Ultrahuman Ring Air Review: The Future of Humanity

What You Need To Know

Introduction to the Ultrahuman Ring Air

MEAGHAN: The first time I heard about the Ultrahuman Ring Air was when the team reached out to see if we wanted to review one. I had previously messaged the guys over at Oura Ring in hopes they’d send me the one for testing, but they were very uninterested. So, obviously, I was excited to try an alternative that appeared to provide the same metrics.

For those unfamiliar, the Ultrahuman Ring Air is a smart ring designed to track your sleep, recovery, and activity and provide suggestions for improvement via an app on your phone. I was most interested in sleep tracking, as I feel like GPS watches like the Coros Pace 3 focus on activity rather than recovery. So, is this additional hand hardware helpful? I’ve got some thoughts.

What we like about the Ultrahuman Ring Air

MEAGHAN: The first step in securing your new Ultrahuman Ring Air is finding the correct size. Thankfully, Ultrahuman makes this process very easy by sending you a sizing kit that also includes the different color options. I wore a pseudo ring for a few nights to get used to it and ended up going with a size 6 in the Raw Titanium finish for my index finger (I’ll go more into the sizing later). The ring itself is extremely light — between 2 and 3 g depending on your size — and I often forgot it was even on my finger.

Onto the data and nerdy stuff that you’re probably here for. The app provides an overview of your day bucketed into movement, stress rhythm, dynamic recovery, and sleep. Below those dashboards are individual markers such as HRV, resting HR, VO2 Max, temperature, etc. It feels a bit overwhelming at first, but once you get used to viewing the data each day, it’s easy to digest and also easy to spot patterns.

The most useful dataset I found was the breakdown of my sleep scores. Even when getting 8-plus hours of sleep, there were significant differences in how I felt based on when my HRV dropped (this takes longer when alcohol is consumed) and when my sleep efficiency was low (not in a relaxed state before bed). The app will then use this data to give you prompts throughout the day, like when to stop drinking caffeine, when to turn off screens (lol), and when to get up and move around. None of the information is groundbreaking, but it’s the reminders and information at your literal fingertips that make it hard to ignore and promote actions to better yourself.

While I can’t compare the data points to the Oura ring, there is definitely one very big feature that wins for Ultrahuman — no subscription fee. The ring costs $350 but comes with a “lifetime subscription,” whereas Oura and others require a monthly subscription to view the data.

What we don’t like about the Ultrahuman Ring Air

MEAGHAN: As someone who wears and uses a Coros running watch every day and goes weeks without charging it, it takes some getting used to a ring that only lasts about four days. The Ring Air takes about two hours to fully charge, so it’s not the biggest deal in the world; you just have to get into the habit of placing it on the charger.

The other issue I found was that I nervously selected a ring size that was a little too big. I didn’t want it to be overly tight so I opted for a slightly loose fit, and it’s caused problems a few times since I’ve been wearing it. I’ve managed to get the Ring Air back every time it’s fallen off, but do yourself a favor and make sure you get a snug-fitting ring!

Final thoughts on the Ultrahuman Ring Air

MEAGHAN: As someone who loves data, especially running-related metrics, I’ve really been enjoying the Ultrahuman Ring Air. It forces you to look at your daily routine and take a deep dive into the impact it has on your overall well-being and recovery. I know getting to bed early, or at least at a similar time every night, is going to be beneficial, but when you see the metrics on bright red and green charts, it’s much easier to enforce the habit.

For some people, this data might be overwhelming, but if you’re a nerdy runner who loves to see how numbers correlate with how you’re feeling, this is a really great option — especially since there’s no subscription fee required.

You can pick up the Ultrahuman Ring Air for $349 from Ultrahuman by using the buttons below.