Amazfit Helio Ring: One-minute review

The Amazfit Helio Ring is the first smart ring from Chinese tech company Amazfit, best known for its budget-friendly fitness trackers, like the Amazfit Active 2 and its new open-ear earbuds, the Amazfit Up. Staying true to its brand, the Helio Ring undercuts the competition on price, offering a more affordable alternative to rivals like Oura with no added subscription fee.

The design is sleek and minimalist, with a titanium outer shell, and the ring is very comfortable to wear all day and night – possibly the most comfortable smart ring I’ve tested. The downside? It comes in just one finish and only three size options at the time of writing, which significantly limits your choice compared to competitors.

Functionally, the Helio Ring is built for sleep and wellness tracking. It offers in-depth sleep insights, heart rate monitoring, and energy tracking. There’s no auto-detection for workouts and there are only four workout modes to pick from. But, if one of those is your exercise of choice, you do get comprehensive data after each workout – and heart rate tracking as you exercise is accurate, too.

Having said that, if you’re looking for a fully-fledged fitness tracker, this isn’t it. Most smart rings out there can’t compete with fitness watches in those stakes – but that’s never been the point of them. Amazfit does say that the ring would work very well if you pair it with one of its smartwatches, and this will be too much hassle and expense for some, but if you’re already in the Amazfit ecosystem, it’ll make a lot of sense.

Overall, the Amazfit Helio Ring is a solid choice for sleep tracking and general wellness monitoring. While it lacks some of the refinement of its more premium rivals, especially in terms of battery life and app experience, it’s a welcome new option in the smart ring space. It'll especially appeal to those already in the Amazfit ecosystem – or anyone looking for a more affordable yet equally capable alternative to some of the best smart rings on the market.

Amazfit Helio Ring review: Price and availability

• Launch price of $299.99 / £269 / AU$399
• Official price now of $199.99 / £169 / AU$269
• No subscription required

The Amazfit Helio Ring originally retailed at $299.99 / £269 / AU$399 in 2024. But now you’ll find it for $199.99 / £169 / AU$269 on the Amazfit website and some regions also stock it on Amazon. For example, you’ll find it on Amazon in the UK right now for a slightly cheaper £149.

How does that stack up against the competition? The Oura Ring 4 starts at $349 / £349 for some designs and colors, but others cost much more. For example, the rose gold version is $499 / £499. Not only is the latest Oura Ring significantly more expensive than the Helio Ring, you’ll also need an Oura Ring Membership to unlock its potential, which is $5.99 / £5.99 a month.

For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Ring is our top smart ring pick at the moment and that currently costs the most at $399 / £399 / AU$749, but that doesn’t need an additional subscription.

When the Amazfit Helio Ring first launched, some features required an additional payment. Fortunately, Amazfit appears to have removed that model, making the device even more appealing. With no subscription fees, it stands out from Oura.

Whether the Amazfit Helio Ring offers good value depends entirely on what you need from a wearable. At a lower price point than the Oura Ring, and with no must-buy subscription, it’s a solid choice for those focused on sleep and recovery tracking.

If sleep tracking is your top priority, the Helio Ring offers strong value. However, if you’re looking for comprehensive workout tracking, a smartwatch or fitness tracker is likely a better buy. Smart rings, this one included, aren’t designed to replace a sports watch, and the Helio Ring’s limited workout modes prove that. But for those seeking a sleek, comfortable sleep and wellness tracker at a lower cost than the best in the game, it’s a strong contender.

• Value score: 4/5

Amazfit Helio Ring review: Specifications

Amazfit Helio Ring review: Design

• My favorite smart ring in terms of design
• Only three sizes
• Only one finish (but I love it)

The Amazfit Helio Ring is one of my favorite smart rings in terms of design. It’s sleek, lightweight, and comfortable. It has a titanium alloy exterior, giving it a more high-end feel than its price suggests. While the inner side (where the sensors sit) is plastic and comfortable. It’s impressively slim at just 2.6mm and light at 3.65g. This is very similar to the Oura Ring, which is 2.88mm thick and weighs from 3.3g to 5.2g depending on the size. In short, there’s not much in it, so don’t assume affordability means bulkier or heavier.

