The Samsung Galaxy Ring isn't the only smart ring looking to take on the Oura Ring. Honor is planning a device of its own, which would add to the growing ranks of Oura Ring alternatives.
Honor's interest in developing a smart ring comes directly from George Zhao, the CEO of the device maker. Zhao confirmed Honor's smart ring plans in a CNBC interview at MWC 2024. “Internally, we have this kind of solution, now we are working on that part, so in the future, you can have the Honor ring,” Zhao said.
Zhao didn't provide a lot of detail about what Honor's ring would offer, but did note that it was part of the company's broader focus on health. Zhao also said that he sees AI as being key to providing more health insights to users.
“This hardware capability will work together with AI-enabled apps (and) can help you make the professional training course tailored for you because they studied your habits and health data to give you professional suggestions,” he said.
Honor was at the mobile trade show in Barcelona primary to show off the new Honor Magic6 Pro smartphone. Along with battery and photo improvements, that device is set to get eye-tracking technology that's also powered by AI.
Still, it's the talk of the upcoming Honor smart ring that might draw some attention, as Zhao made his announcement just as Samsung was showing off the Galaxy Ring in public after teasing its release just a month ago. Already this year, AmazFit has launched its own smart ring, and there's even talk that Apple is in the process of developing a ring of its own.
Smart rings appeal to health- and fitness-conscious users who may not necessarily care to wear a smartwatch to log exercises and monitor their vital statistics. For phone makers like Samsung and Honor, it's also a way to release devices that tie into their handsets while leveraging health-monitoring features developed for phones and other mobile devices.
It's unclear when Honor's ring would be ready to debut and even the markets where the product would be available. Honor phones aren't available in the U.S., for example,. so it would seem unlikely that any smart ring from the company would ship to that country.
