Renpho Lynx Ring
Key takeaways
- The Renpho Lynx smart ring is a bare-bones wellness tracker for $170.
- It does a fine job at recording basic health data, and has no subscription.
- It lacks any sort of advanced health tracking features.
With the rise in popularity of the Oura Ring, I've seen lots of readers express interest in finding a more affordable alternative. I don't blame them; while the Oura Ring is a leading smart ring, it costs $350 and tops it off with a $70 annual subscription for full access to Oura's data capture. That's no small change.
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So when an affordable smart ring slides across my review desk, I'm eager to try it out for myself. The Renpho Lynx smart ring is a $170 smart ring that's much cheaper than its competitors. How does it compare to its more expensive counterparts? I tested the ring by wearing it alongside my Oura Ring 4 to see how the data capture, recommendations, insights, and hardware compared.
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Renpho Lynx Smart Ring
The Lynx handles the basics, and is an affordable choice as a first smart ring.
What I liked
I'll begin by saying that the smart ring is very affordable. It's probably one of the cheapest you can find, in fact -- something to note for anyone looking for a first-time smart ring.
In terms of deisgn, the Lynx is different from what I've tested, with a distinct look from its competitors. It comes in two colors: black and silver, and sizes six through 13, with a thin line wrapping around its edge. Its "skipping stone" charging case also adds a unique touch.
Its battery life lasts seven days -- one day less than the Oura Ring 4 (though it very well may be the same, given Oura's recent bout of battery life issues).
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It can track activity, sleep, and stress on a basic level, and I'd recommend it as a device for someone not looking to spend a lot, and only wants basic data like a general sleep insights and heart rate tracking. While the smart ring doesn't have a single knock-out feature that distinguishes it from its peers, its hardware and software still works swimmingly.
Throughout my testing, I had no issues loading my data or setting it up. Results loaded quickly, and there were zero glitches. It's a great example of a device that gets its job done -- but doesn't go much beyond that.
The ring's activity monitoring got fairly close to the amount of steps Oura recorded one day, with Oura clocking 9,698 and Renpho with 10,088. Oddly enough, though, Renpho said I had burned 285 calories that day, while Oura said I burned 458.
What I didn't like
The daily messages are vague - and slightly ominous.
The Renpho app's user interface is underdeveloped, and the insights that coincide with sleep and activity scores feel like an afterthought. I'd love to see more verbal summaries of how I slept or how my heart rate reacted to exercise. This sort of verbal feedback is missing from the Renpho app altogether -- it's really only tracking numbers like time spent in each sleep stage, hours of sleep, calories, distance, heart rate, HRV, and SpO2. This takes the responsibility of interpretation and puts it on the user.
Where other smart rings have added dozens of exercises to record, the Lynx smart ring offers only 30. I was disappointed to find that I couldn't record an elliptical session one day at the gym.
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Some of the insights were a little confusing, and potentially the result of translation issues. On a day when I received a 92% (For overall health? Sleep? Activity? I couldn't tell you), the app told me, "You're doing well! Listen to your body's feelings and make adjustments as needed." This encouragement was funny to me because, well, my body doesn't have feelings.
The app also paints no picture of my sleep or fitness, two things this ring monitors with data. Another day I received an 84%, and Renpho told me "You're on the right track! Give yourself time to adapt." I just wish I knew what I was adapting to.
's buying advice
Renpho's Lynx smart ring is a good choice as a first smart ring for those with budget constraints. It records health information plainly and doesn't provide many insights or recommendations for further interpretation of this data. If you are chiefly looking to monitor these things without all the additional features attached to other smart rings, it's an affordable choice.
I'd recommend it to those who are moderately active - that is, people who try to get their steps in and do general exercise -- though I'd advise against buying this if you want to record a wide variety of activities because Renpho offers only 30 exercises to record. If you use this for basic sleep and step tracking, you'll be content.
Look elsewhere if you want a showstopping product, of which there are many more expensive options, including the Oura Ring 4, Galaxy Ring, and RingConn Gen 2.