Best smart rings 2024: Top fitness tracking and payment rings

Smart rings are booming, and it looks like they're here to stay. While some new wearable categories spring up, make a big noise, and then fade away, the future of smart rings looks bright.

The Oura Ring 3 has impressed most of all, as has the new Ultrahuman Ring Air. And the exciting forthcoming Movano Evie will increase the competition.

Even industry giant Samsung is preparing to enter the fray, teasing a Galaxy Ring that's surely set to arrive later in 2024. Patents also show we can't rule out an Apple smart ring, either.

All in all, this is one of the most exciting areas of wearables right now.

If you're ready to size up for a smart ring, we've picked out the best to pick up right now from our reviews.

Wareable

What is a smart ring and what do they do?

Smart rings are small and discreet wearables, ideal for people who want to get the benefits of a wearable, without wearing a bulky smartwatch or fitness tracker.

The most popular use for smart rings is fitness tracking, and the likes of Oura, Ultrahuman, and Movano collect most of the same metrics as fitness trackers, including heart rate, steps, sleep, and even workouts. 

Because of the thin skin around the finger, it's a great place to take heart rate readings. So we're generally seeing more reliable accuracy from smart rings than smartwatches. And they are becoming powerful health devices.

Another popular use for smart rings is contactless payments, just like smartphones and smartwatches.

Oura Ring Gen 3

Price: $299 + $5.99 a month (ships globally) | Oura Store

Wareable

• Weight: 4-6 grams (depending on size)
• Sensors: Bioimpedance sensor, infrared LED, ambient light sensor, accelerometer
• Color options: Polished silver, matte black, stealth black, rose gold, gold

The Oura Gen 3 earned an excellent 4-star score in our review, and we awarded it our Wearable of the Year 2022 following its arrival.

Despite being available for over a couple of years, it's still the best smart ring on the market. Since then, Oura has also launched the cleaner Oura Ring 3 Horizon design – and even collaborated with Gucci.

The core of the Oura experience focuses on readiness and sleep – and delivers scores just like the Whoop 4.0, Garmin and Fitbit. It's focused on analyzing your exertions and your rest and checking the two are in balance, with newer features like Daytime Stress and Stress Resilience really building up this picture.

• Oura Ring 4: Release date rumors and features wish list

We've found the accuracy of continuous heart rate monitoring (during rest) and stress tracking to be very good overall, and it's one of the best-performing sleep trackers we've ever tested.

It can also track heart rate during workouts, although our testing has shown that it's no match for dedicated sports watches in terms of accuracy. Still, it's very open to supplementing workout data with third-party apps, including Strava and Whoop (through Google Health Connect). 

The only real downside of Oura is the subscription model, which costs $5.99 a month ($6.99 outside of the US/EU), on top of the $299 for the ring. So it's not cheap to jump on board.

If you're looking for the best smart ring out there, as we say, this is still the one to beat. But the high price tag, ongoing subscription, and focus on wellness over fitness mean it won't suit every wearable shopper.

• Read our full Oura Gen 3 review
  

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Ultrahuman Ring Air

Price: $349 / £280 / €325 | Ultrahuman

Wareable

• Weight: 2.4g-3.6g (depending on size)
• Sensors: Bioimpedance sensor, infrared LED, ambient light sensor, accelerometer
• Color options: Aster Black, Matte Grey, Bionic Gold, and Space Silver

The Ultrahuman Ring Air is the company's second-generation smart ring. It's lighter and smaller than its predecessor, at just 2.4g, making it more comfortable to wear.

It's still a chunky ring, and we've not found it hugely comfortable or attractive to wear. But if you're used to wearing big rings – and they suit your hands – then this can be a very good option.

Sleep is the main focus, and there's a sleep index that takes into account a wide range of data and metrics. We found that sleep tracking was largely reliable, with accuracy that took up well to Oura and Whoop. 

It also puts a focus on recovery – and helping manage circadian rhythms, including managing stimulants and prompting healthy wind-down times. These aren't hugely advanced in terms of tracking, but interesting additions that sit well alongside the deep insights.

