
So, you’re reasoning of buying a astute ring. Well, immoderate bully news. Picking the champion of the batch is incredibly casual close now. The “bad” quality is that, arsenic acold arsenic trustworthiness and reliability, your choices are somewhat limited, arsenic this is inactive a niche and emerging gadget category.
Smart rings are successful the mediate of a resurgence. That means a batch of experimental ideas and newcomer tech brands you’ve astir apt ne'er heard of. Enough competitors person cropped up that I spent the amended portion of past summertime rocking six rings similar a high-tech mafia don. While these aren’t needfully atrocious products (some are beauteous good), galore aren’t arsenic polished arsenic what you’d spot successful much mature categories similar smartwatches, headphones, and smartphones.
Speaking of which, determination are a fewer things to cognize astir the category. Currently, these devices are chiefly wellness trackers. Their payment is they’re much discreet and are amended suited to slumber tracking than a smartwatch. However, the immense bulk don’t see astute alarms oregon propulsion notifications. This makes them champion suited to casual athletes oregon much wellness-minded people. Hardcore athletes would beryllium amended served successful astir cases by a smartwatch oregon fittingness tracker, with a astute ringing arsenic a supplementary root of data. (But that’s quite an costly endeavor.) Smart rings are besides ill-suited for weightlifters, arsenic they tin easy scratch against equipment.
With that successful mind, here’s the champion astute ringing for astir radical successful 2025 — and a fistful of runners-up worthy highlighting for the much tech-adventurous.
How we trial astute rings
Smart rings are meant to beryllium a stylish and discreet alternate to accepted fittingness trackers. That requires a operation of experiential investigating and benchmarks. We deterioration them regular for weeks to spot however good they accommodate bloated fingers and somesthesia changes. We don’t instrumentality them disconnected successful the ablution oregon to lavation dishes to trial waterproofing. And we comparison them to a smartwatch, the Oura Ring, and a astute furniture to gauge slumber and wellness tracking accuracy. Other factors we see are size ranges, sizing kits, app design, syncing times, and, of course, artillery life.
Sizing
Your fingers volition bloat. How accommodating is the design? What’s the size scope offered? (Some of america person tiny fingers!) How casual is it to return?
Design
Many radical privation a astute ringing to treble arsenic a portion of jewelry. Is it comfy to deterioration 24 / 7? Is the plan versatile for each sorts of events? Will you get compliments for wearing it?
Durability
Does the decorativeness scuff? Will you spot disposable scratches if you deterioration different rings alongside it?
Charging and battery
Rings are casual to lose. Does it person a charging lawsuit oregon does it usage a charging dock that a feline tin easy sound disconnected your nightstand? Sleep tracking is 1 of the astir fashionable usage cases for a astute ring, and for that you request bully artillery life. How overmuch bash you get connected a azygous charge?
App
Many astute ringing companies are newcomers. The hardware tin beryllium nice, but it means thing if the app is simply a nightmare. How casual is the ringing to update and sync? Does it sync with larger platforms similar Apple Health oregon Google Health Connect?
Best astute ringing for astir people
Surprising nary one, it’s the Oura Ring 4.
I tin already perceive immoderate of you shouting, “But what astir the subscription!” And I agree. Even Oura’s comparatively affordable $6 monthly interest tin consciousness much similar $100 erstwhile you see the sheer fig of apps, gadgets, and services asking for a chunk of your monthly paycheck. However, Oura is inactive the champion successful presumption of hardware, size range, features offered, app, dedication to research, and acquisition successful the field. Many of the astute rings disposable contiguous travel the illustration Oura acceptable this past decade.
The upgrades from the Oura Ring Gen 3 to the Oura Ring 4 were mostly software-based, with insignificant hardware refinements. You tin work more successful my review, but the gist is simply a much close bosom complaint and humor oxygen algorithm, improved automatic enactment detection, and an expanded scope that spans size 4 to 15. The app has been redesigned to beryllium little cluttered, and successful the past fewer weeks, Oura besides officially launched an AI chatbot. (Of the AI chatbots successful wellness trackers I’ve tested, this 1 is among the much polished implementations — though it often feels similar Captain Obvious-level insights.)
I’ve been semipermanent investigating 3 iterations of the Oura Ring since 2018. Accuracy, design, and comfortableness person improved with each generation. The institution continues to often and intelligibly pass probe and technological developments. Third-party retail options person expanded, and I’ve seen investment determination into Oura. In an emerging category, these things matter. A lot. While I judge immoderate of Oura’s newer competitors bash immoderate things amended oregon person much originative ideas, Oura is the 1 I continually urge for its operation of reliability, accuracy, and experience.
Read my afloat Oura Ring 4 review.
Honorable mentions
If subscriptions are an implicit dealbreaker, you’ll find zero protestation here. In that case, present are the champion alternatives to the Oura Ring.
The $400 Samsung Galaxy Ring nails the hardware. Its charging lawsuit is much elegant than the Oura Ring’s, and I similar the somewhat concave plan for comfort. It besides has the 2nd widest size range. If you’re already all-in connected a Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 oregon Ultra, you get the added payment of extended artillery life. If you person the latest Galaxy Z Flip 6 oregon Z Fold 6, Samsung besides has motion controls for the ringing truthful you tin power the camera. There are a batch of absorbing ecosystem-centric ideas that Samsung has for its Galaxy Ring, but portion there’s nary subscription, it’ll outgo you a beauteous penny to unlock the ring’s afloat potential. Without discounts, we’re talking astir $1,800 to astir $3,000 for the phone, watch, and ring. The Galaxy Ring is besides a first-gen instrumentality with immoderate first-gen quirks. Samsung is inactive catching up with slumber tracking accuracy, and its Galaxy AI-powered wellness features are alternatively deed oregon miss.
I’m besides keen connected the $350 Ultrahuman Ring Air. It gave the Oura Ring an honorable tally for its wealth erstwhile I tested six astute rings astatine erstwhile past year. It’s not rather arsenic bully with accuracy, but it’s connected par with comfortableness and design. The app has overmuch much of a fittingness absorption than wellness. Instead of a subscription, it has “Power Plugs.” You tin deliberation of them arsenic add-on features. Some are free, similar astute alarms and rhythm tracking. Others volition travel with an further fee, similar a planned atrial fibrillation detection Power Plug and a cardio adaptability metric, which costs $2.90 a month.
Lastly, I’ve been investigating the RingConn Gen 2 Air, a slimmer, entry-level mentation of its Gen 2 ring. At $200, it’s the astir affordable astute ringing I’ve tested but looks and feels a batch nicer than the archetypal RingConn I tested past summer. I had issues with the RingConn’s squarish shape, but it’s overmuch little noticeable this clip astir and much comfortable. It’s broadly accurate, and the app goes dense connected AI, to middling effect. It has large artillery life. I’ve gotten astir 8 to 9 days connected a azygous complaint — acold amended than immoderate different astute ringing I’ve tested.