However, where it does fall short is the Helio Ring comes in only one finish, a brushed silver with tiny dots on the front, which I personally love. The popular matte black options from other brands tend to scratch easily, and gold versions can be too flashy and shiny for me to wear everyday. Of course, this is all down to personal preference, and if you want something that looks different, Oura and Samsung offer more color choices.

Fit-wise, there are just three sizes available (8, 10, and 12), which is far more limited than other smart rings that offer a wider range of sizes. Oura offers 12 different sizes. If one of these fits you, great – but if not, you’re out of luck.

Another big plus is durability. Some smart rings I’ve tested got scuffs within hours, especially those with matte finishes, but the Helio Ring has held up well with only minor scratches after several weeks.

The Amazfit Helio Ring is rated at 10 ATM water resistance, meaning it can handle surface swimming and snorkeling, but not scuba diving. In practical terms, it’s safe for most daily water exposure, including showers, workouts, and casual swims.

A small vertical line on the exterior of the ring marks the sensor placement, which should face the inside of your finger for the best tracking. Unlike some other smart rings, Amazfit makes this clear, which is a nice usability touch.

This is one of the best-designed smart rings I’ve tested. It’s slim and lightweight, subtly stylish, and surprisingly scratch-resistant. The limited sizes and finishes might be a drawback for some, but if the fit works for you, it's a great-looking, comfortable option.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Amazfit Helio Ring review: Features

• Excels at sleep and general wellbeing tracking
• Limited workout tracking
• App is simple but works well

For a more affordable smart ring, the Amazfit Helio Ring packs in plenty of features. Sleep tracking is where this ring shines. You get everything you’d expect, sleep stages, duration, and detailed metrics presented in easy-to-read charts.

But it also monitors breathing, skin temperature, heart rate variability, and resting heart rate while you sleep. All this data is used to generate a morning readiness score, telling you how well you’ve recovered, how much energy you have, and what kind of activity you’re primed for.

There’s also an EDA sensor (electrodermal activity), which, combined with heart rate data, aims to track stress and emotional responses throughout the day.

Unlike fitness watches, smart rings aren’t designed for workouts, and the Helio Ring is no exception. It only offers four workout modes, which is a bit disappointing. But if you mostly run or walk, you’ll still get solid data like workout time, speed, heart rate, VO2 max, calories burned, and GPS-tracked routes.

Amazfit suggests pairing the ring with an Amazfit smartwatch – the idea being that the watch handles workouts, while the ring tracks sleep and recovery. Both sync seamlessly in the Zepp app, making it a well-rounded system if you’re in the Amazfit ecosystem.

There are a couple of other features here worth mentioning, like PAI (Personal Activity Intelligence). This is your unique cardiovascular fitness score based on heart rate and daily activity. At first, it felt like just another number, but PAI actually provides a useful gauge of overall fitness. As someone shifting from a weightlifting and yoga focus to more cardio, I found it surprisingly helpful.

You can also track your menstrual cycle from within the Zepp app, which works similarly to period apps like Flo or Clue, predicting cycles and sending reminders. I didn’t test this, but it’s a solid addition if you want all of your health and fitness data in one place.

With all this data, a good app is crucial. The Zepp app has improved recently and while it’s not as sleek as Oura’s, it’s clean, intuitive, and lets you find key insights quickly. Personally, I prefer a simple interface over something overly designed anyway.

At launch, some features within the app required a Zepp Aura subscription, this is Amazfit’s extra sleep and recovery assistant, this included deeper sleep insights, relaxation tracking, and personalized sleep music. But they’re now all free to Helio Ring users.

• Features score: 4 / 5

Amazfit Helio Ring review: Performance

• Solid at sleep tracking
• Really comfortable to wear
• Won’t replace your fitness tracker

Amazfit claims the Helio Ring lasts up to four days, but in real-world use, I got closer to three-and-a-half days with all health tracking features turned on. That’s noticeably less than the six days you’ll get from the Oura Ring and the seven days from the Samsung Galaxy Ring. Charging is quick, taking about an hour and a half via a USB-C wireless charging plinth.

