The market is already flooded with smart wearables, and even more smart rings are coming up regularly. Amazfit was launched nearly two months ago, and Oura is a well-established player. Comparing Helio’s position with a contender like that can help ascertain its position in today’s smart ring market, thereby helping decide if it’s worth a shot.
For today’s post, I wore both the Amazfit Helio ring and the Oura Ring for over a month to determine which was better. Below, you will find which ring was chosen as the winner and why.
WearableXP’s Verdict
To save you some time, I liked the Oura Ring 3 better than the Amazfit Helio Ring. Sure, both rings have their own unique offerings. For example, the Helio ring’s design is a breath of fresh air in a space where shiny rings have now become cliched. The best part is that Helio is not just pretty but also quite resistant because of its dotted exterior.
However, just being pretty doesn’t make the cut. Does it? I found Oura to be better in terms of accuracy across different parameters, battery life, a companion app that’s easy to navigate, and more. All of this and more made me declare my Oura Ring 3 a clear winner.
If you still want to understand my reasoning in a little more detail, keep scrolling down.
Design & Colors
I found both the Amazfit Helio and the Oura Ring to be beautiful in their own ways. The Helio ring is completely circular and has a dotted texture on the outside; it’s unlike any ring I have ever owned. Meanwhile, my Oura Ring manages to look like just any other silver ring I own. In fact, if you have one look at my ring-adorned hand, you won’t even be able to tell that there’s a smart ring on it!
So, I really had to choose here—do I want to stay low-profile with Oura or stand out with Helio? Don’t get me wrong—the silver Horizon Oura I have is circular and pretty, just like Helio, and also manages to catch people’s eye once in a while, but I have to give Helio points for uniqueness.
Plus, it’s not just about the dotted texture. The Helio comes in a very pretty titanium color that, although it leans more towards a pale gold tint, looks exceptionally pretty.
However, this is the only color option that Helio offers for now, whereas Oura gives me a variety of color options to choose from. If tomorrow I feel bored with the silver ring I have and want to try something different, then I have the option to pick from brushed titanium, Rose Gold, Gold, Stealth, and Black colors. Knowing that my options are open for the future makes me feel good.
So, while I do like the design and color of the Helio ring better for now, I will know that I am going to be bored of it— and even my silver Oura– after some while. So, point to Oura for offering me color options.
Material, Comfort & Durability
While wearing a smart ring has now become an absolute necessity, I don’t want to fulfill this necessity at the cost of my comfort. For a ring to be truly comfortable for me, it has to be thin and lightweight. I don’t want it to look and feel like I am carrying a stone on my finger.
Thankfully, both the Helio and Oura ring managed to give me that comfort. The Helio ring is only 2.6mm thick and 8mm wide, whereas the Oura ring is 2.55mm thick and 7.9mm wide, so there is not much difference here. However, the Helio ring, weighing just 3-4 grams, was slightly lighter than the Oura ring, which weighs somewhere between 4-6 grams. This is why I felt slightly more comfortable with the Helio ring than Oura.
But comfort isn’t everything, is it? Given the kind of lack of grace I move around with, I need my smart wearables to be as durable as they can be. I don’t want to see scratches on my smart rings after a few clumsy falls.
And well, the Helio ring stole the show here for me! After a few bumps and some DIY projects that involved the use of all kinds of sharp and heavy tools, I couldn’t see many scratches on my dotted textured Helio, whereas the sleek and shiny Oura showed visible scratches to speak of the struggle it was put through.
I was sort of surprised by this. The Helio is made of titanium alloy, while the Oura Ring is made of durable titanium and comes with a PVD coating on top that’s supposed to make it scratch-resistant!
Regardless of the material composition, the Helio ring still proved to be more durable than the Oura!
