A smart ring size can never completely replace a good smartwatch. Still, if you’re looking for a product that monitors your body while also being comfortable to use even while you sleep, the Ultrahuman Ring Air is one of the best options.
Why I Switched from Smartwatches to the Ultrahuman Ring Air
I’ve been using a smartwatch since Apple released the Apple Watch Series 1, which, curiously, was the second generation. Since then, on my left wrist and sometimes my right, or even both, I’ve been using a smartwatch to, above all, monitor my health and play sports.
But I’ve been considering stopping wearing them, at least for a while, because I want to try being without a watch, maybe using a mechanical watch, but above all because I think that closing the rings of the Apple Watch and the notifications have ended up taking away the fun.
You can turn off all notifications on your Apple Watch or any smartwatch, or choose the ones you need most. You can also choose not to close those rings, but I’ve been using it for too many years, reaching that goal of calorie burn, hours on your feet, and minutes of activity (I even did 12 consecutive months of closing circles every day).
If I have not taken off the smartwatch before, it is for two straightforward reasons: a smartwatch gives me very accurate information about my activity and health, being able, for example, to detect when I am getting sick; and because I dedicate myself to testing them, which makes the move difficult.
And then smart rings came along. Specifically, Ultrahuman Ring Air, the ring I’ve been using for 15 days, requires the time necessary for its algorithms to recognize your patterns of use, rest, and activity and give you more detailed information about your body.
Design and Features of the Ultrahuman Ring Air
Indeed, it is a ring. Round. It has a thickness of 2.4 millimeters and a weight of slightly less than 3 grams.
- It is thicker than a traditional ring, but it must be taken into account that it has sensors and a layer of resin that is designed to protect it, is capable of submerging, and is resistant to impacts.
- The ring size chart is available in various colors and finishes. One of them, the last one, is polished titanium, but the most common is with a plastic finish in black, matte gray, glossy hardened, and glossy silver.
- In my case, I am using the black model, called Aster Black, and although it looks quite good, especially on men, the material is very prone to being filled with fingerprints and the remains of the grease on the hands.
It is not especially hard, especially the models that are not titanium, because, like any ring measurement chart, the material with which it is made tends to scratch if it encounters an abrasive material. I scratched it slightly when holding a metal dumbbell with engraving, making a small notch at the bottom. Therefore, if you are going to be in contact with abrasive elements, I recommend removing or protecting them.
The interior is transparent and has a flat part where the diodes of the heart rate and blood oxygen sensors are housed. This part, which is designed so that the rays are closer to the skin, also serves to let you know which part is the one that goes at the bottom of the finger.
Purchase process, sizing, and use
The buying process is pretty straightforward. Once you go to their website or Amazon, the first thing they will send you is a size kit at no cost. They range from 5 to 14, and although they are standard sizes, I recommend that you do not skip this step.
The size kit is used to determine which ring suits you best. You must wear it for a few days and nights to see if it is comfortable on your finger. My recommendation is to use a size that works best for you during the day and a pair at night, and see which one you feel more comfortable with.
Easy Purchase Process and Custom Sizing
Once you confirm in its application the size that suits you, Ultrahuman moves on to sending the ring on finger. The package contains the ring, a USB-C charging cord, and a charging station. It is vitally important that it never gets lost or broken because the size of the ring matches the charger.
Ultrahuman offers its metrics service for free, unlike Oura Ring, which is more well-known and requires a monthly subscription. This, and that it is highly recommended by athletes, is possibly its best asset when it comes to convincing you to buy it.
Application and data quality
The app is the fundamental part of the Ultrahuman Ring Air experience. It’s the only way you interact with the information the ring size from ring offers, although it syncs with mobile health services like Apple Health.
From the app, you can see your movement score, indicating if you reached your minimum steps and calories burned, stress rate, dynamic recovery, sleep score, sleep debt, starting a breathing exercise or workout, and individual markers such as heart rate, VO2Max, temperature, HRV, or resting heart rate.
One of the new features that Ultrahuman has presented in recent weeks is the PowerPlugs, some additions to the application that may or may not be paid for.
