Best Fitness Trackers Under $100 (2026)

What are the best fitness trackers under $100 in 2026?

Summary

The cheap end of the tracker market now splits two ways: slim bands with a screen, led by Xiaomi, and screenless bands that put everything in a phone app, led by Google's Fitbit Air. TechRadar's budget guide says "the king of the cheap fitness tracker in 2026 is Xiaomi" and puts the Smart Band 10 first; Tom's Guide, which has the Air first, calls the Smart Band 10 the subscription-free way to keep costs down. Live Science's April guide, written before the Air launched, has the Fitbit Inspire 3 first and the Smart Band 10 as its pick for tracking workouts. [src2, src1, src3]

The Fitbit Air debuted in May 2026 at $99: Tom's Guide scores it 21 out of 25 and makes it its best cheap tracker, TechRadar makes it the Fitbit it would recommend first, and DC Rainmaker calls it an easy recommendation for most people who would otherwise buy a Whoop, while measuring its wrist heart rate behind Whoop's in some workouts. It has no screen and no GPS, and Google Health Premium ($9.99 a month or $99 a year) adds AI coaching and deeper insights. The Amazfit Helio Strap is the screenless alternative with no subscription at all. [src7, src1, src5, src6, src9]

Built-in GPS is still rare at this price, The Gadgeteer notes: on this card only the Amazfit Bip 6, a smartwatch-style tracker, has it. For a GPS watch rather than a band, the Amazfit Active 2 (TechRadar's best cheap fitness watch) is covered on our cheap-smartwatches card. [src13, src11, src2]

The Fitbit Charge 6 ($159 in Tom's Guide's Fitbit Air review) and the Garmin Vivosmart 5 ($149 typical, $99 only on deals, per The Gadgeteer) sit above $100; see the under-$200 card. [src7, src13]

8 Models Compared

Prices are from our latest US price check of the listing each button links to; "—" means no purchasable offer was found. The live table at the top of the page is updated daily. Battery figures are the maker's claim, then the testers' result where they reported one.

Best for Each Use Case

Top Pick: Xiaomi Smart Band 10 — Check price

TechRadar's best cheap fitness tracker overall: "the king of the cheap fitness tracker in 2026 is Xiaomi. The Smart Band 10 takes the top spot in our testing." Its tester got about 18-19 days per charge, just under Xiaomi's up-to-21-day claim, and found the 1.72-inch AMOLED, at up to 1,500 nits, easy to read outdoors; the one complaint was a clasp prone to come undone [src2]. Tom's Guide makes it its best cheap tracker under $50: worn beside an Oura Ring 4, its step and activity tracking "pretty much aligned", it tracks 159 activities, and nothing is behind a paywall, though its app lacks the actionable insights of the Fitbit Air or Oura Ring [src1]. Live Science names it the budget tracker "you want on your wrist for tracking workouts", rates it four and a half stars, and still had 17% battery after three weeks; its cons are the strap design, a USB-A charger and location tracking that relies on the phone [src3]. There is no built-in GPS, and it is water resistant to 50 m [src1, src3].

Best Screenless Tracker: Fitbit Air — Check price

Tom's Guide's best cheap fitness tracker overall and TechRadar's best Fitbit overall. Tom's Guide's review scores it 21 out of 25: the 5.2 g pod has no screen and no buttons, tracks heart rate, sleep, readiness and workouts, logged a night's sleep close to a Garmin Forerunner 70, and had 15% battery left after exactly one week; automatic workout tracking only starts after 15 minutes [src7, src1]. TechRadar found its heart rate and sleep tracking closely aligned with an Apple Watch Ultra 3 and its battery beat Google's seven-day claim [src5]. DC Rainmaker, testing against a chest strap and a Whoop, found its wrist heart rate "kinda mixed" ("at the moment, Whoop is beating it in a wrist-to-wrist comparison") and the app buggy at launch, yet calls it "an easy-button recommendation for the vast majority of people who would have otherwise selected a Whoop"; it adds FDA-certified background AFib detection, a 5-minute quick charge for a day of use and 50 m water resistance [src6]. Core features are free; Google Health Premium ($9.99 a month or $99 a year) adds AI coaching and deeper insights, and TechRadar finds it "quite limited without a subscription" [src7, src6, src15]. There is no onboard GPS. Google's US store listed it from $99.99 when we checked on 2026-10-14 [src17].

Best for Beginners: Fitbit Inspire 3 — Check price

TechRadar's best cheap fitness tracker for beginners — "Fitbit's simplest and most beginner-friendly fitness tracker" — and says its core tracking features "work perfectly well without paying extra"; it has a Daily Readiness score [src2]. Live Science's April guide makes it the best budget tracker overall, four stars, "a particularly great option for beginners", with a 10-day battery and no GPS [src3]. TechRadar's Fitbit guide calls it the best budget Fitbit and found it lasts around 10 days even with the always-on display, but warns the screen "might still be too small for some people" [src5]. Engadget was less impressed: only six activity types sit on the tracker at a time and sleep coaching is for Premium subscribers, though it liked the Active Zone Minutes breakdown and a full charge in under 45 minutes [src4]. It launched in 2022, and Google still sells it beside the Air [src7]; Google's US store listed it at $99.95 when we checked on 2026-10-14 [src16].

