The best smart ring for swimming: they all survive the pool, one logs the swim

What the water ratings actually mean

Every ring on this page is rated well past the depth of a swimming pool, and that is not marketing - it is a tested standard. But the two numbers you see quoted mean different things, so it is worth thirty seconds on each.

IP68. An IEC 60529 rating. Oura explains its own: the 6 means complete protection against dust, and the 8 means the device withstands continuous submersion beyond one meter under conditions the maker specifies - for Oura Ring 5 that is up to 100 meters, or 328 feet (Oura). Oura says the ring went through controlled submersion testing at specified depths and was then inspected for water ingress.

10ATM. A pressure rating. Samsung states the Galaxy Ring as 10ATM - 100 m for up to 10 minutes - plus IP68. Note the time limit in Samsung's own wording; a pressure rating is not a promise of indefinite immersion.

And here is the caveat that comes from the maker rather than from us: IP ratings are “tested in still, fresh water under controlled lab conditions,” and Oura says real-world water - chlorinated pools, salt water - “can be more demanding,” with prolonged or repeated exposure to harsh water potentially affecting the ring over time. For scale, Oura points out that a standard Olympic pool is two meters deep. A 100 m rating is enormous headroom for anything you will actually do. Our is a smart ring waterproof guide reads every brand's wording side by side.

What a ring records in the water

There is a physical reason none of them count laps well: a ring is on a hand that rotates and accelerates unpredictably through a stroke, and it has no screen or button to confirm a turn. Meanwhile the heart rate data you would want from a hard swim set is exactly the data a finger sensor is worst at - our running page documents ring heart rate reading 14 to 70 bpm away from a watch during hard effort, and water does the signal no favours.

The scuba question

Worth its own section because the brands disagree and the stakes are high.

• Oura says no. Oura Ring 5 is “primarily built for everyday water exposure and recreational water sports rather than deep, high-pressure deep-sea diving,” and the Ring 4 support page is blunter still: “suitable for sauna and water sports but not diving.”
• Wareable agrees, and explains why. A 100 m still-water rating is not a diving rating, because diving creates extra pressure - so treat these rings as “suitable only for surface swimming, snorkeling, and water sports.”
• Ultrahuman names scuba on the older Ring AIR, while also advising against staying submerged for more than 30 minutes continuously. We would not take that as clearance to dive.

Our reading: swim, shower, snorkel, sauna and hot tub, yes. Scuba, no, whatever the number says. And sauna is worth a separate note - heat, not water, is what ages a sealed battery, which we cover in how long a smart ring battery lasts.

How we ranked them

Every ring carries its score from our published ring rubric: cost of ownership over three years (30%), evidence of accuracy (25%), claimed battery (15%), sizing and fit (10%), data ownership (10%) and phone support (10%). The rubric is on our methodology page. We have not worn or tested these rings in or out of water; every pick is labeled Researched.

For this page we ranked on what each brand publishes about water: the rating itself, the fine print attached to it, and whether the ring does anything with a swim once it is over. Because every rating here is deeper than any pool, the tiebreaker became automatic detection - which only one ring has.

The picks in context

1. Oura Ring 5 — the only one that notices you swam

IP68 and waterproof to 100 m, tested by controlled submersion, and the one ring whose Automatic Activity Detection picks up swimming without you starting anything. Oura also documents sauna, hot tub, kayaking, shower and dishwashing as fine, and warns only against sustained high-pressure water jets - pressure washers, not showerheads.

The limits: no stroke or lap data, and the membership. Full features cost $69.99 a year, or $209.97 over three. See our Oura Ring 5 review.

2. Samsung Galaxy Ring — the best rating with no fee

10ATM (100 m for up to 10 minutes) plus IP68 is, on paper, the most explicit pressure rating of any ring here, and it charges no subscription. A charging case comes in the box, and sizes run 5 to 15 - the widest range we found, which matters if pool water makes your fingers shrink.

