At a glance
Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Slim, stylish design
- Very good battery life
- Solid core tracking support
- Affordable with no subscription
Cons
- No charging case
- Data syncing can labour
- Only two colours
- App still needs some polish
Our Verdict
If you’re put off spending the big bucks on a smart ring and want a smart ring that looks great, offers reliable tracking, long battery life and doesn’t require paying out for an additional subscription, the RingConn Gen 2 Air is the one you want.
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Best Prices Today: RingConn Gen 2 Air
The RingConn Gen 2 Air sees the Oura Ring 4 and Samsung Galaxy Ring rival offers a more affordable route to getting a smart ring on your finger.
Like the very solid and very likeable flagship RingConn Gen 2 , the Gen 2 Air is subscription-free and can do pretty much all the things that other smart rings can, from monitoring sleep, heart rate or keeping tabs on your stress levels.
You will have to live without some features and design traits that spending more on the Gen 2 will get you, but having spent considerable time getting to know the Air, there’s still a very capable smart ring here that comes in a lot cheaper than the competition.
It’s the cheap(er) smart ring to beat.
Design & Build
- Two colours
- Waterproof up to 100 metres
- Uses a charging dock
The RingConn Gen 2 Air thankfully follows in the design footsteps of RingConn’s other smart rings giving you one of the best-looking ones you can currently slip onto your finger.
Mike Sawh
You’ve got your pick of either gold or silver finishes, where RingConn has now swapped lighter titanium for stainless steel and retains a look that’s more squircle than fully round. More colours would be appreciated, of course.
Like the Oura Ring 4 , there’s a small marker on the outer casing to remind you of the optimal way to wear it and there’s a free sizing kit that offers sizes from 6-14. I had the very same size as the RingConn Gen 2 and some rivals.
While those sensors don’t disappear in the same way that they do on the Oura, it provides a snug, reliable fit where the ring doesn’t have a habit of rolling around my finger. It hasn’t scratched as badly as some other rings I’ve tested in for similar periods of testing either and it’s nice to see that RingConn offers optional ring protectors to help on that front.
Mike Sawh
Waterproofing remains the same as the Gen 2, so you’re getting something that’s suitable to be submerged in water up to 100 metres depth. I’ve swum in a pool and open water and showered with it and the Gen 2 Air has been fit to keep on tracking after.
One disappointing change lies with the charging setup. RingConn has ditched the charging case used for its other ring for a charging dock. That makes it a less convenient one to charge if you’re travelling and a shame it’s not there as it was one of the most compelling reasons to grab a RingConn over some rival smart rings.
Fitness & Tracking
- Tracks steps, sleep, heart rate and stress
- Works with Google Fit
- Lacks sleep apnea tracking from Gen 2
In essence, you’re getting the same optical sensors as featured on the RingConn Gen 2 that can deliver metrics like heart rate, SpO2, heart rate variability, skin temperature and respiratory rate. This ring will track daily activity like steps and monitor sleep and there are now also dedicated modes for tracking exercise that right now are restricted to running, cycling and walking.
What you mainly miss from the Gen 2 is the new sleep apnea feature. However, when I tested it, it massively dented the battery life so isn’t a feature I think most will be hugely disappointed to forego.
Mike Sawh
Full access to the companion app remains free as RingConn seeks to improve one part of the tracking experience that has definitely needed some refining. You’ve got a wellness balance widget that wants to help you understand if you’ve achieved a good balance of sleep, being active and staying relaxed.
The firm has added an AI-powered feature currently in beta testing that allows you to ask the chatbot about your sleep, exercise habits or stress levels.
Digging into the core tracking and I’ve been comparing data like step counts with the Oura Ring 4 and tracking from a Garmin watch and I’ve been happy with the differences between those step count totals and tells me the Air is telling me a similar story of my day in steps.
Looking at the daily heart rate data and I was happy with the resting heart rate and heart rate ranges as well as heart rate variability readings, though during some days when I kept it on for workouts, the max heart rate data in those recorded daily heart rate ranges seemed low, which pointed to some problems delivering reliable heart rate during more intense use.
