This isn’t a travel story but I thought some may be interested in my experience with wearable technology (ring and smart watch) that many wear these days.

Four years ago, my wife and I got our first smart watches.  We were intrigued by the activity and health tracking to motivate us to stay active.  I got a Fitbit Versa 3. My wife got the Apple Watch SE since she uses an iPhone.

I like the activity tracking of the Fitbit. It does all the basics and the app is very good at tracking my data trends over time.  The watch does what I intended – the data feedback motivates me to be active.  It gives me good trends of my activity level and basic vital metrics.

Smart Ring

Late last year, I added another wearable device – a smart ring.  I purchased a RingConn Gen 2, which is a passive activity and health tracker.  I got it to help track and improve my sleep, which it does well.  It also does a good job with tracking health vitals – heat rate, heart rate variability, SPO2, skin temp, breathing rate, and stress levels. It also measures activity like walking, running, calories burned, etc.  The ring is made of a titanium alloy with several sensors on the inside.

RingConn Gen 2 Ring with a Black Satin Finish

The ring tracks my data and feeds it via bluetooth to a smartphone app which tracks trends and monitors my vitals against recent averages.  The app also has AI features which use my data to give me insights and coaching.  Essentially, it interprets the data and gives me suggestions based on my data.  I like this feature and the passive nature of the tracking.  The ring does dynamic monitoring but I only check the app 1-2  times a day – in the morning to see how I did with sleep and in the afternoon to see how I did with activity and vitals.  Below are some screen shots from the RingConn app,

Three screen shots from the RingConn app.

This is my first smart ring.  I like this type of wearable because it’s unobtrusive and hardly noticeable, which is good for wearing it at night.  I also like the passive nature where I’m only checking the app a couple times a day versus the instant feedback from a smart watch.

Other brands in this wearable category are rings from Oura, Ultrahuman, and Samsung.  The RingConn Gen 2 was a little pricey at $299 but does not require a monthly subscription fee like the Oura ring.  I got the free RingConn sizing kit to determine the exact size ring prior to ordering my ring.  The ring has excellent battery life lasting 12 days before needing to be recharged.  It comes with a charging case.

Smartwatch

I just upgraded my watch to the new Samsung Galaxy Watch 8.  I chose the Galaxy Watch 8 because it integrates well with my Samsung S25 smartphone and the Watch 8 comes with AI features.  The Watch 8 comes on two sizes (watch face size) – 40 mm and 44 mm.  I chose the 44 mm size.  It looks big on my wrist but I like having the larger screen size.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8. The image on the left is the main watch face that I customized to show – date, time, activity, steps, heart rate, outside temp, battery level, and two quick areas to start tracking a walk and to use the timer.  The image on the right is the detail of activity against goals I set.

I’ve worn the Galaxy Watch 8 for 6 weeks now and here are my impressions so far –

• The Galaxy Watch 8 integrates with my phone and is an extension for several of the S25’s smartphone functions (messages, calls, maps, searches, routines).
• It’s very powerful and loaded with more features than the Fitbit. It’s also very customizable – there are many options and watch face features/layout/colors.
• The data from the Galaxy Watch 8 is captured by the Samsung Health app. The watch connects to my phone via bluetooth.  It can also connect to wifi on its own without my phone being nearby.  The app shows my historical data and gives me coaching suggestions. They’re not as good as the ring but they are insightful.

I like the AI features of both devices.  They’re both capturing data and then using it to give me customized feedback.  They both track my activity (steps, workouts, naps, sleep) and give me weekly and monthly averages.  I get alerts if my vitals go out of range based on my weekly and daily average ranges.  The watch also captures vitals like VO2 Max, body composition, metabolic rate, and antioxidant leveI.  It captures much more data than the Fitbit.

I have some features turned off like wifi, sleep tracking, and the always on display.  With these turned off, I get 3 full days of use before I need to recharge the watch.

I set the watch (and phone) to send me reminders to get moving.  It detects if I sit took long.  The ring measures my time standing  The ring app notifies me if I need to slow down and rest (based on a poor night’s sleep), how my stress level is (the watch also measures this), and my relaxation status.  I have the watch/phone set up to track and give me reminders to take my meds, to get out of bed (if I snooze too long), and to get moving (if I sit too long).  With the monitoring from these devices and the notification settings, my phone has become a health coach.

Summary

These devices provide great data but the key question is – Have they helped me with my health?  For me, the answer is Yes.  The ring is helping me improve my sleep. Based on the ring’s sleep data, I’ve been able to correlate sleep etiquette behaviors with good sleep outcomes.  The behaviors that make for a good night sleep for me are – to be totally done eating no later than 7 pm, avoiding caffeine or alcohol in the evening (6 pm), turning off electronics by 9:30 pm, and being in bed with lights out by 10 pm.  Most of those behaviors are about getting my heart rate down into the low 60’s bpm by bedtime, which makes for a good night’s sleep.

Activity tracking is helping me maintain a stable weight by staying motivated and active each day.  I walk 3-4 miles per day and avoid sitting too long.  My fitness and cardiac health are above the averages for a person in my age range.  I’ve lowered my blood pressure with diet, activity, and stress reduction.

I’m very much into managing my health and staying active.  At my age I consider in essential.  These devices give me great feedback.  The value they provide is not just in the raw data but also the assessment, feedback, and reminders to help me change behavior and track my progress.