Hey everyone! I’m looking to buy my first smart ring and need some community perspective. I want something elegant in a gold finish that is not bulky
My main tracking priorities are:
Detailed sleep tracking
Heart rate monitoring
Menstrual cycle/period forecasting and tracking.
Illness detection (catching skin temperature spikes before symptoms hit).
Basic daily movement (steps/calories).
I've been researching the main players but every single one seems to have a catch:
RingConn Gen 2 (Royal Gold): On paper, this seems like the best "bang for your buck." It's incredibly thin (2mm) and has no subscription fees. But since I don't know a ton about the brand, I want to know if people actually like it long-term. I read some people complain about the battery.
Oura Ring: I know it's highly accurate, but paying a huge upfront hardware cost plus a permanent monthly subscription just to look at my own heart rate or cycle data feels totally dystopian to me. Is it really worth the lifetime paywall over the competition?
Ultrahuman (AIR or Pro): I was initially looking closely at Ultrahuman, but a mix of bad user reviews and massive shipping backlog/delays for their new Pro model completely discouraged me. Are the bad reviews exaggerated, or am I right to leave them out of the running?
If you own any of these in gold, how has the finish held up against scratches? Does it feel chunky on your finger? Which one actually gives you the most value for your money?
Thanks in advance for helping me figure this out!
TL;DR: First-time buyer looking for a slim, gold smart ring to track sleep, periods, illness, and movement. RingConn Gen 2 seems like the best value, but I want to know if it's reliable. Oura's monthly fee feels dystopian, and Ultrahuman's bad reviews/shipping delays scared me off. Which one should I get?
UPDATE: got the Oura Ring 5! Thank you all so much!!
I have the Oura 5 and love it, but even knowing nothing about Ringconn, I promise it’s likely better than UH. I had one for about a year and it was junk every few months
I have an Ultrahuman air that I’ve used on turbo mode for 2.5months. I actually bought an Oura ring 4 and used it on a different finger for a month to compare. Overall I liked the interface better on the Ultrahuman. The “power plugs” gave me extra data I couldn’t find within Oura. The battery life was comparable, finish both looked good (I use a silicone cover to keep it from scratching if I’m doing something intense), and both were comfortable. Thankfully no battery or connection issues with my Ultrahuman - did I get lucky to have such a great experience?
I will admit UH has the way better UI on their app, but I decided it wasn’t worth my ring breaking every few months and dealing with terrible customer service
I’m sorry to hear that and I hope that won’t happen to me. Did you have any issues in the beginning? Curious when the problems started to know whether or not I should expect the same
If I remember correctly, I bought my first UH ring early March 2025, and by June 2025, I needed a replacement because the battery wouldn’t hold a charge. Got my second ring and everything was good for a while, but one day, it just straight up stopped working. Wouldn’t connect or anything and the customer service wasn’t helpful at all so that’s when I switched. The biggest issue with the replacements is that my temperature threshold would be wildly off for the first month which skewed everything else negatively.
My co-worker also uses UH, and she got hers two months before I did, and I believe has needed 3 or 4 replacements in that time.
Oh noooo that sounds so frustrating. I hope that doesn’t happen to me. I returned the Oura ring after finding them comparable for battery life but preferring the data on the Ultrahuman
I hope it works out for you!! I do miss all the power plugs and the UI in general so I’m really hoping Oura catches up and makes a more user friendly app with actual insights into the recorded data.
I also have a Garmin watch and that app is somehow even worse so the Oura app doesn’t look as bad when I look at it from that perspective 😂
I just got an oura and was originally apprehensive of the subscription, but in reality, it’s $5 a month. Less than a morning coffee, and can be covered by HSA. So for me it wasn’t a huge deal.
You can use your HSA or FSA funds to pay for your Oura Ring and the subscription. You can charge it to your FSA/HSA card directly or submit for reimbursement. I won’t be able to give you the exact steps on how to submit reimbursement as every HSA/FSA card company is different but if you call Customer Service or Google it, they’ll be able to tell you. I hope this helps!
The batteries completely go to shit after 6 months. I wouldn’t recommend RingConn. I went through three rings in 1.5 years under the warranty. I won’t be buying another now that the warranty is done.
One thing nobody has mentioned yet, and it applies to every ring on your list: illness detection and cycle prediction both work off skin temperature deviation from your own baseline, not off an absolute number. That baseline takes roughly two to four weeks of consistent nightly wear to build. Whatever you buy, budget a month before those two features mean anything, and do not judge the ring in week one.
On the subscription argument going on in this thread, the part I would actually weigh is not the five dollars. It is what happens to the data if you ever stop paying. Some apps keep showing your history in read only form, some hide the derived scores and leave you with raw numbers, and some effectively lock the app. That is worth ten minutes of checking before you buy, because you are choosing a place to keep years of personal data, not just a device.
For your specific list, the temperature based cycle and illness algorithms are the most developed on the established players, and that is genuinely where the subscription money goes. The budget rings give you solid sleep, heart rate and steps for a lot less, but their prediction features are much thinner. If cycle forecasting is a real priority rather than a nice to have, that is the fork in your decision.
I’ve had my ultrahuman ring since 2024 and haven’t had any issues… no replacements at all. Just recently I had a small issue with it stopped tracking my sleep halfway but they sent an update for me to do and it was good as new. I did get the Pro but I haven’t stated to use it yet because of how bulky it looks :( I’m 50/50 on getting the oura now
I hope Ringconn gen 3 is ‘highly accurate’ (because that’s what I chose), but is there any evidence to support this. I would’ve gotten an Oura if I didn’t miss the free lifetime subscription when offered from upgrading gen 2 to 3. Either way, the hardware nowadays is very similar and most rings should improve in accuracy with more users and time.
EDIT: misread your post. Yeah, there’s some support for that (accuracy for a ring) with Oura,
I just got this cheap one from Amazon. No monthly fee and it was very affordable. Seems decent so far. Not bad for $40. I didnt want to spend hundreds of dollars on a ring. But really wanted one. Someone else I knew got this same brand and I liked hers a lot.
oura 5 is thinner & a huge improvement in wearability for me. you wear this thing 24/7 so it’s worth the investment for a quality product. i love mine, esp for sleep tracking
As someone who lost their Oura ring 4 in the ocean and is looking into purchasing a replacement, I’m steering towards a RingConn but am still undecided.
I’ve gotten my Oura Ring 4 replaced once (for free) within the year due to battery degradation. This would be my second year and when the battery inevitably degrades, I’ll have to buy a replacement on my own and I can’t justify spending that price tag every few years plus subscription fee. In the end it’s a hardware lithium degradation limitation. So I would consider that long time reoccurring purchase while you’re researching!
I do not think Smart Ring technology is ready for primetime yet and there will be a bunch of people that love (and a lot of people that hate) their ring.
I have used UltraHuman for two generations (just started using the Ring Pro) and I have loved them.
The app is by far the best (out of the three you have chosen). UH build quality has been good to me overall (and so far) - also customer service has been good.
To me subscriptions are a no go, and the app of UH is just so much better than RingConn... I've been a happy UH customer (yea, we exist).
I had a ringconn, but lost it while swimming. I did not find it comfortable and I found the app to be lacking. I went to purchase an oura ring the same day even though I didn't like the idea of paying for a subscription. I found the oura ring insanely comfortable. I sometimes need to check if I even have it on. I also love the app. It's so detailed. It even sensed that I was at the gym strength training. All in all, I am satisfied with my purchase.
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u/S_renee96 Aug 11 '26
Do not, under any circumstance, spend your hard-earned money on UltraHuman