Fitness trackers are great because they come packed with features that can help you monitor and keep tabs on your health and fitness. Whether you want to keep track of your sleep or you want to count your steps while you're out and about, there’s a fitness tracker to suit your needs. As more people become conscious of their health, companies are introducing more affordable options into the market. Initially, the cheaper trackers only offered basic features such as allowing you to keep track of your steps and sending the information back to your phone. They offer a lot more features such as GPS tracking, Sleep Tracking, Heart Rate Monitoring, and so much more. The best thing is that you can do this without breaking the bank.
We compiled a list of five of the best cheap fitness trackers in the market and created a guide on what you should consider when buying these nifty gadgets.
The Best Cheap Fitness Tracker
1. Fitbit Inspire 2
- Earn Active Zone Minutes as you progress toward your weekly 150 minutes of heart-pumping activity and use 20 plus exercise modes to track goals like distance, calories burned and more.Operating temperature: 14° to 113°F
- Track all-day activity: your steps, distance, hourly activity and calories burned.Maximum operating altitude: 28,000 ft
- Use 24x7 heart rate to track resting heart rate & better measure calorie burn
- Enjoy 10 days of battery life for daily progress without constant charging. Varies with use and other factors. Track your time in light, deep and REM sleep, then get a Sleep Score to better understand your sleep quality each night.Stay inspired from the shower to the pool with this swimproof tracker (water resistant to 50 meters) and motivated by connecting with friends, competing in challenges, earning badges and celebrating goal milestones.
The Fitbit Inspire 2 tops our list as the best cheap fitness tracker. With it, you can monitor your heart rate 24/7, track your daily work out, track and log your sleep in light, deep, and REM. Another great feature is that it offers 10 days of battery life which is pretty useful. The Fitbit Inspire 2 is waterproof hence ideal for swimmers. With the Fitbit Inspire 2, you can receive calls, texts, calendar, and smartphone notifications. In terms of appearance, it hasn’t changed a lot from its predecessor, though the Fitbit has changed the physical button of the Fitbit Inspire to reflect the new capacitive touch buttons. The exercise tracking is automatic, and the downside is that it lacks GPS tracking features.
2. Xiaomi mi band 4
- Languages Included English and Chinese. Wristband width 18mm, Adjustable wrist strap length 155-216mm
- Battery Life: 135mAh battery capacity built in the Mi Band 4, max working time up to 20 days after a full charging.
- Health Monitoring: Support heart rate monitoring, heart rate alerts, sleep monitoring, idle alerts; Monitoring your health data o matain your healthier body
- Activity Tracking: Comes with 6 workout modes: Treadmill, exercise, outdoor running, cycling, walking, swimming Counting step, distance, calories burned during sports
- 5ATM Water Resistant: Up to 50 meters water resistant rate, freely to wear Mi Band 4 when running and exercising
If you enjoy colorful displays, the Xiaomi mi band 4 is the best fitness tracker for you. The tracker’s watch face is customizable, and you have a selection of cute, colorful designs to choose from in the Mi Fit app. You can also set up personalized alerts and control the music playing from your smartphone. It comes equipped with fitness tracking and offers 6 workout modes: Treadmill, exercise, outdoor running, cycling, walking, swimming, counting steps, distance, and calories burned during sports. The Xiaomi mi band 4 also tracks your sleep and features a heart rate monitor. The battery life of the Xiaomi mi band 4 is one of its best features as it lasts for 20 days after full charging.
3. Samsung Galaxy Fit 2
- STARTS TRACKING WHEN YOU START MOVING: Walk, run, even hop on the elliptical—the Galaxy Fit2 automatically detects and tracks what you’re doing.
- KEEP GOING 24/7: Track your day’s activities and your night’s sleep continuously with a battery that lasts up to 15 days on a single charge.
- LIGHT AND BRIGHT DESIGN: Sleek and lightweight, Galaxy Fit2 features a curved and full-color AMOLED display that makes it easy to stay connected at a glance.
