RingConn Gen 2 Review: Smart Ring Around The Corner

RingConn is just the latest in a line of smart wearable product-makers to release a smart ring to the public. While RingConn is already on it's second-generation smart ring, other major companies like Samsung have begun to drop in and compete. That's not to say that the RingConn brand has been on the market for a long time – the original RingConn made its debut earlier in 2024. But is the clever bit of jewelry really worth the cost? Or is it an inferior gimmick when compared to more established smart devices? RingConn provided a review unit of the RingConn Gen 2 for this review.

As things stand there are four colors of the RingConn Gen 2, gold, rose gold, silver, and black. So don't expect anything too wacky, RingConn isn't one to shake up the smart ring world with some outlandish customization options.

As for setup, RingConn makes the process pretty painless. Simply put the ring in its case to activate it, and download the app on your phone. The app, as with many similar apps, will require registration and this is the most tedious part of the installation. Once the app is installed, and the ring is in its case, link it to your phone via Bluetooth. It should crop up in the app once linked, and you're good to go. The app does require info like your height and weight for more accurate metabolic tracking, but as I said. The form filling is the most tedious part of setup.

The ring has an IPA 68 waterproof rating, which means it can tolerate 100 meters (around 328 feet) of depth for up to 30 minutes. I did not go swimming in it, but I did purposely leave it on during a variety of tasks that would likely have exposed faulty waterproofing should it exist.

This included washing hands multiple times per day, leaving it on in the shower, and even having the device adorn my digit while I hand washed a bunch of shirts. So yes, you don't have to worry about a bit of liquid ruining your smart ring any time soon. Even if that liquid is likely nastier than pure water. Given how vigorous the handwashing was at times, I would imagine that swimming would be fine. It's definitely safe from your everyday average rain, sweat, and spills, at the very least. 

Sleep tracking is one of the RingConn Gen 2's main features and major strengths. Not only does it track each larger sleep session, it breaks things down further into REM sleep, deep sleep, light sleep, and time spent awake. If an area like REM sleep is lacking, the app will highlight this, give you some background on that type of sleep, and suggest how you can improve it. Sleep accounts for a good amount of the overall "wellness balance" chart that the app provides — which is great, so long as your sleep schedule include one long sleep per night. 

Nap tracking isn't quite as consistent as long-span sleeping. You do have the option to manually add a nap, but that sort of defeats the object of automatic sleep tracking in the first place. To be fair, RingConn suggests this ring has "Automatic Sleep Apnea Monitoring" on its store listing page — but it also mentions "Whether you're settling in for the night or catching a quick nap, it keeps track of your sleep patterns, including monitoring sleep apnea."

If you're taking a light 15 minute snooze, there's a good chance the ring won't notice. I've seen it miss an hour of unconsciousness before. Strangely, it will both pick up the occasional short nap out of the blue, while also being capable of missing multiple 15 minute naps in a short period. It is fairly consistent with longer sleeps and even tracks the total time you spent in bed. But if you're one of those people that sleeps in spaced out two-hour bursts, then the ring will struggle.

The RingConn Gen 2 will monitor exercise, and several exercise types are available to choose from. It will track the calories you burn from activity, and provide an estimate of your basal metabolic rate based on the information it takes from your body, and the physical details you put into it. But it is by no means a comprehensive fitness device. It doesn't go in-depth in the way the Apple Watch does in a general sense — and it definitely isn't comparable to something like a specialist running watch. Then you have things like timers, GPS-tracking, and haptic feedback to consider — RingConn Gen 2 has none of these — but it's not a watch.

The average person who hits the gym three or four times a week may be considering either a wrist-based sports tracker/smartwatch or a smart ring like RingConn 2. Long battery life, solid waterproofing, and the ability to keep the device on one's finger for days at a time can potentially outweigh any drawbacks that come with the RingConn 2. If you're only looking for the health tracking abilities that this RingConn Gen 2 device has onboard, there's little need to employ anything larger.

Charging the RingConn Gen 2 is pretty simple. You just drop it in the case that it came with. It's very fast too, with days worth of charge being added in minutes. If you let the ring go completely dead, then it will take around an hour and a half to get back to full charge. It shouldn't get to that point though, you'll get a charging reminder in the app once there's around three days of battery life left.

Dave McQuilling/SlashGear

The case itself also has a very long battery life — over 150 days, according to Ringconn. This isn't something I could actually test out or this review would be going up at some time in 2025. Functionality could decrease with the charge though. If you let the battery dip below 30% you'll receive a warning stating that automatic sleep tracking may be affected. My sleep still seemed to track after this, so it was likely a poorly worded way of telling people that the ring will stop tracking if the battery completely empties. Which is obvious. But the way it was phrased did suggest something else could be at play.

While the sleep tracking seems quite accurate, and the heart rate measurements also seem pretty good, stress monitoring didn't quite hit the mark as well as I expected it should. This seems odd as RingConn Gen 2 uses Heart Rate Variability (HRV) to detect stress. When times between heartbeats get shorter, the ring should show a stress level increase, and vice-versa.

