Table of contents
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AI-generated summary
Hesitating to whip out (yet again) your card for the latest hype gadget seen on Insta? Before dropping €350 on a smart ring, let’s ask the one real question: what for? 🤔
👉 Also read: the excellent Frandroid piece: «Smart rings are not for you (and that’s totally fine)» 😉
You already have a sports watch? It does exactly the same thing ⌚️
From the Apple Watch Ultra to the little Polar Pacer I mentioned here , most watches come with:
- continuous HR tracking 📈
- built-in GPS for your runs 🏃♂️
- stress analysis and VO₂max
In short, everything the ring promises… without the constraint of a tiny screen!
Tiny battery life & one more piece of e-waste ♻️
Soldered battery = 2 years average lifespan, max. SAV data published by Oura in 2023 shows capacity dropping below 80% after ~500 cycles, or roughly 18 months of daily use (Oura Impact Report 2023 ). No way to replace the battery: the ring is sealed, and iFixit gives it a repairability score of 1/10 (2024 teardown). Result: ≈ 8 g of e-waste per ring — that’s 2,400 tonnes if you extrapolate to the 300k units sold in 2024 as estimated by IDC (IDC Wearables Q4 2024 ). The UN reminds us the world already generates 62 Mt of e-waste per year (Global E-waste Monitor 2024).
Not great for your carbon footprint, we can all agree?
Tracking your heart rate… with a ring, really? 💓
The ring has no screen: impossible to check your metrics in real time unless you run with your phone in front of your face. Result: you’re flying blind when it comes to your training zones.
Value for money 🤯
Place your bets.
Sleep tracking, the big joke 😴
Several independent studies show that consumer-grade sensors struggle to clearly distinguish between light sleep, deep sleep, and REM. Zambotti et al., Sleep 2019 compared the Oura v2 to polysomnography in 74 adults: deep sleep accuracy, just 69% (PDF ). Chinoy et al., JCSM 2021 found a kappa concordance < 0.4 for Fitbit and Whoop across 89 participants (link ). Even 2023 AI models cap out below 80% (Migueles et al., Sensors 2023).
Bottom line: these gadgets provide an approximation, not a medical diagnosis.
Weightlifting, CrossFit… leave the ring at home 💪
Kettlebell swings, pull-ups, or deadlifts: the ring smacks the bar, risks cracking… or hurting your fingers. True story.
€350 better spent 📈
- A global ETF at 7%/year ➡️ €900 in 10 years
- A bit of Bitcoin (if you like a thrill)
- Or, why not: a spa weekend to actually recover!
Influencers & impulse buys 🤑
Influencers play a decisive role in promoting smart rings, often without considering your actual needs or the environmental implications. Their omnipresence on social media shapes trends and pushes impulse purchases: 75% of consumers admit to having ordered a product after seeing sponsored content. 📊
Problem: they gloss over the short lifespan of these rings and their contribution to e-waste. By presenting them as indispensable, they feed a tech consumerism incompatible with sustainability ♻️.
Final rant: stop following trash influencers 🗑️
These pseudo-experts badged “ambassador” flog you sponsored junk that drains your wallet and the planet. Deal them the worst possible blow: unfollow, mute, block them. Your feed will breathe easier, and so will your bank account.
If you really want to improve:
- move regularly;
- actually sleep;
- spend wisely (and not on a disposable ring).
High-tech, yes… but not just any high-tech. 😉
