I tested the best smart rings - these are the only 6 I recommend in 2026 for tracking your sleep, stress, and workouts
With the best smart rings ranging from under £100 to £400, there's plenty of choice out there - and I've tested them all
The best smart rings are the next big thing in fitness trackers. Sleek and discreet, they sit on your finger like jewellery but contain advanced sensors that log everything from your step count to sleep quality.
When I first started testing these rings over five years ago, the Oura Ring was the only one worth talking about - and it's still my favourite today. But in recent years, both big-name and smaller independent brands have created their own. There's now one for everyone and every budget.
I've reviewed a selection to bring you the best smart rings of 2026 - the only ones worth investing in and wearing for tracking your fitness, sleep, and overall health. Over six months, I've worn each ring for at least two weeks, every day and night, and through countless workouts.
Note: Before buying any of the smart rings on this list, retailers suggest you order a size guide. This is a selection of plastic rings you wear temporarily to figure out your size.
The quick list
The Oura Ring 5 is the slimmest of all the best smart rings, and the top choice on my list. It's so comfortable to wear, I always forget it's on my finger. The insights into sleep, stress, and general wellbeing are reliably accurate, and it'll automatically record workouts for you.
With its £80 price tag, advanced health monitoring features, and no need for a subscription, I was very impressed with the Sekonda smart ring when it was released this month. It comes in two colours and is also available to buy from ASOS, Amazon, and other retailers.
Know your REM from your HRV scores? The Ultrahuman Ring Pro is the one for you. This is an advanced smart ring for those who want all the data, all the time. Provided you're willing to pay, there's a never-ending stream of insights waiting for you.
The Samsung Galaxy smart ring might be one of the older models now, but it's a reliable one if you want seamless connectivity to your Android phone's health app. Available in a variety of colours, there's one to suit every wardrobe.
The Leep ring is the underdog in this collection. However, the new British brand is quickly making a name for itself with accurate, reliable and easy-to-read sleep data, housed in a fun app design.
If metallics aren't your thing, there's one smart ring that's available in an array of chic ceramic casings: the Oura Ring 4. Thicker than the five, but truly unique in pink, white, blue or turquoise shades.
The best smart rings in 2026
The best smart ring overall
The Oura Ring 5 comes with its own charging platform, connected to power with USB.
The Oura Ring 5 is slimmer than previous models, with a longer battery life, more colour options, and better sensors that read vital signs, no matter where the ring sits on your finger.
I've tried all versions, and the latest is undoubtedly the best design. Its noticeably thinner width (2.28mm) makes a huge difference. I barely notice the ring on my finger, which is a huge bonus for any smart ring, as you need to wear it almost 24/7 to make the most of the data.
Speaking of the data, it's also the most accurate of all the rings I tested. I have worn the Oura Ring in its iterations for over two years now and have been continually impressed by how accurately and reliably it records my sleep, stress, and activity data. The app brings these vitals together in a readable Readiness Score to signal how well your body has recovered from strain, with long-term insights in a separate tab.
The app has a pleasing design and offers AI overviews, making the data actually readable (without a degree in physiology) and pleasant to look at.
The only downside is the subscription - you need to pay £5.99 for all this data, on top of buying the ring, and if you stop, you'll only get the real basic data.
For more, read my full review of the Oura Ring 5 here
The best smart ring under £100
Like the best Garmin watches and Fitbits, smart rings have a range of price tags. Sekonda is the first reputable brand, with a history of reliable fitness tracking, to make one under £100.
I wore the Sekonda smart ring for two weeks, and while it lacked some of the sleep-tracking insights and finesse of the Oura Ring 5 and Ultrahuman Ring Pro, and it doesn't auto-start workouts, its health monitoring features and price tag (£80) blew me away.
On the home screen, you'll see your live heart rate, body temperature, blood oxygen levels, stress levels, HRV, respiratory rate, and mood, all of which I found to be in line with what my other trackers said. Taking heart rate, for example, you can tap into the details and see your current and average heart rates, where your resting heart rate sits on a scale, and if you're showing signs of tachycardia or bradycardia (a particularly high or low heart rate). You can also see the heart rate zones you've been in through the day, including fat-burning and aerobic. Smart rings triple the price struggle to convey this information so clearly.
It's comfortable to wear, and the small charging case makes it easy to carry this one around safely when it's not on your finger. There's also no subscription and no chance to spend and add more features, making your £80 go a very long way indeed.
For more, read my full review of the Sekonda Smart Ring here
The best advanced smart ring
The Ultrahuman Ring Pro offers just that: professional-level insights. It's certainly the most advanced ring on this list, with incredible insights into sleep, fitness, stress, and general health that surpass the Oura Ring 5.
