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Giving up on smart rings

notesbylex.com

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Re: Giving up on smart rings

#31

Post by capitainenemo »

post-it wrote: post #25

All of these problems are solved by buying a CA$35 Colmi ring off Aliexpress. 1. If your finger changes size, spend another $35 for a second one. 2. If it gets scratched to shit, buy another one. Though I lift with my plastic R09 and there's only a bit of scratching around the edge. Other models are metal and should resist scratching better. 3. If it eventually breaks, get another one. Personally I fidget with mine a…

No idea how it compares, but my local Lidl was selling a smart ring for $15 so I decided to give it a shot. I assume half the measurements are "for entertainment purposes only" (glucose, blood pressure, stress [heart rate variability proxy?], blood oxygenation [might be ok with my skin tone, not sure I'd trust it]) but the others seem fairly accurate. Again, no idea how it compares to the pricier ones, but seems to match my pulse measured at neck and what I remember of my nightly sleep pretty well.

And yeah, I'm certainly not going to worry about it getting scratched or slightly wet. Actually, it got dropped and stepped on, and is slightly dented but still seems to run fine - the epoxy sealant for the electronics seems intact and while I was a bit concerned for the battery, that's been a while with no issues.

And, while I have no idea whether the app is quietly collecting data and pushing it to a server in china (if it is, it is doing it in a way that is sneaking past the firewall), at least it does not require creating an account to use.

So in that sense it is maybe more private than oura or samsung ?

Re: Giving up on smart rings

#32

Post by nexus6 »

dcss_gardener wrote: post #11
Supermancho wrote: post #3

None of these 3 problems have anything to do with it being a smart ring. Same problems that regular rings have, yet people still wear them. 1. Adulting: buying rings that are the right size. eg My tungsten wedding ring cannot be resized either. 2. Most people don't even lift. Those that do, dont mind taking off jewelry. I can see how this would be a problem for someone who wants to wear a smart ring for lifting. Soun…

Most people do not wear tungsten wedding rings. A wedding band can be resized and it's typical to have it resized several times during a long marriage. This is a legitimate downside of smart rings that is only shared with one niche-but-overrepresented-here option.

My experience with devices with very small batteries is that they lose capacity (below 80%) quickly after a couple of years of daily use. By the time you need the ring resized, the battery might be worn out anyway.

It’s in reality a disposable product unfortunately, unlike a wedding band.

Re: Giving up on smart rings

#33

Post by 827a »

The biggest reason should be that they're just bad. They gather sus data from their undersized sensors, then derive tons of sus insights to overwhelm you. None of it is accurate enough to base major life decisions on, which is also laughable because even if it were accurate, there are effectively no major life decisions to make based on the data! Here I can save you $500: Go to bed before midnight. Set your alarm at least +8 hours from when you lay down. Sleep in a cool, dark room. Eat nothing 4 hours before bed. Don't exercise 4 hours before bed. Limit alcohol. Engage in at least 30 minutes of strenuous physical activity each day. Done.

Re: Giving up on smart rings

#34

Post by maccard »

atldev wrote: post #29

I like my Oura ring and find it one of the least fussy fitness trackers I've used. To me, the battery question is more about time between charging. I can travel for a week on a business trip without taking the charger, no problem. The sizing issue is real and as I dropped weight, the ring became loose and would fall off. I've added a small eva tab on the inside to increase friction and reduce risk until I buy the nex…

> The most important metric to me was the sleep score and related components. I've noticed my performance (mentally and physically) is tied to sleep in a huge way. I was skeptical that it would capture sleep metrics accurately, but after about a year of use, I can say without question that the number it presents as my sleep score is a very good proxy of how good I feel throughout the day.

For so many things, the absolute number being correct doesn’t matter, what’s more important is having _a_ scale that iou can use to chart against whatever you want. A “sleep score” doesn’t need to be accurate as long as it’s measuring the same thing (and that thing is the correct thing). Calorie counting is the same - it doesn’t matter if I think my breakfast is 500 calories but it’s actually 600 - as long as I consistently enter it incorrectly and measure my weight, I know I need to reduce my portion size somewhere.

Re: Giving up on smart rings

#35

Post by djierardi »

Yawn. Produce data to assess its value. I already check my blood pressure and heart rate daily, and when running. Heck, my watch (which I wear only at the gym) gives me feedback -- at the moment but not something I need to record. Why why why? Those exceptions are luxuries without obvious advantages.

Re: Giving up on smart rings

#36

Post by atldev »

maccard wrote: post #34
atldev wrote: post #29

I like my Oura ring and find it one of the least fussy fitness trackers I've used. To me, the battery question is more about time between charging. I can travel for a week on a business trip without taking the charger, no problem. The sizing issue is real and as I dropped weight, the ring became loose and would fall off. I've added a small eva tab on the inside to increase friction and reduce risk until I buy the nex…

> The most important metric to me was the sleep score and related components. I've noticed my performance (mentally and physically) is tied to sleep in a huge way. I was skeptical that it would capture sleep metrics accurately, but after about a year of use, I can say without question that the number it presents as my sleep score is a very good proxy of how good I feel throughout the day. For so many things, the abso…

Agreed. It has been consistent enough that I can make a pretty accurate guess each morning based on how I feel. With a consistent scale, I can work on the components (timing, duration, and other factors like alcohol, etc.) and I've made big improvements over the year.

Re: Giving up on smart rings

#37

Post by tbrockman »

iamatworknow wrote: post #19
vablings wrote: post #5

I ditched my Oura ring, I found that it really was great at tracking sleep HRV and RHR, but the battery doesn't last and it's just expensive e-waste after a year and a half I got really upset with Oura when they tried to have their cake and eat it with regards to charging a huge premium for what is a very cheap device and then also a monthly subscription for something that does not need any subscription. I bit the bu…

You're just never going to get a smart ring with a battery that lasts longer than a year or two until different/better battery technology becomes commonplace. I've had a RingConn ring since December 2024, and I went with them primarily because they don't charge a monthly fee like Oura. But at this point the battery that originally lasted 2 weeks lasts only about 2 days. It's about the best you can expect from a ~30mA…

You can, however, design rings that can have their comparatively cheap batteries replaced, and be transparent about the expected life span of your $500+ ring that requires a subscription and whose warranty specifically excludes the battery (https://support.ouraring.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025439534-...).

Re: Giving up on smart rings

#39

Post by teliskr »

I can understand those pain points, but they don't really bother me. I'm on my 3rd oura ring now and I still like using it. I don't go crazy with the information, but I really do try to get a good night sleep and oura lets me know when I do not. I got married a few years ago and I usually don't like wearing my wedding band around because I worry about loosing it. So I wear the oura ring in place of the wedding band. I take the ring off when I lift weights and do some other things.

I also wear a garmin watch that I mostly use for tracking mountain bike rides, hikes, etc. So I'm just a geek who enjoys gadgets and the data they provide. I like that both have very long battery lives. I would love all the features of an apple watch, but I don't want to be charging it every day.

Re: Giving up on smart rings

#40

Post by djierardi »

djierardi wrote: post #35

Yawn. Produce data to assess its value. I already check my blood pressure and heart rate daily, and when running. Heck, my watch (which I wear only at the gym) gives me feedback -- at the moment but not something I need to record. Why why why? Those exceptions are luxuries without obvious advantages.

And, good lord, a SUBSCRIPTION to access its features. technically unnecessessary but yet another leech on my accessibility to data. (So many sites lately are behind paywalls. But you're receiving this data from my ring, WHY would I pay monthly for you to observe it and report?)
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