Smart Rings are not just fashionable wearables but a popular gadget for tracking health and paying bills. With recent innovations and functionalities, purchasing one might come to your mind. While the selection of smart rings is still relatively limited, we’ve curated the best smart ring guide, giving options available to showcase impressive technological advancements, seamlessly blend into everyday life, and provide continuous monitoring and convenience.
Best Smart Ring Guide: 2024’s Impressive Advancements!
Oura (Generation 3): Best Choice for Sleep Tracking
Specifications:
- Weight: 4-6g
- Battery Life: 7 days
Reasons to Buy:
- Accurate 24/7 heart rate tracking
- Impressive sleep monitoring
- Stats presented
- Excellent mindfulness sessions
Reasons to Avoid:
- More expensive than a smartwatch
- Some features not yet available
Oura, the leading brand in smart rings, has enhanced its third-generation device, equipped with advanced sensors for comprehensive tracking of key metrics such as 24/7 heart rate and temperature. It is designed to prioritize sleep tracking and energy management and is the premier choice in sleep monitoring.
Despite its sleek appearance resembling a simple metal ring, the Oura Ring boasts an array of embedded sensors against the skin. Offering a customizable fit through a test kit with dummy rings, the final product is remarkably lightweight and smooth, weighing between 4-6g depending on size.
With its capability to gather extensive data, the Oura Ring 3rd Generation is complemented by a user-friendly smartphone app that provides intuitive and comprehensive insights. However, its premium pricing and new subscription model might deter some potential users.
Ultrahuman Ring Air: Optimal Comfort in a Smart Ring
Specifications:
- Weight: 2.4-3.6 g
- Battery Life: 6 days
Reasons to Buy:
- Light and comfortable
- Detailed insights
- The lack of a screen is appealing
Reasons to Avoid:
- Prone to scratches
- Lots of data to comb through
- Expensive
For those prioritizing comfort, the Ultrahuman Ring Air is the lightest option available, weighing merely 2.4g to 3.6g, depending on size.
Equipped with a comprehensive array of sensors akin to the Oura Ring, it excels in tracking various metrics, including heart rate, movement, sleep, and skin temperature. With a primary focus on sleep and recovery, its user-friendly app offers thorough data presentation, enhancing usability during testing.
Stylish in design and comfortable to wear, the Ultrahuman Ring Air may be susceptible to scratches, particularly the matte black variant. However, alternative finishes are now available, providing improved durability. The interior, featuring sensors against the skin, is coated with transparent hypoallergenic epoxy resin for a velvety, smooth feel.
McLear RingPay 2: Effortless Payments at Your Fingertips
Specifications:
- Weight: 5g
- Battery Life: N/A
Reasons to Buy:
- Convenient for payments
- Slim and light
Reasons to Avoid:
- Pricey for one main feature
The McLear RingPay 2 distinguishes itself from other intelligent rings by focusing on facilitating payments rather than tracking health metrics. Utilizing NFC technology, it operates like a contactless card, allowing users to add cards to their RingPay wallet and make payments simply by tapping the ring on a payment terminal. As it offers basic functionalities, no charging is required.
While we have yet to conduct a hands-on test of this brilliant ring, McLear asserts that it offers more than contactless payment capabilities. Users can track spending within the accompanying app, set up automatic fund top-ups, suspend accounts in case of loss, add up to four rings to a single account, transfer funds between rings, and more.
Enhanced over its predecessor, the Gen 2 ring boasts a smaller, lighter, and more streamlined design. Weighing a mere 5g, its width varies depending on the chosen size, ranging from 6.7mm to 6.2mm. Available in standard ring sizes or through a kit ordered from McLear, the device prioritizes wearability with scratch-resistant, waterproof, and hypoallergenic features.
Circular Ring: Enhanced Features in a Sleek Design
Specifications:
- Weight: 5g
- Battery Life: 4 days
Reasons to Buy:
- Features rivals don’t offer
- Different finishes
Reasons to Avoid:
- More basic data tracking than rivals
The Circular Ring is tailored to monitor various aspects of health and fitness, such as blood oxygen levels, heart rate variability, temperature, steps, and more. While we have yet to conduct a hands-on evaluation of the Circular Ring, it shares similarities with the Oura and Ultrahuman rings. It emphasizes sleep tracking and provides detailed insights and recommendations on sleep cycles, energy, and recovery levels.
What sets the Circular Ring apart is its inclusion of haptic feedback, providing vibrations for additional features such as a timer, smart alarm, notifications, and a physical button. Weighing 5g and measuring 2.75mm thick, it aligns with other options in terms of weight and dimensions. Notably, the ring offers customization options with various colors and finishes of interchangeable outer shells. The inner material comprises clinical-grade and hypoallergenic materials, ensuring comfort and safety.
