Smart rings have They’re no longer exclusive to Finnish pioneer Oura – we’ve tested rings from Ultrahuman, Ringconn and Movano in recent months, and our review of the Samsung Galaxy Ring is in the works. These finger-based trackers are easy to use and provide potentially valuable insights into our health and fitness. As perhaps the dominant Chinese player in the fitness tracking space, Amazfit should be well-positioned to jump on the bandwagon, but the Helio smart ring feels like a work in progress.
Amazfit grew out of Huami, which was founded over a decade ago. The company has a lot of experience in producing affordable devices and Amazfit is a sub-brand that launched its first smartwatch in 2016. Huami changed its name to Zepp Health in 2021 and the Amazfit app became the Zepp app, although the Amazfit branding for the devices was retained. (Choose only one name.)
We’ve tested a few of Amazfit’s fitness trackers, including the Amazfit GTR Pro (5/10, WIRED review) and the Amazfit Balance (5/10, WIRED review). Amazfit was bullish on the ring-watch combo, since the Zepp app collects data from both, so it sent me the Cheetah Pro alongside the Helio. (Amazfit also sells the Ring bundled with other models.) The duo works well, but testing the Helio Ring alone quickly revealed its shortcomings.
Rushing Ring
Photography: Simon Hill
The Amazfit Helio comes in just one color and two sizes. Amazfit calls the color Titanium. It’s a titanium alloy, but the finish looks like gunmetal with a subtle, elegant dot pattern on the top and a small indentation on the other side to help you line up the sensors properly. The Helio weighs just under 4 grams, is 2.6mm thick, and is comfortable to wear. It’s bulkier than a regular ring, but not by much.
The Amazfit Helio is water-resistant to 10 ATM. You can swim or shower with it on. It comes with a small wireless charging pad, like the Oura’s, and a USB-C cable, but you have to provide a power adapter. Amazfit offers sizes 10 or 12 (luckily, I wear a size 12). Eventually, it will offer sizes 7 through 13. The limited options reinforce my impression that Amazfit was too quick to bring the ring to market.
The ring seems durable. Mine is virtually blemish-free after a couple of weeks, and I tend to be tough on smart rings, though I did manage to damage my porcelain bathroom sink. (You should remember to take your ring off before cleaning it, lifting weights, or any activity where it’s likely to come into contact with a hard surface.) Like most smart rings, the Helio works best on the index finger, but this does make it more likely to come into contact with… well, everything.
Powerful metrics
The Helio has the usual sensors, including a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor, a 3-axis accelerometer, a 3-axis gyroscope, a temperature sensor, and an electrodermal sensor (EDA). It can track heart rate and heart rate variability, active minutes, total steps, calories burned, and a few other things. You need to install and link the Zepp app (iOS, Android) to review your data.
Photography: Simon Hill via Zepp app