In terms of comfort, this is one of the most wearable smart rings I’ve tested. The lightweight, slim design makes it easy to forget you’re even wearing it. The size 8 fit perfectly on my index finger, making it feel seamless throughout the day and night. However, with only three sizes available (8, 10, and 12), finding the right fit might be tricky for some. Hopefully, future versions will offer more size options.

Sleep tracking is where the Helio Ring really stands out. It provides a detailed breakdown of sleep stages alongside heart rate and breathing monitoring. The data syncs quickly to the Zepp app, where you can view trends and graphs over time. Compared to other wearables, the sleep tracking felt mostly accurate, though it occasionally overestimated my sleep by a few minutes. One feature I particularly liked was nap tracking, which tends to be hit-or-miss with other devices, but as long as I napped for more than 20 minutes the Helio Ring picked it up accurately.

One of its standout features is how sleep data influences readiness, exertion, and recovery scores, giving you real insights into how well your body has recovered overnight. You can even toggle off certain metrics, like hypopnea (airway obstruction) detection for sleep apnea risk if they’re not relevant to you, which helps conserve battery life.

For me, the recovery tracking was especially useful. Not just physically as I recover from a back injury, but also mentally, after dealing with seasonal depression earlier in the year. If you’re in a similar situation – trying to rebuild fitness or improve sleep – this kind of data can be genuinely helpful. On the other hand, if you’re already in peak shape, I’m not sure these insights would add much value.

When it comes to workout tracking, there are some limitations. Unlike smartwatches or fitness trackers, it doesn’t auto-detect workouts and only supports manual tracking for running, walking, cycling, and treadmill sessions. This was frustrating, as my fitness routine includes a lot of yoga and strength training, neither of which are supported. However, for the workouts it does track, the data is solid. When I took the Helio Ring for a run, I could see everything I needed in the Zepp app, including workout time, average speed, heart rate, VO2 max, calories burned, and GPS-tracked routes.

So while it’s not a dedicated fitness tracker, it does a decent job for running and walking. For more complete sports tracking, pairing it with an Amazfit smartwatch is the best way to get a broader picture of both fitness and recovery.

• Performance: 4 / 5

Scorecard

Should I buy the Amazfit Helio Ring?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Amazfit Up: Also consider

How I tested the Amazfit Helio Ring

• Worn 24/7
• Tested for several weeks
• Lots of expertise testing smart rings to compare

I tested the Amazfit Helio Ring for three weeks, pairing it with an iPhone 14 Pro. Aside from taking it off for charging and showers (it’s waterproof, but I was cautious about soap and shampoo), I wore it 24/7 – through outdoor runs, gym sessions, long workdays in coffee shops, evenings at home, and, of course, while sleeping. It’s been put through its paces in a wide range of real-world environments.

As someone who has reviewed numerous wearables over the years, I’ve tested a variety of smart rings – including models from Ultrahuman, Motiv, Ringconn, Evie, multiple generations of the Oura Ring, and more. The smart ring market is only just breaking into the mainstream, but having worn so many, I have a solid sense of what to expect, how they should feel, and what makes a great user experience.

• First reviewed in March 2025

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Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro: One-minute review

Chinese tech company Xiaomi is almost single-handedly keeping the cheap fitness tracker market alive, and the new Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro is its new entry for people who want to monitor their health on the cheap, but want a nice big screen at the same time.

This health gadget is a follow-up to the Xiaomi Smart Band 9, released in mid-2024, and for all intents and purposes, it’s a very similar fitness tracker – too similar, for reasons we’ll get to. It has the same software, is largely as accurate for measuring your health, and connects to your phone in the exact same way.

Its key selling point is that, unlike its non-Pro predecessor, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 has a big display. This won me over more than I thought it would – it doesn’t feel much more of a burden on the wrist yet is much easier to press while you’re sprinting down a park path or balancing on a parked bike. I also see it being much more convenient from an accessibility viewpoint, so if fiddly fitness tracker screens put you off, this is the Smart Band to buy.

However with great screens come great price tags and the Smart Band 9 Pro pushes the price up a lot more than its older sibling – it’s not reaching the price point of Garmin’s cheapest options or second-hand Fitbits, but if you’re on the market for something really affordable, its price might give you reason to pause.

