RingConn builds on its strong points to deliver a serious alternative to Oura and Samsung
After a debut smart ring that offered superb battery life in an excellent build, RingConn has doubled down for this follow-up effort. The thinner and lighter design is the most comfortable smart ring on the market, and pairing the 12-day battery life with the charging case has ensured we've not come close to running out of juice. There's still plenty of work to be done in the presentation of data, and we're not convinced the ring's finish would hold up well in the long-term, but the RingConn Gen 2 remains a serious dark horse. It's accurate, available for less than key rivals, and a ring that we very much recommend if you can look past its imperfections.
There’s no question that 2024 has been the year of the smart ring . The Samsung Galaxy Ring has brought all-new attention to the form factor, while industry-leading Oura has released a huge raft of software updates and – just this week – a Gen 4 ring .
Even startups like Ultrahuman have begun to show their might.
Yet, in all the commotion, the crowdfunding success story RingConn may have produced the smart ring that has left me the most impressed. After only shipping the Gen 1 ring to backers earlier this year – a first outing in which we praised the design, battery life, and overall accuracy – the Gen 2 is already available. Speedy work.
Almost impossibly, the Gen 2 ring boasts double the battery life of its predecessor while also being thinner and lighter – an engineering feat I’m sure has left the design teams at Oura and Samsung scratching their heads.
But there’s much more to smart rings than design. Much of what makes Oura the industry’s key player is its polished platform, and a major brand like Samsung has plenty to offer via its broad wearable ecosystem. How does the RingConn Gen 2 stack up? Let’s find out.
At the time of writing, the Gen 2 isn’t quite as accessible as many of its smart ring rivals. It’s only recently made it through its crowdfunding campaign, and shipments for orders from its site will only be shipping in mid-October. Still, given what we saw with the Gen 1 ring, it’s safe to assume it will pop up on third-party retailers like Amazon over the next few months.