Sensor Bio
vs Ultrahuman
One is signal infrastructure, built to carry raw physiological data into any system that needs it. The other is a consumer smart ring, built to carry Sleep, Recovery, and Movement scores onto an app screen. Here is the difference, specification by specification.
Updated October 28, 2026
Built as infrastructure, not as a gadget.
Four differences decide whether a wearable can carry an institutional workload. Ultrahuman Ring AIR was built as a consumer smart ring, not as partner signal infrastructure.
The full waveform, not the summary
Scores and insights sit on top of the exposed raw signal, with the context that shows what drove the number.
Public Daily Metrics API hands over derived series and scores. Continuous raw multi-wavelength PPG and IBI are not listed on that default public page.
One system, every use case
Designed from the ground up as a data platform that clinical, defense, and enterprise partners build on directly.
A consumer ring and app, with PowerPlugs and an optional metabolic ecosystem. Partners inherit that product surface.
Your brand on the signal
Ships as infrastructure a partner can put its own name on from the first deployment.
White-label / OEM is not listed on current ultrahuman.com product pages. The brand stays theirs.
Shaped to the deployment
Data model, retention, and reporting are configured to the partner's environment: a hospital, a base, a research protocol.
Configured per consumer account and PowerPlugs, not per hospital, base, or research protocol.
A wellness tracker tells a person a score and stops there. A signal platform shows the score, the raw signal behind it, and hands over the data to prove it.
Six problems institutional buyers run into, and how we answer each one.
Raw waveform export is the default data product for every partner, not a gated upsell.
The public Daily Metrics API documents derived series and scores (hr, hrv, temp, sleep, recovery, spo2). Continuous raw multi-wavelength PPG waveforms and beat-to-beat / IBI are not listed on that default public page. A PPG Recordings API is listed in the UltraSignal docs nav; partners should confirm the schema with Ultrahuman.
Deployments are configured to retain the history a partner actually needs.
Daily Metrics date-range queries cannot exceed 7 days. A partner-configurable retention window is not listed on that public page.
Every score ships next to the raw signal it was built from, plus the context for what drove it.
Sleep, Recovery, and Movement scores are the product. The public Daily Metrics API returns those scores and supporting derived fields without a listed raw multi-wavelength waveform alongside them.
Partners build directly on the Sensor Bio platform, built as infrastructure from the start.
Partners build on the Ultrahuman consumer cloud, Daily Metrics tokens, and OAuth ring_data. UltraSignal is an application / loaner-kit program for Ring AIR PPG, temperature, and accelerometer streams — not the default product path.
Native white-label from the first deployment. The partner's brand carries the platform end to end.
A white-label or OEM path is not listed on current ultrahuman.com product pages. Wearers live in the Ultrahuman app under the Ultrahuman brand.
Configured per deployment from day one: a hospital, a base, or a research protocol.
Built for individuals who want Sleep–Recovery–Movement scores in a ring. Institutional capture, white-label, and waveform-level control are a retrofit.
Everything the Sensor Bio SDK hands you on day one.
Eight categories of physiological data, fetchable per day or across a range, with the raw datapoint series underneath every summary. No separate license. No gated tier.
Continuous core signals
Heart rate, daily and trending, with a Poincaré plot. Heart rate variability across the same daily and range views.
Respiratory rate, daily and trending.
Skin temperature: min, max, average, and the full point series.
Movement and energy
Steps graphed over time, and calories.
Daily activity score with baseline difference and progress percentage.
See how much you move with a daily running total of movement duration.
Readiness, daily and ranged
Daily recovery score compared across weeks, months and years.
Scores are personal to you and after calibration, reflect your physiological changes.
Use the underlying biometrics or the aggregate score for easy reference.
The deepest surface in the SDK
Sleep score with running average, contributing factors, and penalties. Awake, REM, light, and deep percentages, plus minute-by-minute stage intervals across the night.
Resting HR and HRV, plus full HR, HRV, and respiratory-rate graphs with every datapoint. Skin temperature with min, max, average, uncertainty, and baseline comparison.
Total sleep time, onset and wake timestamps, and per-session timing including naps.
Recommended bedtime, wake time, and duration. Circadian score and net sleep debt with three-night accounting. Range views add score trends, daily sleep-time points, and an aggregated debt graph.
On-demand snapshot
HRV against baseline, and parasympathetic to sympathetic balance.
Min, max, and average HR with a graph, plus respiratory rate and stress index.
Signal-to-noise ratio on the reading, and a PDF report link.
Session-level biometrics
Per-workout average, min, and max heart rate.
Time-in-zone breakdown for the session.
Summary, detail, and timeline endpoints per workout.
Cloud-synced attributes
VO₂ max, max HR, and computed max HR.
Height, weight, and walk / run stride.