Size and cost upgrades aside, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro ostensibly has some improvements to sleep, blood oxygen, and heart rate monitoring – it didn’t feel that different to me. But I was disappointed in how lots of my issues with the previous band weren’t fixed, namely regarding buggy software.

My experience of using the Smart Band 9 Pro was punctuated by notifications waking me up in the early hours, alerts being hidden by other alerts, and the watch maintaining a very lackadaisical approach in waking when I raised it up. These are all issues I reported in my review of the first band, and they’re back here.

As a tech fan, I wasn’t impressed by how similar the Smart Band 9 Pro is to the Band 9, but the perk of its limited number of upgrades is that it functions just as well as that stellar fitness tracker did. Its activity tracking modes aren’t in-depth but they are handy for workout fans and I found the watch very accurate and useful for tracking distance and heart rate on runs.

When it’s working bug-free, the Band 9 Pro is also a useful lifestyle companion with music control, timers, and notification handling, all features that came in handy during testing.

So the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro is definitely an upgrade over the Band 9 you should consider if the price doesn’t put you off, but you really should ask yourself if you need the bigger display.

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro: Specifications

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro: Price and availability

• Unveiled in October 2024
• Goes for £62.99 / AU$99.99 (roughly $75)
• Matches Smart Band 8 Pro

Xiaomi announced the Smart Band 9 Pro as well as the Active model in late October 2024, initially for its Chinese market, but it slowly released it globally in the following months.

You can pick up the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro for £62.99 / AU$99.99 (roughly $75). That’s a fairly significant price hike, in the UK at least, over the $60 / £24.99 / AU$79.99 ‘standard’ Band 9, though it matches its predecessor the Smart Band 8 Pro.

The price cements the Band 9 Pro as the premium member of its tripartite, with the Band 9 Active coming in at £19.99 / AU$44.99 (roughly $25). The price puts the tracker equal to, or above, some of the best cheap fitness trackers in terms of cost, and I don’t quite feel that the feature set has seen an increase in step with the price hike.

In a few regions, Xiaomi sells extra straps for the Band 9 Pro, and it sent TechRadar one of these alongside the fitness track for testing. However, at the time of writing, these aren’t for sale in the UK.

• Value score: 4/5

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro: Design

• Bigger body than rivals, but not much
• Large 1.74-inch AMOLED screen
• Screen space is really useful

Its suffix is ‘Pro’ but that could well be ‘Gro’ because the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro is, in effect, a bigger version of the non-Pro model in terms of design. That is to say, it’s a standard fitness tracker that’s been scaled up a notch.

The band that comes in the box is made of TPU, and I found it pretty fiddly to clasp but comfortable when worn. It supports a pretty large variance in wrist size, which isn’t something you can say about all fitness trackers. It has an easy-release mechanism so to remove or replace the bands, you simply press a small button on the Smart Band’s body, and I found this easy to do.

You can pick up the band in three color options: black, silver (with a white strap), and rose gold (with a pink strap). As you can see in the images, I used the latter.

The body itself measures 43.3 x 32.5 x 10.8mm, not including the band, and weighs 24.5g. That makes it a little chunkier and portlier than many svelte fitness trackers on the market but its weight wasn’t noticeable on the wrist. In fact, I found it just as comfortable as any other tracker I’ve used.

Next, we come to the screen, the biggest change over the ‘standard’ Band 9 (literally). It measures 1.74 inches diagonally, and like the body, it’s wider and shorter than its sibling. Its resolution is 336 x 480 and the max brightness is 1200 nits, though unlike on the Band 9 I found the automatic brightness wasn’t always that quick. I sometimes struggled to see what I was looking at on my band when outdoors until it had taken a few seconds to adjust the brightness.

This extra screen space will be fantastic for people who don’t get on with the teenie icons of most fitness trackers and smartwatches, and it was especially useful when running so I could easily press a button without needing too much precision.

In terms of protection, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro has 5ATM water resistance: it can survive at depths of up to 50 meters for 10 minutes. Xiaomi advises you not to take it in heated water, though, like a sauna or in the shower.

