So your wallet can’t stretch to an Apple Watch Series 2 or a Samsung Gear S3, don’t fret, there’s plenty of other smartwatches you can grab without breaking the bank.
It feels like barely a week goes by without a new smartwatch appearing on the market, and one of the benefits of this high churn
rate is that you can often pick up older hardware for decent prices.
Essential reading: Best budget fitness trackers
If you head over to Amazon, you can pick up a host of smartwatches for as little as $15, but take it from us, they are awful. We tested a bunch of cheap smartwatches to give you an idea what you’d be dealing with.
What we have below is our hand-picked list of recommended smartwatches, which enables you to save a few dollars/quid/clams. They’re not the cheapest, but they are the bona fide deals we definitely feel comfortable recommending.
Best cheap smartwatches
Pebble Time
While the Pebble 2 is already out (soon to be joined by the Pebble Time 2), but for Pebblers looking for a cheaper upgrade from the original Pebble could look at the Pebble Time for a pretty wallet-friendly price.
So you can enjoy that impressive seven-day battery life, colour e-paper screen, revamped Timeline OS and Pebble Health for a whole lot less.
If you’d prefer a Pebble smartwatch with a circular watch face, the Pebble Time Round is up for grabs for as well.
Wareable verdict: Pebble Time review
$84.75, pebble.com | Amazon
Sony SmartWatch 3
The Sony SmartWatch 3 was our top Android Wear watch fave for a long time, and while it’s starting to feel a bit old, it’s still a solid smartwatch all-rounder.
First up, it’s got full GPS tracking for all your fitness needs, then you’ll also find it’s got NFC for all your Google Wallet contactless payments and finally it’s got a two-day-plus battery life that actually delivers.
If you want a cheaper sporty Android Wear watch equivalent to the Moto 360 Sport or the Polar M600, then this is your one.
Wareable verdict: Sony Smartwatch 3 review
$125.99, sonymobile.com | Amazon
Asus ZenWatch 2
For the ZenWatch 3, Asus decided it was time to go round, but if the whole rectangular or circle argument doesn’t bother you, the ZenWatch 2 is worthy of your attention.
Okay, so it’s not challenging the big guns such as the Gear S3, Apple Watch Series 2 or Huawei Watch in any respect, but with all the latest Android Wear features and a slim, sleek build, it’s a bargain for the price and well worth considering.
Wareable verdict: Asus ZenWatch 2 review
$119, asus.com | Amazon
Alcatel OneTouch Watch
The OneTouch offers another cheap-ticket to the smartwatch party, and while it’s by no means the perfect smartphone companion, it still offers good value for money.
The iOS and Android-friendly smartwatch features an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an altimeter, a heart rate sensor, an e-compass and an NFC tag, and will offer fitness tracking as well as smartphone notifications.
It can be used to control music playback and can function as a remote shutter for your smartphone. Battery life is a decent 2-3 days, plus it powers up from a USB charger built into the strap, so there’s not a proprietary charging dock in sight to carry around.
Wareable verdict: Alcatel OneTouch Watch review
$118.14, alcatelonetouch.eu | Amazon
Martian Notifier
Back on the cheap smartwatch wagon, the price of this Martian Notifier certainly makes things interesting if not bringing anything groundbreaking to the party. Compatible with Android and iOS, the Notifier mixes an analogue face with a small OLED screen, which displays messages and calls. It’s a very similar smartwatch setup to the Guess Connect.
While the screen is a little small, you can customise vibration patterns to identify callers. Yes it’s a bit old now, but for less than $40, it’s not bad at all.
$35.92, martianwatches.com | Amazon
Pebble Classic
The original Pebble first appeared at the start of 2013 on the back of what was at the time the most successful Kickstarter ever. It supports both Android and iOS, comes with a growing pile of apps and watch faces, and can last a week on a single battery charge.
It might be getting on a bit in gadget years, with the likes of the Time 2 and Pebble 2 now taking the headlines, but the device that ushered in the era of the smartwatch still has a lot going for it, and the e-ink screen is a massive boon for battery life.
Wareable verdict: Updated Pebble review
$69.99, getpebble.com | Amazon
SOURCE:http://www.wareable.com/smartwatches/best-budget-smartwatches-pebble-sony-samsung-and-more
