Ultrahuman Rare Review: A $1,800 Smart Ring
Published: July 8, 2026
We independently test everything we recommend.
Buying through links on our site supports our work.
The Ultrahuman Rare costs between $1,830 and $2,196, and the health tech inside is the same as the $349 Ring Air. If you just did the subtraction and felt your stomach drop, this ring is not for you, and that's fine. The Rare isn't competing with smart rings. It's competing with the fine gold band you were maybe going to buy anyway.
What are you actually paying for?
Grams of precious metal and the hands that shaped them. The Rare's Desert Collection is 18K gold or pt950 platinum, handcrafted, not a titanium ring wearing a gold coating. That's where the four figures go. Under the surface you get Ultrahuman's standard PPG and motion sensors (sleep, HRV, heart rate, temperature, stress) and the same no-subscription app. Roughly six days of battery, same as the cheap one.
Does it make sense for anyone?
For exactly one person: someone who was going to spend four figures on a gold ring regardless, and would rather it also read their recovery. Priced against fine jewelry with no electronics at all, the premium for the sensors is almost reasonable. Priced against every other ring on this page, it's indefensible. Both things are true. Which one applies depends entirely on how you were going to spend the money.
Specs, Pros & the Bottom Line
Ultrahuman Rare
For when you want the ring to also be jewelry
- Our Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
- Price: from $1,830
- Battery (tested): 5–6 days
- Weight: Varies by size
- Subscription: None
- Water resistance: 100 m
- Materials: 18K gold / pt950 platinum
Pros
- Actual 18K gold or pt950 platinum, handmade, not a coating
- Same no-subscription Ultrahuman tracking underneath
- The only smart ring you could plausibly wear to a wedding
Cons
- $1,830 to $2,196, and you're paying for grams of gold, not sensors
- Same 5–6 day battery as the $349 Ring Air
- Sold through Selfridges and Printemps, not your usual return-friendly retailer
Let's be blunt: the health tech inside is the same story as the $349 Ring Air, and you're paying roughly $1,500 for precious metal and a jeweler's finish. As a gadget, that's indefensible. As jewelry that happens to track your sleep, it's actually reasonable. An 18K gold band with the same craftsmanship runs four figures with no sensors at all. So the Rare isn't for shoppers comparing spec sheets. It's for someone who was going to buy a fine gold ring anyway and would rather it read their HRV. If that's not you to the dollar, buy the Ultrahuman Ring Air, pocket the difference, and never look back.
What to buy instead
Almost certainly the Ultrahuman Ring Air: identical tracking, one-fifth the price, and you keep $1,500. If you want the best data rather than the best metal, the Oura Ring 4 or RingConn Gen 2 beat the Rare on the numbers that matter and won't need a jeweler to resize.
The verdict
The Rare is the first smart ring you'd wear to a black-tie dinner, and it tracks your sleep on the way home. As jewelry with a pulse, it's a legitimately clever object. As a health gadget, it's a rounding error of function on a mountain of gold. Buy it only if the gold was always the point.