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The best fitness rings you can buy: Expert tested
If you're training for a marathon, taking exercise classes, or working out at the gym, a fitness wearable can keep you on track for your fitness goals and offer you a greater perspective on your overall wellness. It's a handy piece of tech that measures your heart rate, blood oxygen levels, body temperature, and more to provide data-driven guidance on your training regimen.
Also: The best fitness trackers
I love using my smart ring as I exercise, whether I'm riding a bike, doing core exercise, running, or dancing, because I can record my workout heart rate and get hyper-specific data that informs my rest and recovery program. Alongside data on my activity, smart rings also advise me on when it's time to take a break, get more rest, and pay attention to my health. Plus, they're far less bulky and discreet than a smartwatch, so I don't have to be tied to another screen as I exercise or sleep. However, I wouldn't recommend a smart ring to heavy weightlifters, climbers, or anyone who regularly uses their hands while exercising, given how the ring can pinch your skin as you lift weights or grip things.
Also: Samsung's Galaxy Ring is launching soon. Here's what we know.
What is the best fitness ring right now?
Our pick for the best fitness ring overall is the Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon for its comprehensive health suite, discreet form factor, high-quality materials, and impressive battery life. With Samsung's Galaxy Ring coming to market in the future and many other companies throwing their hats in the ring (pun intended), we'll continue to test out all of the new fitness rings on the market and update this list with buying advice. Read on to find out how all the leading fitness ring options on the market compare and how to choose the best one.
The best fitness rings of 2024
- Best sleep tracking on the market
- Tracks steps and active calories
- Heart rate monitor sensors to see how your workout was
- Pricey -- and a monthly membership is also required
- Battery life can vary
- Tarnishes easily
The Oura Ring is one of the most popular fitness rings on the market, offering four different color options and various sizes. I wore the Horizon Oura Ring as I trained for a half marathon and am more than happy with its fitness features. You can record your workout heart rate on the app and view your activity score, inactive time, and burned calories. Then, the next day, you get a glance at your recovery scores to see how you bounced back from your intense workout. As it gets to know you, it can detect which activities you perform, whether that's running, walking, pickleball, or tennis, without you having to log it immediately.
As the smart ring market becomes more competitive, Oura has been introducing new features after new feature to keep its top spot. In the past few months alone, the brand has introduced new heart health features, women's health features, and even a collaboration with Target.
The ring is known for its exceptional sleep tracking. It provides insightful data that surpasses what you would receive from a Fitbit or the best smart rings. For instance, it displays your HRV balance, temperature changes during sleep (which can be used to predict menstrual cycles), blood oxygen levels, and the duration of each sleep stage.
Review: Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon
In addition to impressive sleep tracking, the Oura Ring excels in activity tracking. It monitors your steps, calories burned (including active calories), heart rate during exercise, and training volume. One new feature that separates Oura from other fitness rings is its resilience feature, which measures how well you bounce back from stress. Another fun Oura feature that runners will love is the ability to sync your Strava data to Oura and vice versa. When you record a run on the running app, it will immediately import into the Oura app. This is a lifesaver for me, an avid runner who sometimes forgets to start recording on one app before my run.
In 2022, Oura introduced the Horizon model, which removes the flat spot at the top of the ring to make it entirely round like a regular ring. You can opt for the Heritage model, which starts at $299, or the new Horizon model, which starts at $349. One downside to note is its tendency to gain scratches and scrapes. Many Reddit users say that while the Oura Ring does sleep tracking well, it comes at a hefty price that may or may not be worth it to some.
Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon specs: Sizing: 6-13 | Material: Durable titanium and PVD coating | Colors: Silver, black, stealth, gold, rose gold | Water resistance: Up to 328 feet | Sensors: Heart rate, blood oxygen, PPG, skin temperature, 3D accelerometer | Connectivity: Bluetooth Low-Energy, Airplane Mode | Battery: Up to seven days
- Great health data metrics
- Perfect for hardcore athletes
- AI insights are actually helpful
- Ring gets pretty hot on your finger right after charging
- App user experience is not intuitive
If you don't want an Oura Ring, you should get yourself the Ultrahuman Ring Air. It is by far the runner-up in the smart ring race -- and that's no insult. Plus, it's consistently one of the top products ZDNET readers buy month after month; it even earned the number one spot in June, thank you very much.
