💰 I Tried the World’s Cheapest Smartwatch ($8?!) – Here’s What Happened

Ever wonder if you could stop being lazy and unhealthy without dropping hundreds of dollars? Turns out, you can—even if you’re broke.

Enter the world’s cheapest smartwatch. I paid around $8 for it (you can grab it now for about $20). When I got it, I expected a joke. But what I found actually shocked me.

📦 What’s in the box?

Simple and barebones:

  • The watch itself
  • A USB charger
  • A manual (I think? I didn’t really need it)

Setup was stupidly easy. Faster than some premium watches I’ve tried.

🩹 The Fitbit Killer?

Quick backstory: I used to own a Fitbit. It made my wrist glow red and irritated my skin, then broke way too early. So I assumed this $8 watch would be a disaster. Nope.

This thing is:

  • Way more comfortable than any watch I’ve worn
  • Fully adjustable with a soft, lightweight band
  • Better than even my normal everyday watch
  • No skin irritation at all, even after a week of wearing it daily

🖥 Apple Watch vibes… for $8?!

No, you can’t download apps like on an Apple Watch. But let’s be honest—how many Apple Watch features are you REALLY using anyway?

This is like the stripped-down version of a smartwatch, but it nails the essentials:

  • Tons of default & customizable watch faces (hundreds available via the free app)
  • Display of steps, weather, calories, miles walked, and more—all right on the home screen

Responsiveness

Swipe in any direction, use the side dial, and everything just works. The response speed? Feels like an Apple Watch. I’m serious. ZERO glitches.

🔥 Feature Bomb

This is where it gets crazy. Here’s just a fraction of what this $8-$20 watch can do:
✅ Step tracking
✅ Distance + calorie counting
✅ Heart rate & blood oxygen monitoring
✅ Stress level tracking
✅ Automatic sleep tracker
✅ Alexa integration
✅ Music control
✅ Phone call support
✅ Flashlight
✅ Full phone notifications (texts, Snapchats, etc.)
✅ Reminders, timers, alarms
✅ Weather forecast
✅ Water drinking plan
✅ Weight tracking
✅ Blood sugar management
✅ Menstrual cycle tracking
✅ V2 Max (I don’t even know what that is)
…and more—all for free, inside the app.

For the price? Mind-blowing.

🧪 Does it actually work though?

I put it to the test. Steps? Accurate. Heart rate and stress level? Matched what I was feeling and doing every time. Sleep tracker? Worked like a charm.

Nothing has glitched or miscalculated after a week of daily use.

🔋 Battery Life Test

I charged it ONCE when I first unboxed it. After 7 full days of wearing it off and on? Still at 78%. WHAT?!
That means you can track your sleep AND your daily steps without worrying about charging it at night or halfway through your day.

🏃 Workout Test

Set a 5-minute outdoor run goal → Ran → Came back → Boom, stats displayed instantly. The app even recommended a 7-hour recovery period based on my data (rude but probably true).

The Verdict

I love this watch. It’s simple, comfortable, and wildly overdelivers for the price. I usually don’t stick with smartwatches because they’re overpriced—but this one? No-brainer. It works, it’s dirt cheap, and it doesn’t come with all the bloat that makes expensive watches annoying.

Honestly, even if this thing cost $100+ I’d still be impressed. At around $20? This is a steal.


👉 Want to grab it too? Here’s the link: Cheapest Good SmartWatch

Go do something you love today—and maybe track it with this watch 😉

Thanks for reading!

The Evolution of Smartwatches: From Step Counters to Seamless Companions (2020–2025 and Beyond)

It wasn’t that long ago that smartwatches were mostly glorified pedometers. Clunky, slow, and often tethered to your phone for anything meaningful, early models promised a futuristic lifestyle but felt more like science experiments than essentials. Fast-forward to 2025, and smartwatches have grown into something far more powerful—miniature command centers that sit on your wrist, tracking your health, managing your time, and quietly integrating AI into your everyday life.

Let’s break down how the last few years shaped the current smartwatch landscape—and where it’s heading next.


2020–2022: Polishing the Basics

The early 2020s were about refinement. Most major brands—Apple, Samsung, Garmin, Fitbit, Huawei—weren’t reinventing the wheel, but instead improving:

  • Battery life (from barely a day to 2–7 days depending on the model)
  • Display tech (brighter OLEDs, always-on screens, and more customizable faces)
  • Fitness tracking (with SpO₂, VO₂ max, and ECG monitoring becoming more standard)
  • Sleep and stress tracking (bringing real-time insights to your downtime)

Apple added Blood Oxygen tracking (2020) and ECG in earlier generations, while Samsung was first to experiment with body composition analysis via its Galaxy Watch series.

