CES 2025 & Smart Rings
CES (Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual showcase of technological innovations. Each year, we can see more and more representatives of smart rings. So, what stood out to me this year?
For several years now, I’ve been observing this conference from a distance. I’ve been entertained by the endless stream of copy-paste articles on the internet, where excessive enthusiasm, half-truths, misunderstandings, and self-congratulatory boasting from exhibitors all blend together.
In this article, I’ll try to keep things grounded, let the CTRL+C and CTRL+V keys rest on the keyboard, and share my own perspective on the smart rings showcased at CES 2025. We’ll take a look at the following:
- 💍 Circular Ring 2 – ECG, Afib, vibrations?!
- 💍 Velia Ring – is this finally the year?
- 💍 VIV Ring – for dancing and listening.
- 💍 Ultrahuman RARE – too shining :)?
- 💍 KamiVision (Da Ring) – focused on seniors.
- 💍 Luna Ring 2 – a new battery champion?
- 💍 RingConn 2 Air – a (re)newed ring.
- 💍 Evie Ring – AI chat.
- 💍 Samsung Galaxy Ring – welcome to new markets.
Feel free to use the links above ☝️ for quick navigation, and let’s dive in 💥!
💍 Circular Ring 2
The biggest sensation in the smart ring space this year surprisingly comes from France. Circular, a long-standing competitor in this field, was one of the first brands to challenge Oura’s dominance. As a long-time user, I personally own three vibrating Circular rings (one PRO and two SLIMs).
I was expecting a successor to the PRO version, specifically one with a unique hardware button. It seems certain that the Circular 2 will not have a button. Most articles highlighting the Circular 2 focus on the following key aspects:
- ECG: Circular is trying to make a mark as the first smart ring to offer an electrocardiogram (ECG). While some smartwatches already have this feature, Circular aims to bring it to a ring.
- Afib Detection: Detecting atrial fibrillation (Afib) is still a unique feature in the smart ring category, with one exception – Ultrahuman Air offers Afib detection via Power Plugs.
- Digital Sizing Kit: This eliminates the need for plastic rings to determine the correct size. However, this is a second-place achievement since Ultrahuman introduced the first app for sizing (Ring Sizer). I remain a traditionalist and still prefer using a physical sizing kit, as apps can’t account for small things like finger swelling at night.
- Battery Life (up to 8 days): This information lacks context, specifically whether Circular will continue offering two modes: ECO and Performance.
Reports from CES, however, barely address the most crucial point:
- 📳 Vibrations – There’s speculation that the Circular 2 might lose what has long been its standout feature: vibrations. In my view, this would be a serious misstep—like shooting themselves in the foot...or finger.
Coincidentally, I’m currently in the middle of a warranty claim for my Circular Slim. As part of the process, I was offered a 75 % discount on the new Circular 2. Naturally, this raises the question: Will the Circular 2 still include vibrations?
Some insider speculators suggest that Circular might release two versions of the second generation: one with vibrations and one without – essentially a parallel to Circular Slim and Circular Slim Light.
- 🔌 Charging: It seems that Circular will do away with its charging pins, switching to contactless charging instead. Good news!
- 🔧 Reliability and brand reputation: Circular has significant room for improvement in the reliability of its products (both of my Slim rings have already gone to silicon heaven) and in strengthening its brand reputation. It's not hard to find forums filled with dissatisfied customers complaining about defective rings, refunds, endless waiting times, and similar issues.
It seems that Circular, after many experiments, is settling into the mainstream lane. This is sometimes a good thing (e.g., contactless charging), and sometimes not – especially if Reina is wrong and the ring ultimately doesn’t have vibrations.
Let’s also be cautious about whether the new features are merely a nice ✅ item in a marketing brochure. For example, if you own a watch with ECG, hand on heart – how many times have you actually used it?
💍Velia Ring
The Swiss have been fine-tuning their (potentially) revolutionary ring for far too long. I am one of the backers of the original crowdfunding campaign and have witnessed more than a few twists and rapid developments. These include the ring's name change (Iris -> Velia), issues with (not) including shipping costs, reductions in the range of ring sizes available, and more.
However, it must be said that the Velia looks truly impressive in terms of dimensions. From the sizing kit alone, it’s evident that the ring's width is roughly half that of its competitors.
One of the additional advantages of the Velia ring, which also addresses a common drawback of competing rings, is that you don’t have to worry about the ring’s position on your finger. This is because the Velia Ring has PPG sensors distributed around the entire inner part of the ring.
💍 VIV Ring
VIV Ring is an entirely new name to me. A new name in the smart ring market often means it’s a clone – a rebranded mass-produced ring. However, in the case of the VIV Ring, it’s not a clone.
