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Ultrahuman just launched its newest ring, the Ultrahuman Ring Pro. While it’s not yet available in the U.S., I’m excited for this to come to the market. The real game changer here isn’t what’s on the ring, but what Ultrahuman has managed to do with the charging case—that is, a lot more than just charging.
Specs of the Ultrahuman Ring Pro
According to Ultrahuman, the new ring retails for $429 and has:
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15-day battery life—that’s more than RingConn’s battery life and about double Oura’s
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Storage for 250 days of data
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Whole sizes 5 to 14
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A faster processor that Ultrahuman says allows for more accurate data processing
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Break points allowing the ring to be cut apart easily in emergencies
Physically, the ring looks similar to the Ultrahuman Ring Air, which I’ve previously reviewed. It has a smooth internal surface (no sensor bumps) with a small flat area at the base of the finger.
The charging case is the real innovation here
Credit: Beth Skwarecki
What really intrigues me about this ring is not the ring itself, or even the fact that it has a charging case, but the fact that Ultrahuman is now using the charging case as a device in its own right. I haven’t seen anything like this from other smart ring manufacturers, and it’s a brilliant idea.
For example, smart rings can’t easily act as an alarm, because then they would need components that can vibrate or make noise—thus adding to the bulk of the ring and reducing battery life. But a charging case can easily act as an alarm clock, especially since you’re likely to have it on your nightstand already. (Ultrahuman’s app has an alarm feature, but it didn’t play well with my iPhone’s silent mode and I didn’t find it reliable.)
The charging case for the Ultrahuman Ring Pro also has LED indicators, can charge wirelessly, and has a USB-C port. The case has features for diagnostics and troubleshooting, including a button to hard reset the ring if needed. The case can also store up to a year’s worth of ring data and sync it to your phone later.
And you know what else I love about the new case? It isn’t sized to the ring. The ring attaches magnetically to the pins on the post, leaving empty space around it if the ring is a large size, and less empty space if it’s a smaller size. If you ever needed to replace the case, you wouldn’t need to find one in your specific size.
Why we can’t get this ring in the U.S. (yet?)
Legal action behind the scenes has been messing with the U.S. market for smart rings. About a year ago, there were plenty of options, but then Oura made the case to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that it believes its smart ring patent covers the design of nearly every smart ring out there. The ITC agreed, and Ultrahuman was one of the companies that needed to pull its rings from the U.S. market.
Ultrahuman said almost immediately that it was working on a new ring design anyway, one that is so differently constructed that it can’t possibly run afoul of the ITC ruling. The Ring Pro appears to be the design it was referring to, with Ultrahuman conspicuously referring to its “unibody architecture” rather than using a design with a transparent lining (that transparent lining is one of the features of the patent at issue).
It seems there is still a possibility that this approach may pay off. A spokesperson told me by email today: “We are working through the necessary steps to bring Ring PRO to our U.S. customers and hope to share good news soon.”
