The RingConn Gen 2 costs $299, tracks sleep almost as well as the Oura Ring 4, and never asks for a single cent after purchase. No subscription. No paywalled features. No monthly "premium" tier hiding your own health data behind a paywall. Everything is included, forever.
That value proposition alone makes the Gen 2 the most interesting smart ring on the market right now. Over weeks of daily wear, it proved itself a genuinely capable health tracker–one that excels at sleep monitoring, offers industry-leading battery life, and disappears on the finger thanks to a featherweight 2-3 gram design. It's not perfect. The app needs polish, the PVD coating scratches too easily, and if you need accurate workout heart rate or step counts, look elsewhere. But for the price? Nothing else comes close.
Design & Build
The RingConn Gen 2 is, physically, the most comfortable smart ring I've worn. At just 2mm at its thinnest point and 2-3 grams, it's slimmer than the Oura Ring 4 (2.88mm) and lighter than the Samsung Galaxy Ring (2.3-3.0g). Slip it on and it vanishes. I forgot I was wearing it within the first hour, which is exactly what you want from a device that's supposed to live on your finger 24/7.
Aerospace-grade titanium alloy gives the ring structural integrity that belies its minimal weight. The interior is lined with medical-grade epoxy resin that sits smooth against skin–no rough edges, no sensor bumps digging into your finger. The titanium is cool against the skin at first contact, warming to body temperature within minutes and then becoming essentially invisible.
Four finishes are available: Future Silver, Matte Black, Royal Gold, and Rose Gold (the last commanding a $100 premium at $399). Sizes range from 6 to 14, covering most fingers. A sizing kit is essential before purchase–smart ring fit directly affects sensor accuracy, and RingConn's sizes don't always map perfectly to standard ring sizes.
Here's the honest problem: the PVD coating scratches. Noticeably. Within two weeks of gym use–gripping barbells, handling dumbbells–the Matte Black finish showed visible wear marks. RingConn sells silicone protector sleeves, which is a tacit admission that the coating can't handle real life unassisted. The Future Silver finish hides scratches best. If you care about aesthetics long-term, choose accordingly.
The charging case is functional but uninspiring. It's larger than it needs to be and feels plasticky in a way that clashes with the ring's premium construction. The upside: it packs a 500mAh battery that provides roughly 150 days of total ring charges before the case itself needs a top-up. That's genuinely useful for travel.
Water resistance is rated IP68 to 100 meters. Showers, swimming, handwashing–all fine. The ring handled weeks of daily water exposure without any issues.
Health & Fitness Tracking
Sleep: The Star Feature
Sleep tracking is where the RingConn Gen 2 earns its keep. Equipped with infrared, red, and green LED PPG sensors, the ring monitors heart rate, HRV, blood oxygen, respiratory rate, and skin temperature throughout the night, then synthesizes everything into detailed sleep stage breakdowns.
Over a month of parallel testing alongside an Oura Ring 4, the Gen 2's sleep scores landed consistently within 2 points of Oura's. Light, deep, and REM stage durations tracked closely. The mornings where Oura flagged poor sleep, RingConn flagged it too. The mornings where both rings agreed I'd slept well, I felt it. That kind of consistency builds trust.
The Gen 2 also offers sleep apnea screening–a feature no other consumer smart ring provides. It claims 90.7% accuracy in detecting obstructive sleep apnea events. This is a screening tool, not a medical device, and it's not FDA-cleared. Don't use it to diagnose yourself. But as a flag that says "hey, talk to your doctor about a sleep study," it fills a gap that competitors simply don't address. If you snore heavily and wake up exhausted, this feature alone could justify the purchase.
Resting Metrics: Solid
Heart rate tracking at rest is accurate–within 2-3 BPM of a chest strap during stationary testing. HRV readings correlate well with dedicated monitors, making the Gen 2 a reliable tool for tracking recovery trends over time. Skin temperature tracking is smooth and consistent, forming the foundation of the ring's menstrual cycle prediction features for women's health.
Exercise: The Weak Spot
Once heart rate climbs above 110 BPM, accuracy falls off a cliff. During HIIT sessions and running intervals, the Gen 2 lagged 15-40 BPM behind a chest strap. This isn't unique to RingConn–smart rings in general struggle with vigorous exercise because fingers swell and move unpredictably–but it means you shouldn't rely on this ring for workout heart rate zones.
Auto workout detection, added in an October 2025 firmware update, catches sustained activity sessions over 10 minutes. It works, but it's basic. If serious exercise tracking matters to you, pair this ring with a chest strap or use a sports watch for workouts and the RingConn for everything else.