Specifications
| Specifications | Amazfit Helio Ring | Oura Ring 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Material | Titanium Alloy (outer ring), Resin (inner part of the ring) | Durable titanium, PVD coating |
| Weight | 3.75 & 3.82 grams | 4-6 grams |
| Thickness | 2.6mm | 2.55mm |
| Width | 8mm | 7.9mm |
| Size | 10 &12 | 6 to 13 |
| Charger | Wireless charging dock | Wireless charging dock |
| Battery Life | Up to 4 days | Up to 7 days |
| Ring Charging Time | 1 hr 40 min | Up to 80 minutes |
| Colors available | Titanium | Brushed titanium, Rose Gold, Gold, Stealth, Silver, Black |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth | Bluetooth Low-Energy (Bluetooth Smart®) |
| Compatible With Other Apps | Yes | Yes |
| Water Resistance | 10 ATM/ 100m | – Upto 100m/ 328 ft. – IP54 |
| Memory | N/A | 7 days of data (also depends on the frequency of use) |
| Compatibility | – Android 7.0 and above – iOS 14.0 and above | – iOS devices running on iOS 15 or above. – Android devices running on Android 9.0 or higher |
| Warranty | 1-year | One year from the date of purchase |
| In-built GPS | Yes | No |
| Operating Temperature | 0°C to 40°C | -10–52°C / 14–125°F. |
| EMF-Safe | No | Yes |
| Airplane Mode | No | Yes |
| Sizing kit | No | Yes (Free) |
| FSA/HSA Eligible | No | Yes |
Battery Life & Charging
| Charging Details | Amazfit Helio Ring | Oura Ring |
|---|---|---|
| Official Ring Charging Time | 100 minutes | Up to 80 minutes |
| My Ring’s Charging Time | 100- 120 minutes | 80-100 minutes |
| Official Battery Durability | Up to 4 days | Up to 7 days |
| My Ring’s Battery Durability | 2-3 days | 4-6 days |
I don’t want to have to put my devices on charge again and again. But, with Amazfit Helio, I have to do just that. Amazfit advertises up to 4 days of battery life, and that’s quite low in itself to begin with. But, what’s worse is that my Helio’s battery mostly lasts for 2-3 days. It drains even more quickly because I’ve got a feature called “Auto Emotion Monitoring” enabled.
Before you ask, yes, I do have the option to disable this feature and other seemingly unnecessary ones, but I quite like having data of this sort. It helps me be more in tune with what and how I feel and thereby regulate my emotions better. So, in the end, I have to put it on charge for almost two hours more frequently than I’d like.
I so very much prefer Oura over the Helio ring in this regard. Although Oura ring advertises up to 7 days of battery life and only gives me around 4-6 days of juice, it is still more than what Helio provides me with. So, I am not complaining.
When it comes to charging, both of the rings have a pretty similar process. All I have to do is put the ring on the charging dock and connect it to a power source using a USB C cable that comes along with the respective rings.
However, the rings differ in the amount of time it takes them to charge. Helio takes around two hours for full charge, and Oura ring takes only around 80-100 minutes.
As you may have already guessed, I prefer the Oura Ring over the Amazfit Helio when it comes to battery life and charging.
Sensors
| Sensors | Amazfit Helio Ring | Oura Ring (Gen 3) |
|---|---|---|
| PPG Sensors |  |  |
| Skin temperature Sensor |  | |
| Photodiodes | | |
| 3D Accelerometer |  | |
| Gyroscope | |  |
| Infrared LED | | |
| Green LEDs | | |
| Red LEDs | | |
| EDA Sensors | | |
Features
| Features | Amazfit Helio | Oura Ring 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Heart Rate, HRV & RHR | Yes | Yes |
| Workout Heart Rate | Yes | Yes |
| Blood Oxygen Levels (SpO2) | Yes | Yes |
| Cardiovascular Age (CVA) | No | Yes |
| Sleep Tracking & Nap Detection | Yes | Yes |
| Detailed Sleep Analysis | Yes | Yes |
| Sleep Coach/ Guidance | Yes (Paid feature) | Yes |
| Chronotype | No | Yes |
| Body Clock | No | Yes |
| Weekly & Monthly Sleep Reports | Yes | Yes |
| Respiration Rate | No | Yes |
| Breathing Quality | Yes | No |
| Skin Temperature | Yes | Yes |
| Illness Detection | No | Yes |
| Steps | Yes | Yes |
| Distance Traveled | Yes | Yes |
| Calories | Yes | Yes |
| Activity Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Workouts | Yes | Yes |
| Sports Coach | Yes | No |
| Achievement Prediction | Yes | No |
| Advanced Running Support | Yes | No |
| Period Prediction | Yes | Yes |
| Fertility & Ovulation Prediction | No | Yes |
| Pregnancy tracking | No | Yes |
| Mood & Energy | No | No |
| Menstrual Symptoms | No | No |
| Emotional State | Yes | No |
| Automatic Emotion Detection | Yes | No |
| Daily Summary | No | Yes |
| Trends | No | Yes |
| Health Reports | Yes | Yes |
| Set Personalized Goals | Yes | Yes |
| Personalized Wellness Assistance | Yes | No |
| Pai Health Assessment System | Yes | No |
| AI Chatbot | Yes | No |
| Insights Feature | Yes | Yes |
| Data Export | Yes | Yes |
| Stress & Recovery | Yes | Yes |
| Rest Mode | No | Yes |
| Meditation | Yes | Yes |
| Guided sessions | No | Yes |
| Readiness Score | Yes | Yes |
| Readiness Insights | Yes | Yes |
| VO2 Max | Yes | Yes |
Tracking Accuracy
Activity Tracking
Both rings manage to track my active minutes, calories burned, heart rate, steps taken, distance traveled, etc. However, Oura still seems to be far more equipped to track my workouts and all other kinds of physical activity than the Helio Ring— even though the Helio is said to be specially designed for athletes.
