Amazfit Helio smart ring review — Accurate sleep tracking without breaking the bank

Amazfit is fast becoming a serious player in the fitness industry, and having tested several of the company’s products, we are not surprised. Fitness trackers from this Chinese brand may be affordable, but they do deliver excellent value for money. The stylish Amazfit Balance or the adventure-focused Amazfit T-Rex 3, for example, can easily compete with some of the best fitness trackers on the market. It was just a matter of time before Amazfit ventured into the world of smart rings, threatening the long-standing reign of the Oura Ring.

The Amazfit Helio costs just $199.99 — a massive $150 less than the premium Ultrahuman Ring AIR or the aforementioned Oura Ring 3 — but it does broadly the same thing, if not more. This smart ring offers comprehensive stress, sleep and heart rate tracking, detailed assessments of mental and physical recovery, and even an AI chatbot that can help you understand and improve your stats.

While not designed for workout tracking, the Amazfit Helio can sync with Amazfit smartwatches via the brand's Zepp app to provide you with a comprehensive overview of your fitness progress. The cherry on top? It does not require a subscription. Indeed, the Amazfit Helio has all the potential to land in our guide to the best budget fitness trackers.

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Amazfit Helio smart ring review

Amazfit Helio: Design

• Light and comfortable to wear
• Three sizes available (8, 10 and 12)
• Relatively durable and scratch-resistant

The Amazfit Helio is fairly well designed, but it will not suit everyone. This smart ring is available in three sizes only: 8 (0.94 inches /24 mm in diameter), 10 (1.01 inches / 25.7mm) and 12 (1.07 inches/ 27.3 mm). To put that into perspective, the Oura Ring 3 comes in eight sizes, while the Ultrahuman Ring AIR offers 10 different diameters to choose from. While the Amazfit Helio can still suit the average user, those with bigger hands (muscular men, for example) and some petite individuals may be left empty-handed.

We were also disappointed by its limited color range. More specifically, the lack of it. The Amazfit Helio is available in only one color — light bronze. Most smart rings, even those at the more affordable end of the spectrum, tend to have at least three different designs to choose from. This is not necessarily a deal-breaker, though: The light bronze colour is elegant and inconspicuous enough to appeal to a wide range of users. In our experience, it also does a good job at complementing different outfits, from activewear to sundresses.

That said, we still consider this to be a well-made piece of kit. We tested our Amazfit Helio for around two months and throughout that time, it sustained only one minor scratch. In that regard, it proved more durable than the more expensive Ultrahuman Ring AIR we tested last year.

We also found it very comfortable to wear. The Amazfit Helio (size 12) weighs just 0.13 oz (3.82 g), and since it is water resistant up to 100 meters (10ATM-certified), it does not have to be taken off during showers. We could easily forget we were even wearing it.

Amazfit Helio: Features

• No subscription needed
• Detailed sleep and recovery assessments
• Syncs with Amazfit smartwatches in the Zepp app

The Amazfit Helio features a PPG sensor that measures heart rate and HRV (heart rate variability, a fluctuation in the time intervals between each heartbeat — a useful indicator of the body's ability to adapt to stress), a body temperature sensor, an Electrodermal Activity (EDA) sensor that tracks the electrical properties of the skin (these can change under stressful conditions), and two sensors that assess movement: a three-axis accelerometer and a three-axis gyroscope. A lot of tech is packed into this tiny smart ring!

All of the stats measured by the Amazfit Helio are then sent to the Zepp app. This platform used to be partially hidden behind a paywall, but Amazfit has recently made it entirely subscription-free in a bid to become more competitive — a big plus for the company here.

We are big fans of the Zepp app. It does not overcomplicate your stats or use language that only seasoned fitness fanatics would understand. Instead, every metric is laid out in an easy-to-understand way and explained in sufficient detail. Plus, it offers plenty of simple, actionable advice on how to improve. As such, the Zepp app is exceptionally beginner-friendly — and this is not something that we can confidently say about other smart ring apps.

As we mentioned before, the Amazfit Helio predominantly tracks your sleep and post-exercise recovery. Every morning, this smart ring will assess your Daily Readiness Score — a number from 1 to 100 that indicates whether you should push on with intense exercise or take some time to relax, all based on your sleep resting heart rate, sleep heart rate variability, breathing rate and body temperature. Put simply, the higher the score, the better your mental and physical recovery.

On top of that, you can review all of the composite stats separately. The Zepp app then collects all of your data so it can send you an in-depth sleep and recovery report (one every week and then one every month), making it easy to track your progress over time.

