Notebookcheck Logo
(Image source: Daniel Schmidt)

Amazfit Helio Ring review - The price hit among the smart rings

Smart and affordable.

Amazfit Helio Ring impressed us with its high-quality materials, low weight, long battery life, and comprehensive health tracking—all at a comparatively low price. Even if it cannot keep all its promises, it still delivers a coherent overall picture.
Daniel Schmidt, 👁 Daniel Schmidt, Anton Avdyushkin (translated by DeepL / Ninh Duy) Published 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 ...
Accessory Gadget Smartwatch Wearable

Verdict - Amazfit Helio Ring is smart, with room for improvement

With its low weight and attractive design, the Amazfit Helio Ring makes a good first impression. However, the smart ring is currently only available in three sizes in Germany.

In the test, it impressed with conclusive measurements and is a pleasant and reliable companion at night. However, it does not have gesture control like the Galaxy ring. The Helio Ring doesn't cover itself in glory when it comes to battery life either and lasts less than expected.

Nevertheless, the smart ring from Amazfit is definitely worth recommending, as most of the functions work without a subscription and the price is now well under 200 euros.

Pros

+ low weight
+ precise measurement results
+ discreet design

Cons

- only three sizes
- long charging time
- short battery life

Price and availability

The Helio Ring is only available in one color and three sizes. It can be ordered from Amazon or directly from Amazfit.

Amazon Logo
$169.99
Amazfit Helio Smart Ring, No Subscription, Monitor Sleep, Heart Rate, Stress, Fast 1.4 Hour Charging, iPhone and Android, Titanium Alloy, Swim/Shower Water-Resistance (Size 12)

The Amazfit Helio Ring is a smart ring that can track various health values and is intended more as a supplement to a smartwatch but can also be used on its own.

The Helio Ring originally launched with an RRP of around 300 euros, but has now settled at a significantly lower price and is therefore much cheaper than many of its competitors, especially as a subscription is required. Our test clarifies whether this makes it the ideal fitness ring.

Specifications: Amazfit Helio Ring

Amazfit Helio Ring
Connections
Sensors: BioTracker PPG heart rate (1 dual-color LED + 2PD), Temperature, EDA, 3-Axis Acceleration, 3-Axis gyroscope
Networking
Bluetooth 5.0 BLE
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 2.6 x 12 x ( = 0.1 x 0.47 x 0 in)
Battery
20.5 mAh Lithium-Ion
Charging
wireless charging
Additional features
Charger, 24 Months Warranty, 10 ATM, Firmware-Version: 2.2.6.1, fanless, waterproof
Weight
3.82 g ( = 0.13 oz / 0.01 pounds) ( = 0 oz / 0 pounds)
Price
300 Euro

 

Case and features - Helio Ring relies on titanium and resin

Like other smart rings, the Amazfit Helio ring is a little chunkier, but with a height of 2.6 mm, it is not too bulky. While the inside is made of synthetic resin and is studded with all kinds of sensors, the outside is encased in a titanium alloy. The ring is only available in the color champagne.

The workmanship is impressive and looks high-quality. Amazfit states a water resistance of 10 ATM, so swimming with the Helio ring is no problem. However, one problem may be that it is only available in three sizes, based on the US sizes: 8, 10, and 12, the latter corresponding to our test device. The dimensions, weight, and battery performance vary depending on which model you choose:

Size Weight Battery capacity
8 3.65 g 16.5 mAh
10 3.75 g 18.5 mAh
12 3.82 g 20.5 mAh

Amazfit places the topic of regeneration at the heart of the Helio Ring and sees it as a complementary product to a conventional wearable. At its core, the BioTracker PPG sensor, a temperature sensor, and an EDA sensor are responsible for this. In addition to skin temperature, pulse, blood oxygen saturation, and stress levels can also be determined. For optimum results, the ring should be worn on the index finger if possible. A small marker helps to align the Amazfit Helio ring correctly. Gestures as with the Galaxy ring are not supported.

(Image source: Daniel Schmidt)
(Image source: Daniel Schmidt)
(Image source: Daniel Schmidt)
(Image source: Daniel Schmidt)

Sustainability

The Amazfit Helio ring comes in a small cardboard box. The only plastic inside is a foam padding for the ring. The charger is modular and has no cable in order to save resources and weight.

Amazfit does not provide any further information or even a sustainability report. There is also no information on reparability, but due to the design, we think the chances of this are rather poor.

Setup and operation - Zepp app controls the Helio Ring

To pair the ring with a Android smartphone or iPhone, it must be on the charging station, the Zepp app must be installed on the phone and Bluetooth must be activated. Then simply add the ring as a new device in the app and it will be found automatically.

The app is operated in the same way as Amazfit smartwatches such as the T-Rex 3. The settings for the Helio Ring are present under the Device tab. Among other things, health monitoring can be configured there. However, the search function is only visual, as the Amazfit ring has neither a vibration motor nor a speaker, so the LEDs on the inside light up green instead.

