3 Cheaper Alternatives To Oura Rings That Are Actually Worth Buying – BGR

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Wearables are everywhere these days: Pebble is getting back into the smartwatch game, Samsung is trying to sell its Android XR-powered Galaxy XR mixed reality headset, and XGIMI is seeking to make AR usable with its MemoMind AI Glasses. The smart ring space is also heating up with new manufacturers, including Pebble and Yuwell, who both showed off new wares at CES 2026. Oura Rings remain leaders in the smart ring space, but they aren’t cheap — and let’s not forget the paid subscription required to get the most out of them.

If you don’t have the budget for the Oura Ring 4 or just don’t want another monthly subscription tacked onto your expenses, what are your options? Fortunately, you can choose from a number of quality smart rings on the market if you’re looking for Oura Ring alternatives. We’ve handpicked three specific smart rings after considering expert reviews and buyer experiences shared on social media, shopping websites, and forums.

Samsung’s first smart ring — the Galaxy Ring — is great for activity and health tracking while featuring a sleek, slim design that resembles regular metal jewelry. Like the Oura Ring 4, it has a durable titanium frame and sensors to track heart rate, blood oxygen level, and skin temperature. Along with the built-in accelerometer, it uses data from those sensors to track walks, runs, and sleep quality. Unfortunately, it can’t track other workouts. Although the Samsung Galaxy Ring’s list price is $400, it can be found for $300 or less.

One compelling feature of this ring is that it doesn’t require a subscription to access data. The cost of ownership is the upfront cost of the smart ring. Samsung also claims the Galaxy Ring can last up to seven days on one charge. You can even get an extra charge from the cradle before having to opt for the wall adapter. However, because bigger ring size models have a slightly larger battery, they may deliver better battery backup than smaller rings.

The ring also provides an AI-powered daily Energy Score, which is essentially a physical readiness score. The number is calculated based on sleep, heart rate, and physical activity levels. But the Energy Score, along with gestures that allow you to control select phone features, is only available to Samsung smartphone owners. The Galaxy Ring is also incompatible with iPhones. Otherwise, Galaxy Ring owners are generally happy with their purchase, with one buyer calling it “functional, stylish, and convenient” in their Amazon review. Another consumer appreciated getting better sleep readings using the smart ring compared to their smartwatch.

The RingConn Gen 2 Air is a well-liked budget smart ring that’s not only platform-agnostic but also highly affordable. At $199, it’s significantly cheaper than both the Oura Ring 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Ring. It doesn’t require a subscription to access collected data or insights. Another highlight of the Gen 2 Air is its stellar battery life; the smart ring can last up to 10 days on a single charge. You can also charge it from 0% to 100% in just 90 minutes using the bundled puck-style charger.

As the name suggests, the Gen 2 Air is among the thinnest and lightest smart rings on the market at 2mm thick and weighing between 2.5 and 4 grams, depending on the size. It doesn’t even feel like it’s there. Despite this, the ring boasts a high-quality stainless steel frame.

In terms of health and wellness tracking, the RingConn Gen 2 Air can monitor your heart rate, blood oxygen levels, skin temperature, respiratory rate, and sleep stages. It can also track activity, including steps, standing time, and calories burned — pretty accurately, too, as noted by several Amazon shoppers in their reviews. Moreover, it leverages AI to provide personalized fitness reports and guidance. Unfortunately, though, it does struggle with high-intensity workouts and isn’t as reliable at fitness tracking as smartwatches are.

The Amazfit Helio Ring is another budget smart ring to consider. Despite its modest price tag, it’s made from a high-grade titanium alloy and is fairly slim and lightweight. It also provides all core health metrics, sleep scores, and readiness data for free. Moreover, as a Helio Ring owner, you get free access to Amazfit’s premium Aura service, which offers detailed sleep reporting, sleep sounds, and an AI chatbot to answer any questions you may have. You can buy the Helio Ring at a list price of $199, but it’s often discounted.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Amazfit Helio Ring is its integration features with the company’s smartwatch products. If you own an Amazfit smartwatch, the Zepp app can merge its data with the Helio Ring’s data to provide comprehensive, unified insights. Another highlight of the Amazfit ring is its built-in EDA (Electrodermal Activity) sensor, which measures skin conductance and calculates the body’s physical and emotional stress response better than the simple heart-rate sensors found in many smartwatches and smart rings. Other sensors built into the Amazfit include a skin temperature sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a standard heart-rate sensor. Buyers particularly enjoy the smart ring’s solid sleep tracking feature and the insights they glean from it, and several of them have highlighted this in their Amazon reviews.

One notable downside of the Helio Ring is its poor battery life; it only lasts three to four days on a single charge. It’s also limited to three ring sizes and can’t automatically detect workouts.

The Oura Ring 4 is widely recognized as the best smart ring thanks to its accuracy, health tracking features, polished app, and overall user experience. However, its high price tag and recurring subscription fees place it out of reach for many buyers. So in selecting alternatives to Oura smart rings, we focused on rings with a lower ownership cost. Some rings offer a lower upfront cost while others come with zero paid subscriptions — in some cases, both apply. We also only included rings you can readily buy in the U.S. (which unfortunately puts the Ultrahuman Ring Air out of the running, since it faces an import ban in the country owing to a patent dispute). To refine our product selection, we consulted expert reviews, buyer reviews on retailer websites, and Reddit.