Ultrahuman Ring Air review: A strong contender in the smart ring market
Ultrahuman Ring Air
Pros
- Good accuracy of recovery-type stats
- Unique tools like the circadian clock and stimulant restriction window
- Lasts up to 6 days on a single charge
- One of the lightest smart rings on the market
- Consistent rollout of new features
Cons
- Some data, like blood oxygen and step count needs to be improved
- Ring's angular edges reduce comfort
- Absence of airplane mode
In the fast-paced world of wearable tech, new and exciting products are always on the horizon. One such device that has caught my attention is the Ultrahuman Ring Air. This review will delve into the second iteration of Ultrahuman’s smart ring series, a device that promises a comprehensive health and wellness tracking experience with an array of features.
Smart rings are quickly becoming a hot trend in wearable tech, and for good reason. They offer a unique combination of convenience, subtlety, and functionality. Unlike bulkier wearables, smart rings subtly blend into your daily life, providing continuous health tracking without sacrificing style or comfort. They’re like having a personal health assistant right on your finger.
In this review, I’ll be taking a close look at the Ultrahuman Ring Air. I’ll explore everything from its design and features to its overall performance. My goal is to give you a comprehensive and unbiased analysis of this device, highlighting its strengths, identifying any areas that could use improvement, and seeing how it stacks up against the competition.
So, let’s dive in and discover what the Ultrahuman Ring Air has to offer. We also recommend checking out RingConn and our hands-on review of the device.
View Ultrahuman on Amazon / Ultrahuman.
Ultrahuman Ring Air review: Design, hardware
Look & feel
The Ultrahuman Ring Air is not just another health and wellness gadget. It’s a harmonious fusion of style, comfort, and state-of-the-art technology. The design of the ring is modern and sleek, with a clear emphasis on wearability.
Constructed from the same Titanium used in fighter jets, it mirrors the Oura Ring in material but takes a step further in durability. The outer shell is coated with Tungsten Carbide Carbon, ensuring the ring can endure daily wear and tear, and withstand intense physical activities.
You can order the Ring Air directly from the Ultrahuman website. It’s available in seven sizes, ranging from 6 to 12. While the size range is slightly less than some competitors, it still offers a good variety to fit different users. The ring is designed to be worn on your index, middle, or ring finger, depending on your comfort and preference.
The thickness of the ring varies with its size, ranging from 2.45mm to 2.8mm. The whole thing is impressively lightweight, starting at just 2.4 grams for size 6, making it one of the lightest smart rings in the market. This lightness enhances its wearability and comfort, a significant improvement from the first-generation Ultrahuman ring.
In my experience, the ring is very comfortable to wear. It’s unobtrusive, and thanks to its water resistance, you don’t need to remove it throughout the day. I typically only took it off for charging.
One colour option currently, but more are coming
Currently, the Ring Air is available only in a matte black finish. However, the company has plans to expand its colour palette in the upcoming quarter. They say they’ve been conducting extensive research and development to identify colours that are both durable and aesthetically appealing. One of these will be a mirror-finish silver option. But for now, you are limited to the matte black option.
Under the Hood
The Ring Air’s design is not just about aesthetics and comfort; it also plays a role in its functionality. The body of the device houses various sensors and functionalities within its slim frame, providing comprehensive health tracking.
One of the key sensors is the infrared Photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor. It uses green and red lights to measure the rate at which your heart is beating, heart rate variability and the level of oxygen in your blood. By monitoring these vital signs, the Ring Air can provide insights into your cardiovascular health and overall fitness levels.
The Ring Air also features a non-contact medical-grade skin temperature sensor. It continuously monitors your temperature, providing data that can help identify trends and anomalies. Changes in temperature can be indicative of various health conditions. It can also signal changes in your body, such as the onset of a fever or the start of a menstrual cycle.
Finally, the Ring Air comes equipped with a 6-axis motion sensor. It monitors your physical activity throughout the day, including steps taken, distance traveled, and calories burned. This is in addition to your sleep patterns and more.
It’s worth noting, there is no vibration motor inside the device. Hardly any smart rings on the market have this. Probably because it is difficult to fit that sort of tech into something this small.
A week of battery life
Despite its sleek and compact design, the Ultrahuman Ring Air doesn’t compromise on battery life. It’s capable of lasting anywhere between 4 and 6 days on a single charge, and recharging it from 0% to 100% takes between 1.5 to 2 hours. The ring comes with a USB-C charging dock, ensuring it’s always easy to keep it powered and ready for use. Typically, I would put it on a charger in the morning. After a half an hour it would be back up to 100%.
