I am very into health-related gadgets and currently, smart rings are my new obsession. I researched the most popular smart rings available and decided to try my hands on RingConn and Circular Slim Ring to see which one is superior.
Though I have reviewed several tech gadgets, I was exploring RingConn and Circular smart rings for the first time. While both of them have pretty much the same functionalities, their distinct features and specifications make them different from each other.
After using both smart rings for weeks, I am bringing you my honest opinions. Here, I will tell you which ring is better and what you can expect from them.
Comparison Between RingConn And Circular Ring
RingConn Ring was released in January 2023, and Circular Slim Ring was launched in early 2024. Thus, the RingConn smart ring got an edge over the Circular Ring and became more popular. However, the Circular Ring has also managed to grab an audience and improve itself rapidly to retain them. Although launch time isn’t a basis for comparison, it gives me an estimate of how much time the ring had to improve itself.
Given their market presence, I was pretty much okay with checking both of them. I wore RingConn and Circular Slim Ring for almost three weeks and compared their features like sleep, SpO2, HRV, workout, etc. While I was more focused on knowing my sleeping metrics, I found other health metrics quite interesting in both of them.
Design & Colors
I wanted a stylish yet subtle smart ring that I could wear all the time, regardless of the occasion. In terms of appearance, both RingConn and Circular Slim Ring are different. While RingConn is square-oval, the Circular Slim Ring is a complete circle. I liked RingConn’s design more than Circular Slim Ring’s.
I had expected that the Circular Ring would also offer different color finishes like RingConn, but the Slim Ring is available only in matte black. The white Circular logo on the ring was a bit off for me. I didn’t like the logo design at all. Instead, it could have been a solid color ring!
RingConn, on the other hand, offers three colors- Silver, Black, and Golden. I opted for the silver finish as it matches my daily wear jewelry! I hope that Circular will also introduce more color options in its Slim Ring collection in the future.
Comfort And Durability
The RingConn Ring is made of Titanium and has a PVD coating, whereas the Circular Ring has carbon fiber & aluminum material. The Circular Slim Ring is wider and thicker than RingConn because sensors are placed on a flat surface inside the ring.
Specifications | RingConn Ring | Circular Ring |
---|---|---|
Weight | 3-5 grams | 2 grams |
Thickness | 2.6mm | 2.2 mm |
Width | 7.8 mm | 8.8 mm |
Though I was comfortable wearing them both, I had to keep adjusting the RingConn Ring manually despite having the right size due to the ring’s shape. On the other hand, the Circular Slim Ring was a better fit and doesn’t rotate.
Wearing a Circular Ring Slim was easier on normal days, but I had to struggle wearing it on swollen fingers due to hormonal changes on some days. RingConn was a better option in this regard!
In terms of durability, the Circular Ring is less durable because I got scratches on my ring while exercising. RingConn is pretty much solid. Furthermore, RingConn’s ring protector helped me to save the ring from unexpected scratches. You can buy it separately from the official website. However, Circular Slim Ring’s official website does not have a ring protector. So, I don’t know how to save it from scratches besides just being careful!
Health & Fitness
I keep wearing both smart rings throughout the day and ensure that they are tracking my health vitals thoroughly. The good thing about both rings is that they track mostly similar health metrics like heart rate, respiration rate, HRV, SpO2, skin temperature, steps, calories, etc. So, I keep observing how frequently they are tracking my vitals and giving me data accordingly.
Similarly, both Ringconn and Circular also track my workout sessions and exercises. After analyzing my body, they suggested Recovery data that helps me to decide whether I am ready or not for my next workout. However, to know my menstrual health data, I have to rely on RingConn as Circular Ring doesn’t track periods or menstrual health.
Though RingConn and Circular Rings generate health reports, RingConn’s Health timeline and notes portray details comprehensively. I find Circular Ring’s health report difficult to understand. Thus, I am more satisfied with RingConn than Circular Ring.
Sleep Tracking
I am a curious soul who loves to know how I slept last night! Well, these rings not only monitor my vitals in my sleep duration but also sleep stages. While both of these rings can detect naps, the RingConn ring is better at tracking when I am just lying on my bed or having an actual sleep. Their sleeping graphs are easy to read and understand.
However, I have noticed that Circular Ring tracks my awake time a little later than the RingConn. For example, for the past week, I have been waking up around 8 AM. Though RingConn is tracking the right waking time, Circular Ring shows me an extra 10-15 minutes. So, I am more reliant on RingConn for this.
Battery Life & Charging
My next concern was the battery life because I hate charging my devices too much! I am sure many of you feel the same. So, I tested both rings and found that their official battery life information from the site is not accurate.
