If you’ve been following along on my social channels, you’ll know I’ve had a love-hate relationship with the idea of smart rings for a while. Before I ever put one on my finger, I was convinced they were a disaster waiting to happen. Between a viral story about a tech YouTuber whose smart ring battery swelled up right before a flight to a conversation with a paramedic who warned me that cutting through a swollen ring with a live lithium-ion battery inside is a literal fire hazard… I was not sold.
So when Ultrahuman reached out and asked me to review their Ring Air, I laid all my fears on the table. Four months later, after wearing it to bed, to the gym, and through every daily scroll, here is what actually happened.
Watch the full Reel below for my live reaction and visual breakdown:
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Watch on Instagram: Why I’m putting my smart ring away (for now)
1. The Aesthetic Dilemma (And Small Hands)
The whole reason I wanted to test a smart ring in the first place was simple: I wanted my wrist space back. I missed wearing pretty, classic watches instead of a massive, glowing fitness tracker every single day. I opted for Ultrahuman’s Brushed Rose Gold finish, hoping it would blend in delicately. While the finish is stunning, there’s no escaping the reality: smart rings are still chunky. If you have smaller hands or dainty fingers like I do, it stands out. Every time I gestured in a video, people would ask about it. Instead of being an invisible tracker, it became a daily conversation piece.
2. Gym Lifting vs. Fighter-Grade Titanium
The Ring Air is crafted from fighter-grade titanium, which sounds indestructible, until you walk into a gym.
The Scratch Factor: Metal-on-metal contact with steel barbells and dumbbells scratches titanium almost instantly.
The South African Struggle: To protect it, you have to buy silicone or plastic ring covers. In South Africa, these covers are almost impossible to source locally, and importing them means guessing sizes and hoping they fit properly over an already chunky ring.
3. The “Orthosomnia” Trap
Here’s where the review takes a turn. On paper, Ultrahuman’s app is fantastic: there are no monthly subscription fees (a huge win over competitors like Oura!), and features like the Caffeine Window and Circadian Phase Alignment are genuinely useful. However, tracking my sleep ended up giving me anxiety. Psychologists call this orthosomnia—the obsession with achieving “perfect” sleep data. Before the ring, if I woke up feeling good, I had a great day. With the ring, I’d wake up feeling refreshed, open the app, and read: “Your sleep score was poor.” Suddenly, I’d spend the rest of the day feeling sluggish simply because the data told me I was supposed to be tired!
The Verdict
After four months, the Ultrahuman Ring Air taught me something unexpected about myself: I am not a biohacker. I don’t need a wearable to tell me when I haven’t moved enough, or when I slept badly, my body already does that for free. When it comes to the ring itself, it really is a mixed bag. The sizing process is practically effortless thanks to the free kit they send beforehand, and the app easily earns top marks for delivering deep, actionable insights without forcing you into a monthly subscription. However, it struggles in everyday practicality: the titanium casing scratches far too easily against gym weights, and the sheer thickness makes it feel cumbersome on smaller, daintier hands. If you love deep-dive data, want to track your cycle, or want a top-tier tracker without a monthly subscription, the Ultrahuman Ring Air is a brilliant piece of engineering. But for me? It’s a nice-to-have, not a must-have.