As I wrote in my review of the Ultrahuman Ring Air, "If the Oura Ring is the girl next door, the Ultrahuman Ring Air is the Silicon Valley-based, Bitcoin-mining neighbor who drinks Soylent." This is the ring for fitness obsessives. The ring monitors all the good stuff: activity, sleep, and recovery. Plus, it prioritizes comfort and a sleek build that doesn't tarnish quickly or interfere with the rote tasks of your day, like carrying heavy bags, washing hands and dishes, and showering.
What's remarkable about the Ultrahuman Ring Air is the notifications you get during or after your activity. For example, I went on a run with this ring one morning, and after my workout, it notified me to delay any caffeine for around an hour to allow the adenosine I built up from my run to flush out of my system. Later in the day, it reminded me to stretch my legs to recover from my morning run and relieve tension.
Review: Ultrahuman Ring Air
You can also document your diet, while the ring's app offers AI insights into the health information behind each food you eat. Some of the data becomes excessive, but I can imagine that anyone who is all-in on optimizing their lifestyle for marathon training or some other fitness goal will find the information Ultrahuman offers useful. Plus, the app has a Discover tab with guided workouts for everything from pilates, high-intensity interval training, vinyasa yoga, and more. You can sync other workout app data, like the run you recorded on Strava, to the Ultrahuman app, which helps keep all your various activities in one place.
The battery life is on par with Oura's, as I charged both simultaneously and found that they ran out of juice within hours of each other (about six days). And unlike the Oura Ring, which seemingly scratches when in contact with abrasive material, the Ultrahuman has maintained its sheen sans scratches. I don't have trouble recommending this ring to health-minded individuals honing their workout and recovery regimen. Plus, unlike Oura, the Ultrahuman Ring Air doesn't come with the price of a monthly subscription.
Redditors say the Ultrahuman Ring Air is on par with Oura, but the rings aren't as effective at fitness tracking as a smartwatch or chest strap. The care and drive for improvement with this ring is palpable: Upon reading user reviews on Reddit, I've noticed that Ultrahuman's founder, Mohit Kumar, is on these threads interacting with users who leave reviews or ask questions about the product -- not something I've seen before.
Ultrahuman Ring Air specs: Sizing: 5-14 | Material: Titanium coated with Tungsten Carbide Carbon | Colors: Matte grey, Aster black, space silver, bionic gold | Water resistance: Up to 330 feet | Sensors: Infrared Photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor, Non-contact medical-grade skin temperature sensor, 6-axis motion sensors, Red LEDs (heart rate monitoring and oxygen saturation) Green LEDs (heart rate monitoring) Infrared LEDs (heart rate monitoring) | Connectivity: Bluetooth Low-Energy | Battery: Up to six days
- Charger can power your ring for up to 150 days
- No fees attached to ring
- Helpful features and insights
- No readiness score
- Doesn't integrate other health data like Apple, Garmin, or Polar
RingConn offers the best of Oura without the hefty subscription fee. The RingConn smart ring has an upfront cost of $279, and that's it. The ring comes with a portable charging case that contains a 500 mAh charger, capable of charging the ring's battery for up to 150 days.
When ZDNET's Matt Miller reviewed the ring, he complimented RingConn's stress tracking features and wellness balance feature, which assesses sleep, activity, vital signs, and stress to get a more holistic picture of your health. Miller was so impressed with the suite of features that he considered switching to RingConn as his primary smart ring over the Oura Ring.
Review: RingConn Smart Ring
"I was much more impressed with the RingConn Smart Ring than I expected to be; it's great to see such compelling competition in the smart ring space," Miller said. Some users say that the ring has impeccable data accuracy, but they'd like to see better activity tracking measures.
RingConn Smart Ring tech specs: Sizing: 6-14 | Material: Titanium | Colors: Silver, black, gold | Water resistance: IP68 waterproof rating | Sensors: Heart rate, blood oxygen, 3D accelerometer, temperature sensors, four PPG sensors | Connectivity: Bluetooth | Battery: Seven days
- Sleep, activity, and menstrual cycle tracking
- Personalize your goals and activity progress over time
- Comprehensive mood and symptom tracking
- Made for women only
- Battery life is shorter than other option on this list
- No sleep or activity scores provided
The Evie Ring offers "actionable insights" to help women understand the reasons behind their physical and emotional states. Movano claims that the ring can even "mood track." The ring can predict menstrual cycles and ovulation through its skin temperature sensors, providing an additional layer of insight into women's health. Evie's mood and symptom-tracking features are the most comprehensive I've tried out of all the smart rings I've worn.
