I checked out more than a dozen new smart rings last week, while covering CES 2026, the world's largest consumer tech show, chatting with another half dozen brands about new models launching this year.
As a result of those conversations and booth visits, several themes emerged surrounding the future of smart rings. From haptic feedback to gesture controls to lots of litigation, these are my seven biggest predictions for smart rings in 2026.
1. Custom gesture controls are coming
Up until this point, the best smart rings have been centered around holistic, fitness, sleep, and women's health tracking, but that's about to change. I spoke with a handful of brands actively building customizable gesture controls into their smart rings.
One example is the Aivela Ring Pro, which was created by a former Apple product designer and offers a total of 14 programmable gesture controls alongside impressive wellness tracking insights.
The Aivela Ring Pro supports both standard gestures, like tapping the side of the ring to start or stop music, sliding your finger to scroll through your TikTok feed, or pressing and holding the side of the ring to begin recording a workout, as well as "air" gesture controls, like drawing a heart with your finger to like a post on social media.
The Even Realities R1 is another noteworthy ring with gesture controls. However, unlike the Aivela Ring Pro, which is designed to control just about any piece of tech in your life, the R1's gesture controls are primarily for navigating the brand's (excellent) G2 smart glasses.
And just like the Aivela Ring Pro, the Even R1 also offers comprehensive wellness tracking tools.
2. Say hello to alerts via haptic feedback
I chatted with two different brands launching smart rings in 2026 with haptic feedback. In the case of the RingConn Gen 3 — expected to launch this summer — the device's smart vibrations can be set up as a gentle means to wake a user or as an alert for health notifications.
RingConn also says the ring will be able to alert you to new insights via subtle vibrations. However, there's no word yet on whether users will have full control over the feature. I could imagine a finger vibration every time you get a new text message could get old fast and potentially be a major battery drain.
3. Unlock blood pressure insights
Look out, Apple, the best Apple Watch models aren't likely to be the only wearables with hypertension tracking in 2026. In addition to haptic alerts, RingConn is also bringing blood pressure insights to the forthcoming RingConn Gen 3 model.
While not exactly the same as Apple's hypertension alerts, blood pressure insights on the Gen 3 will monitor a user's long-term blood pressure trends, helping users track whether their cardiovascular health is improving or not.
This is not a blood pressure monitor, nor is it a diagnostic tool for hypertension. However, it does represent a major expansion of what smart rings are capable of, health-monitoring-wise. Moreover, I fully expect the other major smart ring players to follow suit with similar features.
4. Choose from even more subscription-free options
The Oura Ring 4 remains the best smart ring at the start of 2026. (I'm especially fond of the Ceramic models.) However, in addition to the cost of the ring itself, which starts at $349, you need to spend another $69 a year for an Oura app subscription.
If you loathe subscription pricing, I've got good news. You can expect even more Oura Ring alternatives in 2026 that are completely subscription-free. These include the Aivela Ring Pro, the Pebble Index 01, and the Even Realities R1.
The RingConn Gen 3, meanwhile, will also remain subscription-free, just like its predecessors.
5. Major smart ring players will have a comeback
Toward the end of 2025, the U.S. smart ring market took a massive hit: the latest Ultrahuman Ring Air was yanked from store shelves and barred from being sold by the manufacturer. The reason? A successful lawsuit on the part of Oura, claiming Ultrahuman, along with RingConn, violated the brand's patents with their latest products.
While RingConn settled with Oura for an undisclosed amount, Ultrahuman opted to take its smart ring off the U.S. market and regroup.
This is, of course, not the end of Ultrahuman in the U.S. In addition to continuing to support U.S. customers who bought Ultrahuman smart rings before the band, all signs point to the brand figuring out a way to work around the patent issue with a new or altered model.
This could mean removing certain pieces of tech or turning off certain features, similar to what Apple had to do with its blood oxygen tracking feature on various Apple Watch models after the infamous Masimo legal debacle.
However, there's also a chance that Ultrhuman will build around the issue and find new means of accomplishing the same holistic feats, all without touching on Oura's patents. Whatever route the brand takes, my money is on a new Ultrahuman smart ring for 2026.
6. Additional patent lawsuits will be filed
Of course, the Oura vs. RingConn vs. Ultrahuman legal drama is most likely not the end of the lawsuits between smart ring rivals. In fact, you can count on additional litigation in 2026 from the major players.
Unfortunately, the mass filing of patents as a means of beating the competition is essentially par for the course when it comes to consumer tech brands in 2026. Really, the only question is, which smart ring company will be the first to drop fresh litigation this year, and how soon will it come?
7. Battery life will keep getting better
The Pebble Index 01 is one of the most intriguing new smart rings I demoed at CES 2026. It doesn't have any health or fitness tracking features, but it does offer a single, customizable clicky button that can be set up to do any number of tasks, like record voice memos.
What's even more remarkable about the Index 01 is its ring's battery life. It's designed to last the entire product life of the ring, two to three years.
While we likely won't see any traditional health-focused smart rings with unlimited battery in 2026, longevity is, across the board, improving. The RingConn Gen 3, for instance, is rated at 13 days per charge, a notable increase over its predecessor's 10-day battery, and way better than the Oura Ring 4's eight-day battery.
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