Best for Android: Samsung Galaxy Fit 3 — Check price

TechRadar's best cheap fitness tracker for Android users: heart rate sat within a few beats per minute of a Garmin Forerunner in workouts, the 1.6-inch AMOLED gives it a smartwatch-like feel, and it has over 100 workout modes; battery came in around 10 days against Samsung's 13-day claim, just over 5 with the always-on display [src2]. TechRadar's general guide calls it "our cheap wearable of choice for 2026" [src15], and its review rates it 5ATM/IP68 with every feature free in Samsung Health [src10]. TechGearLab's Best Budget Pick for Android measured 100% heart-rate accuracy and came within one step of a manual count on a half-mile walk [src8]. It does not work with an iPhone, it needs three separate apps to set up on Android (TechGearLab), and TechRadar found the raised sensor a little uncomfortable [src8, src2].

Best Subscription-Free Screenless Band: Amazfit Helio Strap — Check price

Tom's Guide's best cheap tracker for actionable insights: detailed sleep tracking, a Biocharge recovery score and PAI activity score, and "you don't need a subscription to access any of the features or insights" [src1]. TechRadar calls it "a terrific value, generally very accurate fitness tracker with great battery life and no subscription required", with 35% charge left after a week against a 10-day claim and a 5ATM rating, but notes small heart-rate accuracy issues and readiness stats without Whoop's depth [src9]. Tom's Guide found its automatic workout detection unreliable, and with no screen you start workouts from the phone [src1]. Against the Fitbit Air it is heavier (20 g against 5.2 g) and lasts longer (10 days against 7), at the same $99 [src7].

Best with Built-in GPS: Amazfit Bip 6 — Check price

The only tracker on this card with its own GPS. TechRadar wore it for two months: its GPS is "only single frequency at this price" but was reliable and accurate, it supports offline maps, the 1.97-inch AMOLED is easy to read, and battery ran 15-20 days with one or two activities a day, nearer 10 with frequent GPS [src11]. Tom's Guide says it tracks 140 types of workouts and its sleep tracking works "incredibly well", with two weeks of battery [src12]. Engadget tested it and left it off its list: "glitches and overly complicated interface", no walk or ride auto-detected in a week, and 400 fewer calories and 2.4 fewer miles a day than an Apple Watch [src4]. Amazfit's Zepp Aura reports cost extra [src11, src12].

Alternative — Previous Xiaomi Band: Xiaomi Smart Band 9 — Check price

Engadget's best cheap fitness tracker overall in its January 2026 guide: the easiest interface to navigate when recording workouts, the most comfortable band to sleep in, and detailed workout reports on the wrist [src4]. Live Science's review rates it four stars and found it durable, with a 1.62-inch AMOLED, up to 21 days of battery and over 150 sports modes, but says its heart-rate readings "need more precision to satisfy the needs of veteran exercisers" [src14, src3]. Live Science has since replaced it with the Smart Band 10 in its guide [src3].

Alternative — Older Budget Band: Amazfit Band 7 — Check price

Engadget's runner-up cheap tracker: 18 days of battery and Amazfit's PAI score, but "considerably slower than the Xiaomi Smart Band" to start and end workouts, a screen "sometimes hard to view even indoors", and its detailed sleep report needs a $10-a-month Zepp subscription [src4]. TechGearLab makes it its Best on a Tight Budget for iPhones but ranks it 10th of 14, with 93.83% measured heart-rate accuracy and a screen hard to read outside [src8]. It launched in July 2022 with a 1.47-inch AMOLED and Alexa, and The Gadgeteer notes its firmware refreshes have slowed [src13]. Amazon had no purchasable offer on the listing we link in our last three US price checks, through 2026-10-13; check the live table at the top of the page before buying.

Key Market Trends (2026)

• Screenless bands reached $99: The Fitbit Air (May 2026) and the Amazfit Helio Strap both cost $99 with no screen, against the Whoop's ongoing membership. [src7, src9, src6]
• Xiaomi leads the cheapest tier: TechRadar calls Xiaomi "the king of the cheap fitness tracker in 2026", and the Smart Band 10 is in the top two of Tom's Guide's, TechRadar's, Live Science's and The Gadgeteer's budget lists. [src2, src1, src3, src13]
• Fitbit's old and new trackers sell side by side: Google's US store still listed the Inspire 3 beside the Air when we checked on 2026-10-14 [src16, src7]; TechRadar's Fitbit guide recommends the Air first and the Inspire 3 as the budget Fitbit. [src5]
• Built-in GPS is still rare: of the eight trackers on this card, only the Amazfit Bip 6 has it. [src13, src11, src2, src1]

Important Caveats

• Prices in the comparison table are from our latest US price check of the listing each button links to; the live table at the top of the page is updated daily. The Xiaomi Smart Band 10 listing we link is a Global Version and the Samsung Galaxy Fit 3 listing an International Model; the live table flags the seller and warranty status.
• Only the Amazfit Bip 6 has built-in GPS; every other tracker here needs your phone for route, distance and pace on outdoor workouts. [src11, src2, src1]
• Testers' battery results were below some makers' claims: about 18-19 days against 21 for the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 and about 10 against 13 for the Samsung Galaxy Fit 3 (TechRadar). [src2]
• Wrist heart rate varies by tracker: DC Rainmaker found the Fitbit Air's mixed against a chest strap and a Whoop; TechGearLab measured 100% accuracy for the Galaxy Fit 3 and 93.83% for the Amazfit Band 7. [src6, src8]
• The Samsung Galaxy Fit 3 does not work with an iPhone. [src10, src8]
• Google Health Premium ($9.99 a month or $99 a year) adds AI coaching and deeper insights to the Fitbit Air, and extra insights, guided workouts and mindfulness content to the Inspire 3; Amazfit's paid reports are optional on the Bip 6 and Band 7. [src7, src6, src2, src11, src4]
• The Amazon listing we link for the Amazfit Band 7 had no purchasable offer in our last three US price checks, through 2026-10-13; check the live table at the top of the page before buying.