RingConn claims its battery stays for seven days, but that wasn’t the case with me. The ring barely survived five days. However, I liked the RingConn smart ring’s charging case, which can be used to store the ring as well.
Charging Details | RingConn Ring | Circular Ring |
---|---|---|
Official Ring Charging Time | 90 minutes | 45 minutes |
My Ring’s Charging Time | 90-100 minutes | 50-60 minutes |
Official Battery Durability | 7 days | 5 days |
My Ring’s Battery Durability | 5 days | 3 days |
RingConn’s portable charging case has the capacity to charge the ring up to 18 times. It took me approximately 90 minutes to recharge the full battery. So, having the charged case was a sigh of relief for me.
To my surprise, Circular Slim also disappointed me with its poor battery life. Though the official website of Circular Ring claims that the battery lasts up to five days, depending on the usage, my ring’s battery got drained in three days when I used it to track everything.
The Circular Ring has magnetic pins to charge the battery. So, I need to place the pin’s connectors on the ring and insert it into the USB-C port of my laptop or phone to charge batteries.
I find it a lengthy process! It takes me almost an hour to fully charge the ring. However, the battery drains within 2-3 days instead of 5 days. Thus, I am not satisfied with its battery performance.
Sensors
Sensors | Ringconn Ring | Circular Ring |
---|---|---|
PPG Module | ||
Temperature Sensor | ||
3-axis Accelerometer | ||
Infrared LED | ||
Green LED | ||
Red LED |
RingConn Smart Ring has more sensors compared to the Circular Ring. It has 4 PPG Modules, 4 Temperature Sensors, and a single 3-axis Accelerometer to track heart rate, blood oxygen levels, etc. However, RingConn does not have Infrared LED and Green LED sensors like the Circular Ring.
On the other hand, the Circular Slim has a PPG sensor, 1 infrared LED sensor, 1 red LED sensor, 1 green LED sensor, 1 surface temperature sensor, and a 3-axis Accelerometer. So, RingConn has a higher chance of measuring pulses accurately than Circular. Well, the results I found didn’t vary much, but I give RingConn more points because of the more sensors.
Accuracy
Since both Ringconn and Circular ring are quite new players in the market, relying on their accuracy completely was not appropriate. So, I decided to compare their accuracies.
I have noticed that Circular Ring’s tracking result is not similar to RingConn’s when it comes to heart rate. When I am walking fast in the room, the Circular Ring thinks that I am running and hence shows a spiked heart rate. However, RingConn’s heart rate tracking was more accurate as it showed a lesser difference between heart rates while I was walking fast and normally.
I didn’t find Circular Slim’s sleeping tracking as effective as RingConn. I noticed that Circular Ring didn’t track my sleeping properly a few times or just tracked half the sleeping time. Meanwhile, RingConn has tracked my sleeping time and how many times I woke up.
Though in most of the cases, the difference was less, the latter had better accuracy. They both were tracking heart rate, HRV, and SpO2 almost similarly.
Since none of them have FDA-approved metrics, one can estimate accuracy by comparing their data with more credible smart rings like Oura. In my opinion, both of them are required to improve their accuracy to reach FDA-approved standards.
Specifications
Specifications | RingConn Smart Ring | Circular Slim Smart Ring |
---|---|---|
Material | Titanium & PVD Coating | The alloy of matte black bead-blasted aluminum and carbon fiber |
Weight | 3-5 grams | 2 grams |
Thickness | 2.6mm | 2.2 mm |
Width | 7.8 mm | 8.8 mm |
Size | Nine sizes (6–14) | Eight sizes (6–13) |
Charger | Portable Charging Case | USB-C Male connector |
Battery Life | 7 days | 5 days |
Charging Time | 90 Minutes | 45 minutes |
Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.2 (Low power Bluetooth module) | Bluetooth Smart® (Low Energy) |
Compatible With Other Apps | • Google Fit • Apple Health | • Google Fit • Apple HealthKit |
Water Resistance | IP68, 50 meters | IP68 grade; 5 meters; Do not use in salted water |
Memory | Up to 7 days of data | Up to 20 days of data |
Compatibility | iOS 12.0 or later, or Android 8.0 or later | iOS 11.0 or later, or Android 6.0 or later |
AI Wellness Assistance | N/A | Yes (Kira) |
Vibration Alarm Clock | N/A | Yes |
Reminders for Medications, Supplements | No | Yes |
Warranty | One year | One year |
Customization | No | No |
Operating Temperature | -10°C -41°C/14°F-104°F | • Usage: -10°C / 45°C • Charging temperature 10°C – 45°C • Discharging temperature 20°C – 60°C |
Features
Features | RingConn | Circular Slim |
---|---|---|
Heart Rate | Yes | Yes |
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) | Yes | Yes |
Blood oxygen levels (SpO2) | Yes | Yes |
Sleep | Yes | Yes |
Nap | Yes | Yes |