Along with the core sleep-tracking essentials, this ring reveals how much extra rest you need to get back up to your baseline after a few disrupted nights (Sleep Debt), how often you moved during the night (Restfulness), and how much of your sleep was actually restorative (Restoration). So, even when I slept fewer hours than normal, I sometimes got all the rest I needed. To have nuances like this reflected in the data is impressive.
Fitness tracking on the Ultrahuman Ring Pro monitors everyday movement rather than dedicated workouts. If you're a keen runner, for example, the ring presumes you've got your running watch linked up for that data.
The Ultrahuman Ring Pro goes one step further and actively tells you how your day should look. The Oura Ring 5 does this to a very limited extent, but this ring is specific. Every morning, you can see how your rest scores should influence your caffeine intake. You'll be told when to start winding down for bed and when to step outside for some daylight, based on your body clock.
So why didn't this ring make the top spot? The design really lets it down. The 'pro' name doesn't fit with the chunky, cluttered design. While it's not the thickest on this list (that's the Sekonda), I would expect seamless wear from this ring, which is also the most expensive on my list. The shipping date for pre-orders has also been moved more than once and is currently set for October 10.
For more, read my full review of the Ultrahuman Ring Pro here
The Samsung Galaxy Smart Ring has a slim design and comes with its own charging case.
The best smart ring for Android users
All the rings on my list are compatible with Apple and Android phones, but for Samsung users, the Samsung Galaxy Smart Ring is a natural contender.
Much like the others, fitness tracking is low on this ring's priority list. Instead, it focuses on monitoring sleep, stress, general health, and movement to provide an overview of your wellbeing. Every morning, you'll get a Sleep Score, and your sleep, sleep heart rate, overnight HRV, and activity data come together to create an Energy Score out of 100. I always find these readiness and recovery scores to be a good indicator of how my body is doing, and whether to take it easy on my walking workout or dial it back.
The Samsung Galaxy Smart Ring's design is very different to others. It's concave to prevent scratches and wear and tear on the ring's surface. This is a major issue I've had with every smart ring when I've worn it in the gym, so while it doesn't prevent scratches entirely, it's a welcome attempt.
There's nothing revolutionary on this ring - and my Samsung product recommendation would be the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 over the ring, but for Android users looking to switch out their watch, it's a great option.
For more, read the full review of the Samsung Galaxy Smart Ring here
The best smart ring for sleep
Leep Health is a small UK-based start-up taking on the likes of Oura and Samsung in the smart ring market - and doing a very good job. The Leep Ring costs just under £200 and is a reliably accurate sleep, stress, and activity tracker.
I wore the dark blue ring for just over two weeks and was very impressed. In the app, there are tabs at the bottom for sleep, stress and readiness (Leep calls it 'Balance'), and activity, with a home button that summarises them all, giving you the option to take the top-line information or dig further into insights.
While the Oura Ring 5 remains my overall favourite sleep tracker, the Leep Ring is my second choice for an overnight companion. It's comfortable to wear and easy to charge in the large case, with a good eight days' worth of battery life. The sleep insights mirror rings double the price, with metrics like overnight HRV, oxygen saturation, heart rate, and temperature, clearly laid out in the brightly-coloured and intuitively designed app. These are compared to your baseline so you can see if anything's amiss. In the future, I'm sure Leep will install notifications to let you know when there's a sign you may be under more strain than usual, as Oura does.
Totally unique to the Leep ring is the Insights and Tips section. While Ultrahuman and Oura might offer users AI bots to answer questions, Leep goes back to basics with simple expert-led information articles built within the app. These cover topics from sleep anxiety and supplements to burnout. While they are limited at the moment, I imagine more are on the way. This makes the Leep Ring a great choice for beginners.
Much like the Ultrahuman Ring Pro, the Leep Ring has a cut-out on the back to show you where to place it on your finger for the best connectivity. This won't be an issue for some, but it does tell others that you're wearing a smart ring - perhaps not the goal for everyone. Otherwise, the design is very similar to all others on this list, aside from the Oura Ring 5, which is much thinner.
The Oura Ring 4 Ceramic comes in multiple colours - I chose petal.
The best alternative smart ring
The Oura Ring 4 deserves its own spot on my list of the best smart rings. While the latest model beats this one to the top spot with its slimline design, the features on this ring and the 5 are the same. The only difference is the design.
The ceramic casing on the 4 makes it a worthwhile choice if your fitness trackers tend to get thrown around. It makes the ring the strongest and most scratch-resistant on this list. I've worn it in the gym, holding dumbbells and barbells, with only a few black scuffs to show for it. In comparison, I take off every metal ring because the handgrips on these weights scratch the metal almost instantly.
