Review: RingConn Smart Ring comes with Oura-beating battery life

Best Prices Today: RingConn Smart Ring

The RingConn Smart Ring is one of the cheapest ways to get a fitness and wellness tracker on your finger right now.

The RingConn emerged after the Oura Ring Gen 3 and before we get to see the Samsung Galaxy Ring, offering a way to track steps, heart rate, sleep and more, minus a subscription that you do have to stump up for other rings.

It’s a smart ring that promises week-long battery life and a design that wants you to feel like you’re wearing a normal ring. It’s got a lot going for it that could give Oura, Samsung and company something to think about, but does it deliver?

Read our RingConn Gen 2 review

Design & Build

• Available in three colours
• Suitable for swimming and showering
• Titanium casing

The RingConn Smart Ring may not have the greatest name, but it does make up for it with a pretty sleek look. You’ve got your pick of silver, black or gold looks that are all built from titanium, with a PVD coating on top.

It’s not a fully round ring, think more of a circular squashed on four sides, with the sensors designed to sit on the underside of your finger. It means those sensors do sit a little more snugly than they do on other smart rings, but I’ve never felt uncomfortable to wear.

Depending on the size, the weight of the ring ranges from 3-5g, so it’s pleasingly light

Sizing for the ring goes from 6-14, and there’s a sizing kit you’ll be sent to make sure you get something that’s going to sit right. Depending on the size, the weight of the ring ranges from 3-5g, so it’s pleasingly light as well.

For the most part, the black version I’ve had to test has largely retained its look, though it has started to show some wear on the edges of the ring. RingConn is not alone on this, but it’s not been as bad as some other rings I’ve tested in terms of picking up scratches – namely the Ultrahuman Ring Air.

Like the updated Circular Ring Slim, the RingConn carries an IP68 waterproof rating, which means you can swim and shower with it and makes it safe to be dunked in water up to 50 metres. I’ve kept it on for showers and swims and the ring hasn’t budged or stopped working, so that’s a tick for a good defence against moisture.

That waterproofing doesn’t extend to the charging case (more on that later).

Fitness & Sleep Tracking

• Tracks steps, sleep, heart rate and stress
• Wellness insights in beta
• Sports tracking mode in beta

The RingConn is built similarly to other smart rings in terms of what it promises to track and tell you about your general wellness and fitness.

Four PPG optical sensors can track your heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and stress through heart rate variability. There are also four temperature sensors and an accelerometer to enable sleep monitoring and counting your daily step counts. 

In addition to continuous monitoring, you can also take on-the-spot measurements of heart rate and SpO2 levels

RingConn takes this information and displays recent data and trends inside of the companion phone app as you would expect. There’s also a Wellness Balance feature, that’s currently in beta and aims to help you understand if you’ve achieved a good balance between your activity, sleep, stress management and vital signs data.

In addition to continuous monitoring, you can also take on-the-spot measurements of heart rate and SpO2 levels.

From an accuracy point of view, I’ve been using the RingConn alongside the Oura Ring Gen 3 and two sports watches to get a sense of how reliable the data actually is.

Starting with heart rate, I found that resting and average heart rate readings didn’t feel wildly off from those other devices. Average oxygen saturation numbers were similar to the Oura as well and on the spot measurements chimed in with a dedicated pulse oximeter for most comparison readings.

For daily step tracking, I found that totals were anywhere from 200-500 steps off other trackers I wore alongside it and it felt in general that step counts for the day were representative of my movements.

When it was time for bed, the RingConn felt pretty reliable on that front as well. I compared data to the Oura, which offers some of the best sleep tracking, and for data like time slept, time in bed and sleep efficiency numbers were very close. Looking at sleep stage breakdowns and metrics like HRV readings and heart rate, they told a similar story about my sleep time.

So, the core data here feels good, so it’s a question of how RingConn puts that data to good use to tell you what may or may not be going on.

It aims to do that via its Wellness Balance widget, which offers some pretty generic insights and suggestions around your data. You can drill into individual metrics like sleep and how well you’ve managed stress during your day, but it feels like this could be simplified and feel a little more personal. Hopefully that’s to come.

Speaking of what’s coming or in testing, RingConn has now added a sports tracking mode, which currently only supports outdoor and indoor running, with outdoor walking and cycling to come and is reliant on having your phone with you to be able to look over your real-time data.

You can share data with Apple Health and Google Fit if you want to, so your data isn’t locked to the app.

Battery Life & Charging

• Up to 7 days battery life 
• Comes with charging case
• Fully charges in 90 minutes

The RingConn finds room for a 500mAh capacity battery that promises to deliver you up to 7 days of battery life.

I’d say getting that maximum 7 days is ambitious based on my time with it and it actually lasted in between charges on average for 5 days. Inside the app, you’ll find the battery status clearly presented alongside an estimate of days remaining to give you a clear idea of when you might need to grab the charging case.

I saw an average daily drop of 20% and a drop-off overnight of around 2%, which is good to see that the rich sleep tracking doesn’t noticeably hammer the battery.

given you’re getting more battery here than rival rings, you’ll definitely be grabbing that charging case less frequently in comparison

Unlike most smart rings, RingConn does things a little differently on the charging front. It uses a case, similar to a set of wireless earbuds. There’s a USB-C port at the rear and a notification light up front to let you know when it’s charging your ring.

You simply drop your ring on the cradle inside and let it do its business. It instantly makes charging more travel-friendly and while I’d like the case to be a touch smaller, this is a positive for charging smart rings in general.

When it does hit 0%, the ring takes well over an hour to get back up to 100%, but that’s quicker than the Ring Air and given you’re getting more battery here than rival rings, you’ll definitely be grabbing that charging case less frequently in comparison.

Price & Availability

The RingConn Smart Ring is available now through the official store priced at $279, which converts to £220 (with free shipping to the UK). You’ll only pay for the ring as access to the companion smartphone app is free.

You can also get it on Amazon US and Amazon UK (if you want a gold one in size 10).

To put that into context with other smart rings, the Oura Ring Gen 3 pricing starts from $299 (£238) with the subscription adding £5.99 a month or £69.99 a year for full access to the app.

The Ultrahuman Ring Air costs $349/£280 and offers free access to its companion app. There’s also the Circular Smart Ring Slim, which costs £225 and also has a free companion app.

So, the RingConn pricing is in keeping with other notable smart rings and can be picked up for less than the Oura and Ultrahuman rings.

Should you buy the RingConn Smart Ring?

If you like the idea of a smart ring that looks as nice as Oura’s and costs less (and doesn’t require a subscription), then there’s definitely reasons to take a look at the RingConn Smart Ring.

The core tracking experience is solid overall, and in some instances slightly more reliable than Oura. Plus, you’re getting battery life that betters all other smart rings we’ve tested so far, even with all monitoring features in use.

The decisive factor here is the app experience, which needs to be a strong one. Ringconn has certainly made welcome changes to the look and feel of that software since I first put it on my finger.

It’s the insights that really need work and if RingConn can refine things to make using its ring more insightful, then it’s definitely got a strong argument to say it’s up there with one of the best smart rings to buy right now.

Specs

• 7-day battery life
• Works with Android and iOS (free subscription)
• IP68 waterproof
• Weighs 3-5g
• PPG sensor 
• Temperature sensor
• 3D accelerometer motion sensor
• Bluetooth version 5.2

Best Prices Today: RingConn Smart Ring