I notice an increased take up rate of smart rings in Singapore. You can quite easily spot the users as they usually wear it on the index finger, the recommended finger. For me, I was lucky to be able to fit my size 9 smart ring on either of my three fingers depending on the time of day and whether my fingers are bloated. After my RingConn Gen 1 review, I passed the ring to my wife in hope that she can have some insights to her health. But she could not get used to wearing the ring, and she tend to remove the ring when doing housework, which she found a hassle as she often misplace the ring. After a hiatus, I took it back from her and continued wearing it.
The RingConn Gen 2 came out for a few months already, and sales are doing quite well, according to the official distributor, Leader Radio Technologies (LRT) Pte. Ltd. As I already have the ring sizing kit, I know exactly the size I want for the Gen 2. For new orders on the weareready.sg website, if you want to receive the free sizing kit, just select “Don’t Know Ring Size”. I also chose a smaller ring size to fit my daughter’s small hands so that she can also experience the RingConn health tracking, but not before I do my review on my pinky finger to determine comparative insights between the two devices.
Some of the biggest advantages of the RingConn compared to other competitive smart rings is that it offers health tracking without the need for any additional subscription fees. See, even my Gen 1 ring that is one-year old still works with the app. Also, RingConn supports both Android and iOS smartphones.
The RingConn tracks the following health data:
Sleep
- Total Time Asleep
- Sleep Efficiency
- Sleep Stages – awake, REM, light sleep, deep sleep
- Sleep Heart Rate
- Heart rate variability (HRV). A higher HRV means lower stress
- Oxygen Saturation (SpO2)
- Skin temperature
- Respiratory Rate
All these factors contribute to a daily sleep score.
Sleep Apnea Risk Monitoring
This is the new feature on the RingConn Gen 2 compared to Gen 1. To monitor sleep apnea. you have to manually start the assessment which takes three days to complete. It will determine the Oxygen Desaturation Index (ODI) and Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) over the three nights of sleep. Once the assessment is completed, you may choose to start another round of assessment. It would be good if this monitoring would continue instead of having to start every three days.
Activity
- Steps
- Activity Calories
- All-day Calories
- Standing
- Activity Intensity Ratio – inactive, low, moderate, vigorus
- Exercise Record – distance, average pace, duration, heart rate, kcal consumption, exercise path
- Activity Summary
All these factors contribute to a daily activity score.
For exercise record, you have to manually start the activity. RingConn will not be able to detect automatically unlike smart bands.
Stress
- All-day Stress Index
- Stress Ratio – relaxed, normal, medium, high
- Sleeping Stress – before sleep, during sleep
- Stress Summary
All these factors contribute to a daily stress index.
Vitals Signs
- Heart Rate
- SpO2
- HRV
- Skin Temperature
- Respiratory Rate
All these factors contribute to a daily scoring.
On the app, there is an “AI Health Plan” section where you can personalise a plan for the app to track and provide encouragement to achieve the goal. For instance, the app recommended me to achieve 7 hour sleep, 6000 steps, 30 minutes activity. So it will measure my daily stats and then provide a weekly summary. The “Trends” page is also very insightful as it shows the historical data of the above metrics in weeks, months and even years.
Comparing Gen 1 and Gen 2
I believe that no two trackers will produce the same result, even if it’s the same product model, because there are far too many variants. It is impossible for the tracker to track every single event at exactly the same moment. However, through time, the metric should appear similar based on the trend.
Since two rings cannot connect to the same smartphone, I created another account and connected the new Gen 2 RingConn to another smartphone, then I wore both rings at the same time to see how they both perform. As expected, both rings register slightly different data, which I expect because the sensors will capture slightly different, but the overall trend on the measurement seems to be quite aligned.
I do see some variances when it comes to measuring SpO2 and heart rate monitor, which causes different charting on the HRV as well. Steps measurement and sleep movement seems quite consistent.
Ultimately, the overall average is still pretty much similar. Meaning, I am still within the same range whether I measure with Gen 1 or Gen 2 ring. Note that smart rings are not medical devices and should be taken only as a guide, not as an official health result. If there are data that are consistently elevated, that is when you need to see a doctor to certify. One should not be overly worried if you notice a spike that occurs only once and not regularly.
Verdict
The smart ring tracker is ideal for users who prefers to ornate himself or herself with a ring instead of a wrist band. It also allows oneself to wear analog timepieces instead of an electronic watch. The smart ring is also less intrusive, and you can switch the ring to any finger as long as it fits.
The RingConn Gen 1 is amazingly well-built and is still in great condition after using it for months. I would think it is a sensible thing not to abuse the ring against any hard objects. The Gen 2 is actually even lighter, slightly slimmer, and longer battery life. The Gen 1 might still be a good option to go for if you do not need the sleep apnea monitoring function and you want to save a bit of cost (S$279).
The RingConn Gen 2 retails at S$439 in Singapore, available from weareready.sg online website, Shopee and Lazada.
