Review: RingConn Gen 2 connected ring — more than just another smart ring

Smart rings have been around for a while now, but until Samsung announced and released theirs this year, they have not really featured much in most people’s minds.

Now, there are quite a few options – we have previously checked out the Samsung Galaxy Ring and the more affordable Kogan Aura smart ring.   I managed to get my hands on the new RingConn Gen 2 connected rings.

RingConn is a smaller company but has made a splash in the connected world with its first-generation connected ring and is hoping to follow it up with an even more useful connected ring.

The new RingConn Gen 2 helps to enhance your daily routine with insights into your well-being.  This includes not just activity and fitness sleep monitoring as well as sleep analysis.  The ring also helps you manage your stress levels by measuring the relevant metrics required for this.

The sleep monitoring not only provides sleep analysis but also gives you tips for better rest and can also monitor any sleep apnoea issues you may be having.  Read on to hear how this ring fared in our testing.

Specs

Materials	Titanium alloy, PVD coating
Weight	2-3 grams (depending on ring size)
Dimensions	6.8mm wide, 2mm at its thinnest
Durability	IP68 (up to 100 metres)
Connectivity	Bluetooth 5.0 Low-power Bluetooth module
Compatibility	Android and iOS
Price	$299US

Design and fit

When you order a RingConn Gen 2 connected ring they will first send you a ring sizing kit unless you’re comfortable with using the size yourself.  To me, that’s a big risk, and although I know approximately the size ring I need, I had the kit sent anyway.  The ring sizing kit is free anyway, so I would suggest you order it, just to be sure.

There are many things to take into account when choosing the sizing of your ring.  You needed to fit a finger comfortably but also snuggly enough that the sensor is close enough to the skin and the ring won’t fall off.  The ring will need to be able to come on and off at times depending on what you are doing — for example, I take it off when I’m doing weights at the gym.  

It is also a good idea to make sure the ring fits on more than one finger in case you injure a finger.  In the end, I ended up using my middle finger on my right hand because I wear my wedding ring on the ring finger of my left hand, so if I chose my ring finger on my right hand and I injured that finger somehow, I would not be able to wear the ring on the left hand.  

Looking back on it now, though, I think if I injure my finger enough that the ring either needs cut-off or cannot be put back on the finger, the ring is the least of my worries.

In a pinch I could also use the ring on the index finger I would need to take something on the inside of the ring to make it slightly smaller.  It is also important to note that fingers do change sizes depending on the ambient temperature, i.e., in summer, we all have fatter fingers.

It would have been nice to have been able to use half sizes but at this stage the ring sizes available in full sizes only from six up to 14.  The ring size I went for was size 12 because 11 was just a bit too tight and given how much my fingers swell in summer wouldn’t have been comfortable at all.  A better size for me would have been 11 1/2.

The ring itself is incredibly light, weighing between two and three grams with a width of just 6.8 mm and a thickness of only 2 mm.  The RingConn Gen 2 ring is IP68 dust-proof and waterproof so you don’t have to worry about it being damaged when you’re in the shower, swimming, washing the dishes etc.

The ring comes in Future Silver, Matte Black and Royal Gold colours.  As much as I would probably prefer the black the silver matched my platinum wedding band on the other hand (although the black diamonds meant I could have gotten away with black).  

Once you put the ring on it is actually super comfortable even though it is wider than my wedding ring that is something that you certainly will need to get used to given that you may not wear a ring on the finger usually. 

One issue I had with the ring is that when washing your hands it can easily swing around so the sensors are not in the right place any more and there is no marking on the outside of the ring to help you quickly check that it is in the correct position.  A quick glance on the inside though will help you to see if the sensors are on the palm side of your hand.  

Hardware

Under the hood of the RingConn Gen 2 connected ring our infrared red and green sensors and also an enhanced PPG sensor for more accurate heart rate monitoring.  RingConn has also upgraded the accelerometer for more accurate motion tracking and the temperature sensor to help provide sleep apnoea tracking.