Interestingly, the box includes a Type-C to Type-C cable. Which is unusual because you need an additional adapter to plug it into a standard USB port. However, you can use any Type-C cable with the charger. Most people these days have one or two such cables lying around. I found it convenient to just use the one from my iPad.
In terms of battery performance, the Ring Air holds up well to its claims. After a typical day of use, I noticed the battery level would only decrease by about 15-20%. While there are other smart rings on the market that advertise a week-long battery life, user reviews often tell a different story. I can confirm that Ring Air, delivers on its promise, providing pretty reliable battery performance.
Technical specs: Ultrahuman Ring Air vs Oura Ring
The comparison table below reveals that the Ultrahuman Ring Air and Oura Ring Gen3 are closely matched in terms of build, dimensions and most of the technical specs.
Oura holds an edge with a dedicated airplane mode and a few more years of experience in the smart ring space. Ultrahuman counters with a lighter device and a more cost-effective offering, considering there’s no monthly subscription. Moreover, despite official specifications, judging by user reviews it is likely that the Ultrahuman Ring Air’s battery life surpasses that of the Oura Ring.
Specification | Ultrahuman Ring Air | Oura Ring Gen3 |
|---|---|---|
Materials | Fighter jet grade Titanium reinforced with Tungsten Carbide Carbon coating outer shell. The inner of the ring is coated with medical-grade hypoallergenic epoxy resin. | Durable titanium, PVD Coating Non-allergenic, non-metallic, seamless inner moulding |
Water resistance | up to 100m/328 ft | up to 100m/328 ft |
Dimensions | Width: 8.1mm, Thickness: 2.45mm to 2.8mm (depending on ring size) | Width: 7.9mm, Thickness: 2.55mm |
Weight | 2.4 to 3.6 grams (depending on ring size) | 4 to 6 grams (depending on ring size) |
Sensors | Red LEDs (heart rate monitoring and oxygen saturation). Green LEDs (heart rate monitoring). Infrared Photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor, non-contact medical-grade skin temperature sensor, 6-axis motion sensors. | Green LEDs (optical heart rate sensor), Red LED (blood oxygen sensor), Infrared Photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors, Skin temperature sensors (negative temperature coefficient sensors), Photodiodes, 3D Accelerometer |
Battery life | Up to 6 days of battery life, 1.5 – 2 hours to fully charge the Ring from 0% to 100%. | Up to 7 days of battery life, Full charge in 20 to 80 minutes |
Charger | Charging dock USB-C | Charging dock USB-C |
Memory | Built-in memory – 4-6 days | 16 MB |
Connectivity | BLE, EMF-Safe | BLE, EMF-Safe and Allows Airplane Mode |
Price | $350 – no monthly subscription | $300 (and up depending on model) + $5.99 monthly subscription |
Ultrahuman Ring Air review: Features
Let’s dive deeper into the Ultrahuman Ring Air’s features. We’ll see how they combine to offer a complete picture of your wellbeing.
Using the ring
Initial setup
Getting started with the Ultrahuman Ring Air is a breeze. Once you receive your device, you’ll need to pair it with your smartphone. This is done via a Bluetooth connection. The Ultrahuman app, available for both iOS and Android devices, serves as the control center for your ring. Through the app, you can access and interpret the wealth of health data collected by the device.
For the purpose of this review, I chose to use the Android app. To provide full transparency, I initially attempted to connect the ring to my iPhone 6, but encountered a few hiccups. Given the age of the phone and the number of devices already connected to it, there seemed to be some interference disrupting the connection between the ring and the phone.
Put on and forget
With the initial pairing out of the way, I found that using the Ultrahuman Ring Air is as effortless as it gets. Once you’ve put it on, you can essentially forget about it. There are no buttons to fiddle around with or screens to navigate. The ring quietly goes about its work, collecting your health data in the background. As mentioned, its waterproof design means you don’t have to worry about taking it off when you’re washing your hands, taking a shower, or even going for a swim.
Despite being more lightweight than many other options on the market, the actual dimensions of the Ring Air are pretty much on par with its competitors. However, its lightweight design enhances its wearability, making it comfortable for continuous wear.
