Hello everyone,
I recently picked up a super cheap smart ring on Amazon. I'd been hearing about the main brands, Ringconn, Aura, etc, but wasn't about to drop $200 to $400 on one of these. However, I was interested in both the form factor, as well as the additional info one of these rings could give me that my Apple watch does not, and how the stats might compare. Here is the link to the listing:
https://a.co/d/dcu6mwy
Do I really need this thing? Probably not. But thought it could be interesting nonetheless, especially if the data is at least halfway close to what the watch gives me. I don't really like to shower with the watch, so that's when it gets charged usually, and while I do sleep with it on, I think I would prefer to let it charge over night, but the ring could still help with sleep tracking. So, the thought is, at least it could provide more coverage than the watch, since the ring only has to be charged every few days. The following are my observations after almost 24 hours of use, including a full gym day. I don't get anything from the company for this, all thoughts are my own, and they don't even know I'm posting this. But, since I know there are a lot of techies on this forum, I figured some people might be interested.
Starting with the app, called SmartHealth, an app which I imagine probably interfaces with many of these cheaper Chinese smart rings. The english translations, especially in the help area, are not always fantastic. It is quite obvious that this was not actually made for a U.S market, as in one of the areas, it said if you find yourself at such and such score on the body questionnaire, that you should consult a Chinese medical doctor. That gave me a bit of a laugh, since I don't know any here in small town southeast Kansas, and a trip to China is a bit out of my price range. Translation and intended market aside, I am happy to report that the app does actually work quite well with Voiceover. I was able to set it up with no sighted assistance, once I knew which app to actually download. Unfortunately that info was not super clear from the amazon listing. I had to have a neighbor take a look at the manual to figure that out, but once he found that, it was smooth sailing. Pairing with the ring was incredibly smooth. The only gripe I have about the app, is the rate at which it refreshes information. It is incredibly slow! It says drop down to refresh, but when doing a three finger swipe down, Voiceover just makes its bonk sound, indicating that I can't scroll and gives no indication that it has refreshed. You can either just wait for it to update on its own, or force quit the app and then open it again. If that is the only accessibility annoyance, I can't complain really, especially when the ring didn't even run me a full $50.
Because of where the app comes from, I imagine some will have major privacy concerns. If you are nervous about where your data is going, and how that data might be used, you might stick to one of the name brand rings. I am not so worried about it.
The data from the app does also sync with Apple health. I like this, because it has some sensors that my Apple watch SE does not, such as blood oxygen. I wondered how it would all work out should there be conflicting data between the ring and watch, with both syncing to Apple Health, which would be given priority, or just how all that would work. From what I can tell, the heart stats, such as bpm, are pretty close to what the watch gives me at least when at rest. I'm not sure about the blood oxygen reading, since I have nothing to compare it to. It also does blood pressure, which I also don't have anything to compare it to. I will probably calibrate the ring for this further when I have my next doctor appointment, as you can enter what you get from the doctor in the settings, but even if I don't know how accurate it is, I find it to be interesting at least. So far, all the measurements seem to be consistent, so not wildly different, and don't seem to be completely made up. Again, at least when I am at rest, it seems to match up fairly well with Apple watch data.
As for steps counted, it is off by quite a bit. It is dramatically underestimating them. Either that, or my watch is dramatically over estimating them, but since I've had the watch much longer, it is the one I tend to trust. It counted a 30 minute elliptical workout as steps, but didn't seem to register steps from an hour long treadmill walk at all, or if it did, the app still has not updated. So, from what I can tell, if you tend to move your arms a lot while you walk, which I don't, then it will register them, but since it's on my right hand, which is also my cane hand, it doesn't pick up much, where the watch, on my left wrist, does a much better job. I'm not sure how this would compare to one of the much more expensive rings.
You can log certain workouts in the SmartHealth app, but these seem to be only outdoor workouts. I tried to register a cycling workout while on my exercise bike last night, but it did not really register any calories burned. This is a bit disappointing. I'm not sure if this could be fixed with a firmware update or not. As for any other workout related observations, I have heard a lot of other reviewers say that other smart rings make lifting a bit harder, and I would say this is also true for the model in question, as it is a rather wide band. I noticed I had the hardest time while doing pull-ups. It's an assisted pull-up machine, so helps if you can't do your whole weight yet. I'm getting close, but still like this machine, but I had to stop multiple times to adjust my grip. Not sure if this will get better in the future, but will keep trying with it on, at least one more gym day. For other lifts, such as curls, bench, etc, I didn't have much of a problem.
Over all, I find this to be a decent product. It isn't going to be taking the place of my Apple Watch any time soon, but seems to compliment it well, and it is nice that the app works decently with Voiceover, when the apps for many other much more expensive options do not. Tonight, I will sleep with only the ring, and see if sleep data still makes it in to Apple health. Feel free to drop any questions you may have, and I will do my best to answer.