RingConn Gen 2 watches HRV and tallies up an "average stress" score throughout all hours of the day and night. I'm at my calmest when asleep, according to RingConn Gen 2, no matter what dreams are rattling their way around my skull at the time. This is tracked and recorded. As a result it pulls my "average stress" score down considerably.

While awake, I've found the differences between when I felt stressed and when RingConn Gen 2 suggested I was stressed to be considerably askew. In my testing there were times when I was definitely feeling pressure, like while racing against a tight deadline, trying not to put a car into a ditch at high speed, or sitting at a poker table. The ring suggested that I was very much at-ease during each of these happenings. 

In my testing I don't believe RingConn Gen 2 flagged a single bit of actual stress. Conversely, the app shows seemingly random "high stress" spikes on some evenings. Usually at times when I'm laying in bed and watching something on Netflix or YouTube. So either the ring's measurements of stress aren't quite on-point, or "The Great British Baking Show" is more stress inducing than a hectic work schedule.

RingConn has put an emphasis on the Gen 2's sleep apnea tracking function. For those of you who are unaware, sleep apnea is a potentially life-threatening condition which essentially stops people breathing at several points during the night. Knowing you have it and seeking treatment can mitigate the long-term effects of the condition. It is at this point where I'm going to point out that this ring, like every other bit of tech you own, is not a doctor. Any information it gives you, no matter how accurate, is actually just a prompt to consult a medical professional about a potential condition.

Anyway, according to the ring I have moderate sleep apnea. This makes sense — given the amount I snore and the times one of those "snores" will actually be so extreme that I'm shaken awake. There are a couple of issues with the tracking though. Firstly, it had me down as "moderate" which should give me the option of continuous monitoring. But this option is locked off. This may be because my first result suggested mild sleep apnea, who knows. But if I wanted further tracking I had to either select it specifically every night or re-run the three day test. I'm also baffled about why continuous monitoring isn't an option no matter what your circumstances.

Secondly, the blood oxygen monitoring part of the sleep apnea test seemed to get stuck on my lowest score for a while. Despite individual nights showing my blood oxygen remains above 90%, the monitoring window was still clinging to that time it hit 80% — even after resetting the assessment. I wasn't hitting the exact same low night after night either, as blood-oxygen monitoring elsewhere in the app didn't match the result on the apnea monitoring screen.

These are all things that can be ironed out in a patch, and as mentioned this is more a nudge to go to the doctor's than anything. But it's still surprisingly non-optimal for one of the ring's supposed main features.

There may be a downside to this being the lightest ring on the market. Namely how it feels in your hand and on your finger. When it comes to items of jewelry, weight tends to signify quality to some extent. It's one of the differences between a dense, expensive, metal like gold and a cheaper one like tin or steel. I'm not even someone who normally wears a ring, and the feeling of something a bit more substantial is definitely preferable to the RingConn Gen 2. Weight isn't the only problem here either.

Although its "PVD Coating" may be hard wearing, it's not too pleasing texturally. When compared to Samsung's Galaxy Ring the difference in the quality of finish is readily apparent. By my reckoning, the slightly textured and convex-shaped Galaxy Ring is a lot more pleasant to hold than RingConn's effort. It is definitely slimmer than the Galaxy Ring, and if you concentrate you can feel that it is fractionally lighter (even in a larger size). But I would argue that the finish is more important when we're talking about an object that spends its life on one of the most tactile parts of your body.

Unfortunately for RingConn, the Gen 2 feels like a bit of costume jewelry — it certainly doesn't feel metallic. The inside is made of "medical grade epoxy," but that's not the distractingly plastic-feeling part. Something definitely feels off about the outside. There's a certain unnatural feeling about it, that's especially odd as the ring's exterior should just be made of coated titanium — however, it's worth noting that the hard coating has some positives. 

The Galaxy Ring I briefly borrowed from a friend was showing signs of obvious wear after a few months. I was in no way coddling this RingConn Gen 2 review unit over the month of testing and there isn't a scratch on it. 

While the Ring Conn Gen 2 does have its flaws, it's still one to watch. Yes the finish isn't what you're getting on a Galaxy ring, but it's also $100 cheaper. Some of the tracking seems a bit off, but that's mostly due to software issues that will likely be patched. The fitness tracking isn't as dedicated as you'll get from a much larger piece of sport-focused smart equipment, but it's not really designed for that.

For those of us that aren't elite athletes, this is a better option than a smartwatch. The ridiculously long battery life and comfort level when compared to a watch make it ideal for sleep, heart rate, and step tracking. It also does the job for exercise if you prefer the occasional light workout to training like an elite athlete.

There's also the option of wearing it at the same time as you're wearing a smart watch. The two aren't mutually exclusive — and the RingConn Gen 2 can both give a second opinion on things like heart rate, or pick up the slack while the smartwatch is charging.

I feel like we haven't seen the best of smart rings yet — we're right around the corner, almost there. But in 2024, at this price, RingConn 2 is about as good as it gets. You can pick up a RingConn Gen 2 from the RingConn store online now for $299.