There's also a recovery score, which also tracks metrics such as resting heart rate, heart rate variability, and body temperature. These are compared to established baseline scores, and there's a traffic light system to show if these are outside of your norms.

The Ultrahuman app also has a glucose element, and pais to a CGM for analysis of blood sugar.

It costs $349 / £280 / €325 without ongoing subscriptions, so is a good alternative to Oura in terms of cost. 

• Read our full review of the Ultrahuman Ring Air
  

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Prevention Circul+

Price: $299 | Walmart

Wareable

• Weight: 4.9 grams
• Sensors: PPG sensor, bioimpedance sensor, accelerometer
• Color options: Silver, black, rose gold

We've seen ECG sensors on smartwatches and fitness trackers, but now Bodimetrics in partnership with Prevention has put that tech into a smart ring too.

It's not just ECG that this clever ring can track either. It can take blood pressure measurements while capturing that ECG measurement and once you've calibrated it with a cuff-style monitor first.

It promises heart rate tracking accuracy plus or minus 2bpm against medical grade monitoring and a +/- 3% accuracy for SpO2 monitoring it's capable of as well.

When we matched up data with a blood pressure monitor, pulse oximeter, and other ECG wearables, we found the data accuracy was good overall, though lacked any sort of actionable insights to put that tracked data to use.

Inactivity tracking data mode, it's all very basic. You can capture step counts but that's really about it. There's more going on with sleep monitoring letting you capture sleep duration, and sleep stages including REM time along with heart rate, baseline skin temperature, and SpO2 levels including an oxygen desaturation index. The data again felt very reliable on the whole.

That data can be stored freely in the app and cloud and can also be shared with doctors and health professionals, which is good to see here.

What's not so good to see is that the design of the ring makes it quite uncomfortable to wear for exercise and sleep. While it's light, the spring-loaded design that keeps it in place makes it awkward to wear in most scenarios.

There's also just 16 hours of battery life, which means weighing up when you monitor your stats. Its rather awkward and unique design means it's one you might want to only wear to monitor your stats overnight as well.

• Read our Prevention Circul+ review
  

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Circular Ring Air

$275 / £225 | Circular

Wareable

• Weight: 2 grams
• Sensors: PPG sensor, bioimpedance sensor, accelerometer
• Color options: Black

Smart ring startup Circular has returned with what it claims is the industry's thinnest and lightest offering yet - the $275 / £225 Circular Ring Slim.

The trimmed-down ring is the progression of the company's Circular Ring Pro released last year.

It tips the scales at just 2g and measures 2.2mm thick. To put these specs into context, industry leader Oura's Generation 3 Horizon model measures in at 2.55mm thick and clocks the scales at around 4-6g, while the Circular Ring Pro is 2.75mm and 4g.

The Circular Ring Slim packs a three-axis accelerometer, temperature sensor, PPG sensor, and LEDs that are used to monitor the likes of breathing rate, heart rate variability, blood oxygen saturation, and heart rate are sticking around, too.

We've used it – and found that it does lag behind RingConn, Oura, and Ultrahuman in terms of design and health insights.

The ring itself – which is only splash-resistant and not fully water-resistant – attracted more bumps and scratches than Oura, and we found the health insights offered by its Kira assistant to be less useful and impactful. 

There's a lot of information presented, and you have to pick through to find the actionable bits.

• Read our full Circular Ring Slim review
  

RingConn 

$279/£220 | RingConn

Wareable

• Weight: 3-5g 
• Sensors: Photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope
• Color options: Black, silver, gold

The RingConn smart ring, a recent entrant in the smart ring market, is a serious alternative to competitors like the Oura Ring.

Crowdfunded with over $1 million in 2023, the one-off $279/£220 price tag has no ongoing subscription, which puts it on par with the likes of the Circular Ring Slim and Ultrahuman Ring Air.

The design mirrors the sleekness of the Oura Ring, with a titanium build, and various color options.

We found it one of the best-fitting rings we've worn, with minimal movement on the finger, which allowed for solid and accurate heart rate data in our review period.

It also packs a strong array of health and fitness tracking capabilities including step counting, sleep monitoring, heart rate tracking, and stress insights. However, there's no provision for workout tracking.