The big advantage of using a ring over a smartwatch, aside from the much smaller and comfortable wear that it provides, is the battery life.  The RingConn Gen 2 provides well over 10 days of tracking on a single charge.  In my first-world problem part of this review, I will say that this may be a problem because you are so used to not having to charge it that you will forget that you do have to charge occasionally.  

Luckily RingConn do include an easy-to-use portable charging case that can be used anywhere that charges the ring up super quickly.  This is incredibly handy and in the 2 months I’ve been using this ring I’ve not had to charge the portable charger since that first initial charge.  RingConn state that this will provide you with over 150 days of use.

Features – health and sleep tracking

The RingConn Gen 2 ring focuses mostly on your recovery and sleep analysis – which to me is the main reason behind tracking your health and fitness metrics.  To see just how stressed you are, physically and mentally.  

With all the upgraded sensors, the new ring can track heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep patterns, skin temperature while you sleep, SpO2 and stress levels throughout the day.

As for accuracy, the biometrics of the RingConn Gen 2 promises “medical-grade accuracy” and with my testing of this compared to other health tracking products as well as some medical products, the accuracy is indeed impressive.  The exact figures can be seen in the image above.

Health metrics are tracked as they are in other fitness devices with steps , calories and intensity tracked closely.  From these stats you can include your “Vital Signs” to see just how your body fared during these periods of activity.

The app will notify you if there are any outlier periods that you need to be aware of – something that might need closer medical attention.  Add the stress stats to this, and you will have an overview of your entire health.

The app gives you quite a lot of depth into each stat with the in-built AI allowing you to quickly view any notifications the AI/app thinks you should review.  You can also ask the AI, “How did I sleep?” “How active am I?” or “What is my Stress Level?”  

There are four types of specific exercise activities that you can track – Outdoor running, Indoor running, outdoor cycling and outdoor walking.  While less than nearly every other health tracking device it is enough for many of us.  Does it really matter if you track your HR during a type of exercise as one particular activity over another, given that, in the end, all you are interested in are the actual health stats? 

The app is relatively simple to use with a heap of graphs and such, and they are easily accessible as long as you have been wearing the ring – and yes, the stats and measurements will sync across devices.  I have used three different phones while reviewing the ring and have not had a single issue with the stats easily syncing from one device to another – pairing the ring to a different device was also incredibly easy too.

Sleep Apnoea tracking

RingConn has collaborated with universities and hospitals with their sleep research and this year presented a transformer-based deep learning model for sleep apnoea detection at a “prestigious IEEE conference.  They showed that the model was able to “accurately identify critical sleep risk events using advanced AI.”  They have also demonstrated how their deep learning model addresses many of the challenges associated with comprehensive sleep health analysis.

So what does this mean for us?  It means we can easily track and test for sleep apnoea.  It will use up more battery life than usual (your ring needs at least 30% of battery life to perform the tasks required) but you can trigger your ring to track sleep apnoea stats overnight to determine if this is something you need to be aware of for further medical investigation.  

This ability to detect interruptions in breathing that are indicative of sleep apnoea sets it apart from all the other connected rings currently on the market.

Who buys this smart, connected ring?

The RingConn Gen 2 connected ring is more than just a connected ring. It offers smarts but also every measurement you could ever get from a smart ring. It also is the first of its kind to offer sleep apnoea monitoring.

It is relatively small and unobtrusive while still advanced enough to offer accurate monitoring of all of your health and fitness stats.

The RingConn Gen 2 is for those who want more than just the basic health tracking that a smart ring normally provides. It offers not just monitoring and tracking but also analysis of these results.

If you want to track all these essential health statistics and do not want to be bothered wearing a big thick watch 24/7 then this ring is for you. I can highly recommend the quality, features and usefulness of the RingConn Gen 2 to anyone and everyone.

The RingConn Gen 2 smart ring is priced at US$299 in Future Silver, Matte Black and Royal Gold with free shipping, making it much cheaper than the $699 of its nearest competitor.