Biometrics, sleep, and steps across a date range in one call.
Raw signal, in real time
During an active recording session the band streams HR, HRV, respiratory rate, beat-to-beat intervals, raw PPG, signal-to-noise ratio, and motion.
This is the ground-truth channel a wellness tracker never exposes. Everything above is derived from it.
Compiled from the public SensorBio SDK interface, v0.17.0. Categories one through seven are fetched from the cloud after sync, per day or across a date range, with cached and force-remote variants. Sensor Bio V2 is a general wellness device: not FDA-cleared, not FDA-approved, not intended for diagnostic use.
What the public UltraSignal / partner API actually exposes.
Personal API tokens for Daily Metrics, plus OAuth2 authorization-code for partner apps. Derived metrics and scores — not a default raw-signal product. Sourced from vision.ultrahuman.com/developer/docs.
Token-auth GET at partner.ultrahuman.com/api/v1/partner/daily_metrics. Date or epoch range; range cannot exceed 7 days. Documented fields include hr, temp, hrv, steps, motion, night_rhr, sleep, recovery, spo2, vo2_max, recovery_index, movement_index, and sleep stage / score fields.
OAuth2 authorization-code + refresh. Scopes listed: user info, ring_data (ring metrics), cgm_data (CGM). Resource: GET /api/partners/v1/user_data/metrics with a required date. Access tokens documented as Bearer, 86400 seconds.
Another user’s data requires their email plus authorization in the Ultrahuman app (Profile → Settings → Partner ID). Own-account reads need only the token.
Marketing page describes a developer platform using Ring AIR PPG, temperature, and accelerometer streams. Access is an application for a loaned developer kit, not a default SKU path.
Docs nav also lists Home Metrics, PPG Recordings, and Blood Test Reports. Field-level schemas for those surfaces are not on the default public Daily Metrics page.
Continuous raw multi-wavelength PPG waveforms, beat-to-beat / IBI, live session streaming, white-label, and partner-configurable retention are not listed on the default public Daily Metrics docs. “Not listed” is not the same as “doesn’t have.” Partners should confirm UltraSignal / PPG Recordings terms with Ultrahuman.
How the two platforms actually compare.
| Specification |
Platform
 |
Platform
ULTRAHUMAN
Ultrahuman Ring AIR
|
|---|---|---|
| Hardware | ||
| Band material | Matte black woven nylon diamond-weave, low-profile curved module | Titanium outer shell with tungsten carbide carbon coating; inner hypoallergenic epoxy resin. Finishes listed: Raw Titanium, Aster Black, Matte Grey, Bionic Gold, Space Silver. Source: ultrahuman.com/global/ring/buy/ and /ring/faq/. |
| Case material | Plastic and polycarbonate sensor housing with TiN electrodes | Unibody titanium ring; no separate module case listed. Source: official spec table. |
| Sensor hardware | Multi-wavelength raw PPG with three-axis accelerometer and temperature |
Infrared PPG plus red LEDs (HR and SpO2), green LEDs (HR), infrared LEDs (HR), a non-contact skin temperature sensor, and 6-axis motion sensors. Source: official spec table. Raw multi-wavelength waveform export is not listed on the public Daily Metrics docs. |
| Continuous wear and battery | 3-4 days of continuous PPG capture |
24 mAh LiPo; 4 to 6 days per charge; about 180 minutes 0–100%. Source: official spec table and FAQ. Ring PRO is listed separately at up to 15 days; this page compares Ring AIR. |
| Water resistance | IP68, water-resistant to 1.5 m for 30 minutes |
Up to 100 meters (about 328 feet) for up to 12 hours on the buy-page comparison table. Blog FAQ also says avoid continuous submersion longer than 30 minutes. |
| Weight and fit | About 1 oz, one size, adjustable, all-day wear | 2.4–3.6 g; width 8.1 mm; thickness 2.45–2.8 mm (varies by size). Sizes 5–14. Screenless ring. Source: official spec table and FAQ. |
| Operating temperature | −40°C to +85°C | Not listed |
| Sync | Bluetooth Low Energy 5.0, one-touch pairing, no PIN required | Bluetooth Low Energy 5 (BLE5), 2.4 GHz. iOS 15+ and Android 6+. Syncs with the Ultrahuman App. Source: official spec table. |
| Platform | ||
| Design philosophy | Signal-first screenless band. Scores sit on top of exposed raw signal, not in place of it | Screenless consumer smart ring that feeds Sleep, Recovery, and Movement scores plus PowerPlugs in the Ultrahuman app |
| Backend model | Built as infrastructure. Every partner builds directly on the platform | Ultrahuman consumer cloud. Public Daily Metrics is token-auth derived metrics; OAuth2 ring_data for partner apps |
| White-label and OEM | Native white-label, partner brand from the first deployment | Not listed as a white-label or OEM product path on ultrahuman.com |
| Customization | Configured per deployment: clinical, defense, or research |
