I have recently tested budget smart watches to find the best smart watches under £100. I used the watches for couple of week to a month to test their features, user interface, accuracy and more.
Smart watches under £100 in UK – The winner!
If you are looking for a smart watch which offers premium features and costs less than a hundred pounds, then the top choice is Amazfit BIP 5. If offers bright AMOLED display, long battery life, built-in GPS, Bluetooth calling and many others features.
Amazfit Bip 5
Buy Amazfit Bip 5 if you are looking for:
- Large and bright AMOLED display
- Bluetooth calling
- Built-in GPS
- Basic health tracking features
Do NOT buy Amazfit Bip 5 if :
- You have small wrist size
- Looking for advanced health tracking with blood pressure monitoring
- Want to make NFC payments with a smart watch
- Want to use a smart watch independently of a smart phone at times
Amazfit BIP 5 offers many reliable features at a low price. The watch has large 1.91″ AMOLED display with curved glass. The watch is very light weight and I hardly felt it when I was wearing it. It only weights 26 grams. The watch body is made of durable plastic, with removable rubber straps. Amazfit Bip 5 comes with built-in GPS which is quite handy as it does not rely on phones GPS for route tracking. The watch supports tracking for over 120 sport modes. It also offers Bluetooth calling and the call quality is quite good. It is compatible with Android and IOS, and connects via Zepp app. I found the user interface very smooth and responsive.
When it comes to health tracking, the Amazfit BIP 5 shines here as well. It offers 24-hour heart rate monitoring, SpO2 tracking, sleep tracking and stress levels monitoring.
Unlike the Xiaomi Redmi watch series which do not support installing of additional app – the Amazfit BIP 5 do support mini-app including games like tic-tac-toe. However, it lacks NFC and do not support direct payments using the watch. It also does not have auto brightness feature.
Xiaomi Redmi Watch 4
Buy it if you are looking for:
- Bluetooth calling
- Built-in GPS
- Premium looking watch at low cost
- Health Tracking
- Large and sharp AMOLED display
Buy at Amazon: Redmi Watch 4
Do not buy if you are looking for:
- NFC payments
- Built-in Wifi
- Advanced health tracking
- Have small wrist size
The next on the list of smart watches which cost less than £100 is, Redmi watch 4. This watch offers large AMOLED display with always on display and auto brightness options. It also offers Bluetooth calling and built in GPS along with other features. The interface is very similar to Redmi watch 5 active and Redmi watch 5 lite. The Redmi watch 4 costs a little more compared to these two watches but offers a more premium look. Unlike Redmi watch 5 active and lite where the watch body is make of plastic with metal coating, the Redmi watch 4’s body is made of aluminum, providing it more sturdy look. The screen offers up to 600 nits brightness with 60hz refresh rate. It also has stainless steel rotating crown instead of a button on the side. The watch straps are replaceable with quick release button.
Redmi watch 4 offers similar health tracking features including heart rate monitoring, stress monitoring, sleep tracking and blood oxygen saturation monitoring. I found the heart rate monitoring feature quite accurate when compared with Apple watch. I also found the sleep tracking feature quite useful. It fairly accurately tracked the numbers of hours of sleep I had. This features tacks amount of deep sleep, light sleep and REM sleep.
The watch connects to phone via Mi Fitness app. The connection process if fairly straight forward. I was able to set up and connect the watch with my iPhone in no time. I didn’t expect any connectivity issues, apart from couple of times when I turned the Bluetooth off on my phone.
The watch comes with Built-in GPS for route tracking, so it does not rely on your smart phones GPS for tracking and supports over 150 workout types. It also offers 200+ smart faces which you can load to the watch via Mi Fitness app. The Redmi watch 4 has 5ATM water resistant.
Redmi watch 4 also has built-in mic and speaker to make and receive phone calls. I found the call quality to be pretty impressive. The voice was very clear even when my phone was 8-10 meters away from my watch. Only downside is that it does not offers NFC payments option and there is no ability to add third party app the the watch.
Redmi watch also comes as Redmi watch 5 active version which is cheaper alternative for Redmi watch 4. Additionally, Redmi has also released Redmi watch 5 lite version which is premium looking and offers AMOLED display, which is not offered on Redmi watch 5 active version. Even though all three watches run on Xiaomi’s HyperOS and user interface is similar in all three watches, the Redmi watch 4 is the winner of these three due to premium look, metal watch body and higher screen resolution.
Buy at Amazon: Redmi Watch 4
CMF Pro 2 Watch
Buy CMF Pro 2 watch if you are looking for:
- Always on display option
- Bright AMOLED display with auto-brightness
- Built-in GPS
- Bluetooth calling with AI noise reduction
- Have small wrist size
Buy at Amazon: CMF Watch Pro 2
Do NOT buy CMF Pro 2 watch if you are looking for:
- Auto tracking for exercise
- Built-in wifi or NFS
Next on the list of budgets smart watches under £100, we have CMF watch Pro 2. This quality budget smart watch is packed with features. It has premium looking round watch body made up of aluminum alloy making it light weight and durable. The rubber straps can be easily removed and replaced. The watch felt lightweight, comfortable and didn’t leave any marks on my wrist. The AMOLED screen is bright, sharp and very responsive. It also features auto-brightness option which is quite handy when on a walk or jog outdoors, especially on sunny days. The brightness automatically adjusts depending on lighting conditions.
When it comes to health tracking, CMF Pro 2 also offers 24 hour heart rate monitoring, oxygen levels monitoring, stress tracking, and sleep tracking. The heart rate tracking is quite accurate when compared with Samsung Galaxy watch 5 and pulse oximeter.
The watch can tracking up to 100 different workouts and offers auto tracking for some of the exercises such as walking, running and cycling. The auto tracking feature is a bit laggy so I recommend to manually start the tracking every time you start an exercise.
The batter life depends on how much you are using the watch and which features you are using the most. On moderate use with 24 hours heart rate monitoring and regular exercise tracking the battery will last for 4-6 days.
Buy at Amazon: CMF Watch Pro 2
You can read the full review of CMF Pro 2 watch here!
How I tested the smart watches?
I have used each watch for at least a week to a month to check how good the smart watch works. When testing the smart watches specifically assessed:
- the user interface to see how smooth & responsive it is
- battery life to assess weather it reflects what manufactures claim it to be
- accuracy of activity tracking and health monitoring
- design and comfort
- features offered by the smart watch
- ease of use and connection with a smart phone
In addition, to the list above, I also looked at its compatibility with different smart phones, features available in the smart phone app, weather the watch has built in GPS and calling features etc
If you are looking for best smart watches under £50 available to buy in UK, read the article here.