It’s a new product from a South Korean manufacturer. While searching for relevant information, I had to face a lot of marketing buzzwords like "Intuitive," "Beyond Biometrics Measurement," and "Generative Sleep Aid Sound." The ring is meant to generate AI-personalized sounds to support sleep, based on measured data – the usual metrics like heart rate, SpO2, HRV, etc.
These sounds consist of natural recordings, such as ocean waves, rain, or bird songs, combined with monaural and binaural tones, aimed at improving sleep quality. I’ll leave it to you to form your own opinion.
There’s no mention of whether the ring will have a speaker or if, as I suspect, a mobile phone and their app will be required.
It’s expected to be available in February 2025.
💍 Ultrahuman RARE
Ultrahuman is updating its smart ring, or rather the Ultrahuman app, at a rapid pace. At the same time, the Air ring remains a better standard in terms of size.
I wasn’t expecting any major or meaningful announcements. However, Ultrahuman still tried to make a big splash by combining jewelry with a smart ring under the banner of the "new" Ultrahuman Rare. To put it simply, it’s the Ultrahuman Air dressed up in precious metals – in a way, a response to Oura & Gucci.
As far as I’m concerned, a smart ring is worth more than gold. Wearable electronics become obsolete very quickly – in two years, you’ll be scratching your head, wondering how to scrape the gold off an outdated $2,000 smart ring...
Personally, I’m more excited about the Ultrahuman Home, which has already been discussed here on the website.
LORDoftheSMARTRINGS
💍 KamiVision / Da Ring
I’ve long been expecting smart ring producers to focus more on seniors. One company now targeting this group is KamiVision. They primarily manufacture cameras capable of detecting falls in seniors' homes. Their system can call for help when a fall is detected.
The smart ring is intended to be an additional piece of the puzzle for monitoring the health status of the patient. It’s definitely a good idea. However, I feel some skepticism because KamiVision didn’t put much effort into hardware development and simply acquired a clone.
💍 Luna Ring 2
The Luna Ring hasn’t been available globally until now. That’s set to change with the second generation, which promises an impressive selling point – 30 days of battery life. This could create quite a bit of “noise” :) – fitting, as the Indian company Noise is behind this ring.
Otherwise, it features fairly standard dimensions and typical sensor equipment. What it’s trying to leverage once again is AI.
💍 RingConn 2 Air
RingConn is writing a story at CES somewhat similar to Ultrahuman. Their new ring (Gen 2) was introduced fairly recently, so there wasn’t any major reveal. Instead, they created a new variation of the RingConn 2 with the sub-labels Air and Galaxy. For now, it seems to be more about adding new colors to the original trio of variations.
It’s clearly an offensive move aimed at the Ultrahuman (Air) and Samsung (Galaxy) rings – perhaps just an attempt at a SERP battle :)
RingConn also mentions other minor improvements on its website, such as ring engraving.
💍 Evie Ring
The Evie Ring, a ring specifically designed for women, has pulled out the classic trick – AI. It’s an AI chatbot.
From the preview, it’s clear that at least in the beta version, the AI model has been limited, with users allowed only 25 questions per week.
An AI chatbot isn’t new in the wearables market; Oura, Circular, RingConn, and Whoop, for example, have been experimenting with it to varying degrees for quite some time.
💍 Samsung Galaxy Ring
Samsung has announced the launch of its ring on additional markets, particularly in Europe. This is certainly good news for Samsung fans (or should we call them Samsungists?).
I’ve been wearing the Samsung Ring for a long time, collecting a wealth of data in the process. I’m planning to release a follow-up to the article below:
LORDoftheSMARTRINGS
I find one particular feature interesting, made possible by the Samsung ecosystem: integration with other Samsung electronics through SmartThings (i.e., their smart home platform). This could enable the app to, for example, advise you in the future (in the first half of 2025) on whether the temperature in your bedroom is ideal for your sleep, and more.
Additionally, some updates are expected to roll out for the Samsung Health app. I’ve personally already noticed the beta version of a Mindfulness feature.
🤔 In Conclusion
By 2025, I might already be saying for the third year in a row that we’re witnessing the biggest boom in smart rings. And why not? The momentum keeps building, and the market continues to expand. Why? Clearly, there’s significant demand. Additionally, the profit margins on rings are substantial, making it a lucrative business.
That’s why I appreciate brands that come up with their own solutions, rather than merely being a collection of standardized components. Or worse, a buzzword generator throwing around terms like AI, intuitive, smartest, or even roundest-of-the-round.
Do you have additions or questions? Feel free to leave a comment here on the site or over on YouTube.
📹 VIDEO VERSION
Will be added later to our YouTube channel.