To start with, Oura can track around 50 different kinds of workouts, whereas Helio can only track about four (walking, running, cycling, and treadmill). Furthermore, if I ever find that Oura was inaccurate in recording a certain activity that I performed, I can just go to the app and edit the duration or nature of the activity myself.
Not to forget, Oura also works with third-party apps like Strava, which makes it easier for me to import my running data to the Oura app so that all my workout stats are in one place. While Helio also works with various other fitness tracking apps like Strava, Google Fit, Apple Health, and more, I still prefer Oura’s data tracking capabilities.
But, I am still impressed by how neatly the Helio ring tracks my data. It has a built-in GPS that not only accurately tells me what distance I ran but also what route I took! It gives me all kinds of stats, too, such as the length of my stride, my pace, my heart rate during the runs, etc.
Furthermore, even though both the rings track my steps and also show inaccuracies in step-tracking, I have noticed that the Helio ring was slightly more inaccurate in tracking my steps. This makes Oura a clear winner for me in overall activity tracking accuracy.
Heart Rate Monitoring
Even though both the Amazfit Helio and Oura Ring can track metrics like heart rate, Heart Rate Variability (HRV), Resting Heart Rate, and Workout Heart Rate, I noticed that Oura was much more accurate in tracking these metrics.
Plenty of times, I found that Helio recorded numbers higher than Oura did, and based on my feelings, observations, and the data that Oura provided me with, those numbers could not be true.
Furthermore, during workouts, Helio wouldn’t record the rapid changes in my heart rate accurately as Oura did. It did show me data regarding my heart rate zones during workouts which I found to be quite cool. But, apart from that, I simply trust Oura’s heart rate data more than that of Amazfit Helio.
Sleep Tracking
Almost all smart rings out there have one important job: tracking the wearer’s sleep accurately. And well, I have seen that both the Oura Ring and Helio Ring are well-equipped to do so. Both rings were nearly accurate in their REM, deep sleep, light sleep, total sleep duration, etc. Furthermore, the sleep scores that I received from each of the rings matched each other, too.
What I liked about the Helio ring a little more is that it offers some other unique metrics, like if I am at risk of these things: risk for these four things: Sleep Apnea, RLS, Daytime sleepiness, and Insomnia. I’ve particularly found the Daytime Sleepiness feature helpful.
Apart from this, I’d say the Helio and Oura rings have pretty similar and accurate sleep and recovery tracking capabilities.
Menstrual Tracking
Not having tracked my periods properly for the majority of my life, I was caught off guard when I felt like crying my eyes out or lethargic during certain times. It was only when I started tracking my cycles that I became more mindful of my moods and body. This is why menstrual tracking is one of the most important features for me.
Although both the Amazfit Helio and Oura ring offer me cycle-tracking capabilities, I’ve a feeling that the Oura ring will be far better and more accurate in predicting my cycles.
Up till now, Oura has always been accurate in predicting the start date of my periods after a few months of logging in the relevant metrics. Furthermore, it can also tell me what stage of my cycle I am in on the basis of my skin temperature and then give me insights and recommendations on how I can make the most of it.