- TOUGH, LIKE YOU: Galaxy Fit2 is made with a swim-ready and durable design.
- LIVE WELL EVERY DAY: Galaxy Fit2 tracks daily steps, calories burned, calories remaining for the day, water intake and sleep patterns.
The Samsung Galaxy Fit 2 offers automatic workout-tracking and, like its predecessor, maintains the AMOLED display but takes it a notch higher to 1.1" size. The Samsung Galaxy Fit 2 tracks your sleep and comes with a battery life that lasts up to 15 days. It is swim-ready, sleek, and lightweight and can handle water resistance up to 50 meters. If you have a Galaxy smartphone, you can pair the two and receive calls and texts.
The Galaxy Fit 2 allows you to track your daily steps, calories burned, calories remaining for the day, water intake, and sleep patterns.
4. Xiaomi mi band 5
- Xiaomi Mi Band 5, Bigger Dynamic Color Screen: The Screen Of Mi Band 5 Is Increased By 20%, 1.1" Amoled Screen . 100+ Watchfaces
- More Convenient Magnetic Charging: The Charging Interface Has Been Changed To The Below Of Heart Rate Sensor, And Two Contact Points Design, Just Charge At A Touch, No More Frequent Disassembling The Mi Dial
- Upgraded Professional Sensor: An Upgraded Version Of The Chip, More Accurate Health Monitoring
- Support 11 Professional Sports Modes: Outdoor Running, Walking, Cycling, Indoor Running, Swimming Pool, Exercise, Indoor Cycling, Elliptical Machine, Skipping Rope, Yoga, Rowing Machine
The Xiaomi mi band 5 has an AMOLED 1.1-inch display screen. With the Mi Band 5, you can monitor your heart rate 24/7 and track your sleep (deep sleep, light sleep, REM rapid eye movement, sporadic naps). The Xiaomi mi band 5 allows you to keep track of your fitness and offers 11 professional sports modes, namely: Outdoor running, walking, cycling, indoor running, swimming pool, exercising, Indoor cycling, elliptical machine, skipping rope, yoga, and rowing machine. The Mi Band 5 is water-resistant, and the battery life can last for about two weeks. When synced to your phone, you can receive calls, texts, and notifications. It also uses your phone's GPS to track outdoor workouts.
5. Huawei band 4 pro
- Dimension: 6.5"L x 2"H x 1"D
- Pen set includes: 1 case, 1 roller ball pen and 1 ball point pen in black ink. They are made of high quality rosewood. Due to natural wood, the color of two pen might be lightly difference.
- The pen set is custom personalized with the name of your friends, family placed nicely inside the rosewood case expertly etched.
- FREE ENGRAVING: Use the "customize now" on your right hand side to give us your engraving information.
- Please note this item is handmade from real wood. Thus, minor blemishes, though rare, may occasionally occur on the item.
The Huawei Band 4 Pro is the only fitness tracker on our list with a built-in GPS which makes it ideal for those who consider GPS a necessity in their trackers. The Band 4 Pro has a 0.95 AMOLED screen with access to Huawei’s watch store, where you can pick and customize your own watch face. The Huawei Band 4 Pro monitors your heart rate 24/7 and tracks your sleep. It comes with a SpO sensor to measure blood oxygen levels. When synced to your phone, you can receive notifications, control music playback, and remotely control your smartphone camera. It is water-resistant.
How To Choose The Best Cheap Fitness Trackers
Investing in an affordable fitness tracker might mean that you’ll have to compromise on certain features. However, you can always find the best cheap fitness trackers that suit your needs. Many cheap fitness trackers come with many of the same features as most of the expensive models. Here’s what you should consider when you’re considering the best cheap fitness trackers:
a) Automatic Workout Tracking
Your fitness tracker should automatically detect when you start a workout routine such as a run and record it accordingly. There’s nothing more frustrating than starting your workout routine to later realize that you forgot to press the Start button. Hence your exercise activity was not recorded.
