When Casio first introduced its good ring, I nearly thought it was an early April Idiot’s joke. By no means having owned the Casio GMW-B5000 that it is based mostly on — or any Casio watch — the nostalgia issue by no means affected me. I by no means anticipated Casio to supply to ship me one, nor did I anticipate to love it a lot. However right here we’re!
Sunday Runday
On this weekly column, Android Central Wearables Editor Michael Hicks talks concerning the world of wearables, apps, and health tech associated to working and well being, in his quest to get sooner and healthier.
The “Casio ring watch” is not a standard good ring, which units it up for simple ridicule. The stainless-steel design is spectacular, however all its heavy elements are designed to inform the time and begin/cease a stopwatch with tiny buttons, on a display screen too small to learn simply. It isn’t breaking new floor.
Examine that to an Oura Ring 4 or Ultrahuman Ring Air that tracks coronary heart charge, stress, exercises, sleep, and a dozen different metrics whereas weighing considerably much less (16g vs. 3-5g). Placing it in the identical dialog with a novelty mini-watch is not actually truthful to Casio, particularly since each good rings price $230 extra, however it’s a pure comparability to make as good rings develop in reputation.
Now that I am seeing Casio’s ring in particular person — as a substitute of taking a look at press pictures that emphasize the show — I’ve to confess that it is cute, even with out the nostalgia issue. It is concerning the measurement of a highschool class ring, solely much less garish (apologies to everybody I simply offended), and the ridged metal look attracts the attention.
It solely ships in a single measurement, however it comes with a couple of translucent inserts to shrink it down; fortunately, it matches snugly on my proper ring finger with one. It is on the noticeably heavy aspect, so I do not put on it whereas working. However Casio will need to have determined it was a crucial trade-off to get the metal, watch-like look and two-year battery life.
The grayscale display screen solely catches the attention at a direct visible angle; in any other case, it simply appears like a flat, shiny layer above the steel, so it isn’t distracting. I assumed individuals would side-eye me for carrying a dorky mini-watch, however you do not discover that aesthetic until you are fairly shut. Even then, the one or two feedback I’ve obtained are extra out of curiosity and curiosity than open derision.
My current smartwatch style contest proved that I do not actually know what common, non-techy individuals assume is enticing in wearables; possibly individuals are silently judging my tastes. However this ring will definitely enchantment to a distinct segment crowd that loves the cumbersome Casio or Garmin Intuition look and already has coronary heart charge monitoring from one other machine.
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Frankly, most good rings moreover Casio’s look the identical to me; their designs are in a race in the direction of getting as skinny and low-key as doable, however they’re all these 1-inch-wide metallic bands with a couple of gold or silver palette swaps. Even this $1,500 luxurious good ring appears pretty generic, other than the 18K gold or PT950 platinum supplies.
I’ve additionally seen what number of good rings are pushing to develop into medical-grade units, with FDA-approved well being sensors meant to focus on B2B gross sales and impress medical doctors as a substitute of shoppers. Principally, good rings aren’t enjoyable; they’re meant to be taken critically and to mix in. All the pieces they offer you is passive information that requires gazing your cellphone.
In that context, the budget-priced Casio “good” ring seems like a pleasant change of tempo. I do not want a stopwatch timer fairly often; a countdown timer could be extra helpful. However I definitely do not thoughts having a solution to verify the time at any time when I get smartwatch fatigue and take mine off for the day. It does one gimmick; in any other case, it is simply there to look fairly, not promote well being subscriptions.
I do not assume it is price getting too philosophical a couple of Fiftieth-anniversary, limited-time machine that is already bought out (although you’ll be able to join in-stock alerts at that hyperlink). We could not see something like this once more, and I am certain most individuals would discover it extra dorky than cool. However I would not thoughts if we began seeing extra restricted good rings that emphasize distinctive designs over performance.
Have a look at Round Ring, the uncommon good ring with a haptic motor for silent wake-ups, notification buzzes, and even refined steering for meditation. We appreciated the idea, however Round needed to ditch haptics within the Ring 2 so as to add an FDA-approved ECG, till they discover a solution to match each. That is likely to be the correct enterprise determination, however the necessity to supply aggressive well being and wellness information above all else makes the sphere extra monotonous.
Everybody thinks of good rings as cell, 24/7 physician’s workplaces. However we must always shake off that impulse to guage any rings that do not supply well being monitoring as ineffective. In any case, many individuals assume good rings are pointless as a result of their smartwatch already tracks the identical issues.
I do not know what these new, non-health good rings would do, essentially, however off the highest of my head, we might see ones with phone-connected haptics for alarms and notifications, NFC-based contactless funds, UWB to unlock a selected digital automobile key or home good lock, fall detection for seniors and the disabled, and so forth.
As a result of they will deal with one or two key issues as a substitute of providing each well being sensor and the kitchen sink, possibly good rings might be (A) extra reasonably priced and (B) extra aesthetically distinct, just like the Casio ring. And these area of interest fashions will not be in such strict competitors with health smartwatches.