Also: Evie Ring
The app's user interface is fun and quirky. Evie is trying to appeal to a younger female audience with its graphics, data delivery, and app language. Out of all the rings I've worn, this is by far the most stylish. Its arrow-like design stands out against the other rings, and I've received a few compliments on it. This is a ring designed for young, trendy, and health-data-driven women.
In addition to its unique features, the Evie Ring offers a standard activity profile, displaying total steps taken, continuous movement stats, and calorie output. You don't get sleep, activity, or recovery scores, which is a bummer since those ratings can help you easily understand your slumber or workout. I use it to record my workouts, where it can document your heart rate, distance, step count, duration, and calories burned. However, because the battery life is shorter, certain features are closed off if the battery is too low, so you'll want to charge the ring before logging your workouts and performing spot checks.
Movano Evie Ring specs: Sizing: 5-11 | Material: Liquid metal | Colors: Silver, rose gold, gold | Water resistance: Up to 1 meter | Sensors: Heart rate, heart rate variability, SpO₂, skin temperature, and active metabolic calorie burn | Connectivity: Bluetooth | Battery: Around four days
What is the best fitness ring?
The Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon is our overall pick for the best fitness ring when you want a stylish but reliable one. The companion app helps you monitor your fitness, and it is especially notable for its sleep-tracking accuracy. Here is a look at the best fitness rings and how they compare in material, water resistance, price, and more.
Our goal was to provide various options based on pricing and purposes. If you're an avid swimmer or need a fitness ring with vibrating alerts, we have you covered.
| Name | Price | Material | Colors | Water Resistance | Sensors | Connectivity | Battery | Sizing |
| Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon | $299 | Durable titanium and PVD coating | Silver, black, stealth, gold, rose gold | Up to 328 feet for 30 minutes | Heart rate, blood oxygen, PPG, skin temperature, 3D accelerometer | Bluetooth Low-Energy, Airplane | Up to seven days | 6-13 |
| Ultrahuman Ring Air | $349 | Titanium | Matte grey, Aster black, space silver, bionic gold | Up to 330 feet | Heart rate, blood oxygen, skin temperature | Bluetooth Low-Energy | Up to six days | 5-14 |
| RingConn Smart Rin | $279 | Titanium | Silver, black, gold | IP68 | Heart rate, blood oxygen, 3D accelerometer, temperature sensors, four PPG sensors | Bluetooth Low-Energy | Up to seven days | 6-14 |
| Movano Evie Ring | $269 | Liquid metal | Silver, rose gold, gold | Up to 1 meter | Heart rate, heart rate variability, SpO₂, skin temperature, and active metabolic calorie burn | Bluetooth | Up to five days | 5-11 |
*Lowest price at the time of writing. Please note that prices vary based on retailer and available promotions, sales, or discounts.
Which is the right fitness ring for you?
After a while, all the fitness rings can begin to blur together during your search. That is why we offer our expert recommendations on how to find the best fitness ring for your personal needs, based on our testing.
| Choose this fitness ring... | If you want... | |
| Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon | A stylish but reliable fitness ring. Its exceptional sleep tracking features provide insightful data such as HRV balance, temperature changes, and blood oxygen levels during sleep, which are superior to other fitness rings. Additionally, the Oura Ring tracks steps and active calories, and it is equipped with heart rate sensors to monitor workout progress. Plus, it pairs with Strava to sync your running data. | |
| Ultrahuman Ring Air | A smart ring designed for fitness junkies and anyone who wants to optimize their workout and recovery. The helpful AI in the app provides recommendations on when to consume caffeine, when to stretch your legs after a workout, and what to eat to prevent glucose spikes. | |
| Ringconn Smart Ring | A budget alternative to the Oura Ring with many of the same features and no additional subscription. The ring offers stress tracking and wellness features for a holistic picture of your health. Our reviewer even said he was considering swapping his Oura Ring for the RingConn ring. | |
| Movano Evie Ring | A fitness ring built for women. It uses skin sensors to track menstrual cycles and ovulation, gives insight on emotional states, and provides the standard activity profile that tracks total steps, movement, and calorie output. This is the most aesthetically appealing ring on the list, but its battery life is the least competitive. |
Factors to consider when choosing the best fitness ring:
Before you purchase a fitness ring, you should consider the following important factors.
