Not everyone wants to spend a few hundred dollars for a sports watch and a fitness tracker often doesn’t provide enough functionality. Therefore, you can also find a list of cheap sports watches that measure your heart rate, speed, distance, and pace but are still very affordable and durable.
Cheap and quality sports watch?
If you want a cheap sports watch, you still want something that won’t fall apart after a few years usage. Therefore, we have chosen the budget models of famous brands. Some are from the collection of last year, but they are qualitatively fine. If you like it, you can always later upgrade to a newer or more expensive model of the same brand.
Garmin Forerunner 25
Price: $134.00
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If you’re looking for a lot of features for little money, then you have the Garmin Forerunner 25. This model is equipped with GPS and Bluetooth and is waterproof to a depth of 50 meters. The battery lasts for more than 10 hours and you can get new ones at https://www.standardbatteryinc.com/best-deep-cycle-marine-battery/. A heart rate monitor is not available, but you can optionally attach a strap with heart rate monitor. It is also more accurate than measuring from your wrist.
Garmin is the best-known name in the field of GPS sports watches, so you can trust the quality of this brand. The Garmin Forerunner 25 is equipped with GPS so you know exactly where you’ve gone without having to carry a smartphone. The watch measures speed, distance, pace, and burned calories. You can also wear the watch all day long to measure your steps. If you don’t do anything for too long, you get a warning.
Garmin works with Garmin Connect, so can view your activities through a free app and online. You can also synchronize your data with MyFitnessPal, Strava, and other services. You can choose from two sizes, which have a slightly different battery. Expect 10 hours of use when you exercise with GPS tracking and 10 weeks if you only use is as a pedometer.
TomTom Runner GPS Running Watch
Price: $83.44
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The Dutch company TomTom has been making sports watches for several years. And for a longer time they are making GPS navigation systems, so it makes sense that there is a GPS receiver in this model. You connect the watch via Bluetooth and then workout up to 11 hours with GPS enabled. It is water resistant to 40 meters. The TomTom Runner 3 is very complete with built-in heart rate monitor, a music player, and record routes. If you get lost then the watch can also return you to your car for which you can add a back up surveillance camera available at towingless.com. There is 3GB internal storage available to listen to music on a set of connected Bluetooth earphones for runners. The watch registers heart rate, distance, and pace while you listen to good music. With a corresponding app on your smartphone or computer, you can read the data.
Fitbit Charge 2
Price: $148.95
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We preferred to name the Fitbit Blaze on this list, the sports watch from Fitbit. But with a price around 200 dollars, it’s out of the budget. But don’t worry: you can also use the Fitbit Charge 2 around your wrist. Which basically has the same features but has the form factor of a fitness band. You can also read information from it. Minus is that there is no GPS in it, which is good for battery life: which is well with about 5 days. It is waterproof and sends data to your smartphone via a Bluetooth connection, where you can read more detailed statistics.
The good thing about this Fitbit is the continuous heart rate measurement. Also it’s a wearable that you can wear all day. Fitbit also measures your sleep behavior. During exercise, the bracelet can register countless activities and recognizes many activities automatically based on your movement. The Charge 2 records your distance, heart rate, and other measurements. With vibrations, you stay informed of incoming messages and phone calls. Note that there is a difference between the Charge HR (the old model) and Charge 2 (the latest model).
Polar M200
Price: $179.95
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Polar is a well-known name in the field of sports watches. The M200 looks inconspicuous so you can wear this watch during the day. And everything is in it: GPS, heart rate monitor, and Bluetooth. You also get notifications from your smartphone, a personal training via its app, and a battery life of up to one week. Because you can wear this watch all day it is nice that there is a pedometer in it. Polar Flow app works with other sports and fitness apps so you can share data. You can choose from a band in black or red, but there are also loose straps available in different colors.
Garmin Vivosmart HR+
Price: $199.99
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Again, this is not a typical wristwatch with a round dial, but a wearable that looks more like a fitness tracker. There is, fortunately, GPS and it also measures your heart rate. The battery lasts 5 days, and you can dive up to 5 meters. It can put you on the wrong track by the appearance, but the Garmin Vivo Mart HR + does everything you expect in a sports watch. The Vivo Mart HR + works just like the aforementioned Garmin Forerunner 25, with Garmin Connect to share your data with other services. The screen is always on and is easy to read in sunlight. You can read the distance, pace, heart rate and other values on the screen and you will also get notifications from your smartphone. With continuous use of GPS, the watch lasts up to 8 hours.