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- Hacker News
- Doesn't sound like a complaint against "smart" rings; more like a general complaint against rings.
Also sounds like the author has done a great deal of work to improve himself, physically, and I can respect (and hat tip) to it, but he would definitely see the same issue with a wedding ring (except that you can usually resize those).
I wear my wedding ring constantly; even in the shower. I'm old-fashioned, and haven't really changed that much, since I got married (besides getting grayer and wrinklier).
- Assuming I made this stuff. It is useless to have smart rings do the primary stuff of what a smart watch does, so not monitor your pulse or that crap because anyone who has a smart ring should have a smart watch for that and the few people who don't want smart watches but do want smart rings would be such a small outlier group I wouldn't care.
The only way the concept of a smart ring makes sense to me is as a form of gestural navigation/usage for real world or virtual world inputs that would be similar in affect to media presentations of superpowers/magic.
Thus, with my smart ring I can walk towards my office and make the open gesture before getting to it and the door opens for me and I don't have to do the other stuff. I can make the open gesture but contact security also and it opens but contacts security.
I can make the close all the doors and lock the house gesture and only the smart ring open can open them etc.
Login open computer, I am using smart ring of course it does it.
Refuse to login open computer not using smart ring (obviously this has down sides, everything does)
Using smart ring but not you, give fake access computer in sandbox, contact security.
Obviously gestures would have to be customizable via your other smart world devices and computers and so forth. The benefits of an integrated platform.
Before anyone laughs at continual contact security. Smart ring is luxury and anyone who pays for that crap has enough money to pay for either personal security or at least an on call company, provided by smart ring services.
on edit: note this is my idea of what smart rings should do, don't know what the normal ones do, so my idea that it should be a luxury item may not track actual situation.
- > It is useless to have smart rings do the primary stuff of what a smart watch does
Is it? I don't really like wearing watches and certainly have no interest in a smart watch. It's also deductible from my HSA whereas personal security (??????) isn't and also costs significantly more?
by freejazz - A knock off smart ring is $50 on Amazon with no subscription. Personal security starts at $200k a year. You may want to investigate how much what you think of as luxury costs.by fragmede
- > It is useless to have smart rings do the primary stuff of what a smart watch does
Not for me. I like wearing a normal watch, and I don't want to wear two watches.
by post-it - I gave up on my Oura ring 6 months into use. The event that really convinced me their crap: I sat down at my desk at work, told Oura I'm starting a bike ride. One hour later it said my average HR was over 100. I have bradycardia so my heart rate never got over 60 for that hour. BS AI hallucinations.by krunck
- I doubt AI hallucinations had anything to do with itby vosper
- 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 lot, so removing it before or after washing my hands happens unconsciously.
On top of that, the protocol has been reverse engineered so you can use Gadgetbridge or make your own app instead of using the stock one.
by post-it - 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 ?
- I also really quite like the Fitbit Air. I used to wear a Galaxy Watch but there's something really freeing about how light and unobtrusive this little wristband is.by striking
- I recently (June) bought an Air too to replace my 5 or 6 year old Apple Watch.
I'm enjoying it for the same reasons. Longer battery life. More comfortable when I'm sleeping since it has no buttons or weird bulky shape.
I do wish Apple would make their own version of it with apple pay.
by spike021 - I just switched from a Whoop to the Fitbit Air. Whoop wanted $350 for a subscription fee which I just found really ridiculous. It's only been a few days, but the Fitbit Air might even be better at tracking sleep. And it looks like it can periodically, automatically check for Afib unlike the Whoop (?). The rest looks a little worse. But worth it to avoid a subscription fee. Not sure how Whoop stays in business TBH.by kj4211cash
- 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.
by teliskr - >... oura lets me know when I do not.
Does your body not do the same? I really want to like sleep tracking as a feature, but I find that my body already has built in sleep tracking, and the tech version doesn't give me any actionable advice on how to improve my sleep that my biological sleep tracker isn't already giving me.
by ak6te - All these trackers (rings, watches, wrist bands) seem so… useless. Do you really need to know your heartbeat every minute of the day? What does sleep tracking tell you, can’t you just tell if you’re tired? For athletes there are garmin type watches, which I understand during a workout. But the lifestyle trackers I don’t get the point.by abbefaria27
- I have my Galaxy watch linked to myfitnesspal so that calories from workouts get added to my total calorie budget for the day. It is pretty convenient.by UltraSane
- I get this point of view totally, so I'll give you a different one. I pretty much wear one (cheap Fitbit) as a gentile constant reminder to do my workouts, keep active, and to increase my fitness. I also noticed that if the readiness score is very low, like single digits, I tire extremely quickly during a workout and it feels very frustrating so in that case I will give myself some extra rest. I cannot even a little tell the difference between high readiness and low readiness by the way I feel waking up or going through the day, but I also have anemia due to a genetic defect and am going through perimenopause, so not being able to tell is likely a "me" thing.
Sleep tracking isn't useful as far as trying to improve it for me, because, again, I'm in perimenopause, so my sleep is all over the place and my body just does whatever it wants. But I'm sure it is part of the readiness score or whatever.
by astura - I love my whoop band. Has noticeably made my day to day life happier than before I owned it. The insights pushed me to sleep much better, which makes each day brighter and less overwhelming. The insights also pushed me to up my cardio fitness metrics in general, which has made me overall more athletic and capable on strenuous hikes, trips, and activities.
YMMV but for me it might be my favorite product I own
by pizzathyme - Many of these are extremely useful/lifesaving for people who are at risk for medical reasons (cardiovascular conditions, fall detection for elders, etc.) and the lifestyle tracking features are basically extras to market the device to a wider audience and bring the price down.by ehe78qhe
- 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 next version sized down.
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.
My goal for this past year has been to focus on improving sleep health and for that, the ring has been a very useful tool.
by atldev - I like my oura ring but I find its terrible for fitness tracking. It takes nowhere near enough readings to actually get an idea of what zones my heart rate is in. I have a Wahoo Tickr that I use when I cycle or play tennis and the difference between it and the Oura ring is huge.by freejazz
- I have sleep apnea. I have noted discussions online where people have used oura data to tune their cpap. I was wondering if anyone had used a smart watch for the same. I read that Garmin had worse sleep tracking, but more opinions would be handyby jimnotgym
- I feel the same way about my Garmin watch's sleep tracking, but one thing I haven't been able to do is use that data effectively. It's an accurate after the fact representation of my sleep, but it doesn't tell me anything that my own body isn't telling me in terms of how I should adjust my sleep patterns/habits.
Do you find you change your behavior at all based on the sleep tracking?
by ak6te - > 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.
by maccard - 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 bullet and switched to a Garmin watch for longer battery life and no subscription.
I now have a device that has way more features and lasts significantly longer.
by vablings - What's the new device?by stets
- I reached out to their chatbot after my battery life tanked a year-or-so later and it sent me a replacement no questions asked.by tcdent
- 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 ~30mAh lithium cell. Once it finally dies completely I won't be replacing it.
by iamatworknow - I can't bring myself to send a corporation a constant stream of extremely personal data when I know they absolutely will sell/leak all of it along with the countless assumptions they'll make about me using that same data.
It'd be nice to have the information a ring or watch gathers as long as it stayed local. I haven't seen many products offering that though. The thought of not being able to continuously profit from surveillance is just too painful for many companies to bother creating a product aimed at the consumer who doesn't want to be spied on I guess.
by autoexec - It’s why I have enjoyed my refurbished pebble though I won’t be getting their “index” because I just don’t want a smart ring tbh. Nice to have a slightly dumber product with better battery life and open source top to bottom.by Forgeties79