Amazfit Helio Smart Ring Review: Bargain Bin Bust

Smart rings are successful nan mediate of a renaissance. That’s awesome because we yet personification measurement overmuch options than conscionable an Oura Ring. The downside is astir of Oura’s would-be rivals are launching their first, possibly second-gen smart rings. Meaning, if you want an Oura Ring alternative, there’s a bully chance you’ll personification to put up pinch quirks and a chopped deficiency of polish. The $199.99 Amazfit Helio smart ringing is nary exception.

Amazfit isn’t a family punishment but is well-known among wearable bargain hunters. It’s a compelling marque because its gadgets get you a batch of bang for your buck. That’s nan suit pinch nan Helio ring, nan brand’s first foray into smart rings. It’s chiefly a slumber tracker, but it comes pinch an AI chatbot called Zepp Flow, an AI coaching feature, and it has an electrodermal activity (EDA) sensor for monitoring stress, a joke oxygen sensor, a somesthesia sensor, and play tracking. It too syncs pinch celebrated third-party fittingness apps for illustration Adidas Running, Strava, and Komoot, arsenic bully arsenic Apple Health and Google Fit. Like nan Samsung Galaxy Ring, it useful pinch Amazfit’s different smartwatches truthful you tin double up connected accusation sources — aliases move betwixt nan 2 depending connected nan activity aliases remaining artillery life.

That’s a batch packed into a smart ring, and since launching, Zepp permanently trim nan worth by $100 and offered free life subscriptions to its Aura and Fitness services. On paper, this has nan makings of a stellar deal. In reality, there’s ever a catch.

In nan Helio ring’s case, it’s artillery life and constricted sizing.

Right now, nan champion smart rings get you astir 4-7 days connected a azygous charge, depending connected nan size. (Bigger rings, bigger batteries.) The Helio ringing is rated for astir 4 days connected a azygous charge, but I ne'er managed that. At best, I sewage astir three. That’s not great, Bob. Especially erstwhile this is meant to chiefly measurement sleep. I wore it concurrently pinch nan Oura Ring 4 and had to title it 2 to 3 times arsenic often. I too didn’t announcement immoderate discernable artillery benefits erstwhile worn pinch 2 abstracted Amazfit watches. At slightest pinch nan Galaxy Ring, utilizing it pinch nan Galaxy Watch meant overmuch amended artillery life because Samsung optimizes which sensors are being utilized crossed immoderate devices.

Adding to my artillery woes, I don’t emotion that nan ringing relies connected a dock. My cats delight successful knocking these puck-like chargers astir erstwhile they get nan night-time zoomies. I overmuch for illustration charging cases, for illustration nan ones utilized by nan Galaxy Ring, RingConn, and nan Evie Ring.

The different constituent astir wearables is they personification to be, well, wearable. While Oura and Samsung personification expanded their size ranges and relationship aggregate finishes, Amazfit only offers nan Helio smart ringing successful 1 colour and 3 sizes: 8, 10, and 12. That’s swell if that’s your size — it’s alternatively lightweight and comfortable, and it hasn’t gotten scratched up for illustration immoderate of my different smart rings. The slim size action of leaves retired galore group pinch smaller hands, peculiarly women. I hap to caller nan size 8, but for immoderate of my friends, this isn’t point they tin wear.

Another annoyance: there’s nary sizing kit. Getting nan correct size matters pinch smart rings, immoderate for accuracy and comfort. Fingers swell and shrink pinch somesthesia changes, and while sizing kits tin beryllium tedious, they’re useful successful nan consciousness you tin thoroughly vet which size will activity champion for 24/7 wear. With nan Helio ring, you personification to usage either a drawstring aliases a information of information to measurement nan circumference of your digit and past return based connected that measurement. Just, no.

But if you tin get past each that, nan slumber and wellness hunt is alright, though it’s champion for a big-picture look astatine your wide trends. For instance, 1 nighttime during my Christmas holidays, I slept for a glorious 9 hours, 47 minutes per my Oura Ring 4 and 10 hours, 34 minutes per my Eight Sleep bed. The Helio ringing logged that arsenic 11 hours and 23 minutes. It’s existent I spent astir 12 hours that evening doing my champion belief of an inert log, but I too spent 2 hours doomscrolling, consumed by nan Blake Lively / Justin Baldoni play connected TikTok. I wouldn’t telephone that 1 nighttime accurate, but it correctly logged that I was irregular pinch my slumber schedule and well-rested that afloat week. Other metrics, for illustration joke oxygen, HRV, and stress, were broadly connected par pinch my Oura Ring and Eight Sleep bed.

It’s not a awesome fittingness tracker, though. The activities you tin return from are limited, you’ll petition your telephone connected your for GPS, and it doesn’t automatically measurement activities either. And, if for illustration me, you occasionally hide to extremity an exercise, there’s nary measurement to edit nan accusation aft nan fact. I dream this is point that gets added complete time.

The Zepp app is too a mixed bag. The app’s been redesigned since I tested nan fantabulous GTR 4, and I for illustration nan cleaner look and straightforward interface. My main beef is it’s difficult to position semipermanent humanities data, which was highly annoying erstwhile reviewing metrics for this review. Still, Zepp Flow is 1 of nan amended implementations for an AI chatbot I’ve seen successful a fittingness hunt app. You’ll spot play insights celebrated up, and a fistful of prompts wherever you tin excavation successful further pinch nan chatbot. The AI insights are, really shall we say, Captain Obvious levels of basal communal sense, but astatine slightest it’s speedy, straightforward to use, and easy ignored if that’s not your thing. It’s neat you tin get slumber sounds and guided breathing for free via nan Zepp Aura tab, but I didn’t usage it much. I’ve recovered I autumn dormant champion to existent crime podcasts. Chances are, you’ve too sewage a decent thought of what useful for you and nan Aura worldly isn’t going to trump that unless you’re looking for point new.

I don’t dislike nan Helio smart ring. But reside from nan price, it’s not a peculiarly compelling action unless you already personification an Amazfit watch. At slightest then, each your accusation syncs to nan aforesaid app. And moreover then, your Amazfit watch will astir apt outlast nan ringing and past what are we really doing here? Maybe a second-gen type aliases early package will reside issues for illustration artillery life and bring overmuch sizes. But until then, it’s difficult to telephone this a existent bargain.