Step counting is the Gen 2's weakest metric. On multiple occasions, it overcounted significantly–logging 12,000 steps on days where my phone's pedometer and a Garmin watch agreed on closer to 9,000. Hand gestures, cooking, and driving all seem to inflate the count. Treat the step data as directional, not precise.
SpO2 readings showed minor inconsistencies–usually within 1-2% of a pulse oximeter, but occasionally drifting further. Fine for trend tracking, not reliable enough for clinical decisions.
The App Experience
The RingConn app is functional, data-rich, and a bit overwhelming. Every metric the ring tracks is surfaced, which sounds great until you're scrolling through screens of charts wondering what to actually do with all this information.
The centerpiece is the Wellness Balance score–RingConn's answer to Oura's Readiness Score. Both aim to tell you how recovered you are and whether to push hard or take it easy. In practice, the Wellness Balance score feels less intuitive. Oura's Readiness Score distills complex data into a single, immediately actionable number. RingConn gives you more data points but less clarity about what they mean together.
The app has improved steadily since launch–firmware updates have added features like auto workout detection and refined the UI–but it's still a step behind Oura's polished, insight-driven experience. Syncing can be slow, occasionally taking 30-60 seconds to pull a full night's sleep data.
Integration support includes Apple Health and Health Connect on Android, the latter replacing Google Fit sync after Google deprecated its Fit API in October 2025–a good move that puts RingConn on the same platform as Pixel and Samsung users.
For most people, the app is good enough. It presents the data you need, the sleep insights are genuinely useful, and the trajectory of improvement is encouraging. But if app polish is a priority, Oura still leads by a meaningful margin.
Battery Life
Battery life is the RingConn Gen 2's crown jewel. Ten to twelve days on a single charge, consistently. That's not marketing optimism–it's what I actually got with continuous heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, and SpO2 enabled.
For context: the Oura Ring 4 manages up to 8 days. The Samsung Galaxy Ring gets up to 7 days in the largest sizes, closer to 6 for most. The Ultrahuman Ring Air (now banned from sale in the US) lasted 4-6 days. The Gen 2 leads the category by a comfortable margin.
The 500mAh charging case extends that further, providing roughly 18 full ring recharges and up to 150 days of total use without needing a wall outlet. Throw the case in a bag and forget about wall outlets for months. Charging speed is reasonable–a full charge takes about 90 minutes.
One caveat: enabling sleep apnea monitoring cuts battery life roughly in half, to 5-6 days. That's still competitive with Oura's full battery life, but it's a significant hit if you rely on the apnea screening nightly.
Who It's For
Buy it if:
- You want serious sleep tracking without a subscription
- Battery life matters–you hate charging wearables every few days
- You're on iOS or Android (unlike the Samsung-only Galaxy Ring)
- You want sleep apnea screening as a conversation starter with your doctor
- You're budget-conscious but unwilling to compromise on core health tracking
- Comfort is paramount–this is the thinnest, lightest smart ring available
Skip it if:
- You need accurate workout heart rate tracking (get a chest strap or sports watch)
- App design and polish are dealbreakers (Oura's app is meaningfully better)
- Step counting accuracy matters to your daily routine
- You're privacy-conscious about health data–RingConn is owned by Shenzhen Ninenovo Technology, a Chinese company, and health data is processed accordingly. This isn't necessarily a problem, but it's worth knowing.
A note on the patent situation: Oura's International Trade Commission case resulted in a ruling that RingConn infringed certain patents. RingConn subsequently secured a multi-year license from Oura and continues selling legally in the US. The Ultrahuman Ring Air wasn't as fortunate–it's now banned from the US market entirely. RingConn's legal standing is resolved, but it's context worth having.
The Verdict
Score: 80/100 – The RingConn Gen 2 is the best-value smart ring available, pairing strong sleep tracking and industry-leading battery life with zero ongoing costs. The app and daytime metrics need work, but the core proposition–90% of Oura for significantly less money–holds up.
| Category | Weight | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Core Function | 30% | 74 |
| Build Quality | 15% | 78 |
| User Experience | 20% | 68 |
| Value | 20% | 92 |
| Battery | 15% | 95 |
| Weighted Total | 80/100 |
The smart ring market is rapidly maturing, and the RingConn Gen 2 represents something important: proof that you don't need to pay a premium–or a subscription–to get meaningful health insights from your finger. It won't dethrone the Oura Ring 4 as the best overall smart ring, but it makes the strongest case yet that you might not need to spend the extra money.