Here’s What Will (and Won’t) Happen With Smart Rings in 2026.

Smart rings are already having a strange year. In January, at CES, I saw smart rings performing a variety of tasks , looking like the future. Then I returned home to discover that the brand-new Luna smart ring I’d been testing had already been discontinued from the US market. I think it’s time to explore why the smart ring market is so strange, what I see as its potential, and what I feel is missing compared to the early stages of this technology.

A lawsuit is preventing some smart rings from entering the US market.

To understand why some rings have disappeared (or aren’t available for sale in the US), it’s important to understand a 2025 ruling by the US International Trade Commission . Oura sued two of its competitors, Ultrahuman and RingConn, alleging they infringed a design patent for a smart ring. The commission agreed, requiring the companies to remove their rings from the US market by October 2025. Ultrahuman complied; RingConn, meanwhile, struck a deal to license Oura’s patent and pay them royalties.

This is the patent in question. It describes a “smart ring” in such broad terms that Oura could argue that virtually all “smart rings” infringe its terms. I’m not a patent attorney, but it seems odd to me that a company would use a 2024 patent to squeeze competitors out of a product category that’s been around longer.

Oura called the ITC’s decision a “decisive legal victory” and published a blog post explaining the reasons for its victory. Ultrahuman published its own blog post detailing why it believes the decision was erroneous and providing some information about the patent in question. I recommend reading both posts if you want to understand who is claiming what.

Oura then sued several other smart ring makers, including Noise (the maker of the Luna ring), Amazfit, Reebok, and Samsung. Ironically, Samsung had previously tried to obtain a court ruling that its patents did not infringe Oura’s, but the lawsuit was dismissed because Oura had not yet attempted to sue Samsung.

I asked several of these companies what their position on the lawsuit was, but understandably, they were all cautious and reluctant to say much. Here’s my best understanding of the current market situation for the major brands I’ve considered or am personally interested in:

• Oura : Of course, the Oura ring is still popular. Here’s my review of the Oura Ring 4 .

• Ultrahuman : Not available in the US, but that could change. Here’s my review of the Ring Air and my announcement of the new Ring Pro . The Pro has a different design than the Air, and Ultrahuman has hinted that they hope to bring it legally to the US market.

• RingConn : We’ve reached an agreement to continue selling our rings in the US, paying royalties to Oura. I’m working on a review of RingConn 2 , and a review of RingConn 3 will be released later this year.

• Luna : The ring isn’t available in the US; however, here’s my review . It looks like the company plans to implement the same software features in a smartband, scheduled to launch this year.

• Samsung : As far as I can tell, the Galaxy Ring is still sold in the US. I’ll be reviewing it soon.

• Amazfit : The Helio Ring appears to still be available for purchase.

Why are rings so attractive now?

I’ve been following the smart ring market since 2018, when I found the now-discontinued Motiv ring to be the “perfect minimalist fitness tracker,” except for the tiny issue of it not measuring heart rate well during workouts. (Motiv was acquired by Proxy in 2020, and Proxy by Oura in 2023.)

Oura first addressed the issue of heart rate accuracy by marketing the ring as a sleep aid; getting accurate readings is much easier when lying perfectly still. But technology has improved, and now all of the products listed above can get generally reliable heart rate readings in a variety of conditions, though none allow for detailed chart analysis. Smart rings now also feature blood oxygen sensors, longer battery life, and more color and finish options. The internal sensor protrusions are gone. In short, smart rings have gotten better and more attractive over time.

We now have sleek, precise wearables that you can slip on your finger and barely even notice. This ability to ignore the ring throughout the day is why I’ve worn my Oura ring for so long . It becomes part of you, like a wedding ring—you wear it constantly, whether you think about it or not, and it feels strange to be without it.

It’s impressive how many new features companies are adding to their rings. The next RingConn ring will feature haptic alerts. The new Ultrahuman ring includes features like alarms and diagnostics built into the charging case . But even though the hardware is improving, and many companies are developing more and more software features (especially Oura and Ultrahuman), it’s debatable whether the ring’s usability has truly improved or whether it’s simply become more complex.