One of the standout features of the Ring Air is its durability. The ring’s scratch-resistant Tungsten carbide coating ensures it remains in pristine condition, even with regular use. This means you can go about your daily activities without worrying about damaging the ring. At the end of the two weeks of testing my ring looked as good as it did on the first day – no scratches whatsoever.
The smartphone app
The moment you put on the Ultrahuman Ring Air, it starts collecting data. Although it’s designed to reach full accuracy after two weeks of continuous use, I noticed that the initial statistics were quite satisfactory. As it has no built-in display, regular syncing with the smartphone app is necessary to access the collected metrics.
The smartphone app, for me, is a standout feature of the device. It’s well-structured and provides a plethora of information. It doesn’t just display data but interprets it to offer valuable insights into health and wellness. However, I did notice sometimes a slight delay in data updates – a minor inconvenience.
The extensive amount of information might be overwhelming for some. But I prefer to have an overflow of data than not enough data. However, I do believe the app could benefit from a bit of streamlining to make it more user-friendly.
Innovative recovery and lifestyle data
As someone who reviews wearables for a living, I find that the most valuable devices are those that do more than just monitor health metrics. They also enlighten me about my health and fitness. They teach me something new. The Ultrahuman Ring Air fits this bill perfectly, offering not just tracking features, but also serving as an educational tool for health and wellness.
To this end there are some innovative features.
One of them is the circadian clock, segmented into various phases such as Phase Advance, Phase Delay, the Circadian Delay Zone, and the Minima Zone. Each phase interacts with your body in unique ways, and the app informs you of your current phase and its duration. It also elucidates how your circadian rhythm can be adjusted through light exposure, physical activity, and diet. This adjustment is calculated using your body’s temperature minima – the lowest temperature point during your sleep.
Another unique feature is the Stimulant Restriction Window. This tool helps you understand how stimulants, such as caffeine, affect your body based on factors like your sleep index, circadian rhythm, and body weight. The app divides your day into optimal and suboptimal windows for caffeine consumption, suggesting suitable caffeinated beverages during the permissible window. Nice.
Activity tracking
Movement index
It’s important to note that tracking steps from a ring worn on the finger may not be as accurate as tracking from a wrist-worn device. It’s just the nature of the beast. Despite this, the step estimate provided by the Ring Air is fairly decent. I found that sometimes it was accurate, sometimes it overshot or underestimated by up to 10%.
As with most of the metrics you get a summary score for your daily activity level. It ranges between 0–100 and comes in the form of a Movement Index. Additionally, you get various types of data such as active hours, calories, activity minutes and more.
Users also have access to a tab in the app links you to real-world performance coaches. This allows you to ask questions and get answers on topics such as metabolism, diet, exercise and more. Sometimes these are in real-time, at other times you will get a response after a few hours.
Workout tracking
While using the ring during workouts, it’s important to note that it tends to underestimate your heart rate. However, Ultrahuman recently introduced an update featuring a dedicated workout mode.
This mode enhances data collection accuracy and offers real-time workout tracking, capturing heart rate data every second. Be aware, though, that this high-frequency data collection might accelerate battery consumption, so it’s exclusively activated when you are exercising.
Just before finalizing this review, I had the opportunity to test this feature. It offers a selection of activities, including indoor and outdoor walking, running, cycling, cross-training, HIIT, badminton, football, cricket, basketball, hiking, elliptical strength training, tennis and more.
I was impressed by the swift connection to my phone’s GPS signal, and the real-time metrics displayed on my phone screen. Post-workout, the app provides a summary of your session, offering additional insights into your performance.
For the purposes of this review I did a quick test on how the Ultrahuman Air ring in Workout mode fared on a 5 kilometre run. At the same time I wore a Garmin Forerunner 955 on my wrist. Unfortunately the data was not up to scratch.
Ring Air clocked my run at 5.76 kilometres. Granted this could have been due to the GPS signal on my Android phone. I was doing the test on a rainy day in central London, with tall buildings all around me.
However, the heart rate data was way off as well. The ring calculated my average heart rate to be 94 bpm during the run. In reality, it was closer to 140 bpm as measured by the Garmin.
Clearly the Workout Mode is still work in progress. After all, it is marked as a Beta feature. But at the time of writing this review I did not find it to be fit for purpose – at least not for outdoor running. I will update this article when the feature progresses past the Beta stage.
New features incoming
Ultrahuman has also announced a few upcoming features. This includes a respiratory rate tracker to provide insights into breathing efficiency and recovery trends. There will be a cardiovascular fitness assessment that will evaluate VO2 max, arterial stiffness, and ageing. Arterial stiffness sounds particularly intriguing as it will provide insights into the health of your arterial wall. This can indicate potential health issues like hypertension or arterial ageing.