Measuring steps is great if you want to increase your activity and incorporate healthier changes into your life. The great thing about steps is that they are easy to measure and easy, and fitness trackers make it even easier. The first thing you’ll want to do is determine how many steps you averagely take in a day. If you don’t have a number in mind, your fitness tracker can do it for you. Once you have your steps, you can set a goal that you’ll be increasing the number of steps by a certain number every week or every three days. You can also set a challenge such as 15,000 steps every day. The good thing about steps is that it's not tied to a specific activity. The catch is that you have to make sure that your tracker can monitor these; otherwise, you won’t keep track of your progress.
There are also some watches like the Fitbit that allow you to track and record your information and share it socially. This means that you even find yourself getting into healthy mini-competitions for your step-counting, which can boost your morale and motivation.
b) Battery Life
Your fitness tracker should be able to hold its charge for at least three days. This will allows you to perform all the various activities it’s meant to do, such as tracking your sleep, heart rate, and workout routines.
c) Heart Rate Monitor
Your fitness tracker should be able to monitor your heart rate. Knowing your heart rate zones allows you to maximize your training and understand your health and fitness.
Heart rate zones are important because of the depth of information they provide. They determine physiological exertion levels, allowing you to train at certain intensity levels during a certain workout. They also act as cues for when to back off to allow for recovery. Whether you’re an athlete or you simply enjoy staying fit, overtraining can be an issue. It is usually caused by training too hard or too often or when there isn’t sufficient time taken to rest and recover in between workouts. Having a fitness tracker with an inbuilt heart rate monitor can be extremely useful as it will help you keep an eye on this. Two signs of overtraining are an inability to return to a lower heart rate after an activity within a couple of minutes and waking up with a heart rate above the normal resting one. With your fitness tracker, you can check your heart rate in the morning, allowing you to tell if you have sufficiently recovered from the previous workout.
It’s important to keep tracking your heart rate every morning so that you can develop a trend of heart rates. If you have an intense workout planned and your heart rate is much higher than normal in the morning, it could be that your body is still trying to compensate for the lack of energy; hence this might be a cue to give it a day so that you’re well-rested and able to perform at your best.
d) GPS
Having GPS on your fitness tracker is ideal if you’re planning on running or biking or are training for an event like a marathon. This feature will be able to provide you accurate statistics on factors such as distance and speed. Some fitness trackers can map your routes before you leave your house; however, these tend to be the more expensive fitness trackers.
e) Move Reminders
This is a great feature for people who spend a lot of time seated or being sedentary. Some fitness trackers will vibrate, and a reminder will appear on the screen, reminding you to move. These reminders are great, especially for people who spend long hours at their desks and rarely take breaks.
f) Sleep Tracking
Fitness trackers are sleeker and less bulky alternative wearable for bed for those who want to track their sleeping patterns. You’ll be able to track your light, deep, and REM stages of sleep along with the movement throughout the night. It allows you to understand how well you sleep and what you can do to better improve it.
g) Water Resistant
Having a water-resistant fitness tracker is important if your activities include water. For example, swimmers need a tracker that can automatically detect their heart rate, distance, speed, strokes, swimming style, and rest times. It's important to note that wearable cannot be considered waterproof. This is because a regulation prohibits them from being marked as waterproof as there is a certain level of water pressure that the water will begin to leak into it. Hence, they can only be considered water-resistant.
h) User Experience
User experience is extremely important. Nothing is more frustrating than a product that you can’t figure out. When considering a fitness tracker, it's important to consider issues such as the setup process. Is it complicated? Is it easy to follow? Does the tracker sync automatically ( the best fitness trackers do). Are activity and sleep tracking manual or automatic?
It's also important to consider how easy it is to interact with the fitness tracker. Does the fitness tracker feature a touch screen, or does it have a button? Lastly, how is the data displayed? Does the fitness tracker’s screen have a color display, or is it monochrome? These may seem like very technical questions at first, but it matters when it comes down to user experience. At the end of the day, you want to buy a product that you enjoy using.
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