Where the rings still fight

Smart rings have a number of significant drawbacks, and I’ll lay out my standard list of complaints here. First, smart rings are simply not suitable for tracking workouts. They’re too bulky to provide a comfortable grip during strength training, and they’re inconvenient for exercises that require gripping or moving objects with your hands (deadlifts, rowing machines, even chores like snow shoveling).

Since the rings don’t have their own display, you’ll need to use the phone app to start and stop workouts or track data. Automatic workout detection is a good way to solve this problem, but it’s not perfect . You risk having many workouts detected at the wrong time or of the wrong type, or your hair brushing routine being labeled as swimming. Meanwhile, smart rings may measure heart rate better than before, but they still don’t provide reliable heart rate data that can be exported.

Sizing will likely always be an issue. You’ll need a ring sizing kit to know what size you need, and manufacturers typically only offer rings in whole sizes within a certain range. Our fingers swell and tighten from hour to hour and from season to season, so there’s no single, reliable size that will always fit. A ring isn’t like a watch strap, which can be adjusted and tightened.

Finally, one of the biggest issues with smart rings, which I don’t think is talked about enough, is battery life. Not how long you can use the ring without recharging, but how many years you can use the ring before it runs out of charge.

I’ve had several Oura rings fail after about two years. No smart ring company is willing to officially provide an estimated battery life, but whenever I mentioned that all my smart rings failed after about two years, I usually received approving nods. Sometimes on social media, you see couples exchanging smart rings instead of traditional wedding bands. I always wonder how they’ll feel about replacing their rings after a few years.

Ring companies are running out of ideas for what we really need.

Despite all the innovations of recent years, I liked the second-generation Oura smart ring the most (RIP, 2018-2021). And you know why? Besides the fact that the Oura app didn’t require a subscription at the time, the best feature was that the LEDs used infrared rather than visible light. At night, there was no greenish glow emanating from your finger. It was pleasant to ignore.

I didn’t use it for workouts, and at the time, the app didn’t support workout tracking or even step counting. It simply provided data on my sleep and heart rate variability . If I’d wanted to know what heart rate zones I was in during workouts, I could have used a different device or simply omitted that information.

But over the years, Oura has tried to become something more. It’s now a fitness tracker, a blood oxygen monitor, a glucose monitoring app, and much more. It seems like every wearable is moving in this direction, trying to adopt the features of its competitors, just as every social media app tries to become Snapchat or TikTok in addition to its original purpose.

I’m not sure we all need so many features in a smart ring. A smart ring will never become an Apple Watch. I miss the second-generation Oura ring, which simply tracked my sleep without shining a flashlight in my face. I want it back, and I’d like it to be inexpensive, since I don’t need many features.

But companies aren’t going in that direction, and I understand why (capitalism). Instead, they’re looking for features and services to add to justify a higher price. Oura added a subscription in 2021, then in 2025 released new ring colors and “multi-ring support” in the hopes that you’ll want to buy two $500 rings.

Other ring companies have realized that not requiring a subscription is their best way to counter Oura’s business model. However, they are still competing in the same space. Therefore, Ultrahuman’s core features are free, but you’re offered a series of mini-subscriptions that provide additional functionality. Smart ring companies are also exploring other offerings, especially services that allow for multiple payments.

Oura and Ultrahuman offer a range of blood tests and recommend repeat testing. Both companies also partner with manufacturers of continuous glucose monitoring devices (which themselves cost around $100 per month), so you can use the Smart Ring app to monitor your blood glucose levels throughout the day—a controversial proposition for people who don’t have a medical need for it. (Continuous glucose monitoring devices, of course, are incredibly useful for people with diabetes.)

So, the inexpensive, discreet smart ring of my dreams is unlikely to appear anytime soon. It might be exactly what I want, but it seems like an unviable business model. Looking ahead, I hope to see more rings on the American market, with a wider variety of features. I’m curious to see where Ultrahuman will go with its super-powerful charging case. But it’s hard to imagine smart rings offering many new features that would be truly worth paying for.

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