When people think of wearables, they often envision smartwatches. However, 2024 was a relatively quiet year for smartwatches, with iterative updates taking center stage. This is to be expected in a maturing category. In exchange for polished products, the industry lost some of the excitement and unconventional ideas that characterized its early days.
The Rise of Smart Rings
Smart rings are not new, but 2024 saw a resurgence in this niche form factor. I had a hunch that something was brewing when several smart rings littered the CES show floor in January. This suspicion was confirmed in February with Samsung’s announcement of the long-rumored Galaxy Ring. As a major player in the smartwatch space, Samsung’s foray into smart rings is significant, propelling this category into the mainstream.
A New Era of Innovation
The newer crop of smart rings is exciting due to its innovative features. The Galaxy Ring, for instance, can work in tandem with Samsung’s Galaxy Watches to optimize battery life and sensor accuracy. When paired with a Z Fold 6 or a Z Flip 6, it can recognize a pinching gesture to control the phone’s camera. This ability to integrate with other devices is a game-changer for smart rings.
Some of these innovative features might be viewed as ways to lock users into Samsung’s ecosystem. However, you have to admit that these use cases are not something we’ve seen from smart rings before.
Not Just Samsung
It’s not just Samsung that’s pushing the boundaries with smart rings. The Circular Slim, for example, allows users to set silent haptic alarms and interact with an in-app AI chatbot. Movano’s Evie Ring also caught my eye with its distinctive open-gap design and ambitious pursuit of FDA clearance for its metrics.
Even Casio is getting in on the fun with its take on a retro low-tech smart ring. It’s refreshing to see new ideas, especially when you consider that Oura has dominated this space for the past decade. Oura primarily focuses on sleep tracking and recovery, which means we’ve only really thought of smart rings as health trackers up until now.
The Competition is Heating Up
It’s especially refreshing to see new ideas considering Oura’s dominance in the market. The company has been launching new features at a steady clip and exploring new integrations with continuous glucose monitors. Oura just released its fourth-gen ring, which is a testament to the growing competition in this space.
The Challenges of Smart Rings
Smart rings are not going to be on every finger in 2025. They’re expensive, and when compared to similarly priced smartwatches, they don’t do quite as much. They’re also challenging to make precisely because they’re so small and require even smaller components.
Additionally, fit is a significant concern for smart ring manufacturers. Watch straps adjust easily to different sized wrists, but smart rings require 10-12 different sizes to encompass a wider range of finger sizes, as well as account for seasonal swelling.
The Future of Smart Rings
For all these reasons, I’m not sure how smart rings will fare in the year ahead. We don’t yet know how Samsung’s Galaxy Ring is doing in terms of sales. However, if it does well, especially as an accessory to other gadgets, you can bet it’ll pique the interest of Google and Apple.
Conclusion
What I do know is that during my summer of wearing six smart rings, I fielded a ton of questions from curious friends, family, colleagues, and acquaintances. Some of them were just sick of smartwatches and wanted to return to a good ol’ Casio. Others wanted something beautiful and discreet.
A few were extremely into sleepmaxxing – a viral trend where people try to optimize their sleep quality – and thus heavily invested in something comfortable and long-lasting to track their sleep.
The interest is there, but the question remains: will this renaissance continue or will we go back to Oura being the only game in town?