Respiration Rate | Yes | Yes |
Skin Temperature | Yes | Yes |
Steps | Yes | Yes |
Activity | Yes | Yes |
Calories | Yes | Yes |
User Logged Metrics | Yes | Yes |
Workouts | Yes | Yes |
Menstrual Symptoms | No | No |
Period Logging | Yes | No |
Fertility & Ovulation Prediction | Yes | No |
Vital Alerts | No | Yes |
Health Reports | Yes | Yes |
Set Personalized Goals | Yes | No |
Personalized Wellness Assistance | No | Yes |
Insights Feature | Yes | No |
Guided Breathing | No | Yes |
Stress | Yes | Yes |
Recovery | No | Yes |
Health Timeline & Note | Yes | No |
Standing Time | Yes | No |
Chronotype | No | Yes |
Energy Analysis | No | Yes |
VO2 Max | No | Yes |
Both RingConn and Circular smart rings have almost similar features crucial to check overall well-being. In the RingConn Ring, I found metrics like heart rate, SpO2, Wellness Balance, sleep, steps, activity, stress, calories, and menstruation. However, the Readiness and Recovery score was missing. Similarly, Circular Ring does not have any metrics to give menstrual health data like RingConn.
I personally liked Circular Ring’s Medication Reminder and chronotype features as it helps me to track my food habits and I don’t miss my medicines. Furthermore, it’s Personalised Wellness Assistance, which is a great feature that one can’t ignore. If RingConn had any such features, it would be really helpful.
RingConn’s Automatic Activity Detection was fairly good compared to Circular Ring. Circular Ring also has a smart alarm. You can use the Temperature Variations Trend to detect menstrual cycles or fever as well. Performance-wise, I didn’t find much difference between RingConn and Circular.
Companion Apps
The RingConn app is divided into three main tabs- Insight, Trends, and Me where I can see my sleep, activities, and stress scores along with graphs. Though the app interface is a bit heavy, it covers a lot of metrics in a few slides.
The Circular Ring app also covers several features, like a sleep monitoring circle, guided breathing circle, and physical activity tracking circle, that provide comprehensive data in colorful graphs. In terms of understanding, the Circular App has more user-friendly features as I easily understand them. However, I do feel there’s a lot more that can be improved in both apps when it comes to detailed and thorough insights and data analysis.
Prices & Subscription
Smart gadgets are too pricey these days. The same is the case with smart rings! Both RingConn and Circular Slims are amateurs, but they are as expensive as other popular smart ring brands. I find them a bit overpriced.
However, both of them have tried to lure users by offering free subscriptions to their respective apps. If you want to buy these smart rings, RingConn will cost you $279 USD. However, I bought RingConn for $259 at a discounted price from its official website. You can also buy an extra charging dock for RingConn Ring for $39.90.
Pricing Details | RingConn Ring | Circular Ring |
---|---|---|
Official Price | $279 | • €263 or $281 (ring with vibration feature) • €217 or $234.66 (ring without vibration feature) |
Discounted Price | $259 | N/A |
Subscription | Free | Free |
The Circular Ring is more expensive than RingConn. It costs €263 or $281. You can also order an extra cable (€12) and an extra charger (€24) along with the ring.
If you are not interested in investing much, you can go with either of these two because there is not much price difference. While the RingConn Ring is available only in the United States, Canada, EU countries, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, the Circular Ring is available worldwide.
Final Verdict
As per my experience, I find RinConn a better smart ring than Circular Slim because:
- RingConn offers more colors than Circular Slim.
- RingConn has more sensors than Circular Slim.
- Circular Slim needs to work on its tacky design.
- RingConn is more durable than Circular Ring. Moreover, it can be guarded with a ring protector.
- Since there isn’t much difference between their prices, RingConn is a better investment option.
I found Circular Rings to be slimmer, more stylish, and lighter than RingConn. So, wearing it was not a hassle for me. But charging the batteries was frustrating. If you hate charging in very short durations, RingConn is a good option for you. Moreover, its sensors and interface were better than those of the Circular Ring Slim.
Circular Ring’s sleep track was good overall, but I had trouble syncing the information and got inaccurate measurements a few times. Maybe it was because of the technical glitches. Both rings are prone to scratches if not handled with care. I think that Circular should fix minor problems in its future versions if it wants to compete with more sophisticated brands. Till then, I will go with RingConn because it provides me with the same functions at a lower price than Circular.