ZDNET Highlights
- The Circular Ring 2 is available for $249.
- It has a similar architecture to its competitors and is subscription-free.
- The low price comes with health features and companion apps that fall short.
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The smart ring field is filled with companies competing for the title of the next best health tracker. Although there are many companies with high quality products, other companies do not make the cut at this level.
Unfortunately, this is also the case with the French company circular‘s latest smart ring, circular ring 2I recently spent over a week with it to see if it would be a worthy competitor to high-profile brands, but my early impressions suggest no,
Also: Your circular ring just got a major health upgrade
However, don’t let this one brand stop you from using smart rings for health tracking. I’ve included three options that people can purchase as alternatives to circular rings, as well as some tips for finding a reliable, trustworthy product that gets your money’s worth.
Circular markets its Circular Ring 2 as a health companion with a specific suite of health tracking metrics: ECG and atrial fibrillation detection, blood pressure and glucose tracking, and a unique-to-Circular smart alarm that detects the lightest sleep stage to wake users up. It’s also subscription-free, which rivals its biggest competitor. auraWhich puts huge chunks of user data behind a $70 per year subscription.
If its software wasn’t so slow, I might have been able to try out these features in the first place. I spent 14 days getting the ring accustomed to my sleep, activity, and overall lifestyle. During this period, the circular does not offer any analysis; Having said that it is still getting to know me.
Also: Why is your Ora Ring’s battery life draining fast
That’s a long time, especially compared to other smart rings that dive into analytics on day one. If the metrics aren’t 100% accurate from the start, other smart rings adjust the scores and data according to the user’s baseline as it deteriorates further. Most people don’t have the patience to wear a ring and charge it for 14 days without any reaction.
When I finally started getting data to sync with the Circular Ring 2, the metrics were drastically different from the Ora Ring 4 I wore with it. I wondered how the data could be so uneven, and I’m still wondering, because Ring hasn’t uploaded that data to the app yet.
Every morning I wait for my night’s sleep data to appear on the app from the ring. This process takes several minutes to start, but as it approaches 100, the app crashes repeatedly.
Also: The best smart rings I tested
A brief look at Circular Ring Reddit proves that my complaints are relevant. Many users have complained about app syncing issues, prompting Circular to address these issues in recent postsMaking sure to update the firmware will resolve the issue.
Like any emerging technology, there will be more issues as Circulator refines its product. However, for now, I would avoid purchasing this smart ring until Circulant resolves these synchronization issues. I look forward to testing the ring again once it’s completed with its advertised features.
What do I suggest instead?
ringcon gen 2 air
If you’re interested in tracking your sleep, activity, and stress with a smart ring, I recommend it ringcon gen 2 airA subscription-free product that’s affordable but capable. This ring sells for $150 less than the Ora Ring 4, and my testing yielded similar sleep scoring and tracking results.
Also: I tested this Ora Ring 4 rival that works similarly but at half the price (and no subscription)
The biggest feature of the Gen 2 Air is its marathon battery life of eight to nine days, but it’s still one of the more feature-limited smart rings on the market. For example, its AI Health Partner was more of a gimmick than a functioning, generative software feature.
Still, the Gen 2 Air’s accessible price and abundance of useful features make it a great introduction to the product line for anyone who doesn’t want to break the bank.
ora ring 4
If you would prefer a more advanced smart ring, I would recommend ora ring 4Which is the best smart ring for sleep scoring, symptom tracking, and general health metrics. Not to mention its deep commitment to privacy, which its competitors have yet to match.
I’ve tested many smart rings and smartwatches, but the Oura Ring has been on my finger for the longest time. Oura is constantly researching and developing new features and improving existing features (such as this very controversial move). The Oura, like any other smart ring, monitors vitals such as heart rate, heart rate variability, body temperature and respiratory rate, tracks these biomarkers when you sleep and work out, and uses them to generate scores for sleep, activity and recovery.
Plus: Withings’ smart thermometer is FDA-cleared — and checks more than just your temperature
Its symptom radar feature is helpful during cold and flu season, and I’ve already used it once this season to track the progress of a head cold. It also recently launched a cumulative stress feature, which shows the long-term effects of stress on the body.
The only problem I’ve seen many users complain about is the Ora’s deteriorating battery life over time. Many Ring 4 users report reduced battery life after a year of consistent use. Luckily, if users report this issue, Oura will send them a new ring.
ZDNET’s shopping advice
we will keep an eye on it circular ring 2 For significant product updates, but for now, I recommend choosing one of the other rings mentioned earlier.
When shopping for a health tracker (or frankly, any product that’s going to cost you more than $200), I highly recommend taking a look at product reviews from writers (like me) who have worked with dozens of competing products, while cross-referencing reviews with Reddit to see what real users are saying.
As a note, it looks like several users on the Reddit page purchased their circular ring through Kickstarter. Those who reported they are still waiting for their ring to be shipped and have not yet received notifications of its expected arrival. Kickstarter itself does not issue refunds.
