Wearable tech can be highly functional but still discreet. While bulky watches are often removed at the end of the day for charging, smart rings stay on at night to track your sleep. You can even pay for items at checkout without reaching for your wallet using touch-free pay technology. Smart rings have emerged in a promising market among smartwatch fan favorites. If you want your technology to do the most work for you, consider wearing a smart ring. I’ve rounded up the best smart rings with capabilities nothing short of spectacular. Also: The best fitness rings I purchased a Heritage Oura Ring and tested it with weekly activities, like strength training, cycling, yoga, and more. The highlight of the ring is that it doesn’t let me get lost in the data. What matters to me matters to the ring: sleep, activity, and readiness. My morning sleep scores are insightful and have helped me realize how I can improve my nighttime habits. The simplified score appears with a detailed chart monitoring heart rate, body temperature, and blood oxygen levels through the night. I love interacting with the ring, and I don’t regret my purchase. It’s incredible that all of this technology fits in such a small device. When the lights are off in my bedroom at night, I can see the ring glow a barely noticeable green or red as the sensors got to work. The guided meditations are an unexpected bonus. I’ve done a few and I think the feature is worth the monthly membership fee alone. There are over 50 sessions for meditation, sleep, and other focus areas. It’s comforting to have meditations in the same app as my sleep score, so if I didn’t sleep well one night, I can do something immediately to alleviate stress and set myself up for success the following night. This comprehensive smart ring integrates with Apple Health, and Google Fit, as well as iOS and Android apps. This compatibility means that you can see daily, weekly, and monthly views of your activity and other metrics. Review: Oura Ring 3 The downside is that there’s a membership structure in place to unlock the features that make this ring worth it. It will cost you $5.99 per month to unlock a morning in-depth sleep analysis, blood oxygen monitoring, personalized insights, live heart rate monitoring, and temperature trend monitoring that can predict early stages of illness. The Oura ring can also detect when you might be stressed and automatically go into Rest Mode by adjusting your daily goals for you. Non-paying members have access to only three insights: Sleep, Readiness, and Activity. The minimalistic, polished RingPay is the world’s first smart ring with contactless payment technology. You can securely pay for items by connecting your debit or credit card and earn cashback when you use it. The ring is faster to use than contactless alternatives, like unlocking your phone wallet or using a credit card. You can wash your hands while wearing it, because the smart ring is water resistant, scratch-resistant, and stress-tested. It’s made of hypoallergenic ceramic, so no glues or plastics involved, either. The RingPay comes from McLear, the company that built the first NFC (near-field communication or wireless data transfer) ring to unlock doors digitally. The company configured the same technology for phones and information sharing, and secured funding from WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg, eventually launching this ring. The ring can unlock your NFC-enabled Android phones and tablets with just a touch from ring to device. You can store and securely share information, including Wi-Fi information, website links, and contact information to your friends’ devices. The best part? No charging required. The Circular Ring launched last year, and the company markets the ring as “the most advanced wearable tracking device.” The ring focuses on three main components: sleep, activity, and health. The device tracks precise heart rate, breathing rate, blood oxygen levels, temperature, and motion during sleep with emphasis on quality, duration, and circadian rhythm. You’ll even get notifications about irregular heart rates and blood oxygen levels. For fitness, you’ll get an energy score that tells you how much energy you’ve exerted throughout the day, and the ring automatically tracks your workouts. The technology organizes data in an easy-to-read app so you can better understand your habits and make better health decisions. The Hecere NFC ring is the best smart ring for tech-savvy people. It’s delivered blank with a built-in rewritable chip. You can download an NFC app for free and program the ring to function however you want, whether you want the ring to turn on Wi-Fi, make a call, or share a contact. The sensing technology in this ring is more advanced than that in comparable products. If you want a fun, customizable project, this could be the ring for you. The Go2sleep ring is dedicated to one function: tracking your sleep based on heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and heart rate variability. If you or anyone in your family lives with a sleep condition, this ring could be a useful tool. You can share data with family members on the app to learn more about their sleep habits, and even download your sleep reports as Excel files to show your medical provider. Also: The best sleep trackers The advanced technology can wake you up during your lightest sleep phase in the morning, so you won’t feel disoriented right when it’s time to get up. The Go2sleep ring automatically syncs with the Health app on iOS devices, and it features a ring-finding function so you can locate the device if it’s misplaced. There are many smart wearables available, but these smart rings are the most high-quality options based on a variety of categories. From contactless payment to advanced sleep tracking, these smart rings bring advanced technology right to your finger. Oura even partnered with the NBA to help players train during the pandemic. The NBA purchased 2,000 Oura rings to track signs of COVID-19 symptoms using body temperature data. Plus, the smart rings gave players personalized insights into their health. You wear smart rings flush against your skin. As a result, the data can be more accurate than that collected by smartwatches. Smart rings also tend to have long battery lives, while some don’t require charging at all.
