You’ve all heard the phrase – if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Nowhere is this more pertinent than during the Black Friday deals you often see on smartwatches and fitness trackers on Amazon.
A quick glance at the site will yield some brilliant smartwatch savings, including some great Apple Watch Black Friday deals, Garmin Black Friday deals, and more. Yet if you accidentally stumble into the wrong part of Amazon, you might find yourself overwhelmed by incredibly cheap, stylish-looking fitness trackers that seem to offer everything an Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy might for a fraction of the price.
Amazon (and it really is only Amazon) is absolutely littered with knock-off crap that has no business on your wrist. Weird-sounding brands like Tozo, Gydom, Bangwei, Iowdo, GEAK, FTWIN promise the earth in fitness tracking, blood oxygen monitoring, sleep tracking, sports coverage, and beyond. In reality, it’s all a sham.
(Image credit: Future)
Many of these watches even have insane product title names that use a practice called “keyword stuffing” to try and get the products to surface when you search for a particular thing on Amazon. Instead of calling a Watch the “Timepiece fitness watch” for example, you call it (and this is a real example) the “Smart Watch for Men Women (Answer/Make Call), 2.0″Smartwatch Fitness Tracker with 100+ Sport Modes, Heart Rate/Sleep Monitor, Pedometer, SpO2, IP67 Waterproof, Activity Tracker for Android iOS Phones.” Snappy.
There’s a laundry list of reasons why you shouldn’t buy one of these watches, questions around accuracy, data privacy, build quality, customer support, compatibility, longevity, and more abound. We should know, we’ve actually tried them out.
Testing cheap smartwatches so you don’t have to
(Image credit: Matt Evans)
There are several problems with these devices. Firstly, they’re just not as good as the best fitness trackers and best smartwatches from mainstays like Google, Apple, Samsung, and more. Cheap smartwatches often cut corners, using sub-par sensors and algorithms, and that can mean inaccurate data points.
I personally tested one of these cheap smartwatches against an expensive Garmin Epix Pro, and while the smartwatch was surprisingly rich in features, I found huge differences in heart rate, running pace, distance traveled during a run, and sleep tracking.
While it did lots of things, it didn’t do any of them particularly well. I quickly came to the conclusion the smartwatch was simply too cheaply priced to invest in high-quality sensors or decent health-tracking algorithms, leading to frequent inaccuracies.
While any gadget that doesn’t operate as described ought not to be really worth your time, it’s especially dangerous when it comes to health and fitness devices: when you’re basing decisions about your personal well-being on inaccurate data. Your bad watch might trick you into believing you burned more calories than you really did, or flag up heart rate issues that don’t actually exist.
(Image credit: Matt Evans)
Another issue is around health data privacy. While companies like Apple, Samsung, and Google have easily accessible privacy policies and some guarantee of data encryption (even if Fitbit and Google’s privacy issues could use some work), giving your data over to cheap, no-name branded smartwatches means allowing an unknown company to have unfettered access to your personal health, sleep, and wellness data, your contacts, messages and more.
Even if your budget is on the smaller side, it’s better to get a device from a tried-and-trusted brand. We can recommend the Fitbit Luxe, Fitbit Inspire 2, or Garmin Forerunner 55.
So where should you look this Black Friday? Here are a few good cheap smartwatches and fitness trackers that you should actually consider if you want to save a bit of money and improve your overall health and fitness.
US deals
This Xiaomi Smart Band is a reputable, cheap fitness tracker with reliable health metrics, decent built quality, and great comfort and fit. Xiaomi has consistenly landed a spot on our top cheap fitness trackers list and the new Band 9 is its best one yet. View Deal
Fitbit Inspire 2: was $79.95 Now $61.00 at Amazon
If you’re just after a cheap way to nudge yourself healthier by counting your steps, tracking your sleep and the calories you expend on a day-to-day basis, the Fitbit Charge 5 even comes with a whole year of Premium – still the only Fitbit tracker that offers this, and it’s worth the price of admission alone. View Deal
UK deals
A steal at £38, the Huawei Band 9 boasts sleep tracking, heart rate monitoring, and exercise support at a super-low price. It’s got a great AMOLED display for the price and works with both iOS and Android. View Deal
Still our top pick for the best cheap fitness tracker, for less than £60 you can get the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro with its great battery life, AMOLED display, and training for over 150 different modes. View Deal
More of today’s Black Friday sales in the UK
Amazon: up to 68% off toothbrushes and TVsAO: savings on games consoles and appliancesArgos: up to 50% off toys, Lego, TVs and giftsBoots: up to 50% off Dyson, Oral-B and PhilipsCurrys: early deals on TVs, appliances, laptopsDell: laptops, desktops, monitors from £299Dyson: up to £150 offEbay: up to 50% off refurbished techEE: up to £600 off Samsung and AppleJohn Lewis: up to £300 off appliances and TVsLG: £1,000 or more off TVs and appliancesSamsung: up to £600 off TVs, phones and tabletsVery: up to 30% off phones, appliances & clothing
More of today’s Black Friday sales in the US
Amazon: TVs, smart home & air fryers from $12.99Apple: AirPods, iPads, MacBooks from $89.99Best Buy: $1,000 off 4K TVs, laptops & headphonesCheap TVs: smart TVs at Best Buy from $69.99Christmas trees: top-rated trees from $54.99Dell: best-selling Inspiron & XPS laptops from $279.99Dreamcloud: mattress deals from $349 + free shippingHoliday: decor, lights, Christmas trees & PJs from $10.99Home Depot: 40% off tools, appliances & furnitureLowe’s: holiday decor, appliances & tools from $17.31Nectar: up to 50% off all mattressesNordstrom: 46% off boots, coats, jeans & jewelrySamsung: $1,500+ off TVs, phones, watches & appliancesTarget: save on furniture, tech & clothingWalmart: cheap TVs, robot vacs, furniture & appliances
