Could this be the best smart ring? | Ultrahuman Ring AIR Review

Comfort and everyday wear

Pat was initially sceptical about wearing a smart ring, but found the Ring AIR easy to keep on throughout the day and night. He wore it while riding a bike, gardening, using power tools, washing dishes, showering, changing nappies, working in a roof crawl space and sleeping, without needing to worry about it. It did not rub, damage his skin, or become sweaty or smelly during his testing.

The ring is available in several designs, including raw titanium, black, matte grey, bionic gold and space silver. The reviewed model has a titanium outer shell, according to Ultrahuman, with a tungsten carbide carbon coating. The inner ring uses a medical-grade hypoallergenic epoxy resin. Pat said he had no way to verify the material claims, but found the ring comfortable.

A sizing kit is supplied before the final ring arrives. It is made from high-quality plastic and allows buyers to test different sizes. Ultrahuman recommends the index finger, although other fingers may work depending on the selected size. Pat noted that the ring's thickness could cause discomfort when lifting dumbbells, although it did not bother him while holding road-bike handlebars. Its built-in finding function was also not particularly useful unless he was already close to the ring.

Hardware and battery life

The Ring AIR uses Bluetooth Low Energy and only syncs with the phone when the app is opened, rather than maintaining a live connection. Its sensors include infrared photoplethysmography, a non-contact medical-grade skin-temperature sensor, six-axis motion sensors, and red, green and infrared LEDs. These are used for measurements including heart rate and oxygen saturation.

The rechargeable 24 mAh battery is not replaceable. Ultrahuman rates it for up to six days, and Pat found that it lasted very close to that during his use. The included charging stand takes roughly three hours to charge the ring from empty to full.

What the app measures

Movement is represented by a daily score that starts at 100. Exercise goals can add points, while missed goals can deduct them. Pat found the Ring AIR's step counting particularly good, and said the movement page provides a quick view of how active he has been during the day. It does not identify a specific type of exercise, but helps show whether he has been active enough.

The stress rhythm feature displays a timeline indicating when the user appears to be handling stress better or worse. Pat could see changes that matched demanding parts of his family routine, although he was less certain what practical action to take from the information beyond identifying periods when he was more alert or capable of dealing with stressful situations.

Sleep tracking was the main feature Pat saw as valuable. During testing with a newborn, the ring recorded one night with only 3 hours and 35 minutes of sleep. The app provides information about total sleep, sleep efficiency, awake periods, REM sleep, light sleep and deep sleep. It also offers suggestions such as establishing a sleep ritual, avoiding caffeine, creating a sleep-conducive environment and moving to an earlier sleep schedule. These recommendations can help users compare their routines with changes in sleep data.

HRV and overall usefulness

The app also tracks heart rate variability, or HRV, which measures variation in the time between heartbeats. Pat described it as a possible indicator of how the autonomic nervous system is responding to sleep, stress, diet, exercise and other changes. He also stressed that HRV is not a definitive health score, and that the relationship between HRV changes and autonomic nervous system function requires more research.

For Pat, the most useful data was sleep tracking, movement tracking and HRV. The ring does not cure poor sleep or improve health by itself. Instead, it provides measurements and prompts that may encourage users to change their behaviour and then observe whether the data changes.