RingConn Gen 2 Air Review: An Affordable Smart Ring That Gives You The Basics

Smart rings are a thing now, coming from the likes of Circular, Oura, and even Samsung. I've tested a bunch of smart rings, and I keep coming back to RingConn. The company arrived later on the scene than most others, but since it landed, it has been producing banger after banger. Its latest offering is more of a midrange option — the RingConn Gen 2 Air.

This new edition of the ring brings all the same functionality you'll find in the RingConn Gen 2 and the original RingConn smart ring. There are some new additions which are always welcome, but generally, if you're familiar with the Gen 2 ring, you have the gist of what's up with the Gen 2 Air.

RingConn wanted to make this ring a little more accessible and a little more fun, and it achieved both goals. Some of the build materials are less impressive, some of the accessories are steps backward, but in general it would be fair to say that this is one of the best value smart rings you can buy. I've been wearing the RingConn Gen 2 Air smart ring for about three weeks, including one week in Barcelona at MWC, and this is my full review.

There are two big differentiators to the RingConn Gen 2 Air that set it apart from the RingConn Gen 2. The first is the build material. Rather than aerospace-grade titanium that you get on the RingConn Gen 2, you get stainless steel on the Air. Additionally, the battery life is a small step down from 12 days to about 10 days. The advertised battery life is about right in my testing.

The hardware is still very nice. I tested the silver colorway, and it looks really nice on my finger. Like previous editions, the top of the ring has a nice concave shape that I really like. On the bottom of the ring, to indicate where the sensors are, there one small pill-shaped patch that has more of a matte finish. The pill should be worn on the bottom of your finger, so for the most part, others won't see it. It's fun to rub your thumb against for those fidget-toy moments. Beyond that the ring is fairly unremarkable.

Through three weeks or wear, there aren't any noticeable nicks or scratches, but this is an admittedly short sample size. But, even if the durability isn't there, RingConn might have an answer for you.

The RingCon Air has an accessory you can pick up to change things up a little bit if you want. RingConn sells a separate accessory pack called ring protectors that are essentially silicon wraps for the ring that give it a different color and texture than the naked ring. There are seven different colors to shoes from, one of which is clear.

The wraps slip on over the ring and fit pretty tightly. When you wear the ring with the wrap you won't see any silver peeking through. They fit very tightly, but they're flexible enough to get around several different sizes of ring.

I wore the ring with a protector on it for a few days, but I wasn't really a fan. The wrap gave the ring a different, sticky-feeling texture that I didn't particularly like. Also, I can be a bit of a fidgeter, so multiple times taking the ring off and putting it back on made the wrap shift a bit, which required a second shift back to get it to fit right.

None of these issues are necessarily deal-breakers; your mileage may indeed vary. But I found myself taking the wrap off after the second day. I get why the ring protectors are available, but they were definitely not for me.

One of the really great features about the RingConn Gen 2 was the charging case it came with that could (theoretically) offer up to 150 days of total battery life without ever having to plug it in. That's huge, especially when you're a frequent traveler, like me. The RingConn Gen 2 Air eschews that charging case and opts instead for a charging stand.

Adam Doud/SlashGear

This is an open-top charging stand that it more one-size-fits-all for the rings, which likely resulted in a lowering of costs. If you don't have to make a certain sized ring case for a certain sized ring, you can mass produce the chargers more efficiently. But ultimately, you're left with a "lesser" product. There is also no battery, so you can only charge when the stand is plugged in. Fortunately, it uses a USB-C connector, so it's not hard to travel with.

Of the changes made to reduce costs of the RingConn Gen 2 Air, this is the most obvious, but not the most disappointing — we'll cover that in a moment. The battery case itself was definitely bulkier than this charging stand, but that utility the battery offered was quite nice and will be missed.

Another thing that's missing from the RingConn Gen 2 Air is sleep apnea detection. I didn't get a chance to test sleep apnea detection on the Gen 2 ring, but it was present. It is no longer there in this ring, which is unfortunate. Personally, I've tried sleep apnea detection on a couple of different wearables at this point, and I haven't been impressed thus far.

Most of the other functionality is there, but sleep apnea detection is a big deal — assuming it works. RingConn still only tracks four different exercises — Outdoor running, Indoor running, Outdoor Cycling, and Outdoor walking. 

Fortunately for me two of those four are exercises I actually do (walking and cycling). Unfortunately for me, it's still early March in Chicago, so I didn't get a chance to actually test those because it's still bitterly cold outside.

Adam Doud/SlashGear

Whether or not they're accurate is one thing. The other thing is that most other wearables can detect exercises in the dozens, and the fact that this ring still only tracks four is a little sad. Of course, when I reviewed the original RingConn, those features were in beta, so at least we're taking forward steps.

As for the app itself, it is nicely organized and it has a Trends tab which I appreciate. The metrics are laid out in rows, and the order of those rows can be adjusted. If you swipe left or right you can go back or forward a day respectively. If you go into any particular metric, you get more detail, with the same left/right swiping for moving back and forward a day.

The trends tab is where you can see which direction your metrics are moving. If you tap on any of the metrics in this section, you can switch to view a week, a month, or a year of your stats. Overall, I like how the app is laid out. It's very intuitive and organized, with a certain logic to it. I wish trends could be viewed from the individual metrics tab as well, just so you don't have to see how your sleep is, back out and tap three other things to find out how your sleep has been for the week.

There's also AI on board — in a sense. There's a very prominent AI button at the bottom of the app, but when you go into it, there are exactly three questions you can ask it: "How did I sleep?" and "How active am I?" and "My stress level" which is a little odd because the first two are complete sentences and the last one is not. That bugs me a little bit.

When you tap on any of those questions, you get an answer which is generative, but beyond that there doesn't seem to be a lot of AI here. I'm assuming at this point the AI is still being developed, but we review it as it is. Right now, it's undercooked.

The RingConn Gen 2 Air is available now from RingConn's website. It's priced at $199 which I think is a very fair amount for what you get in this smart ring. As I said near the beginning of this review, the RingConn Gen 2 is the ring I keep going back to. It's comfortable, it lasts a long time, and the software is organized in a way that appeals to me.

The fact that this is a minor downgrade in material doesn't bother me in the slightest. The ring is still extremely light and comfortable, and I can live without the sleep apnea detection. The ring provides you everything most of the competition does, and for a lower price. I'm not a fan of the ring covers, but that's more of a preference.

Still, as far as smart rings go, this is one of the least expensive you'll find and it's still really good. It's a good buy, especially if you're just starting to experiment in the smart ring space. I'd like to see the software come along a little further, especially exercise tracking and AI features — it is 2025 after all. But beyond that, this is a really solid smart ring and you should absolutely consider it.