Due to the lack of an NFC chip, it is also not possible to pay with the ring. As there is no display, all collected data must be read on the smartphone and the Helio Ring cannot receive notifications either.

Health and fitness - Amazfit Helio ring with precise health data

The Zepp app serves as the main interface for analyzing the data collected by the Amazfit Helio Ring, which is presented clearly. Only the navigation to individual days is a little awkward. Weekly, monthly, and annual evaluations can also be carried out in the detailed views.

The range of functions can be expanded via the paid services Zepp Trainer and Zepp Aura. The former provides answers to training-related questions in the AI chat and can also create training plans, while Aura focuses on sleep and mental health.

The Helio Ring can also recognize emotions and inquire about them, which is then included in the evaluation for Stress & Emotions. The ring also tracks the pulse, blood oxygen, and skin temperature. The latter is also used for cycle tracking. Unfortunately, the measurements cannot be triggered manually.

Heart rate, heart rhythm and blood oxygen saturation

For route recording, you will need to take your smartphone, as the Amazfit Helio Ring does not support satellite positioning. It is also not possible to manually trigger individual measurements of body values.

In order to better assess the precision of the heart rate measurement, we compare the ring's daily recordings with a Huawei Watch D2. The recordings are very close to each other over the course of the day and only deviate by a few beats. This remains the case even on a short walk.

We proceed similarly when determining blood oxygen (SpO2), which the ring can determine automatically once an hour. Here, however, the Amazfit Ring determines different values than the smartwatch and is always two to three percentage points higher than the Watch D2, but this is still within reason.

All in all, the Helio Ring delivers conclusive measurement results, even if it is not a medically certified product. We have detailed additional considerations for measuring with wearables in a separate article.

Heart rate Amazfit Helio Ring
Heart rate Amazfit Helio Ring
Heart rate Huawei Watch D2
Heart rate Huawei Watch D2

Sleep tracking

Wearing a smartwatch on your wrist at night can be annoying, so the Amazfit Helio Ring is a sensible alternative. The recorded data includes sleep duration, regularity, deep and REM sleep, and waking times. We find the recordings to be consistent, only minor waking phases are not always recognized.

The heart rate during sleep is also recorded, as well as shallow breathing episodes (hypopnea). Additionally, Amazfit derives a sleep apnea risk from the latter. However, the breathing rate is not determined and sleep sounds cannot be recorded due to the lack of a microphone. The sleep data is also used to determine the readiness value.

Walking with the Amazfit Helio ring
Walk

Training recording

The smartphone must always be used to start a workout and the Amazfit Helio Ring also relies on it for location data. The choice of workouts is very limited: only jogging, walking, treadmill, and cycling are available. At least swimming would certainly have made sense due to the waterproofness.

The recorded data differs depending on the type of sport. When walking, for example, the distance, speed, heart rate, elevation gain, stride length, and cadence are recorded. The Zepp app can also determine the VO2Max, but only does so if the heart rate is higher than 157 beats per minute. Of course, the data is also fed into the T-Rex 3 and the readiness value.

There is no automatic training detection, nor does the Helio Ring pause the training during breaks.

Battery life - Amazfit Helio Ring is not an endurance runner

Our test device of the Amazfit Helio Ring (size 12) is the model with the largest battery (20.5 mAh). Amazfit claims a battery life of up to four days. However, we consider this to be very optimistic and only realistic if the automatic health measurements or sleep tracking are deactivated.

We have used the smart ring with all health functions continuously and have therefore achieved a battery life of around two and a half days. The Helio Ring takes just over an hour and a half to fully charge in the supplied charging cradle.

Transparency

The selection of devices to be reviewed is made by our editorial team. The test sample was provided to the author as a loan by the manufacturer or retailer for the purpose of this review. The lender had no influence on this review, nor did the manufacturer receive a copy of this review before publication. There was no obligation to publish this review. We never accept compensation or payment in return for our reviews. As an independent media company, Notebookcheck is not subjected to the authority of manufacturers, retailers or publishers.

This is how Notebookcheck is testing

Every year, Notebookcheck independently reviews hundreds of laptops and smartphones using standardized procedures to ensure that all results are comparable. We have continuously developed our test methods for around 20 years and set industry standards in the process. In our test labs, high-quality measuring equipment is utilized by experienced technicians and editors. These tests involve a multi-stage validation process. Our complex rating system is based on hundreds of well-founded measurements and benchmarks, which maintains objectivity. Further information on our test methods can be found here.

static version load dynamic
Loading Comments
Comment on this article
Please share our article, every link counts!
Mail Logo
> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Amazfit Helio Ring review - The price hit among the smart rings
Daniel Schmidt, 2024-12- 4 (Update: 2024-12- 4)