Configured per consumer account and PowerPlugs. Partner Daily Metrics uses a token plus optional Partner ID sharing. |
| Primary market | B2B enterprise solutions | Individual consumers. Secondary partner API and UltraSignal developer-kit program |
| Data | ||
| Raw signal access | Raw waveform export is the default data product |
Daily Metrics returns derived hr / hrv / temp / motion fields. Continuous raw multi-wavelength PPG and IBI are not listed on that default public page. A PPG Recordings API is listed in the UltraSignal docs nav; partners should confirm the schema. UltraSignal is an application / loaner-kit program. |
| Scores and insights | Activity, recovery, and sleep scores, always paired with the raw signal behind them |
sleep_score, recovery / recovery_index, movement_index, metabolic_score, spo2, vo2_max, and sleep stage fields — documented Daily Metrics output |
| On-device storage | Local buffer pending BLE sync |
Not listed |
| Cloud and history | Sensor Bio cloud platform, with raw data export to partners | Daily Metrics date-range queries cannot exceed 7 days. A partner-configurable history window is not listed on that public page |
| Reporting and clinician share | Customizable RPM dashboard with raw and derived export |
Ultrahuman app views and PowerPlugs. Public Daily Metrics / OAuth ring_data return derived objects. White-label clinician dashboards are not listed |
| Biometrics | ||
| Heart rate | Continuous raw PPG |
Buy-page comparison table lists heart-rate monitoring “periodically throughout the day”. Daily Metrics documents an hr field. Continuous raw PPG waveform export is not listed on that default public page |
| Heart rate variability | Captured whenever enough IBIs are valid: good signal quality, low motion |
Buy-page comparison table lists 24/7 HRV. Daily Metrics documents hrv and avg_sleep_hrv. Raw IBI is not listed on the default public Daily Metrics page |
| Respiratory rate | Derived from raw IBI |
Not listed as a named Daily Metrics field on the default public docs page. Sleep analysis is listed. |
| Activity tracking | Raw accelerometer and gyroscope |
Daily Metrics documents steps, motion, active_minutes, and movement_index. Raw accelerometer export is not listed on that default public page |
| Sleep tracking | Continuous multi-sensor sleep detection |
Daily Metrics documents sleep_score, total_sleep, sleep_efficiency, rem_sleep, deep_sleep, light_sleep, and related sleep fields. A minute-by-minute hypnogram is not listed on that default public page |
| Temperature tracking | Continuous skin temperature, 24/7 at per-minute resolution |
Buy-page comparison table lists 24/7 temperature monitoring. Daily Metrics documents temp and temperature_deviation. Skin temperature is not core temperature |
| ECG | Single-lead ECG capability, coming soon |
ECG is not listed on the official Ring AIR spec table. An AFib Detection PowerPlug is listed on the buy page (limited regions). It is not listed as a Daily Metrics resource |
| Heart rate recovery | Available from raw data | Not listed as a named Daily Metrics field |
| Stress and autonomic balance | Parasympathetic and sympathetic balance plus stress index, available on spot check | Buy-page comparison table lists stress monitoring. Not listed as a named Daily Metrics field on the default public docs page |
| Cadence and gait | Yes, via raw data export | Not listed |
| Alerts and notifications | Custom triggers, alerts, and notifications on any metric | Buy-page comparison table lists real-time actionable nudges and PowerPlugs. Partner-defined metric triggers are not listed |
Sensor Bio figures are sourced from the Sensor Bio V2 technical specification sheet, current as of July 2026. Sensor Bio V2 is a general wellness device: not FDA-cleared, not FDA-approved, not intended for diagnostic use. It is not intended for diagnostic use and does not imply RPM billing eligibility. Ultrahuman Ring AIR hardware figures are sourced from ultrahuman.com/global/ring/buy/ and /ring/faq/; developer figures from vision.ultrahuman.com/developer/docs and ultrasignal/. Ultrahuman.com/ring/ also lists Ring PRO; this page compares the documented Ring AIR / UltraSignal surface. “Not listed” means the fact was not found on that public surface — not that the capability does not exist.
Consumers already in the Ultrahuman ring
Choose Ultrahuman when wearers want Sleep–Recovery–Movement scores in a ring, PowerPlugs, and an optional metabolic ecosystem — and when Daily Metrics or OAuth ring_data summaries are enough for the integration.
Builders who need the signal
Choose Sensor Bio for research, clinical-ops-adjacent programs, defense and enterprise, and product teams that need raw multi-wavelength PPG, IBI, live stream, white-label, and deployment-configured retention as infrastructure.
See what a signal platform does that a wellness app cannot.
Better signal leads to better insights — and better health.