I Tried The RingConn Smart Ring For Two Weeks. Here's How It Went.

While I've been a long-time fan of the Apple Watch's health features, I hadn't yet dipped my toe into the world of smart rings. So, when RingConn offered me the opportunity to test drive its RingConn Gen 2 Smart Ring, I eagerly jumped at the chance.

For the uninitiated, RingConn was created by an international group of doctors and scientists in 2021. Their stated mission is "to provide significant value for human health through intelligent wearable technology," and that's just what they have been doing by working with some of the top researchers in the field. The company launched its RingConn Gen 2 Smart Ring on Kickstarter in August, and it's been receiving great reviews so far. I decided to take a closer look at everything this new device has to offer.

Before getting into the details, I'd first like to recommend that anyone who is purchasing the RingConn Gen 2 Smart Ring should be sure to request their free ring sizing kit. If you select "don't know my size" when making your order, they will send it before finalizing your order. This is essential both for your comfort and so that the ring can provide accurate readings.

Once you receive your ring, you'll have the contents pictured, which include the ring, a charging case, a USB-C cable, and an instruction booklet. If you have any experience at all with electronic devices, though, you won't even need to crack open the instructions. Since it's designed to work seamlessly with any device, I was able to download the RingConn app, install it, and get the ring paired with my iPhone within a matter of minutes. Better yet, there's no subscription fee. It arrives with a full charge, too, so you can get started right away. Also, there's no need to worry about daily charging. A full charge will last for an impressive 10-12 days and you get 150+ days if you're using the charging case.

My first impressions? RingConn's boasts about it being "The World's Thinnest and Lightest Smart Ring" are no lie. The sleek design, which is only 2 millimeters thick, is definitely something I would wear even if it weren't a smart ring. Also, at a mere 2 grams in weight (size 6), it actually feels lighter than some of the regular rings in my collection.

The RingConn Gen 2 Smart Ring isn't just beautiful. When used with the RingConn app, it becomes a powerful way to manage your health. You can get an overall picture of your health with features like sleep, activity, stress, heart rate, and period forecasts.

The real selling point for me, however, was the sleep apnea monitoring. Per RingConn's internal testing, its Gen 2 Smart Ring has 90.7% accuracy at detecting obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a sleep disorder that occurs when the throat muscles relax during sleep and block off a person's airway. Untreated sleep apnea is associated with headaches, daytime sleepiness, problems concentrating, depression, high blood pressure, and loss of libido. Sleep apnea can also put you at risk for dementia and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, it's important to recognize it and seek medical attention if you have it.

Since I have OSA, I was very curious to see how well it would stack up against my CPAP in reporting my apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). This is a measure of how often a person's breathing stops or slows each hour during sleep and it's used to diagnose whether someone has sleep apnea. It can also be used to gauge whether your sleep apnea treatment is working well to control your OSA.

Needless to say, I didn't want to go without my CPAP for the purposes of this test, so I decided to compare how well it matched up with the AHI reported by my CPAP. Each night for three nights in a row, I placed my phone on my nightstand and started the app just before climbing into bed. The next morning I stopped the app when I woke up.

As expected, since my sleep apnea was treated, the app reported that there were no abnormalities detected in my breathing. My CPAP reported AHIs of 0.8, 0.4, and 0.0 on each respective night. On the other hand, the RingConn Gen 2 Smart Ring provided me with readings of 1.9, 1.8, and 0.0. Given that anything below an AHI of 5 is considered to be normal, the ring did quite well in recognizing that I did not have readings that would qualify for a sleep apnea diagnosis.

It should be noted, however, that the RingConn Gen 2 Smart Ring does not yet have FDA clearance for its OSA monitoring feature. The company is in the process of applying for it.

One final feature that I wanted to put to the test was the fact that it's water-proof and dust-proof. According to RingConn, it meets the highest standard for both dust and water resistance: IP68. This means that it is dust-tight and can be submerged in up to one meter of water. Also, it has 100 ATM water resistance, which allows it to work in up to 100 meters of water.

Could you shower or swim while wearing the ring? The IP68 rating indicates that you could, indeed, do so. Old habits die hard and I couldn't bring myself to wear it into the bath or pool, but I did end up washing the dishes with it one day with no problems. If I ever forget and hop in the tub with it still on, it's comforting to know that I won't have to worry about accidentally damaging the ring.

Overall, I found that the RingConn Gen 2 lived up to the hype. It was small and light enough that I didn't feel like I was wearing anything but an ordinary ring. Its availability in colors like silver, gold, black, and rose gold adds to that illusion. Also, not having to worry about getting it wet made it feel like something I could wear for everyday use. As far as its ability to help me in my wellness journey, I also give it a thumbs up. It gives me an easier way to monitor my sleep apnea. It also gives me a well-rounded view of my sleep, vital signs, activity, and stress levels with actionable advice for improving my wellness balance. And the battery life is impressive, to say the least. In the last two weeks, I've only had to charge it one time. That's quite a big contrast if you're used to putting all of your smart devices on a charger every night. If you're a person who loves using data and numbers to improve their health, then I'd recommend buying the RingConn Gen 2.

The RingConn Gen 2 Smart Ring is available on Kickstarter for $209 and has already raised nearly $4 million. Following its crowdfunding campaign, the smart ring will be available for purchase through RingConn's official website, as well as retailers such as Amazon, at an MSRP of $299.