Smart Ring They’ve arrived. They’re no longer the preserve of Finnish pioneer Oura. We’ve tested rings from Ultrahuman, Ringconn and Movano in recent months, with a review of the Samsung Galaxy Ring in the works. These finger-based trackers are easy to wear and can provide valuable insights into your health and fitness. Amazfit, the Chinese company arguably dominant in the fitness tracking field, is well positioned to jump on the trend, although its Helio smart ring appears to still be in development.
Amazfit grew out of Huami, which was founded over 10 years ago. The company has a lot of experience producing affordable gadgets, and Amazfit is a sub-brand that released its first smartwatch in 2016. Huami rebranded to Zepp Health in 2021, and the Amazfit branding was kept on the devices, but the Amazfit app became the Zepp app. (Choose only one name.)
We’ve tested a few fitness trackers from Amazfit, including the Amazfit GTR Pro (5/10, WIRED review) and Amazfit Balance (5/10, WIRED review). Amazfit is open to pairing rings with watches, and the Zepp app aggregates data from both, so they also sent us a Cheetah Pro along with the Helio (Amazfit also sells rings bundled with other models). The two work well together, but testing the Helio ring on its own quickly revealed its shortcomings.
Hurry up and ring
Photo: Simon Hill
The Amazfit Helio comes in one color and two sizes, which Amazfit calls Titanium. It’s a titanium alloy, but with a bronze finish and a subtle, elegant dot pattern on the top and a small indentation on the other side for proper sensor placement. The Helio weighs just under 4 grams and is 2.6mm thick, making it comfortable to wear. It’s bulkier than a regular ring, but not by much.
The Amazfit Helio is water resistant to 10 ATM, so you can swim or shower with it on. Like the Oura, it comes with a small wireless charging base and USB-C cable, but you’ll need to provide a power adapter. Amazfit offers it in sizes 10 or 12 (luckily, I’m a size 12), with sizes 7 through 13 coming eventually. The limited options reinforce the impression that Amazfit rushed the ring to market.
The ring seems durable; mine is barely scratched after a few weeks. I’m pretty rough with smart rings, and I did scratch it on my ceramic bathroom sink. (Just make sure to remove your ring before any activity that might involve contact with hard surfaces, like cleaning or weightlifting.) Like most smart rings, the Helio is best worn on your index finger, where it’s more likely to come into contact with everything.
Powerful metrics
Helio is equipped with common sensors such as a Photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor, a 3-axis accelerometer, a 3-axis gyroscope, a temperature sensor, and an electrodermal activity sensor (EDA). It can track your heart rate and heart rate variability, active minutes, steps, calories burned, and other data. To see the data, you’ll need to install and link the Zepp app (iOS, Android).
Photo: Simon Hill via Zepp app