Mike Sawh
Taking it to bed and you can expect to see some pretty standard things in the app when you’ve synced your data. You’ll get a sleep score, capture time slept, get a sleep efficiency breakdown and see a breakdown of sleep stages.
The core data did seem to chime well with other sleep trackers I tested it against, including the Oura Ring 4. It provided similar sleep scores, sleep duration and marked sleep stages similarly. The presentation of that data in the app is a bit busy, so is still something that RingConn needs to improve on.
Additional features like the Wellness Balance widget and the AI chatbot offer a little extra value in terms of helping you to put data into better context, but I do still think it lacks the overall slickness of Oura’s approach in comparison.
The presentation and also some of the language used need a bit of work. While RingConn doesn’t promise to track serious health issues, I did become a bit unwell while testing and I found the Oura I was wearing alongside it did a better job of flagging and communicating that something wasn’t quite right so bear this in mind if it’s a feature you’re looking for.
Battery Life & Charging
- Up to 10 days useage
- No charging case
- 90 minutes to charge
There is a drop in promised battery performance from the Gen 2, with the Air delivering up to 10 days as opposed to 12 days. However, that’s still longer than many rivals, including the more expensive Samsung Galaxy Ring .
The good news is that the Air lives up to that promise. If you want a smart ring that can comfortably last well over a week, this one does.
I never felt that there was a worrying drop in daily battery drop-off, which was always under 10% a day. It didn’t seem to hog the battery in a worrying way overnight either where some smart rings can work harder to track your sleep metrics.
Mike Sawh
When you do hit 0%, the charging dock takes 90 minutes to get you back up to full power.
The bad news here is that RingConn has disappointingly dropped the charging case from the flagship model in favour of a charging dock (above), but it’s something you learn to live with, given how much better battery it offers than the competition.
Price & Availability
The RingConn Gen 2 Air was announced back in January 2025 and is now on sale for a pretty reasonable £239/$199.
That makes it’s a fair bit cheaper than the RingConn Gen 2 ($359) and it is also cheaper than a host of other smart rings including the Oura Ring 4 (£349/$349), Samsung Galaxy Ring (£399/$399), Ultrahuman Ring Air (£329/$349) and the incoming Circular Ring 2 ($380).
The closest competition in pricing terms is the Amazfit Helio Ring , which launched at $199 and has since dropped to $170. Like the Gen 2 Air, it similarly doesn’t require an additional subscription.
Check out our list of the best smart rings for all the competition.
Should you buy the RingConn Gen 2 Air?
If you’re sold on the idea of owning a smart ring and you just can’t stomach paying over £250/$200 with a subscription on top, you can absolutely look at the RingConn Gen 2 Air.
It looks great, feels great to wear, has great battery life and plenty of the data it tracks feels reliable enough to make it worthy of wearing. I’d also pick it over the Amazfit Helio Ring, which can be picked up for slightly less, but has fewer ring sizes and doesn’t quite match the Gen 2 Air’s overall performance.
Where things do need to improve is the app, both in presentation and putting your data into better context. Granted, you don’t have to pay to use that app, but if RingConn can make things better, it won’t just be the price and battery life which make it a desirable option that undercuts other smart rings.
Specs
- Up to 10 days battery life
- Works with Android and iOS
- Subscription-free app
- Weighs 2.5-4g
- PPG sensor
- IP68/10 ATM water resistance
- Charging dock
- 24/7 heart rate monitoring
Best Prices Today: RingConn Gen 2 Air
Author: Mike Sawh, Contributor, Tech Advisor
Mike has been testing and reviewing consumer technology for over 10 years, specialising in wearable and fitness technology. He’s a keen swimmer and runner and co-founder of YouTube channel, The Run Testers.
Recent stories by Mike Sawh:
- Our 10 favourite budget smartwatches, vetted by tech experts
- Luna Ring Gen 2 review: A stylish and subscription-free smart ring
- Amazfit T-Rex 3 Pro review: Flashy upgrade for a likeable outdoor smartwatch
