The Amazfit Helio Ring is my favorite smart ring on the market today and one of the best smart rings not named Oura. Launched in January during CES, the device began shipping this past spring, which is around the time I reviewed the Helio Ring.
Originally priced at $299 with no mandatory subscription costs, the Helio Ring isn't quite as sophisticated as the latest Oura Ring 4 or Samsung Galaxy Ring in terms of its depth of detail, but it's still a competent wellness tracker at a competitive price. And unlike the Galaxy Ring, it plays nicely with the Apple and Android smartphones.
For Helio Ring users wishing to dig even deeper into their sleep data, Amazfit initially offered the optional Zepp Aura app for $69 annually. For those wanting more advanced working training tools, the Zepp Fitness app was on offer for an extra $29 a year.
Helio Ring gets a price drop
As of late September, both of those apps are free for all Helio Ring customers to use, which I appreciate. Amazfit is also reimbursing folks who previously paid for either, which I commend. After all, nixing all subscription costs is probably the best way for Amazfit to differentiate its smart ring from Oura's.
And if that were the only pricing detail around the Helio Ring that Amazfit adjusted, I'd be celebrating. Instead, I'm worrying — at the same time that those subscription costs vanished, Amazfit knocked a third of the price off of the Helio Ring itself. This isn't just a one-time sale, either, the brand says the price reduction is permanent. The Helio Ring now costs just $199.
Cause for concern
For such a new product to see such a substantial price drop this early in its lifecycle suggests to me that perhaps the Helio Ring isn't selling nearly as well as Amazfit had hoped.
That, coupled with the fact that the device is still only available in a very limited number of sizes compared to the competition — including 8, 10 and 12 — also hints that demand might not be high enough to warrant more options. Oura, by comparison, offers its smart ring in sizes 4 - 15 and Samsung in sizes 5 - 13.
Other famously short-lived products that went on a firesale shortly before their demise include the aptly-named Amazon Fire Phone, the Spotify Car Thing, GoPro's Karma Drone (before being recalled for randomly falling out of the sky), the Light L16 computational camera (which was more vaporware than a full-fledge consumer product) and my personal favorite, the Microsoft Zune MP3 player. (Sorry, I know hearing that name still sting some of y'all.)
Ultimately, if Amazfit does decide to pull the plug on the Helio Ring, it would be a loss to the emerging smart ring market as a whole given that the device is the most reliable OS-agnostic, subscription-free smart ring currently available.
Will Amazfit continue to pursue smart rings?
Now, deep discounts shortly after a product's release don't necessarily mean doom and gloom — hey, maybe the Helio Ring 2 is right around the corner — but this particular price cut doesn't sit right with me.
That said, I sure hope I'm wrong and Amazfit continues pursuing price-conscious smart ring customers, a demographic I can only assume is increasing given the amount of interest we're seeing in the new Oura Ring 4 that launched this week.
One bit of light in the darkness is the fact that a redesigned Zepp app — the Helio Ring's companion app — is in the works with new features to boot. Of course, the Helio Ring isn't Amazfit's only product that pairs with it. For instance, the Amazfit Band 7, the best fitness tracker under $50, also uses Zepp. So does the monster-sized Amazfit T-Rex 3.