However, the RingConn app, while functional, lacks the polish of Oura, and the software needs development.

Sleep tracking accuracy was comparable to Oura, and offers metrics like heart rate variability, SpO2 levels, respiratory rate, and more. 

And it's the battery life that stands out, lasting up to five days – and the charging case is capable of 18 recharges.

Overall, while the hardware excels, the software needs refinement to match the serious health insights offered by competitors like Oura.

But RingConn excels in terms of battery life, and with no subscription, works out much cheaper.

• Read our full RingConn review
  

Incoming smart rings 

Movano Evie Ring 

Price: $269 | Movano

Wareable

• Weight: 3.2-3.7g
• Sensors: PPG sensor, temperature sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope
• Color options: Silver, rose gold, black (coming soon)

The Movano Evie Ring is a female-focused smart ring – so it's one of the rare wearables that's designed with women's health in mind.

Movano has applied for FDA approval for its heart rate tech, so it means business about accuracy. Most devices caveat that they aren't used for medical purposes, but Movano is going for the gold standard for heart rate and SpO2.

It will go on sale for $269 and won't require a subscription fee, which makes it a cheaper proposition than Oura.

It packs a bold design, and thin build, which should make it more wearable. And the Evie Ring will also be released in three colors: gold, silver, and rose gold.

It doesn't hold back on features, either. The Movano Evie will measure heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), sleep, respiration rate, temperature, and blood oxygen. It will also track mood and menstrual cycle symptoms (via user inputs) and aims to track a holistic overview of health and activity via the Daily Summary window. 

The Evie Ring will also attempt to make sense of trends in your data with AI analysis.

• Read our Evie Ring hands-on review
  

Smart ring specs compared

Smart ring key considerations:

Getting the size right

This applies to all wearables, but if you're looking at buying a smart ring, you need to make sure you get a good comfortable fit.

All of the smart rings we've tested provide a sizing kit with a plastic version of that ring so you can try a range of different sizes before the one packed with smarts is sent out to you. You should wear that test ring for a day or two to make sure it fits well and doesn't fly off when you wash your hands (we're speaking from experience!)

A snug fit that doesn't twist around is also key to getting accurate sensor data, so this aspect is really important.

Scratch and water resistance

Smart rings take a battering, so getting something that won't be torn to shreds after a couple of months is important. Many rings (see RingConn and Oura) are made of titanium, which is light and super-scratch resistant.

We'd suggest taking it off when doing activities like lifting weights, however.

Many smart rings are 5ATM water resistant, so they can be worn in the pool or shower. That's not universal though, and there are rings with lower ratings that only protect against washing your hands. Be aware.

Health and fitness features

Many of the rings we've seen so far have been designed to track elements of your health and fitness. Whether that's tracking steps, sleep, or monitoring heart rate and body temperature, they promise to offer a level of accuracy that matches or even surpasses other wearable form factors.

To deliver that data it's using similar sensors used in wrist-based devices, so light-based optical sensors that can deliver continuous heart rate monitoring and blood oxygen data. You can also find rings that pack in ECG sensors to offer a level of heart rate tracking seen in the medical space.

Payments and other smarts

Some rings prioritize putting other features onto your finger and that includes the ability to make payments or letting you take control of features on your phone. That payment support is driven by similar NFC and contactless technology used in smartwatches and bank cards, letting you raise your ring to the terminal to make a payment. Those rings that offer smartphone control features are tied to maintaining a connection with your phone via Bluetooth to deliver those control powers.

Battery life

Planting those innovative sensors into an even smaller form factor than watches and fitness bands does mean you're currently not going to enjoy weeks and months of battery life.

Due to their size, smart ring battery life can be around 2-3 days – but some models can last around 5 days between charges. So you will need to charge on a pretty regular basis and need to use a proprietary charging cradle to power things back up.

We've also seen rings such as Evie and RingConn use charging cases – like a pair of AirPods for example – which can offer charging on the move.

We will no doubt get to a point where smart rings last longer between charges, but it's early days, and just under a week is the maximum you can typically expect.