Wearable tech has become a significant trend in the UK, especially as part of the broader wellness movement. This technology encompasses health tracking, fitness monitoring, and workout guidance, to help individuals monitor their health and make good lifestyle choices.
This year, the UK market for wellness-focused wearables is likely to continue to grow, thanks in part to the launch of new smart rings. These small, discreet devices combine the best of wearable tech features, enabling people to track their health and wellbeing on-the-go. They’re also a more fashion-conscious option, enabling individuals to combine their passion for wellness with their love for accessories.
In this article, we take a closer look at how wearable tech is changing how we manage our health, and the role that smart rings could play in shaping our daily wellness habits.
What are smart rings for?
Smart rings offer a wide range of features, depending on their design and purpose. They are fitted with sensors and communication technology that can collect data on a number of things including your heart rate, sleep levels, and activity levels. Let’s take a closer look at how they help!
Heart rate monitoring:
Smart rings use photoplethysmography (PPG) and infrared sensors to measure blood flow in your finger. The raw data from these sensors is then used to calculate your heart rate, providing continuous tracking throughout the day, and even offering insights into how your heart rate changes at night!
Heart rate monitoring provides valuable insights into your general health. For example, your resting heart rate data can tell you a lot about your overall cardiovascular health. This is because a lower resting heart rate often indicates better fitness levels, while a consistently high rate could signal stress or potential health issues.
Heart rate monitoring also benefits your fitness. For example, your exercise heart rate data can help you enhance your workouts. This is because it provides real-time feedback about your performance, enabling you to create tailored exercise programs, based on your target heart rate (e.g., fat-burning, cardio, or peak performance) zones.
But what about disease prevention and longevity? Can using wearable tech help you monitor your heart health, and detect potential heart conditions? Maybe! Some smart rings are designed to monitor for persistent abnormalities in heart rate, such as bradycardia (slow heart rate) or tachycardia (fast heart rate). Others are designed to integrate directly with health platforms, and activity alert users to potential cardiovascular problems. Amazing, right?
Sleep tracking:
Smart rings can also provide a convenient and non-intrusive way to monitor and improve your sleep health. By offering detailed insights and tracking long-term patterns, they help you to take control of your sleep quality and take care of your overall wellbeing. Here’s how.
Smart rings use data from multiple sensors to estimate each of your sleep stages: light sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep. The sensors collect data about your heart rate and body movement. The smart ring then uses advanced algorithms to analyse your data and provide helpful insights into your sleep patterns. It enables you to track important sleep metrics – like your sleep duration, efficiency, latency (time taken to fall asleep), and wake times. It also enables you to get a better idea of how your sleep may be affecting your overall health.
By tracking irregularities in your sleep patterns, heart rate, and SpO2 levels, smart rings can highlight potential issues like sleep apnea, insomnia, and restless sleep. They can also offer actionable tips, such as advice on optimising your bedtimes, reducing your screen time, and managing your caffeine intake.
Activity tracking:
Like many other wearable technology accessories, smart rings have sensors that can track your movements. Some models can count your steps, the distance you travel, and the estimated number of calories you burn. Other more advanced models can also recognise other types of activities such as running, cycling, and yoga.
For individuals looking for more detailed insights, there are also some smart rings that collect data about your post-workout recovery, including your heart rate variability, resting heart rate, and other important metrics. These insights can help you adjust your exercise routine to avoid overtraining.
Smart rings are changing the way we manage our health
As you can see, smart rings provide a simple and user-friendly way to monitor your health. Their ability to collect data on a wide range of health metrics – from heart rate and oxygen saturation, to sleep and activity levels – is changing the way we manage our health. This is because smart rings provide real-time insights into a much broader range of metrics, enabling us to make data-driven decisions about our lifestyle choices. This makes them a powerful tool for maintaining our fitness, managing our stress, and improving our longevity.
What are the advantages of smart rings?
Smart rings are certainly the future of wearable tech. They offer many advantages over other types of wearable tech, including:
- Added comfort: Smart rings are small, lightweight, and comfortable. This makes them easier to wear than smart watches. It also makes them a convenient option for people who want a more discreet device.
- Continuous monitoring: Smart rings work without active input. This means that they provide consistent monitoring throughout the day, without you needing to be constantly interacting with the device.
- Progress tracking: Smart rings can keep you motivated by showing your progress over time. They can help you spot trends in your health data and adjust your behavior for better results.
- Multipurpose technology: Smart rings can connect with your phone for call, message, and app notifications. Some models can also be used for making secure payments, or setting up secure access to other devices.
What are the disadvantages of smart rings?
There are, of course, some disadvantages to owning smart rings. For example, smart rings can be quite expensive. This is because they are relatively new to the wearable tech market, and therefore likely to have a relatively high price tag. In addition, many require a monthly subscription to access the more detailed data.
Here are our pick of the best smart rings
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Conclusion
Smart rings offer a convenient way to monitor important health data, without the bulk of a traditional smartwatch or phone. With features that can track your heart rate, sleep quality, and activity levels, smart rings provide unparalleled insights into your general health. Compact and stylish, smart rings are also ideal for those who want to combine health tracking functionality with fashion-conscious accessory choices.