But I haven’t yet gotten around to comparing these claims since Helio has been in the market for less than two months, and that time isn’t enough. Furthermore, I don’t see how it could ever match the data accuracy that Oura provides since it works with Natural Cycles, the only smart ring that can do so.
Companion Apps
I have always thought that the Oura app is one of the most intuitively designed apps ever. Even if you’re someone completely new to the smart rings space, you will have no trouble navigating the app and understanding the data it presents.
Amazfit Helio’s companion app, Zepp, is just as intuitively built. While the Oura app comes in a dark theme only, the Zepp app gives people the option to choose between light and dark themes. However, unlike the Oura app, it does take a little while to figure out one’s way around the Zepp app.
The Oura app is spaced out nicely. I open it first thing in the morning to check my Readiness score for the day and another Sleep score so that I can plan my day better. The Zepp app provides me with similar data right on the home screen. I can quickly scroll through the home screen of the Zepp app to get an idea of how much better or worse I am doing.
The Oura app has Home, Readiness, Sleep, Activity, and Resilience at the bottom, and the Zepp app comes with Home, Sleep, Workout, and Profile tabs, which are quite self-explanatory. Opening the Sleep tab would provide me with a sleep score right at the top, and I can scroll through it to have additional information.
However, compared to the Oura app, the Zepp app has data packed into a small space, which can make it a little overwhelming at first. However, with a little more use, the Zepp app becomes easier to understand and also a lot more helpful. For example, Zepp Aura comes with a music feature that I quite like.
Despite this, I will maintain my stance—the Oura app has a much more intuitive and beginner-friendly layout than the Zepp app.
Pricing, Subscription & Availability
| Pricing Details | Amazfit Helio | Oura Ring 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Official Price | $299.99 USD | $299-$549 USD |
| Discounted Price | N/A | N/A |
| Subscription | Yes (Optional) Zepp Aura – $69.99/yearZepp Fitness – $19.99 for 6 months | Yes ($5.99 a month/ $69.99 a year) |
| Availability | US and Europe | Countries in North America, Europe, Africa & Middle East, Asia & Pacific |
Pricing and subscription are where things get interesting. To make things shorter, Amazfit Helio is way more affordable than Oura Ring. I purchased my size 10 titanium Helio ring for $299.99, whereas the silver Heritage Oura Ring 3 cost me $349. Had I chosen a different color, like Rose Gold or Stealth, this number could have gone up. As of now, there is no such case with the Helio ring because it is available in only one color (titanium) and finish.
In fact, I could have probably gotten the Helio ring at a cheaper price if I had purchased it along with an Amazfit smartwatch as part of Amazfit’s bundle offer that provides the combo at $150 off.
Having an Amazfit watch and ring together could be dead useful because of the Data Fusion feature that Amazfit offers, as it can sync the data from both devices in one place. But, given that I already have a GTS 4, I didn’t see how getting another watch could help me.
When it comes to app subscriptions, I could use the free version of the Zepp app. It is functional, but only to a certain extent. If I want to have access to all of my important health-related data, like sleep assessments, weekly and monthly reports, Readiness insights, etc., I’d have to pay for the Zepp Aura.
But you know what? I could still get all this data for free after signing up for the limited-period free trial. However, if I continue to use the app after the free trial ends, I’d have to pay $69.99 a year. There’s also Zepp Fitness, which costs $19.99 for 6 months, but I never saw a point in getting it since I already work with a health and nutrition coach.
Similarly, Oura also offers a one-month free trial upon the purchase of the ring, but after that, I could either pay $5.99 a month or $69.99 a year to continue using the Oura app.
Well, I may not be sure about continuing to pay for Zepp Aura or Zepp Fitness, but I will choose to pay for the Oura app; it’s worth the money.
Which Ring You Should Buy?
If I ever have to choose between buying the Amazfit Helio and Oura Ring again, I will willingly spend on the latter. Sure, the Helio is slightly more comfortable than the Oura Ring, but the latter is still more durable, and that is what truly matters in the long run.
Furthermore, even though the Helio seems to offer more features than the Oura, its accuracy is still questionable, and Oura offers way more accurate data across all the parameters relevant to any user.
One could argue that the Amazfit Helio is still very new in the market and needs more time to ascertain its accuracy. And well, point noted. This article will likely be updated when more testing and data comparisons are done for the Amazfit Helio. Until then, stay tuned.
