I reviewed this $49 fitness tracker almost a year ago, and I'm still wearing it today — here's why

Tom's Guide

6 hours ago

I love my Amazfit Band 7. Fitness tracker or smart watch, I don't mind what you call it. But the Band 7 is my favorite of the bunch — and not because it has an epically long battery life.
Most of the best fitness trackers are pretty complex, with loads of smart features I know I'm never going to use. So, for me, the Band 7 is the perfect watch. It never lets me down, whether that's with sleep tracking or workout tracking.
There's a reason the Amazfit Band 7 is our best cheap fitness tracker under $50. Because, well, it is.
Some people need watches with orienteering OS maps or things like body temperature monitors. That's not to say I'd turn down a watch with those things, but for me? I don't need it.
All I need is sleep tracking, activity tracking, step tracking, and some nice extras like the weather forecast and find my phone tools. And that's what the Band 7 can do.
Not only is the Band 7 one of the cheapest fitness trackers I've ever seen, it's also the one I like the best. It's simple, it works, and it never kicks up a fuss. There's a reason I'm still wearing this fitness tracker a year later.
You might not think that a $49 non-Apple fitness tracker could do the whole "Find my iPhone" song-and-dance, but the Amazfit Band 7 can. I only discovered this recently, when I'd misplaced my phone somewhere in my apartment. I could easily have opened Find My on my MacBook, but I suddenly saw something on my watch: a "Find device" button.
I clicked it, and lo-and-behold, my phone started buzzing from across the room. So I was reunited with my phone without having to log in to my laptop. This is a major plus in my mind.
While, no, its sole purpose is not to be a phone magnet, it was a nice surprise considering how simple this fitness tracker is. It also tracks my sleep nicely, counts my steps accurately enough and tracks my exercise. Here's a screenshot from the Zepp companion app.
There's a lovely range of features in the app. But do not be fooled! You don't need the "Zepp Premium" subscription. I have not paid a penny extra and I'm more than happy with my watch's performance. Just use the fitness tracker at face-value (read: cheap) and you'll not be disappointed.
As I mentioned earlier, I mostly use this for step tracking, sleep tracking, and exercise tracking. I don't think the GPS is massively effective, so I don't use it for distance tracking. My phone suits me fine there.
Starting a workout is easy: simply tap the screen and select a workout from the mountain of options. The watch will even remember your most common workouts and put them at the top for the list for future reference. My watch now reads "Yoga" first, which is my most-used mode anyway.
I use "Indoor fitness" for my weightlifting workouts, and obviously "Outdoor running" and "Outdoor cycling" for the respective activities. There's even workouts like dancing for when you're living it up at a festival and want to get your steps in.
And the best part? Like, really? Its battery life is so long, I can't remember the last time I charged it. Maybe in early May? And I wear this thing like 80% of the time. I'm in awe of it, honestly. Where does that battery hide?
This is probably the most important reason. Because the Amazfit Band 7 is so cheap, I don't feel any stress of anxiety when I wear it. Usually when I go outside wearing expensive tech, I'm on edge all day, worried someone will pinch $500 worth of tech off my wrist.
But not the Band 7 — because it's literally $49.
Although it's pretty basic, the Band 7 is everything I want in a smart watch. It tracks my steps, sleep, and workouts without kicking up a fuss. It has the best long battery life. And it's still on my wrist, ~45 weeks later.