• Design score: 4/5

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro: Performance

• Uses phone's GPS but has heart rate and other trackers
• Over 150 fitness tracking modes
• 21-day battery life

In the ‘specs’ section above, I quoted Xiaomi’s estimate for the Smart Band 9 Pro’s battery life of 21 days. However in my testing, I found that the band far exceeded this – it lost a third of its charge in eight days, which included multiple runs (including a three-hour one), several weights training sessions, and sleep tracking on most of the nights. That would put the battery life at closer to 24 days although your mileage will vary.

A 14-day battery life is pretty standard for fitness trackers but 24 days is stellar, so I don’t imagine that the band will let you down. Charging is done with a proprietary charger that plugs into any USB port.

The range of workouts is the same as on the standard band, so there are over 150 fitness tracking modes. Most of these are pretty barebones: they monitor time, your heart rate, and a rough count of the calories burned, so whichever of them you select from the watch largely just dictates how it shows up in your app workout log.

A few of them have more information though, with some like running and cycling using GPS. This isn’t standard GPS but connected GPS, which means the band uses the GPS from your paired smartphone – you can’t go on workouts without your mobile by your side.

This is therefore as accurate as your smartphone, but that’s nothing to turn your nose up at – I ran a distance that was measured to be 5K, and the watch told me I ran 5.05km, which is a 1% error margin.

Sleep tracking is present, and it’s not as in-depth as on a fancy smartwatch: you find out how long you slept, how it’s broken down into deep and light sleep and wake-ups, and what your average heart rate was. According to Xiaomi, the sleep tracking has seen an upgrade in the Band 9 Pro.

Other metrics that are tracked – to dubious levels of reliability – are your stress, energy level, and ‘vitality score’ or cumulative exercise over the last week. The watch also tracks blood rate oxygen and heart rate and these are, according to Xiaomi, also improved over the original band.

• Performance score: 3.5/5

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro: Features

• Mi Fitness app used on phone
• Music playback, notification handling and more
• Some bugs with app and watch

I found the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro quite buggy, which isn’t something that I’m too surprised about given other fitness trackers from the maker that I’ve tested, but it was more pronounced here as some examples disrupted my experience.

Both my most prominent examples come from the band’s otherwise effective notification handling. Sometimes notifications would appear at the same time as, and therefore override more important information; the Pro was very confused when an interval pop-up was immediately succeeded by a message notification, meaning I couldn’t see how many kilometers I’d just hit. And the more annoying one is that, even with do not disturb enabled, notifications would buzz on my wrist in the middle of the night – I was woken multiple times, once at 1 am, by notifications appearing on my wrist.

This latter one is something I experienced with the Band 9, as is another lesser issue: raise-to-wake is unreliable, and sometimes you can lift up your wrist and be met by a black screen.

I shouldn’t compare those two fitness trackers too much, though, because the overall experience of using the Band 9 Pro is great thanks to the larger display. A lot more information can be shown at once using its various widgets: you can see the weather for the next few days, your heart rate on a graph, and a music player to let you pause or skip songs. Buttons overall are naturally a lot bigger, which is a great accessibility win.

Well, most buttons are great, but the exception is in the app drawer which you open by swiping up from the bottom. This is a grid of 26 buttons for different features, and none of them are labeled, so you have to guess which does what. Many of them are identical: two are icons of running people, in different colors, and it’s a real trial-and-error experience. Luckily most of the features that I found myself using can be accessed in other ways, namely by swiping through the home page widgets.

More features come from the tie-in Mi Fitness app, which you download on your phone. It lets you see your fitness and health details in much more detail as well as change your watch face from a huge range of options (including custom photos), see historical data, and set up various features.

• Performance score: 3.5/5

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro: Scorecard

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro: Should I buy?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

RingConn smart ring: One minute review

The smart ring market is becoming crowded, and as more companies bring out devices to compete with the current best smart rings, we’ve noticed a drop in price. But there are issues with cheap smart rings, including poor quality and secretive manufacturing practices – which is the reason I’ve been somewhat wary about any new smart rings entering the race, including the RingConn Smart Ring. 

However, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by this model. While you couldn’t exactly class it as “cheap”, it comes in at significantly less than rivals. The big question is: how does it compare to the best smart ring out right now, the Oura (Gen 3)?

Well, having spent some time with it, the RingConn Smart Ring isn’t going to knock the Oura off the top spot; its design isn’t as refined and the app isn’t as fun to use. But it’s not far off. The RingConn Smart Ring is good value, offering a comfortable design, minimal scratching, solid data collection and an app that can be busy and slow to sync, but which ultimately gets the job done. 

So although RingConn’s smart ring isn’t the best smart ring I’ve reviewed, it certainly isn’t another device to add to the growing pile of disappointing and low-quality smart rings. It’s also refreshing to find a solid alternative to the Oura (Gen 3) and Ultrahuman Ring Air. 

RingConn smart ring: Specifications

RingConn smart ring: Price and availability

• No subscription model
• Costs $279 (which works out at about £219 and AU$418)

The RingConn Smart Ring usually costs $279 (about £219 and AU$418). However, it can often be found discounted on the official RingConn website. At the time of writing, it’s available for $259. 

At this price, it’s one of the cheapest smart rings on the market – especially among the models I’ve tested. Sure, you can find lower-quality smart rings at even better prices, but I wouldn’t be confident recommending them.

For comparison, the Ultrahuman Ring Air costs $349 / £280 / about AU$537 and the Circular Ring Slim comes in at $264 (about £209 / AU$405). The Oura (Gen 3) commands a $299 (about £230 / AU$420) price, but you’ll also pay a subscription price thereafter, which is $5.99 (about £4.50 / AU$8) per month. 

All things considered, the RingConn Smart Ring – along with the Ultrahuman Ring Air –  is my top option if you don’t like the idea of committing to a subscription plan. 

• Value score: 4.5/5

RingConn Smart Ring review: Design

• Unique squared-off design
• Super comfortable
• Less scratching than rivals

On first glance of the RingConn Smart Ring, you’ll notice its slightly unusual design; notably its subtle squared-off finish. While this shape might immediately put some people off, after initial apprehension, I’ve grown to love it and prefer it over other smart rings I’ve reviewed. 

Looks aside, it’s definitely up there with the Ultrahuman Ring Air as the most comfortable smart ring I’ve tested. Small and light, it measures 7.8mm wide and 2.6mm thick and weighs 3-5g, depending on the size you opt for. I’ve made previous comments in my smart ring reviews that anyone who thinks a tech-filled ring is indistinguishable from regular jewelery is in for a rude awakening; but as far as smart rings go, RingConn’s smart ring is fairly unobtrusive. 

Mine was a perfect fit; I simply requested my standard ring size, which is also the size I opted to get the Ultrahuman Ring Air and Circular Ring Slim models. However, you can ensure you get the correct size by requesting the free sizing kit. 

The RingConn Smart Ring stands out from rivals for a number of reasons, but most notably because it didn’t become quite as scratched during testing, despite wearing it most days (I did remove it when I was weightlifting). If you’ve read my Ultrahuman Ring Air review and Circular Ring Slim review, you’ll know that both devices suffered a series of scratches over only a few weeks of wear. Then again, I did test the matte black version of these smart rings, and the silver version of the RingConn Smart Ring, which could be the reason for the difference. 

The RingConn smart ring is made from titanium with a PVD coating and it arrives in three colors: black, silver and gold. It’s IP68 waterproof, which means you can wear it in the shower. That rating technically suggests it could handle a quick swim, too; but, personally, I wouldn’t want to risk it. 

•  Design score: 4/5 

RingConn Smart Ring review: Features

• An information-packed app
• As much data as rivals
• No detailed workout tracking

The RingConn Smart Ring is packed with sensors, and its app uses them to collect all sorts of data about your body. The main categories tracked in the app are sleep, activity, stress, and heart rate. 

You can dig down further into each of these categories to discover more. For example, click into the sleep section from the app’s main screen to see a sleep score out of 100, total time asleep, sleep efficiency, sleep stages, heart rate and SpO2 throughout the night, skin temperature, and respiratory rate. You’ll find similar in-depth metrics in each of the key categories. 

