It’s one of the hottest new connected rings on the market, with features and data collection that go beyond Oura for people looking to optimize their health program. Last month I tested one of these rings alongside the Oura Horizon ring, wearing them both around the clock while recording everything from my morning coffee to my late night cocktails . Simply put, the Ultrahuman ring will excite people who care deeply about their health and fitness.
The three points to remember about the Ultrahuman Ring AIR connected ring
- The Ultrahuman Ring Air is the brand’s first foray into the field of connected rings, and it costs €380 and without a subscription.
- The ring is ideal for fitness enthusiasts and exercise enthusiasts who want to use their health data to optimize their wellness program.
- The app’s user interface could be improved to make daily check-in functions easier to access.
If Oura seems to be aimed at everyone who wishes to invest in a connected ring), Ultrahuman’s proposal, although more specialized, is undoubtedly better. If the Oura ring could be the choice of your neighbor, the Ultrahuman Air ring would rather be the choice of the professional based in Silicon Valley, who invests in Bitcoins and drinks Soylent (packaged meal replacement, among other things, in powder form). dilute). But while it puts die-hard fitness enthusiasts on the right track, this ring will also help everyone, even amateur athletes, to best help their bodies feel good.
Unlike the Oura ring, which requires a monthly subscription (at 6 euros), the Ultrahuman Air ring does not require one. The Ultrahuman is available in matte gray, matte black, silver and gold. Of all the connected rings I have tested, this is by far the thinnest and most discreet. Additionally, the matte gray finish didn’t scratch or tarnish after a month of use, something I can’t say about other rings with shiny metallic finishes.
From the moment you wake up to the minute you fall asleep, Ultrahuman sends you notifications on how to make the most of your available energy and body clock. With all this scientific information about my body, I couldn’t help but feel like I was hacking my health!
Warnings and suggestions galore
Within an hour of waking up, Ultrahuman reports my “residual adenosine levels.” My what ? I had to do some research. Adenosine is a natural chemical associated with wakefulness. He tells me to delay consuming stimulants like caffeine until about two hours after waking up in order to flush the adenosine out of my system and enhance caffeine’s impact on my energy levels. It also reminds me to expose myself to bright light or exercise during this time if I want to go to bed and wake up earlier.
Throughout the day I receive messages like this. Ultrahuman tells me that my window of tolerance for stimulants, that is to say the period during which I can consume caffeine without it disturbing my sleep, is coming to an end. But that’s not all: it also tells me how much caffeine certain stimulants contain, how long they will stay in my system and whether they exceed the recommended limit of that substance in that interval.
As the day goes on, it invites me to stretch my legs and tells me the ideal bedtime for a sufficient night’s sleep. This is all calculated based on my waking times, sleep, and recovery data.
The Ultrahuman Ring Air measures heart rate, skin temperature, heart rate variability (HRV), and resting heart rate to determine data related to sleep, recovery, and my physical activity. It also measures VO2 Max, which is how well the body uses oxygen during workouts.
Ultrahuman presents all of this data in an easy-to-understand format via an app, with scores (and explanations) for three main phases: sleep, activity, and recovery. For example, when I scored 95 for sleep, it meant that I fell asleep faster and actually slept for most of my rest time. Along with my high sleep score, I got a recovery score of 90, and the analysis system told me that my scores were very good, and that I should therefore “push my cognitive goals a little further and physical fitness. On a day when my sleep score was 49 and my recovery score was 64, the app advised me to take a long walk and try a “sleep-free deep rest session” during the day.
Nina Raemont/ZDNET
Other health data, such as HRV, VO2 Max and resting heart rate, are tracked and daily data is aggregated and presented in graphs with daily, weekly and monthly trends, illustrated by green indicators and red. All of these data points are accompanied by explanations of what each indicator means to a person’s overall health, helping to elucidate its complexity.
The Ultrahuman ring offers another health function: meal logging, which draws on the food knowledge of the ChatGPT AI. This requires me to record the foods I eat throughout the day and the Food Optimization AI provides advice on how to avoid glucose spikes when consuming certain foods. For example, when I checked out a bag of chips, the AI advised me to serve them with cheese or other protein, like a hard-boiled egg, to slow glucose absorption. He also advised me to drink water before and after eating the chips and to take a brisk walk after eating them to reduce my blood sugar response. Although I rarely follow these tips, I find it a useful feature for people who are obsessed with fitness and food and want to optimize their diet.
No automatic detection of training sessions
Of course, you can also record your workouts, which I often did when training for my half marathon. However, the ring does not automatically detect that you are exercising. I hope Ultrahuman will improve this in future updates. I loved being able to see the map of where I ran, my average heart rate, my max heart rate, the calories I burned, and my average pace. Plus, it also shows my training zones, which is essential for tracking long runs.
The last feature that makes this ring ideal for exercise junkies is the content discoveries tab. It offers video classes for everything related to pilates, strength training, HIIT and yoga. Podcasts are available for meditation and soundscapes for falling asleep.
Nina Raemont/ZDNET
You can wear the ring for about five days before the battery runs out. When I tested its battery against Oura’s, I charged both to 100% on a Tuesday afternoon and waited to see how long each battery would last when used with regular activities. As of Sunday morning, the Oura ring was at 7% and the Ultrahuman Air ring was at 6%. I do note, however, that the Ultrahuman ring gets hot to the touch after charging.
In the next update of the Ultrahuman Ring Air, I would like to see the app UI improved. It could take inspiration from the Oura app, which delivers information on sleep, readiness, resilience and activity at the top of a home tab. I also wish there was a more accessible add data feature, so you didn’t have to scroll through the entire app to use tracking food, exercise, weight, etc. .
Purchasing advice for the Ultrahuman Ring AIR connected ring
Who should buy this ring? I imagine anyone interested in fitness and health metrics will get the most out of this Ultrahuman Ring AIR.
And given that information such as the Ultrahuman’s sleep duration and sleep and recovery scores have often mimicked those of the Oura, I would not hesitate to say that it is a copy of the ‘Oura but without subscription and with comparable data and battery life.
Ultimately, the Ultrahuman Ring Air impressed me. With such a new product, it’s exciting to see how it has evolved into a competitive activity tracking ring specialized enough to attract an audience of avid fitness enthusiasts, but with presentation of health data and AI suggestions which could meet the needs of any person just as well.
Source: “ZDNet.com”