These years cemented smartwatches as reliable health and fitness trackers, not just notification hubs.


2023–2024: AI, Independence, and Health Deep Dives

These were transformative years. Smartwatches began distancing themselves from the phone—not by replacing it, but by becoming more capable and independent.

Key Developments:

  • Cellular Plans Go Mainstream: With LTE-equipped watches gaining traction, users could call, text, and stream music without needing their phone nearby.
  • AI Features Emerge: Google’s Pixel Watch 2 and Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6 began integrating AI-powered wellness suggestions, including stress management, meditation prompts, and predictive health alerts.
  • Skin Temperature Sensing: Used for better sleep analysis, cycle tracking, and early illness detection.
  • Fall Detection + Crash Detection: Already life-saving in Apple Watches, these features grew more precise and widely available across brands.
  • Third-Party Integrations: Watches became better connected to platforms like Strava, MyFitnessPal, Calm, and even Spotify for offline content.

This era shifted the narrative: a smartwatch wasn’t just convenient—it could be life-enhancing or even life-saving.


2025: Smartwatches Start to Think Ahead

Now in 2025, smartwatches are smarter, sleeker, and more intuitive than ever. They’re not just recording your steps—they’re understanding your patterns, and in some cases, predicting what you’ll need.

Major Trends This Year:

  • AI-Powered Health Forecasting: Watches like Apple Watch Series X and the Pixel Watch 3 now use machine learning models to analyze your long-term data and predict health anomalies (e.g., “You may be getting sick” or “Your sleep pattern suggests a high risk of burnout this week”).
  • Deeper Medical Monitoring: There’s growing experimentation with non-invasive blood glucose tracking, and even blood pressure monitoring via pulse wave technology—though mainstream rollout remains limited for now.
  • Customizable AI Watch Faces: AI-generated faces based on mood, productivity, or goals. Some faces now show summaries like “You’ve been stressed for 3 days—time for a walk?” or “Try sleeping an hour earlier tonight.”
  • Better Battery Tech: New low-power chips allow some models to last 10+ days, while ultra-low-power modes still allow basic tracking when you’re off the grid.
  • Dual-Use Accessories: Several brands now sell smartwatch bands with embedded health tech—such as temperature sensors, hydration monitoring, or UV exposure tracking.

What’s Next: The Future of Smartwatches (2026 and Beyond)

Here’s what’s rumored, already in development, or likely on the near horizon:

  1. Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Monitoring
    Long considered the “holy grail” of smartwatch health features, Apple, Samsung, and others are reportedly racing to bring this to market.
  2. Mental Health Detection
    Using biometric and behavioral signals, future watches may detect depression or anxiety risk with high accuracy—and recommend action or alert a caregiver.
  3. Seamless Biometric Authentication
    Smartwatches could soon unlock doors, wallets, and devices with multi-factor biometric sensing (e.g., heart signature, skin contact, gait analysis).
  4. Haptic & Neuromuscular Feedback
    Instead of just buzzing, watches may begin to use subtle nerve stimulation for notifications or to train posture, focus, or breathing patterns.
  5. Gesture Navigation
    Think Minority Report—flicking fingers or twisting your wrist in mid-air to scroll or interact with your smart home.
  6. Ambient Context Awareness
    Watches may soon sense not just your body, but your environment—lighting, noise, social context—and adjust notifications, music, or reminders accordingly.
  7. Eco-Friendly Materials & Energy Harvesting
    Brands are experimenting with solar-powered bands, biodegradable casings, and kinetic charging to reduce reliance on traditional charging.
  8. Personal AI Assistant on Your Wrist
    Not just voice control, but a real-time contextual assistant that remembers your preferences, suggests routines, and learns from every interaction—faster and more private than your phone’s cloud-based AI.

In 2025, your smartwatch isn’t just smart—it’s attentive. And what’s coming next could make it your most trusted digital companion, not just a screen for notifications or heart rates.

The journey from clunky gadget to wrist-based wellness coach has been fast—and it’s only getting faster.

If you’re looking for a good first smartwatch to try, this smartwatch is an amazing first option try! It’s affordable but still has all the great key features.

If you’re looking for something with all the newest features, however, this smartwatch might be what you’re looking for.

What’s next for future smartwatches? Is there a trend I missed? Feel free to comment your thoughts below. Any links are affiliate and support me at no extra cost to you. I hope to see you again on the blog next time.