This might seem like a lot of data, but it’s standard compared to other high-end smart rings. This information is also presented in colorful charts and graphs, which can appear cluttered at first glance, but are easy to understand, especially if you’re used to deciphering the metrics that fitness trackers and smartwatches present. 

In a recent update, RingConn has added some badges to its app, which reward you for hitting certain goals – such as your optimal sleep time or wearing the ring for 10 days in a row. While I’m not really someone who is motivated by such badges and gaming elements, I know many people are, so it’s good that some fun has been added to the experience. 

As with all smart rings, don’t expect a workout-tracking feature – at least not one that works like it would with a fitness tracker or smartwatch with a screen. But what you see in the app is an activity category, which displays active calories, steps, time standing, activity intensity (which is judged by your heart rate) and an activity summary. The RingConn Smart Ring can sync with Apple Health and, in doing so, add fitness data from other sources that you can manually tag. But it isn’t like a fitness tracker that can measure a specific workout activity, like the way you’d select a run or pilates on your Apple Watch. 

•  Features score: 3.5/5 

RingConn Smart Ring review: Performance

• Excellent 7-day battery
• Minor syncing issues
• Great data collection

I found the RingConn smart ring collected a huge amount of data and, importantly, performed well compared to my Apple Watch Series 8 in terms of stress and steps, and offering similar metrics to the Ultrahuman Ring Air. It’s also great at spot readings, with real-time options for measuring your heart rate and SpO2.

I found the RingConn smart ring to be particularly accurate for sleep tracking, especially naps throughout the day. I had the flu during testing, so I was able to see how it coped with a lot of rest. It did tell me I wasn’t stressed several times when I was ill, and advised me to work out hard on those days; but I think this points to a broader problem with interpreting stress data.

The only downside to the performance was I had to wait a few minutes for the ring to sync to the app. This is hardly a deal-breaker, but it was noticeable. 

However, I enjoyed using the RingConn app overall. At times, I found the layout a bit busy – especially when I wanted to check my sleep score or steps for the day quickly. Nevertheless, it was great to have the option to dive into the data and discover more. 

The app has three main tabs. Insights is where all of the important data lives. Trends lets you see how the data looks over time, divided into weekly and yearly reports and breakdowns by categories, such as sleep and stress. The final tab is Me, which contains settings, battery information, and FAQs.

I liked a couple of elements of the RingConn app, including the fact that it tells you how much battery the smart ring has remaining, both as a percentage and as a number of days to expect. 

I also thought some of the visualizations worked well, such as the Wellness Balance feature. This visualization, at the top of the Insights page, displays Vital Signs, Sleep, Activity, and Stress Management as a radar chart. It's easy to see where you’re lacking each day. 

Overall, the app isn’t as elegant or stylish as that of Oura, but it’s way easier to use than many others – especially that of Circular, which I found unnecessarily confusing. 

One way the RingConn Smart Ring knocks the competition out of the water is with its fantastic week-long battery. RingConn promises you’ll get 5-7 days, but I managed just under 7. This puts it at an advantage over Oura (Gen 3), which is between 5-6 days, and the Ultrahuman Ring Air, which offers just under 6 days. It’s also a vast improvement over the Circular Ring Slim, which comes in at 2 days.

In addition, the smart ring comes with a 500mAh portable USB-C charging case that can top up your ring in about an hour. Offering the ability to charge your ring’s battery 18 times, it delivers more than 150 days of battery life. Not to mention, it’s also very cute and ideal for keeping your ring safe.

•  Performance score: 4/5 

RingConn Smart Ring review: Scorecard

RingConn Smart Ring review: Should I buy?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

How I tested

I tested the RingConn Smart Ring for seven weeks with an iPhone 14 Pro. I wore it while I was working remotely from a co-working space and coffee shops, working out at the gym, swimming, while walking and travelling to the countryside for some hikes. This meant I had a great chance to test the ring out day to day, but also to see how it performed outside of my regular routine. 

I’ve been reviewing wearable tech for more than 12 years, with a focus on health and fitness devices.