This Smart Ring Is The First Wearable Tech That’s Actually Cute

*Buzz Buzz* You’ve got a text from bae.

Jenny Chang

My first impression of Ringly, a line of smartphone-enabled rings, was Damn, this thing is cute. Beneath Ringly’s semi-precious stone is a Bluetooth receiver and other high-tech gizmos that make the ring buzz and/or flash when you have important notifications. It’s like a 21st century pager for your finger.

I’ve semi-hated every wrist-bound gadget I’ve tried, so when Ringly offered me the chance to try their smart ring, I wanted to see if it could change my mind about wearable tech.

Ringly does two things: it 1) produces different buzzing patterns and 2) lights up in various colors.

The vibrations aren’t exactly, er, gentle. It’s a forceful buzz that’s less “‘Sup, girl” and more “AGH SOMEONE NEEDS YOU.” I found the vibrations to be too intense and eventually opted for some light-only alerts.

The light comes from the side of the ring and not through the stone itself. I’m guessing this is the case so that Ringly isn’t limited to translucent semi-precious stones. Above all, Ringly is focused on the fashion first. But it does mean you have to remember to wear the ring with the light facing you – lest you miss an important call like I did when I set my phone notification to light-only (ugh).

You can use the app to program each Ringly notification. Just … don’t set too many.

Nicole Nguyen

The app, available for iOS and Android, is Ringly’s central hub. Here, you can choose the light color and buzz pattern for over 20 different apps, including phone, texts, Snapchat, Uber, Hangouts, and Slack. It’s very easy to figure out.

You could say I was a little notification happy. In my first few days with Ringly, it buzzed incessantly. The ring clamored for my attention so often that it became impossible to remember which combination was which. Was it two or one buzzes and then a purple light for Slack? Or is that email? Shit. Was that light red or purple?

As with all new technology, Ringly has a bit of a learning curve – but seven different combinations of lights and vibrations was too much. I cut my Ringly notifications down to four: priority email, Lyft, texts, and calls.

The battery life is so good, I often forgot it needed to be charged.

Nicole Nguyen

Unlike a touchscreen smartwatch, which needs to be charged every night, Ringly’s battery lasted me two and a half days. It takes four hours to fully charge Ringly.

The small jewelry box that comes with Ringly is actually its charger, and it holds a week’s worth of battery itself before needing to be plugged into an outlet (there’s a micro USB port on the back). The box is surprisingly elegant, which is something I’ve *never* said about a charger before.

If something *really* needed my attention, the ring would let me know.

Nicole Nguyen

Ringly was great for general office meandering and activities like shopping — but it wasn’t so great for things like my bike commute and hiking on the weekends. I was too paranoid that it would slip off my finger. I did figure out recently, however, that if you enable vibrations, putting the ring in your pocket is just as effective!

If you’re looking for a wearable that works well when you’re active, I’d opt for the Fitbit Charge HR (which has some pretty stylish band options by Tory Burch), Pebble Time, or Apple Watch Sport.

Other places where Ringly isn’t so great are movie theaters and dark cocktail bars.

Nicole Nguyen

The light is bright. During happy hour a few weeks ago, the flash caught my friends eye. She interrupted herself to ask, “What the hell is THAT?”

Ringly is novel and cool, and sometimes makes for a great conversation starter. But it can be pretty disruptive when you have light alerts enabled, especially when you’re at a crowded movie theater and it’s shining right in your neighbor’s eye. (Sorry, that guy.)