Oura, Samsung & More: The Smart Ring Era Is Here
Smart rings made waves at CES 2024 as wearable health and fitness becomes more mainstream and high-tech. Can anyone challenge Oura?
Oura has long been synonymous with “smart ring.” For years, entering the space proved difficult for many potential competitors due to the technological challenges of creating small and stylish enough hardware components for heart rate and blood oxygen tracking. However, several smart rings that have been in the works for years have finally hit the market or will be released soon.
Take Movano Health’s Evie Ring. The product was first showcased at CES 2022 and is a female-first wearable. Evie comes with a simplified app that tracks heart rate, activity, menstrual cycles and blood oxygen. It also allows for mood and menstrual symptom tracking to identify patterns over time, and has a small gap in the ring that is forgiving with finger swelling.
Smart Ring Competitors
Other smart rings were also featured at CES 2024. The Amazfit Helio Ring is a ring geared towards elite athletes that focuses on recovery. It has full integration with GPS sports watches, so users’ comprehensive health data is available in the Zepp app. The ring is expected to be released in the next few months, with pricing not yet available, although many believe it will be priced at around $350, similar to competitors.
RingConn, also displayed at CES, is more affordably priced at $279. It conducts sleep quality analysis and all-day heart rate and blood oxygen saturation monitoring. Like Oura, it offers stress index monitoring.
Other smart rings offer more niche features. YogiFi offers a Mat + Ring that tracks yoga asanas, mindfulness minutes and breathing patterns to elevate users’ practices. Ultrahuman Ring Air is smaller and lighter than competitors and has advanced recommendations. For example, it can observe energy levels and circadian cycle to recommend specific times to consume coffee.
Samsung Readies Galaxy Ring
Large players are also eyeing the market. Samsung has been teasing its Galaxy Ring, which will reportedly launch later this year. In addition to standard health and fitness tracking, Samsung might use the Galaxy Ring to control connected devices like smart TVs.
A newly filed patent by Samsung shows that a pair of XR glasses could use a smart ring to get positional information for users’ fingers and hands. The Galaxy Ring will reportedly be available in sizes up to 13 and in three different finishes.
What To Watch in 2024
Many wearables have implemented subscription fees, such as Oura and Whoop. Some newer players, like Evie and RingConn, are hoping to capture market share with no fee, a feature that could appeal to many consumers. For the Helio Ring, users must subscribe to the service for $69.99 per year to access the company’s AI chatbot for health-related questions.
The smart ring market size could surpass $1 billion by the 2030s. As more brands express interest in the space, will they be able to compete with Oura? Even larger players like Samsung may face an uphill battle to bring new consumers to the smart ring space and convert Oura users to their products. However, as the space grows, 2024 could be the year of the smart ring.