Walkers And Hikers Will Love The New Data-Rich RingConn Gen 2

When it comes to fitness tracking, smartwatches were once all the rage. However, a new contender has come on the scene, poised to take over: the smart ring. In fact, smart rings are starting to draw more and more users who are looking for a health tracking device without a screen (and, therefore, fewer notifications and distractions). So, I decided to hop aboard the trend and try out the RingConn Gen 2 — the second addition of RingConn's smart ring lineup with more AI health tracking, a longer battery life, and a thinner design. As someone who loves to hike and sometimes goes on extended backpacking trips, the RingConn Gen 2's long battery life (10 to 12 days on a full charge) and lightweight fit were both very appealing.

After trying out the RingConn Gen 2 for over a week, I believe that it is a great option for anyone who does a lot of walking and hiking, or simply wants an unobtrusive way to track their health metrics. In fact, I wish I had purchased this ring earlier so that I could have used it on my 13-day high altitude trek in Nepal not only to track steps but also data like sleep efficiency and blood oxygen levels to see how my body reacted to the high-altitude environment. However, on top of the RingConn Gen 2's potential uses for hiking and backpacking, I also simply enjoyed using it in my daily life to track stress, sleep cycles, and exercise. Here are my detailed thoughts on the product so you can decide whether or not the RingConn Gen 2 is right for you.

I am someone who doesn't wear much jewelry. Because of this, I was worried that I might find the RingConn Gen 2 (or any smart ring for that matter) to be clumsy and distracting which would lead to me constantly taking it off and forgetting to put it back on. Luckily, this wasn't the case, and I got used to wearing the RingConn Gen 2 after about a day. One reason for this may be that the RingConn Gen 2 is actually the lightest and thinnest smart ring currently on the market. I wore the ring on multiple walks, a short hike, a few outdoor runs, and during a couple workout sessions at the gym and found that it was always comfortable and never got in the way or interfered with what I was doing. 

One thing you may have noticed about the RingConn Gen 2 is that it is not a perfect circle and does contain two round plastic sensors that protrude from the inside of the ring. At first, I thought that this might make the ring feel uncomfortable. Luckily, while wearing the ring, I couldn't feel the sensors at all and, if anything, I think the sensors helped hold the ring in place and prevent it from sliding around on my finger. 

On top of the ring's comfortable feel, I also ended up really liking the RingConn Gen 2's sleek and thin design. The RingConn Gen 2 comes in three colors — matte black, gold, and silver. I tried out the matte black version and thought it was versatile and never clashed with anything I was wearing.

When I first got the RingConn Gen 2, I was most excited about the exercise tracking along with the heart rate monitor; however, after trying the RingConn, I was surprised by how much I liked the sleep and stress level tracking functions. What I like about the RingConn Gen 2's sleep tracking is that the device was able to automatically track the stages of sleep and the time you spent awake. Using this data, the ring would then give you a sleep efficiency score — which is the difference between your time spent in bed versus your time actually sleeping. As someone who sometimes has a hard time falling asleep and often wakes up in the middle of the night, I found this super useful. The RingConn Gen 2 also provides information about how much time you spend in each sleep cycle and gives recommendations on ways you can try to improve your sleep. 

Another feature that I found extremely interesting was stress tracking. Using data from your heart rate and heart variability (HRV) the ring is able to measure how stressed you are throughout the day and then give you an overall score. These daily stress scores can then be compared to previous days or weeks to see if your stress is higher or lower than normal. This feature helped me figure out what times of the day I was typically more stressed so that I could plan to meditate, exercise, or spend a few minutes outside during those specific times to help counteract the higher stress levels. Also, as someone who has experienced on-trail hiking anxiety before, I am hoping that this ring will help me spot when I am getting too stressed before or during a hike so that I can proactively take measures to stay calm during a thrilling hiking adventure.

I found the RingConn Gen 2 to be a super convenient way to track daily steps and exercise, especially because I didn't have to worry about bringing my phone on all my walks or carrying it in my hand while on the treadmill. The ring also ended up being more accurate at tracking distance and steps than my phone; however, the RingConn did need a little time and the help of machine learning to achieve this.

The RingConn Gen 2 was pretty accurate with step counting and tracking the distance of outdoor walks and runs. The only problem I had was during my first indoor run when I did get an inaccurate distance reading. After the run, according to the treadmill, I had completed two miles; however, the smart ring only recorded a distance of 1.6 miles. Luckily, I was able to go into the RingConn app and change the distance of the indoor run to two miles. The ring then learned from this data so that the next time I ran on the treadmill, it gave me a much more accurate reading. 

The only thing that I didn't quite like about the exercise tracking function of the RingConn Gen 2 was that it had limited choices for recordable activities with the only options being outdoor running, indoor running, outdoor cycling, and outdoor walking. While those options do cover my main forms of exercise, I wish the RingConn 2 also had exercise tracking options for activities like yoga, weight lifting, and swimming (the ring is waterproof).

Overall, the RingConn Gen 2 is a great choice for anyone looking to try a smart ring. It tracks a lot of metrics which it uses to provide you with information to help with making informed decisions about your exercise habits and health. It's also more affordable than many competitors, coming in at $299 and no monthly subscription — compared to the Samsung Galaxy smart ring which is $399.99 and the Oura smart ring which is $299 (but also requires a $5.99 a month subscription fee to access the ring's data services). I was happy to see that the RingConn app was gender inclusive and offered multiple gender choices when entering basic health information and details during the signup process. It was also incredibly easy to set up and the RingConn app is intuitive and easy to navigate.

I will definitely continue to wear my RingConn Gen 2 and am excited to see how it performs as it gets more data and is better able to compare and learn from previously collected information. I'm also excited to try the ring out on longer multi-day backpacking or thru-hiking trips.