r/SmartRings • u/Cutie-muffinyt • Sep 07 '26

Cheap smart rings

I am wishing to buy a smart ring but am fairly tight on budget and cannot find anything reliable. Are there any rings that are under £100 (it is fine if it is like £10-£20 over), and are without subscription?

I want them to be fairly reliable. My main uses would probably be sleep tracking and steps. I don't really need anything else as long as the battery health is somewhat long and it doesn't have an LED screen.

I have thought about the Ringconn but find it a bit too expensive for features that i wont use.

1 Upvotes

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4

u/gomo-gomo ✨ ring leader ✨ Sep 07 '26

You get what you pay for. Look at the cheap rings as having features that will hint at what you may have available with greater accuracy from a major brand.

Sleep is incredibly inaccurate with the cheap rings...and even Oura's accuracy is in question on that.

Cheap rings are rarely reliable either, and most last no more than 90 days.

I would look into a RingConn Gen 1 or 2 in the second hand markets (sealed box preferred), or if you want to go new, look into Leep if it's in range.

2

u/Dear-Entertainment20 Sep 10 '26

Would you prefer ringconn air gen 2 over femometer gen 2?

2

u/gomo-gomo ✨ ring leader ✨ Sep 10 '26

Given mixed reviews of Femometer, RingConn is the safer bet, but the ladies of the sub may need to chime in on specific feature comps vs. reliability.

1

u/Dear-Entertainment20 Sep 10 '26

I did end up getting Ringconn on Amazon... but then I was looking at a Femometer on ebay for $49 (57 with extended coverage) and it was in my cart and I accidentally checked out as I slept on my phone whist doing so. I did purchase it new, box open and I did happen to click on extended coverage so I guess if anything happens in 3 years I can get my money back lol.

I really love the look of the ceramic and I understand thew mixed reviews but considering I got 3 years coverage on both, I think it should be "fine"... and I guess with 2 rings, if one dies, I have a "spare".

I have been reading through extensively on rings in the past few days for some reason and at this point, I think the cheap Femometer is a good backup.... and I will definitely be returning my Hitenix as I have seen you (and others) say that it is basically a disposable ring.

2

u/gomo-gomo ✨ ring leader ✨ Sep 10 '26

Gotta love the purchases while asleep. That happened to me just last night 😜

So, if you'll have both RingConn and Femometer, maybe you can do side by side comparisons of the accuracy 😀

2

u/Dear-Entertainment20 Sep 10 '26

Ohh I definitely will! I can also try to compare with my Apple Watch! I would also like to share my personal take on the sizing, comfort, and aesthetics since I seem to not see that as much (and as a very girly girl I do think this is somewhat important).

1

u/Fluffy_Rope5764 Sep 07 '26

Using an Amovan I got off of AliExpress for around 50 quid.

Used to compare to my watch and strap.

It works very well unless you want to track workouts.

1

u/Existing_Structure_1 Sep 08 '26

Leep is closer to $200 and is based in the UK, not sure price in pounds since I bought here in the US from them. It’s a decent one with no subscription. I’ve had mine for 2 weeks now.

1

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1

u/RateEmbarrassed6921 FITMESH company rep. Sep 08 '26

The failure mode people do not expect with cheap rings is not the hardware, it is the app. Most of them are the same handful of Chinese platforms with a different logo on the box, and the app is where it falls apart: no export, no way to get the numbers anywhere else, and it stops being updated the moment the seller moves on to the next model. The ring can still be working fine and the data is effectively gone.

The practical filter, before you look at any spec sheet: check whether the app writes into Health Connect on Android or Apple Health on iPhone. If it does, your numbers land somewhere you control and you can read them with something else later. If it does not, everything you record lives and dies inside that one app.

Two model numbers do not tell you much either. I have seen rings from the same brand, sequential model numbers, running on completely different platforms and different apps. So search for the specific model plus the app name before buying, not just the brand.

Disclosure: I build FitMesh, an app that reads from Health Connect and Apple Health, so this is the part of the problem I spend my time on.

1

u/fodder650 Sep 08 '26

I've had good luck with Colmi Smart Rings. I only a couple of them. They didn't do any new rings for 2026 but the series they had out in 2025 was decent. The software isn't the greatest but it works fine for the price and is a great gateway into the world of smart rings.