Gloring Ring: Budget-Friendly and Feature-Packed
Specifications:
- Weight: 4g
- Battery Life: Not stated
Reasons to Buy:
- Cheaper than rivals
- Tracks all essential metrics
Reasons to Avoid:
- Appears more straightforward compared to the other choices mentioned.
The Gloring Ring is a budget-friendly option packed with essential features. While we haven’t conducted hands-on testing yet, it shares similarities with the Ultrahuman Ring Air in design and functionality. It can monitor temperature, heart rate, blood oxygen, and more, seamlessly integrating with Apple Health.
With its slim and lightweight design, the Gloring Ring offers a wide selection of ring sizes and comes in black, silver, and gold finishes. Despite being considerably cheaper than its counterparts, it promises a similar suite of features. We look forward to testing it soon to provide a comprehensive comparison.
Here NFC Ring: Affordable Customization
Specifications:
- Weight: Not stated
- Battery life: N/A
Reasons to Buy:
- Customization options
- Fun to program
Reasons to Avoid:
- Only NFC functions
The Hecere NFC Ring stands out with its NFC chip, akin to the McLear ring mentioned earlier. However, unlike solely for payments, this ring features a rewritable chip. With a free NFC app download, users can program the ring to perform various functions, such as opening the phone, sharing contacts, making calls, and more.
With a slim and straightforward design at 2mm thickness, crafted from zirconia ceramic and epoxy resin, the ring offers a smooth feel. Available in standard ring sizes, it boasts waterproof capabilities.
Although our hands-on experience with the Hecere NFC Ring is pending, its potential for customization and NFC functionality at an affordable price makes it a promising choice.
Go2Sleep Ring: Optimal for Nighttime Wear
Specifications:
- Weight: Less than 10g
- Battery life: 3 days
Reasons to Buy:
- Extensive sleep data collection
- Ideal if worn primarily at night
Reasons to Avoid:
- Bulky design
While many smart rings excel at sleep tracking, the Go2Sleep Ring is solely dedicated to monitoring sleep patterns. Its unique appearance sets it apart from others on this list. It features a simple silicon ring with an attached device made from acrylic and plastic.
The Go2Sleep Ring tracks heart rate, HRV, and blood oxygen (SpO2), with data seamlessly integrated into a minimalist app. It is compatible with Apple Health and includes features like a smart alarm and day-night modes. Due to its bulkier size and specialized focus on sleep, it’s best suited for nighttime wear.
How to Select the Ideal Smart Ring for You
As the smart ring market is still relatively nascent, options are limited when choosing the best one for your needs.
First and foremost, determine your purpose for wanting a smart ring. Currently, these devices can generally be categorized into three main types: those focused on comprehensive health tracking with an emphasis on sleep, those dedicated solely to sleep monitoring, and those facilitating contactless payments. While future iterations may integrate these functionalities, it’s essential to prioritize your specific requirements initially.
Next, consider the design aspects. Despite appearing similar, subtle differences such as finish, color variety, fit, and weight can distinguish one smart ring from another. For instance, the Ultrahuman Ring Air boasts a lighter build than its counterparts.
Lastly, explore the diverse features available. While many rings offer similar functionalities within their respective categories, some stand out with unique offerings like the haptic feedback provided by the Circular Ring.
Consider ordering a testing kit if you need more clarification about committing to a smart ring. Most companies offer these kits for free, allowing you to ensure the perfect fit and experience the design firsthand for a few days. Remember that while the test ring may differ slightly in weight, the overall comfort and premium feel indicate the final product’s quality materials.
How We Evaluate the Top Smart Rings
We’ve had the opportunity to thoroughly test numerous smart rings featured in this guide, allowing us to gain insights into their key features, design aspects, battery performance, accompanying applications, and more.
Throughout our testing process, we placed significant emphasis on evaluating the comfort level of each ring, recognizing that comfort is a substantial concern with smart ring devices. We wore the rings for extended periods, assessing their comfort, bulkiness, suitability for various activities, and water resistance.
Extensive use of each accompanying app enabled us to delve into the data provided, evaluating the depth of information and the extent to which it is translated into actionable insights and recommendations. It’s essential for data presentation to offer meaningful context rather than presenting raw data in isolation.
Since each smart ring boasts unique features, we conducted individual assessments tailored to each device’s offerings and determined which ring excels in specific areas.
We have indicated their status for those smart rings we have yet to test and plan to review these devices as soon as possible. In the meantime, our recommendations are informed by specifications, features, existing reviews, and our collective experience with other smart rings.
Conclusion:
In the still-emerging market of intelligent rings, options like those from Ultrahuman and Oura demonstrate significant technological advancements, seamlessly blending into daily life with continuous monitoring and convenience. Through thorough testing, we’ve identified top picks that rival traditional smartwatches, sleep trackers, and fitness bands, focusing on comfort, battery life, and data accuracy. Featuring offerings from emerging brands, our guide reflects the expanding landscape of this niche market, signaling increased competition and the potential for further innovation and choice for consumers.
