Not every cheap fitness tracker is a winner and we've seen some with sensors with recordings that are over 20% off the accurate values. But our reviews can help you find the real gems.
Read on to find out the perks of cheaper trackers and our reviews of some of the most popular.
Our and include lab tests of all the most popular models. And check out our guide to the to see if they're a better option.Battery life on cheap fitness trackers
If you're tempted to buy an expensive fitness tracker to get a better battery life, you can save your money. We've averaged the battery life of the fitness trackers we've reviewed and it's actually cheaper fitness trackers that usually last longer. On average, fitness trackers under £50 will last just shy of 10 and a half days with typical levels of use. Pricier trackers last around nine and a half days on average.
A lot of expensive trackers have a built-in GPS or they can connect your to your phone's GPS. This can help track your distance more precisely when exercising, but it can also drain the battery significantly, with some devices lasting just a few hours before they go flat. So turn off the GPS when you don't need it to save your battery.
Member pick: Fitness tracker under £50 with the best battery life
Accuracy of cheap fitness trackers
You might think that the more you pay, the more accurate a fitness tracker's health sensors will be. But Which? lab data reveals that the differences in accuracy are not that substantial. On average, the heart-rate sensors we tested varied by no more than 4% when resting, walking or during higher-intensity training. When tracking steps on average, the differences are negligible between trackers under £50 and over £50.
If precise distance tracking is important to you, like if you are training for a long run, price can have more of a factor here. This is because more expensive devices have built-in GPS, which generally give more precise readings.
Member pick: accurate heart rate during rest and exercise
Activities and extra tracking on cheap fitness trackers
Buying a cheap fitness tracker doesn't always mean you have limited functionality. Most trackers we've tested this year have a long lists of activities and sports you can track (often over 150), and some offer extra health insights such as estimating the quality of your sleep, your stress levels and menstrual tracking.
We've tested ones under £50 that measure your blood oxygen levels accurately. More and more will also approximate your VO2 Max, which gives you an impression of your aerobic endurance.
Many will create graphs you can view on the tracker's screen or on the paired app to give you more details of your progress too.
What about cheap smartwatches?
Buying a smartwatch instead of a fitness tracker doesn't necessarily give you more accurate sensors, but smartwatches generally have more features than fitness trackers.
The first are what we call 'smart features', which pair with a smartphone. This includes being able to respond to messages, take calls, store and control music on the go, and make contactless payments directly on the watch. The smaller screens on fitness trackers wouldn't be a comfortable way to control these smart features but it's easier on a smartwatch. Cheap smartwatches have a good range of smart features and extra features like fall detection and crash detection are becoming more common, but it varies from model to model.
You can get a great fitness tracker for under £50, whereas good smartwatches range from £100 to over £1,000. So if you're just looking for a tracker to give you insight into your day-to-day activity on a basic level, consider a fitness tracker first.
Member pick: A cheap smartwatch worth considering
undefinedsource https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/why-you-dont-need-to-spend-more-than-50-on-a-fitness-tracker-aFus21e6YwXX