Ultrahuman just dropped its Ring Air to $299 for Prime Day - but there's a catch. The subscription-free smart ring will be banned from US sales on October 21 after losing a patent battle with Oura. For fitness enthusiasts who refuse monthly fees, this might be their last chance to grab one of the few genuinely subscription-free wearables on the market.
The smart ring market just got a lot less competitive, and Prime Day shoppers have a narrow window to capitalize. Ultrahuman's Ring Air dropped to $299 yesterday - a $50 discount that feels more like a clearance sale than a celebration. The Indian health-tech company has exactly two weeks left to sell rings in the US before a patent infringement ruling forces them out of the market entirely. Oura, the Finnish giant that essentially created the smart ring category, successfully argued that both Ultrahuman and competitor Ringconn violated its core patents. The US International Trade Commission agreed, issuing an exclusion order that takes effect October 21. It's a decisive victory for Oura, which has watched its market share explode over the past year - selling nearly 2.75 million of its 5.5 million total rings since the Ring 4 launched in late 2024. The timing couldn't be more brutal for Ultrahuman. Just as consumers are discovering alternatives to Oura's $5.99 monthly subscription model, the competition gets legally obliterated. WIRED's Simon Hill tested the Ring Air back in 2023 and found it genuinely competitive - lighter than Oura's offering and packed with sleep, recovery, and movement tracking that doesn't require ongoing payments. That subscription-free approach now feels revolutionary in a market where every wearable manufacturer seems determined to extract recurring revenue. Amazon Prime Day shoppers are responding accordingly. The Ring Air has climbed Amazon's fitness tracker bestseller list as word spreads about the impending ban. Best Buy and Ultrahuman's direct sales channels are matching the $299 price point, suggesting coordinated inventory clearing ahead of the deadline. But Ultrahuman isn't going quietly. The company filed a countersuit against Oura and published a blog post assuring customers that existing Ring Air users will keep full app functionality and warranty support indefinitely. CEO Vatsal Singhal told customers the company remains 'here for the long haul' - though exactly what that means without US market access remains unclear. The patent battle reveals just how dominant has become. The company recently debuted a ceramic ring collection with multi-ring support, letting users swap health trackers like jewelry. It's also landed enterprise contracts with the Department of Defense and announced plans for a Texas manufacturing facility. When competitor executives start publicly denying that defense contractor Palantir has access to user health data, you know the stakes have escalated beyond simple fitness tracking. For consumers, the math is suddenly simple. Ring 4 offers superior accuracy and features but costs $349 upfront plus $72 annually in subscription fees. Ring Air matches most functionality for $299 total - no ongoing charges, no data monetization concerns, no monthly relationship with a health-tech company that's cozying up to defense contractors. The window closes October 21. After that, US consumers wanting subscription-free ring tracking will need to look at grey market imports or hope wins its appeal - a process that could take years while continues cementing its market position.
