [src8, src9, src10, src21]
• Offline maps under $100: both Amazfits carry free offline maps, which Wareable says "you simply don't find" on a watch under $100 otherwise. [src11, src4]
• Amazfit's newer watch costs more: the Active 3 Premium adds sapphire glass, NFC payments and full-colour maps, but at $169 (Tom's Guide) it is over this card's ceiling, and TechRadar still calls the Active 2 the better value. [src2, src16]
• Screenless trackers are the other cheap route: Tom's Guide includes the $99 Fitbit Air, which has no screen, in its cheap smartwatch guide; it is a tracker rather than a watch, so it is not on this card. [src1, src18]
• Subscriptions are creeping in: Amazfit sells an optional Zepp Aura membership for deeper insights, Google charges $9.99 a month or $99 a year for the Fitbit Air's premium insights, and Tom's Guide lists no paywalled insights on the Smart Band 10. [src12, src1, src18]

Important Caveats

• This is not medical advice, and none of these devices is diagnostic. Heart rate, SpO2 and sleep figures on consumer wearables are trend indicators. Testers found the Active 2's heart-rate data questionable at times and the CMF Watch 3 Pro's up to 5 bpm off a chest strap. See a clinician for any persistent symptom. [src1, src9]
• Water ratings are not interchangeable. The Active 2, Bip 6 and Smart Band 10 are rated 5ATM and can be worn to swim. The CMF Watch 3 Pro and CMF Watch Pro 2 are IP68 (Wareable lists the 3 Pro as IP69), and Nothing advises against swimming in either. [src3, src11, src16, src8, src9, src14]
• Battery claims run long. Measured against the claims: CMF Watch 3 Pro 7 days against 13 (GSMArena), Smart Band 10 about 7 against 21 (Tom's Guide), Bip 6 about 10 against 14 (Wareable). The always-on display cuts all of them. [src10, src16, src11]
• Prices move. The table's prices come from our daily Amazon US price check for the exact listing linked; the list and store prices in the text were read on the dates given. The CMF Watch 3 Pro's $59 at Nothing's store was a sale price against a $79 list. [src21]
• The Xiaomi Smart Band 10 listing is the Global Version, sold by a marketplace seller when we checked on 2026-10-09; warranty and support run through the seller, not a US Xiaomi channel.
• No sub-$100 watch matches an Apple Watch or a Galaxy Watch for apps, voice assistant or notification handling, and none supports cellular/LTE.