App Integration and Data Quality
For example, a free PowerPlug can be the window for caffeine intake, sun exposure to get vitamin D, circadian rhythm alignment, pregnancy information, and cycle tracking as free options. Among those that will be paid, there is the detection of cardiac arrhythmias ($6.40 per month) or cardiac adaptability ($3.15 per month), functions that, for example, an Apple Watch and many others offer at no extra charge.
The quality of the information it offers is perfect when it comes to rest. Not only does it perfectly nail the hours I’m in bed and the hours I sleep, comparing it with data from an Apple Watch Series 9, which I still consider to be the watch that measures the best, it hits the bullseye in all the data, such as sleep phases, resting pulse, or blood oxygen level.
Where there is a problem is in the measurement of the pulse of activity. For some reason, the sizer for rings gives me about 30 beats per minute more than a smartwatch. If in activity my pulse reaches, for example, 100 bpm, the ring says that I have about 130 bpm, which is not true.
At the beginning of each week, Ultrahuman sends you a notification and an email with a URL where you can see your progress week by week, with historical information about your sleep, what you have improved, what needs to be improved, and the recovery rate, among other information.
Daily use and autonomy
The ring is comfortable to wear 24 hours a day, although it will depend on the finger you wear it on. By default, Ultrahuman asks you to use it on your index finger or thumb. It is in these two fingers that better pulse readings are achieved. But this is the problem with this and all rings: your body changes, you swell, and wearing a ring becomes uncomfortable depending on what moment you are in.
It is not the same to wear a ring of this type in winter as in summer. The heat makes us swell, but so do the different seasons, if we are sick or, in the case of women, depending on the time of the menstrual cycle in which you are.
I started the buying process in spring, and the ring arrived in summer due to customs problems; therefore, although the size I chose is the right one, the finger where I wanted to wear it, the index finger, is not always the right one.
As for the battery, which is small, it manages to reach an autonomy of between 4 and 5 days—of the 6 it advertises—depending on whether you use it in sports activities. In the more than 15 days that I have been testing it, I have seen that the battery reaches 5 days without problems if I do not do sports, but when you start an activity by using the sensors continuously, the autonomy drops to about 3 to 4 days.
I don’t think these are bad figures, and we are talking about really small batteries. I find it incredible that they achieve those figures.
What you have to take into account is how you charge this ring. Utrahuman indicates in its application that the best way to charge it is little by little while you are not using it, for example, when you shower or are doing something at home and you do not need your pulse measured.
This is because it contains a lithium-ion battery. The charge must be maintained between 30% and 80% to extend its useful life as much as possible. You can charge it up to 100% and use it until there is not a drop of power left, but as with any battery-powered product, you should avoid it.
What a Smart Ring Can and Can’t Do
First of all, a smart ring does not replace a smartwatch under any circumstances. You have to see it as one more piece of the wearable puzzle, an element that you can use during your rest and forget about the smartwatch while you sleep.
It’s vital to understand that smart rings are designed to measure recovery times, such as naps or while sleeping at night, and while they can theoretically replace the basic metrics offered by an activity bracelet or smartwatch, that’s not what they’re meant for.
Ultrahuman Ring Air can track many sports, including outdoor walking, cured training, hiking, elliptical, functional or traditional strength, pilates, yoga, football, powerlifting, rugby, mountain biking, handball, kickboxing, eSports, skiing, martial arts, barre, circus arts, stretching, dance, weightlifting, volleyball, HIIT, functional fitness, CrossFit, pickleball, golf, skateboarding, gymnastics, boxing, basketball, and many more. But they all need to be activated through the app.
Is the Ultrahuman Ring Air Worth It?
Ultrahuman Ring Air has replaced my Apple Watch, not because it replaces it in features, but because it gives me the basic health metrics I need in my day-to-day life and because I don’t want to wear a smartwatch for a while.
It is a perfect smart ring for those who cannot stand to wear watches while sleeping or use the night to charge the watch, leaving vital information about rest vital for the recovery and improvement of their health.
Its price is $340.52 it is available on Amazon; and among the ring options available in Spain, it is the one with the best value for money because it lacks subscriptions to see basic data and is backed by a company that continues to update and improve its application.
For me, it is a worthwhile product to get better information on how my body works at rest, and for elite athletes or people who take sports seriously, it will also be information that they are grateful to have. For someone who already has a smartwatch and doesn’t mind charging it during the day or while sleeping, it’s an accessory that doesn’t make much sense for now.