Catches: Android only with no iPhone support, some features reserved for Samsung Galaxy phones, and no swim metrics of any kind. We also found no peer-reviewed validation of it. See RingConn vs Galaxy Ring.

3. RingConn Gen 3 — no fee, newest hardware

IP68 and 10ATM, up to 14 days claimed on a single charge, women's full-cycle predictions, sizes to 15, and no subscription. Its water credentials match Samsung's and it works on iPhone as well as Android, which is why a swimmer on iOS should look here first among the no-fee options. No swim tracking. See the RingConn Gen 3 review.

4. RingConn Gen 2 — the value pick

IP68 rated to 100 m / 328 ft, no fee, 10-12 days claimed a charge plus a charging case RingConn rates at up to 150 days, iOS 17.0+ and Android 10.0+, free sizing kit, HSA/FSA eligible through Flex. It is our overall no-fee pick across the site and nothing about water changes that - it simply will not tell you how far you swam. See the Gen 2 review.

5. Ultrahuman Ring PRO — deep rating, no detail

Rated 100 m / 328 ft with a titanium unibody and no required fee. Ultrahuman publishes nothing about swim tracking for the PRO, and the ring was still a US pre-order when we checked, shipping “from October 10th onwards.” Its predecessor's FAQ named swimming, showering and scuba while advising against continuous submersion beyond 30 minutes; we would treat that as marketing latitude rather than guidance. See the Ring PRO review.

Side by side

If you want real swim metrics

Buy a watch. This is the one category where we would send a reader away from rings without hesitating, because the gap is not a matter of degree.

The Apple Watch Series 12 lists pool swim and open water swim workout types plus custom workouts for pool swims, is rated 50 m (swimproof) under ISO 22810:2010 with a depth gauge to 6 m and a water temperature sensor, and charges no subscription for any of it. Note the irony: its water rating is shallower than every ring on this page, and it is dramatically more useful in a pool. The Samsung Galaxy Watch8 is 5ATM plus IP68 with swim tracking on the wrist, also with no fee.

The sensible arrangement, if you swim seriously and also want recovery data: a watch for the sessions, a no-fee ring for the nights. Our Oura vs Apple Watch and Galaxy Ring vs Galaxy Watch8 pages both work through that pairing, and smart ring vs smartwatch takes the general case.

Chlorine, salt water and hot tubs

1. Rinse it after the pool or the sea. Oura's own guidance is that IP testing happens in still fresh water and that chlorinated or salt water is more demanding. Fresh water and a dry-off costs you ten seconds.
2. Dry your finger, not just the ring. Water trapped between skin and a metal band is the usual cause of irritation, and every brand's comfort guidance says the same.
3. Hot tubs are about heat, not water. Oura says Ring 5 is designed to withstand the heat and humidity of both dry saunas and hot tubs. Heat is still what shortens sealed battery life over years - see battery swelling for what to watch for.
4. Expect fit to change in cold water. Fingers shrink. A ring that is a touch loose on land can come off in a pool, and there is no finding it afterwards. If you are between sizes, size down for swimming - our sizing guide covers how to check.
5. Do not aim a pressure washer at it. Oura names this specifically, and it is the one household thing that genuinely exceeds the rating.

Mistakes swimmers make

• Reading “100 m” as a diving rating. It is a still-water pressure test. Oura rules out diving in its own words, and Wareable explains why the physics differ.
• Expecting laps. No ring counts them. Not one, including the Oura that detects the swim.
• Trusting swim heart rate. Hard effort plus a moving hand plus water is the worst case for optical sensing at a finger. Our heart rate accuracy pagecollects what has actually been measured.
• Buying the ring with the deepest number. Every rating here exceeds every pool. The rating is not the deciding factor; the fee, the phone support and the battery are.
• Swimming in a ring that is slightly loose. The cheapest mistake on this page to avoid and the most expensive to make.