Should I buy a smart ring with or without a subscription

Smart rings are the latest trend in wearable tech, and it’s not hard to see why. They’re stylish, slim, and you get a surprising amount of data out of a tiny form factor; the Oura Ring, Samsung Galaxy Ring, or Ultrahuman Ring Air are excellent for situations where a smartwatch doesn’t exactly fit. For example, they’re great for sleep, and many find them more comfortable than smartwatches or other trackers.

However, there are various pricing models offered by each smart ring. Some, like the Galaxy Ring or the Ultrahuman Ring Air, are available for a one-time fee. Others, like the Oura Ring Gen 3, have an up-front cost and a subscription. There are pros and cons to each pricing model, but which is best? Let’s unpack the pricing situation and find out whether you should buy one with a subscription or with a high upfront cost.

The case for buying a subscription-based ring

It sounds like a great idea, but it’s not so great in practice

It feels like everything is moving toward a subscription model these days, and as such, it’s easy to be apprehensive about a wearable subscription. However, there are a few reasons why it might make sense to subscribe to a smart ring.

The Oura Ring Generation 3 is the highest-profile smart ring that uses a subscription service, called an Oura Membership. You can use an Oura Ring Gen 3 without a subscription, but you’ll only get basic information, such as daily Oura scores and battery life.

Everything else requires a paid Oura Membership, which costs $6 per month in the US. It could be appealing to pay for your smart ring one month at a time, because there’s a lower upfront cost, but the problem is that it’s fairly expensive upfront, too, with a $300 retail price. So, you’d pay $372 for an Oura Ring Gen 3 in the first year and over $400 after a year and a half.

Oura says its subscription allows it to deliver “an ever-growing suite of innovative features.” While that sounds like marketing speak (and to some degree, it is), there is some truth to it. Companies that offer smart rings with a subscription can offer software features to users on a regular basis. Oura, in particular, provides daily health information and personalized data as well.

Only you can decide whether the benefits that come with a subscription like the Oura Membership are worth the perpetual costs. Those benefits include constant software support and the ability to cancel or renew at any time.

I would say that the subscription model is better for people who like to upgrade early and often, but smart rings aren’t made on a yearly basis. The Oura Ring Gen 3 was released in November 2021, and we’re still waiting for the Oura Ring Gen 4. If you bought an Oura Ring Gen 3 on day one and subscribed for all 19 months since then, you’d have paid nearly $500 on the smart ring, and that’s before factoring in taxes.

The case for buying a subscription-free ring

With a Galaxy Ring, you pay once and move on

The Samsung Galaxy Ring is subscription-free and costs $400, while the Ultrahuman Ring Air is a cheaper alternative at $350. You can purchase either of those options, or another smart ring without a subscription, and use it basically forever without paying another dime. That’s the pitch of a subscription-free smart ring, and I think it is extremely compelling.

Smart rings are basic fitness and health trackers that can’t provide the same level of detail that smartwatches or other wearables can. With a smart ring, you’re usually getting heart rate readings, basic fitness tracking, and sleep tracking. If you don’t need the flashy personalized insights, there’s no reason to pay each month for a perpetual subscription.

Plus, the Galaxy Ring does manage to offer personalized insights through the Samsung Health app on Galaxy devices without asking for money every month. In other words, by paying a bit more for a smart ring without a subscription, you’ll save long-term without missing out.

Companies can always change their mind

A smart ring could require a subscription in the future

For most people, buying a smart ring without a subscription is the most economical decision. Yes, you have to pay more for something like the Galaxy Ring (if you can get one) or the Ultrahuman Ring Air, but not that much more. The Oura Ring Gen 3 is $50 cheaper than the Ultrahuman Ring Air, and $100 cheaper than the Galaxy Ring — you can easily end up spending more on an Oura Ring if you want to use it for a few years.

One thing to be wary of, however, is that companies can change their minds. They can always choose to add new features that require a subscription, or take other steps to push users towards paying a monthly fee. While Samsung says it won’t require a Galaxy Ring subscription, it has routinely hinted that subscriptions could come to Galaxy AI or Samsung Health. One day, that could encompass the Galaxy Ring, too.

Subscriptions are breaking into every category and industry, and smart rings are no exception. It’s not a horrible idea to buy a smart ring with a subscription, though you’ll certainly end up paying more over time. I also wouldn’t rule out some of these smart rings adopting a subscription model in the future. Regardless, I think you should grab a subscription-free ring while you can.

The choice is quite simple: pay slightly more today, or keep paying forever.