When you're shopping for a fitness tracker, it's best to focus on the metrics that are actually reliable: step counting, heart rate monitoring, and sleep tracking. Honestly, most other features aren't very dependable, even on high-end gadgets like the Apple Watch.

While it's true that most super-cheap trackers are a waste of money, you can find some excellent budget options that are surprisingly accurate where it counts.

The YouTuber The Quantified Scientist, who does incredibly detailed reviews, ranks the Huawei Band 9 as a top contender in the under $100 category. His 2024 study shows it has fantastic accuracy for heart rate and sleep tracking. In fact, for heart rate monitoring, it’s second only to the Apple Watch, which is a device that costs over $250.

Looking at the competition, the Fitbit Inspire 3 is often praised for its health tracking, but it costs a little over $100 and there isn't a direct comparison from The Quantified Scientist against the Huawei Band 9. Xiaomi’s Smart Band 9 is another direct competitor, but it also hasn't been put through a comprehensive review by him yet. Other budget devices, like the GOQii Stream and Honor Band 6, have been tested by various reviewers but don't seem to consistently beat what the Huawei Band 9 offers.

Drilling down into the specifics, the Huawei Band 9’s heart rate accuracy is powered by its TruSeen 5.5 technology, making it one of the best in its price range. While step tracking gets less attention in reviews, Huawei's is known to be generally reliable. For sleep tracking, the Huawei Band 9 again performs exceptionally well. The Fitbit Inspire 3 might be a close competitor here, but without validation from The Quantified Scientist, it's hard to say for sure.

Ultimately, based on the data we have, the Huawei Band 9 is the clear choice if you want to stay under $100. No other budget tracker seems to outperform it across all three key metrics. Unless you’re willing to spend more, it offers the best value for reliable fitness data.

A couple of important warnings, though. For users in India, Huawei apps are banned from the Play Store, which means you have to "sideload" the app. I recently bought these bands to test them, and getting the Huawei app working is a hassle. You have to disable Google Play Protect and find the correct Huawei Health version on a site like APKMirror, a process that is probably too technical for the average user. Be sure to research this for your device. Similarly, Xiaomi's services are also banned in India, but you can get around it by setting your country to UAE in the app.

You can find the Huawei Band 9 on Amazon and Flipkart. The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is available on some Indian sites like Frupper, but you'll want to do your own research on the seller.