The company obviously has ambitions goals and is not only sticking to the tried and tested metrics which we’ve seen so many companies replicate. It should be commended for that. In fact you can view the roadmap of upcoming features on this link.
Recovery data
The wearable also provides comprehensive recovery data. Overall, I found its accuracy to be pretty decent. I conducted a two week comparison test with Whoop, Garmin Forerunner 955, and RingConn, and discovered that the data from the Ultrahuman Ring Air aligns most closely with the Garmin vitals metrics.
Upon examining resting heart rate and heart rate variability in detail, I noticed that the latter mirrored the daily fluctuations of the other devices more accurately. On most days, the proportional up and down fluctuations were similar. The accuracy of the resting heart rate was also commendable, although its correlation with daily fluctuations was not as strong as that of heart rate variability.
Average | Ultrahuman | Whoop | Garmin | RingConn |
Resting heart rate (bpm) | 48 | 50 | 47 | 49 |
Heart rate variability (ms) | 43 | 34 | 42 | 52 |
As far as the sleep estimate is concerned, the good thing about Ultrahuman is that it captures all the naps. It is actually quite good at that. Many times the app will ask for confirmation if it’s unsure whether you’ve taken a nap. All you need to do is tap on yes or no.
However, it’s worth noting that the sleep sensitivity settings are quite hight. For example, if you get up and move around for a few minutes early in the morning and then return to sleep, the device records that subsequent sleep as a nap. And that’s even if it lasts for a couple of hours.
It would be more representative if this time were included in your primary sleep session. Perhaps something for an additional software update. Additionally, the blood oxygen measurement feature is still under development and is currently in Beta. I found that at times it would spit out a figure for my nightly sleep average that is clearly too low.
Nevertheless, I found the Recovery Score that Ultrahuman displays to be particularly useful and reflective of how I felt on a daily basis. I like that the app clearly explains how this score is calculated, considering data such as resting heart rate, skin temperature, HRV form, Sleep Index, and Movement Index. This information is presented in a user-friendly format, including a chart showing your one week HRV baseline and your current standing.
Ultrahuman Ring Air review: The bottom line
In wrapping up this review, the Ultrahuman Ring Air stands out as a strong contender in the smart ring market. Its app is a highlight, offering a plethora of insights and innovative features that go beyond simple data display. It interprets the collected data, empowering users with a deeper understanding of their health and wellness.
The accuracy of heart rate variability, resting heart rate and sleep is quite decent. These metrics provide valuable insights into one’s overall health and recovery status, contributing to a comprehensive wellness tracking experience. The addition of innovative features such as the circadian clock and stimulant restriction window further enriches the user experience.
For me, the best wearables are those that not only track health metrics but also educate me about my health and fitness. The Ultrahuman Ring Air fits this bill, offering a learning experience alongside its tracking capabilities. It’s not just about numbers and graphs; it’s about gaining a better understanding of your body and making informed decisions about your health and wellness.
The device’s lightweight and comfortable design, along with its impressive battery life, ensures it can be worn continuously without any discomfort. The regular rollout of new features is also a plus.
However, the data could use a bit of tweaking. For example the step count and features that are currently in Beta need more work. Also, the app could benefit from some simplification to enhance the overall user experience.
In conclusion, despite a few areas that could be improved, the Ultrahuman Ring Air is a robust, insightful, and educational health and wellness device that’s worth considering. The absence of subscription fees and a retail price of $350 on the Ultrahuman website (check price on Amazon / Ultrahuman) make it a cost-effective choice.
We also recommend checking out RingConn and our hands-on review of the device. View on RingConn website.
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Hi – thank you for your thorough review. Does this new wearable have any kind of memory? In other words, if you should not have your mobile in your immediate possession for ten minutes around the house or even for a run without your mobile, the data could still be recorded as soon as the ring is again nearby the paired mobile?
Also does this ring’s app (or app for any similar wearable) allow another person / family member to see any real-time stats being recorded by the ring? Thanks again.
The ring has memory (see specs table in the article). So the ring doesn’t need access to your mobile to collect data – you just need to sync the data at least once every few days to your mobile phone. As far as the app – there is no special access as far as I am aware. But I’m sure you could install the app with your username and password on another person’s phone and they will have access to the exact same data as you.