Circular has unveiled the new Circular Ring 2, a newly redesigned smart ring that boasts two important characteristics that no other smart ring, including the Oura Ring, can compete with. These include on-finger ECG readings with FDA-approved atrial fibrillation (AFib) detection and a potentially revolutionary new digital sizing method.
The Circular Ring 2 is planned to be released in four finishes this spring, with specifications and a starting price equivalent to the best smart rings available in 2025. Here’s all you should know about the new Circular Ring 2.
Price and availability
Announced on January 5th, 2025, the Circular Ring 2 is expected to launch via a crowd-funding campaign in mid-to-late January before shipping in March with a starting price of $380. That’s a bit steeper than the Oura Ring 4 ($349); but unlike Oura, the Circular Ring is subscription-free.
Perhaps a more direct competitor, price-wise, is the Samsung Galaxy Ring, which is also subscription-free, and costs $399.
No word yet on sizes but 2023’s Circular Ring Slim is available in sizes six through 13 — and your choice of a black or silver finish — and it’s safe to assume that the Circular Ring 2 will be available in a similar range of dimensions.
In addition to silver and black, the Circular Ring 2 will be available in two new finishes: rose gold and gold.
Design and key features
There has been a complete redesign of the Circular Ring 2. The new Circular Ring 2 has an all-titanium exterior, whereas the Circular Ring Slim is composed of a combination of titanium, aluminum, and an unidentified non-metal substance on the interior.
The Slim is notoriously scratch-prone—just ask our Tech Radar colleagues—so I’m hoping that this material transition will result in a more durable exterior surface on the Circular Ring 2.
The Circular Ring 2 has a slightly higher environmental sealing certification than the Ring Slim, going from IPX8 to IP68. This is still not enough water resistance for swimming, but it should be adequate for hand washing and showering.
In addition to the outward change, the Circular Ring 2 includes additional sensors for improved overall tracking accuracy. More crucially, the Ring 2 is officially one of the first smart rings on the market to offer on-finger ECG readings to monitor heart health, as well as FDA-approved AFib detection.
The Oura Ring 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Ring do not enable ECG readings or AFib detection with the finger, although many Samsung smartwatches do, including the latest Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra.
Battery life and charging case
One of our main issues about the Circular Ring Slim is its poor battery life, which averages only two days of use per charge. However, the new Circular Ring 2 boasts an impressive eight days of life per charge. And that includes 24-hour health and sleep monitoring.
This amount of lifespan places the Ring 2 in the same category as the Oura Ring 4 and Samsung Galaxy Ring. The Circular Ring 2 also comes with a new wireless charging port that sounds similar to what you get with the Galaxy Ring (which we really like).
Updated sizing process and app
One of my biggest complaints with smart rings in 2025 is how time-consuming the sizing process may be. Even if you know your ring size, smart ring fitting follows its own rules and differs by brand.
While major manufacturers such as Samsung and Oura still recommend that buyers purchase a $10 size kit before purchasing a smart ring, Circular is taking a more environmentally friendly approach to smart ring sizing.
Digital Ring Sizing is a new function in Circular’s companion app that apparently uses your camera to obtain a precise ring size measurement, sparing you the effort of obtaining, waiting for, using, and discarding an unnecessary kit before committing to a ring.
The companion app has also been redesigned to make navigation easier.
Outlook
I haven’t had a chance to try the Circular Ring Slim, but its peculiarities have been thoroughly documented, particularly by my colleague Sam Hopes, who first adored the device but eventually ditched it in favor of the Oura Ring 3. Her main complaints: a less-than-comfortable design that scratches too readily, a perplexing interface with intermittent data transfer dependability, and a short battery life.
The Circular Ring appears to handle all of these issues, plus some. And if it completely delivers on battery life, durability, usability, and reliability, it might be the subscription-free, smartphone OS-agnostic alternative to the Oura Ring 4 and Samsung Galaxy Ring that the people deserve.
In fact, if the Circular 2 lives up to its billing and the ECG and AFib detection functions function properly, Circular might dethrone Oura as the smart ring manufacturer to beat in 2025.
I’ll be checking out the new Ring in person at CES 2025 this week and hope to share my hands-on experience and first impressions in the coming days.