The black marks buff easily with a cloth, and if you go for the darker blue colourway anyway, you'll never see them. The added toughness means this ring is the thickest on the finger on this list, and it does feel noticeable, but I got used to it quickly, and I think it's a worthwhile trade-off if you're concerned about metal scratching.
In the app, you'll get the same lowdown on your sleep, activity, stress, and readiness as you'll find in the 5, with AI overviews to read throughout the day on how your body is doing.
For more insights, read my full review of the Oura Ring 4 here
Testing the best smart rings in 2026
How I tested
- Accuracy and reliability: At a very basic level, a smart ring needs to work. I tested each ring every night and day, comparing data with my fitness tracker (which I know is reliable after wearing it for a year), to make sure only the reliably accurate smart rings made the list.
- Comfort: Largely, the best smart rings are all designed the same as they are made to look like jewellery. That said, I wore each for at least two weeks, day and night to determine whether it was a comfortable and discreet design.
- Durability: Being made from titanium or stainless steel, these rings are prone to scratching when they come into contact with metal. I'd always recommend taking them off when you go into the gym for this reason. However, I took each one through my gym workouts to test for durability.
- Battery life: Unlike smartwatches, smart rings tend to have quite a long battery life - normally up to about 10 days. I made sure to note the ones that lasted the longest, even when I started a GPS workout in the app.
- Price: Being new technology, smart rings are naturally pricier than classic fitness trackers, which you can pick for as little as £50. That said, I wanted to provide a selection of the best at a variety of price points.
How to choose the best smart ring for you
- Budget: As noted, smart rings are pricey, and I'd really recommend considering what budget you have before choosing a smart ring. The Sekonda Smart Ring is an excellent choice for a lower budget. If you have more to spend and you're seriously invested, I recommend the Oura Ring 5, but you have to pay a subscription on top of buying the ring to use it.
- Design: Are you someone who's used to wearing rings? If so, a chunky design like the Ultrahuman Ring Pro or Oura Ring 4 Ceramic may not be an issue for you - it might even be preferred. If not, then prioritise slimmer designs, like the Oura Ring 5 or the Leep Ring.
- Purpose: Why do you want a smart ring? How advanced do you want that data to be? The Sekonda Smart Ring and the Samsung Galaxy Smart Ring cover the basics with excellent detail in health tracking in particular. The Ultrahuman Ring Pro can dig deep into every element of your wellbeing, from the ideal time to drink a coffee in the morning to monitoring signs of sleep apnoea.
- Consider the limitations: If you want a device to log your steps and you're not too concerned about tracking your sleep or stress, you're in the wrong place. No smart ring has an accurate step count. It's always overestimated by at least 2,000 steps, after picking up hand gestures and typing. Try a basic fitness tracker like the Fitbit Inspire 3 or Charge 6 instead.
- Colour: Finally, once you've chosen your smart ring, think about the colour. If you normally wear silver rings and other jewellery, then I'd recommend sticking to this shade for your ring. The more it blends in with your style, the more likely you are to wear it.
Are smart rings worth buying?
Yes, the Oura Ring 5 is the only smart device I wear 24/7. I also wear a smartwatch for logging my workouts. At a basic level, I find its insights into my daily sleep, activity levels, and Readiness fascinating, and I like to compare my data over time, especially when I've tried to improve one element of my wellbeing. For example, I can see my Heart Age has gone down when I've started doing more cardio exercise. It's small, tangible improvements that help keep me motivated to exercise, sleep well, and stress less more than anything else.
At times, it's helped me actively change my weekly schedule. For example, Symptom Radar has flagged that my skin temperature and overnight heart rate is off. That's a sign I'm getting ill. It's too late to do anything about it, but I can stock up on zinc and push my girls' night to next week.
That said, smart rings are new technology. They differ in accuracy, and the Oura Ring 5 (which is also the most expensive when you factor in the monthly subscription) is the best of the bunch.
I have found similar insights with the same value on other devices. The difference is, a smart ring isn't a chunky, sporty-looking watch on your wrist. You can wear it 24/7 and for all occasions without anyone blinking an eye, offering a real chance to see how your health develops over time.
Also, a smart ring is not a specialist fitness tracker. While most do a good job at monitoring your workouts and daily activity levels, I wear a Coros Pace 4 alongside my Oura Ring 5 because the ring can't deliver the same insights into my workouts as this watch does. Firstly, it doesn't have a face to record my speed, distance, and timing for my running workouts. Secondly, smart rings prioritise showing how movement impacts your overall health, rather than the tiny details of your workout achievements, so the apps aren't set up to display this.
Overall verdict: Yes, but make sure you know what you're buying first
