When asked by our colleagues at 01net, Withings says that connected rings are “no more interesting” for users than connected watches.
The ring associated with Oura Ring 3 for illustration // Source: Brice Zerouk – Frandroid
While the connected ring space is booming, a French brand synonymous with connected health has decided not to get involved. In an interview with the website 01net, Withings stated that, unlike Samsung, Ice Watch or Amazfit, it is not currently planning to invest in this new market.
While Withings is one of the market leaders in hybrid connected watches – with real needle dials – to measure its health data, the company does not see any investment in the connected health ring sector. In particular, Elizabeth Coleon, marketing manager of the French brand, points out that linked rings present several usage problems due to their format:
We look at them, it's interesting, especially for sleep monitoring. But for those who play sports, especially racquet sports, things immediately become more complicated. […] The format is not as compatible with activities as one might think. We therefore continue to pay attention to the topic, but do not consider this solution to be more interesting than our watches.
Miniaturization, which, according to Withings, is losing reliability
Even if Withings sees the increase in connected rings as an incentive for health measurements on the part of users, the manufacturer does not currently believe in this format, which raises several concerns for the different sensors: “It is difficult to be able to do everything in a clock integrated, integrated into a ring.” It is clear that so far only a few networked rings deliver measurements as reliably as networked watches.
With the Oura Ring 3, Oura offers the most reliable model to date, especially for measuring heart rate, but most competing rings still offer very variable, if not imaginative, measurements. We still don't know whether established players like Samsung – with its Galaxy Ring – or Amazfit – with its Helio Ring – can do better than the Finnish company.
Withings BeamO // Source: Arnaud Gelineau – Frandroid
During her interview with 01net, Withings' marketing director also took stock of the brand's other projects. In particular, we learn that Withings does not intend to launch a connected watch with a larger screen, that the U-Scan urinalysis sensor will only arrive in the second half of the year – a year and a half after its announcement – like the one connected to BeamO Thermometer. Finally, the brand says it is working on new health measures “around the heart and diabetes.”