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If you love to track your steps, keep a careful eye on your health and sleep data, or plan workout regimens with the help of smart tech, you probably have a smartwatch or health wearable. But let's be honest: some smartwatches are far too clunky, and even the most nondescript smartwatch bands can clash with your outfit.
Smart rings, on the other hand, are a subtler, lightweight, and newer form of wellness tracking that could be up your alley. Thanks to built-in sensors that measure aspects like heart rate and blood oxygen levels, fitness rings continue to revolutionize the fitness wearable landscape, enabling users to track their health and improve their fitness without needing to open their phone or-- in some cases -- wait solely on doctor results. Plus, instead of presenting a screen interface, fitness rings connect via a smartphone app, making for a more distraction-free approach to health and technology.
Also: The best fitness trackers
ZDNET went hands-on with our top pick, the ever-popular Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon , and was impressed by its comprehensive health suite, easy wear, nice material, and battery life. It's a big year for fitness rings, with two highly anticipated options coming out within the next few months. Find out how other leading brands on the market -- both those currently available and those set to release soon-- compare based on that criteria and more.
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
The Oura Ring is currently one of the most successful fitness rings on the market, offering four different color options and various sizes to choose from.
ZDNET's Sherin Shibu bought and tested the Heritage Oura ring, and put it through a number of weekly activities, like strength training, cycling class, yoga class, and more. The highlight of the ring is that it doesn't let the user get lost in data. You get a simplified activity, sleep, and readiness score that you can use to improve your overall wellness, along with more detailed charts monitoring heart rate and body temperature if you wish to peruse them.
Review: Is the Oura Ring worth buying in 2023?
The ring also has 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.
In addition to its impressive sleep tracking, the Oura Ring also excels in activity tracking. It monitors your steps, calories burned (including active calories), heart rate during exercise, and training volume. When comparing its activity tracking to that of a Garmin Vivomove Sport watch, the Oura Ring was within 200 steps of Garmin's tracked steps.
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.
Go2sleep specs: Sizing: Three sizing options | Material: Food-grade silicon | Colors: White | Water resistance: Up to three feet for 30 minutes | Sensors: Heart rate, blood oxygen, and HRV | Connectivity: Bluetooth | Battery: Two nights
The Go2sleep fitness ring is appropriately named as it specializes in monitoring your sleep. Along with tracking your heart rate, it gathers other data such as your blood oxygen level (SpO2), AHI, heart rate variability (HRV), and perfusion index. The device also features vibration feedback, which makes it easy to receive notifications.
Also: The best Fitbit fitness trackers
By using the app, you can share your sleep data with family members to compare sleep patterns. Additionally, you can download your sleep reports as Excel files to share the information with your medical provider.
The advanced technology incorporated into the Go2sleep ring includes an alarm function that wakes you up during your lightest sleep phase in the morning. The device also has an auto-sync feature with the Health app on iOS devices and a ring-finding function that helps locate the device if it is misplaced (or lost in bed while sleeping).
The ring is normally $149, but you can get it for $99 on the company's website.
Movano Evie Ring specs: Sizing: 5-11 | Material: N/A | Colors: Silver, rose gold, gold | Water resistance: N/A | Sensors: Heart rate, heart rate variability, SpO₂, skin temperature, and active metabolic calorie burn | Connectivity: N/A | Battery: N/A
Movano's upcoming Evie Ring made its debut at CES 2023, and it is set to become the first wearable fitness tracker to be FDA-certified as a medical device, possibly even as a licensed pulse oximeter. It is also the first fitness device designed specifically for women's health.
Also: The best fitness apps
The Evie Ring will offer "actionable insights" that can help women understand the reasons behind their physical and emotional states. Movano claims that the ring can even "mood track." Through its skin temperature sensors, the ring can predict menstrual cycles and ovulation, providing an additional layer of insight into women's health.
In addition to its unique features, the Evie Ring also offers a standard activity profile, displaying total steps taken, continuous movement stats, and calorie output.
Although the ring is not yet available for purchase, you can sign up to receive preorder updates when it becomes available later in November.
Circular Ring specs: Sizing: 6-13 | Material: High-grade alloy of stainless steel and carbon fiber with coating | Colors: Silver, black, rose gold, gold | Water resistance: Only suitable for light water. Cannot shower or wash hands with ring on. | Sensors: Heart rate, heart rate variability, SpO₂, skin temperature, and active metabolic calorie burn | Connectivity: Bluetooth Smart Low Energy, Airplane Mode | Battery: Up to 4 days
While most fitness rings are ambient technology that you forget you're wearing, this ring by Circular incorporates vibration notifications. The ring vibrates during guided meditations, as an alarm clock to wake you up in the morning, and you can set personalized timers throughout the day for the ring to vibrate.
Also: The best smart rings
The device tracks precise heart rate, breathing rate, blood oxygen levels, temperature, and motion during sleep with emphasis on quality, duration, and circadian rhythm. You'll even get notifications about irregular heart rates and blood oxygen levels.
For fitness, you'll get an energy score that tells you how much energy you've exerted throughout the day, and the ring automatically tracks your workouts.
You can order your ring now for $284.
The Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon is our overall pick for the best fitness ring when you want a stylish but reliable fitness ring. The companion app helps you keep an eye on 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 a wide variety of options based on pricing and purposes. That way if you're an avid swimmer or need a fitness ring with vibrating alerts, we have you covered.
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.
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.
An affordable fitness ring to monitor your sleep. With vibration feedback and heart rate, blood oxygen, and HRV sensors, the Go2Sleep monitors your sleep quality and provides useful data for you to analyze that you can even access and download as Excel files.
A fitness ring built for women set to release later this year. 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.
Vibrations and reminders in a fitness ring. The ring vibrates during guided meditations, as an alarm clock to wake you up in the morning, and you can set personalized timers throughout the day for the ring to vibrate. It tracks precise heart rate, breathing rate, blood oxygen levels, temperature, and motion during sleep with emphasis on quality, duration, and circadian rhythm.
There are several factors we considered when evaluating the best fitness rings.
When shopping for the best fitness rings, consider which features are most important to you and be sure to explore your options so you can find the best fit for your needs.
A fitness ring is also known as a smart ring. Similar to a smartwatch, this is an electronic device that you wear 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.
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.
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.
The fitness ring market is small, but it is growing. There aren't many other options to choose from at the moment, but we'd recommend checking out these picks as well.
The circul+ Smart Ring by Prevention is a good alternative fitness ring due to its compact size, advanced health monitoring capabilities, and unique features like UV monitoring and skin temperature tracking.
Umbrella Valve Seals The Sharper Image Smart Fitness Ring is also worth buying because of its affordable price point, accurate health tracking sensors, and customizable fitness goals and reminders.