- Price: A good fitness ring is going to cost you a chunk of money. Most fitness rings are around $250 to $450, depending on the brand and the material you get (the silver and slate colors tend to cost less than the gold and rose gold colors). Some rings also require a monthly subscription.
- Battery: If you are paying $300 for a ring, it should last you at least four or five days. Most of the competitive rings on the market last longer than that, at around six or seven.
- In-app experience: Because smart rings don't have screens, the ring is only as good as its app is for delivering helpful information. You should get everything you need to know packed in your app, like sleep, activity, and recovery data. The app should be easy to use, and the best apps offer insightful articles on how to get further use out of your ring.
- Comfort and wear: Because this is going around your finger, the fitness ring needs to be comfortable to wear, especially as you sleep, move, or exercise.
- Data delivery: The fitness ring should deliver health data that you can understand even if you aren't a medical pro.
How did we test these fitness rings?
I went hands-on with most of the fitness rings on this list to consider whether the rings I included were worth their expensive price.
Three fitness rings are on my hands right now as I write this. In my testing, I shower, cook, clean, exercise, and socialize with these rings on, and I observe how my activity impacts the data of each ring and how the rings compare to one another. Plus, as a half marathon trainer, I run four times a week and use my rings to aggregate my health data as I exercise, so you can trust that I have put these rings through the ultimate test and ran many miles with them on.
Also: How we test smart rings at ZDNET
We test these fitness rings in real-world situations focusing on features, design and comfort, performance, battery life, and overall value. For products we recommend, we write a product spotlight review that we update periodically with new features and pricing information.
What are fitness rings and how do they work?
A fitness ring is also known as a smart ring. Unlike smartwatches that go on your wrist, smart rings are worn around your finger to monitor your health and activity. It uses sensors and special chips to track and store your information. Some models offer water resistance so you can wear them as you swim, while others provide alerts via vibration for alarms, personal reminders, and more.
Are smart rings good for exercise?
That depends on the sort of exercise you perform. For running, cycling, yoga, HIIT, and other cardio-heavy activities, a smart ring works swell. But for weight training, rock climbing, or any workout where the smart ring could obstruct your grip, you might want to opt for a smart watch instead.
What do smart rings do?
Similar to smartwatches, smart rings track your health data through the sensors embedded inside the ring. Unlike smartwatches, they are far more discreet and don't have a screen. Most of the data that is collected on a smart ring is viewable on its companion app, where the ring-wearer can learn insights into their sleep, stress levels, and daily activity.
Is Oura or Ultrahuman better as a fitness ring?
That depends on what you want out of your smart fitness ring. I've tested both and can say that each ring serves different people and purposes, but their data collection methods are similar. The Oura ring is a general smart ring that works well for fitness due to its advanced features. I don't think anyone would have a problem wearing this ring. I love how many apps are compatible with Oura and how simple it is to use. For example, I can go for a run or play tennis, and I don't have to open the app and log my activities, as Oura can naturally detect my activities. However, you need to log activities on the Ultrahuman companion app.
Ultrahuman appeals to the serious fitness junkies who want to optimize their body for fitness. The data that Ultrahuman collects on my sleep is similar to Oura's data. Ultrahuman's purpose isn't to appeal to everyone, unlike Oura. It appeals to people who are willing to optimize their day for their fitness schedule, by allowing their natural adenosine to flush out before drinking a cup of coffee in the morning, logging their calories, and receiving AI-powered insights about how to avoid glucose spikes.
Is an Oura Ring better than an Apple Watch?
That really depends on if you're a watch person or a ring person. The Apple Watch lets you see all your stats on the watch itself and has features like texting and streaming music.
On the other hand, the Oura Ring is more of an ambient technology that you forget you're wearing. You have to go into the app to get your stats, and it doesn't have any fancy notifications. However, the Oura Ring will track your sleep more accurately than the Apple Watch, and it's comparable to Apple Watch's activity tracking.
Are fitness rings accurate in tracking activity, sleep, and other health metrics?
Fitness rings can provide reasonably accurate data on health metrics like heart rate, steps taken, and sleep patterns. However, the accuracy of each metric can vary depending on the specific device and the quality of the sensors used. It's essential to choose a fitness ring with reliable sensor technology and to keep in mind that no wearable device can provide perfect accuracy in tracking health metrics.
Other fitness rings we tested
The fitness ring market is small, but it is growing. There aren't many other options to choose from at the moment, but here are a few other smart rings we've tested alongside the options above.