In addition, the Zepp app can sync your workout data from Amazfit smartwatches or third-party apps, such as adidas Running, Strava, komoot or Google Fit. So, while the smart ring itself is not fit for tracking exercise, it can still use external data to get a full picture of your physical strain and post-exercise recovery.

Amazfit Helio: Performance

• Approximately three days of battery life
• Accurate heart rate measurements
• Good sleep and stress assessments

The Amazfit Helio claims to last up to four days on a single charge, but in our experience, this does not ring true. We managed to squeeze a maximum of three days of battery life out of our testing unit — shorter than advertised, and at least two days less than we could get with the Ultrahuman Ring AIR or Oura Ring 3. While it is not necessarily a valid complaint for such an affordable smart ring, the Amazfit Helio may not be the best option if you spend a lot of time camping or traveling.

Other than the disappointing battery life, the Amazfit Helio delivers a good performance. For example, this smart ring was largely correct when assessing the length and quality of our sleep, and it did a good job of picking up on our short naps.

It seemed to be particularly good at tracking stress levels. Every now and then, we would receive a phone notification stating that the smart ring detected an "emotional reaction" and asking about the nature of our heightened stress levels (these details can then be logged into the Zepp app for future reference). At first, we thought our Amazfit Helio was overly dramatic. However, we soon came to realize that this exceptional sensitivity can help us better understand how our body works and responds to different stimuli.

We were also satisfied with the accuracy of heart rate measurements. Typically, we use our trusted chest strap heart rate monitor to validate the heart rate readings of any fitness tracker we test. However, that was not possible in this case. Like most smart rings, the Amazfit Helio records heart rate in 10-minute intervals rather than in the continuous fashion typical of workout tracking. Therefore, we resorted to comparing heart rate readings measured by our Amazfit Helio with readings obtained by the highly accurate Whoop MG screenless fitness tracker in the same time frame. The measurements looked very similar between these two devices.

Lastly, we were satisfied with its app connectivity. While the Amazfit Helio did disconnect from the Zepp app a couple of times, we always managed to restore it to normal by simply popping the smart ring on a charger. We had no issues with connecting to third-party apps, either.

Amazfit Helio: User reviews

The Amazfit Helio scores 3.6 out of 5 stars at Amazon, with 44% five-star and 19% one-star reviews. On the positive end of the spectrum, this smart ring was often praised for its build quality, wide app integration, accurate sleep tracking and great value for money. On the negative side, the Amazfit Helio tended to be criticized for its limited size range, and a significant number of users reported issues with faulty units.

One disgruntled buyer said: "Overall, this has been a frustrating experience. They don't make very many sizes, so even the largest size (12) only fits my pinky, which is my smallest digit. I have all Amazfit products and wanted to add the ring to my lineup. When it tracks, it does seem to track pretty accurately. But unfortunately, ever since purchasing it, this ring almost never collects and syncs sleep/readiness data. It will sync readiness data for a few days and then just stops working for many weeks or more. I've tried resetting, repairing, reactivating, and nothing gets it to work."

Should you buy the Amazfit Helio?

✅ Buy it if: You want a good-quality smart ring without spending too much. The Amazfit Helio is durable and comfortable to wear for its price point, and offers largely accurate measurements of sleep, stress and post-exercise recovery.

❌ Do not buy it if: You have very small or very large hands, do not like bronze or spend a lot of time camping or traveling. The Amazfit Helio comes in a limited size and color range, and its battery life appears shorter than advertised.

If Amazfit Helio is not for you

If you are looking for a more premium smart ring, you can't go wrong with the Oura Ring 3. It is one of the best sleep trackers we have tested, offering plenty of useful features and up to a week of battery life. However, it is approximately $150 more expensive.

The Ultrahuman Ring AIR is another great alternative. It costs roughly the same as the Oura Ring 3, but it is arguably more comfortable to wear and offers more nutrition-related features. However, its connectivity can be more patchy.

Not interested in smart rings? Then the Amazfit Balance smartwatch will be right up your street. This stylish wearable is focused more on sleep and post-exercise recovery than workout tracking, so it’s perfect for improving sleep and managing stress.

Amazfit Helio: How we tested

We spent two months testing the Amazfit Helio smart ring, looking at its design, battery life, app-based features, ease of use, connectivity with third-party devices and value for money. We wore it during the day, while sleeping and when performing low-intensity cardio activities (hiking, for example). In line with the intended use, we did not wear it during gym-based activities and high-intensity cardio exercises.

Finally, we assessed the accuracy of our Amazfit Helio by comparing its heart rate measurements with the data we obtained using a more precise Whoop MG screenless fitness tracker.