Iris, a crowdfunded smart ring, is now available to pre-order – after a successful Kickstarter campaign.
We don’t usually cover crowdfunded products because they rarely make it to market. But it’s a slow news week so what the hell. Just know that if you fork out for this, there’s no guarantee it will be on time, work properly, or be supported long-term.
However, it attracted $600,000 and 4,000 orders on its Kickstarter. So we’ll be watching this one with interest, if only for the backers who have put their money on the line to make it happen.
And that interest is for good reason. The specs and promises from the Iris creators, based in Switzerland, are so strong, we are slightly skeptical.
Iris is slimmer and lighter than Oura Ring 3 (5mm vs 7.9mm), with more photodetectors on the PPG sensor, and uses 18 LEDs, rather than 4 LEDs on competitor smart rings.
It does all the stuff you’d expect (sleep, heart rate, stress) but the company promises that blood pressure tracking will also be turned on in “mid-2024.” It also features a temperature sensor.
Iris
One thing there’s no word on is battery life. Iris promises all-day SpO2 tracking, which is notoriously power-hungry, in a slim build. This doesn’t quite add up, so the Iris founders have either achieved something very noteworthy, or there could be an issue when the device gets to fingers.
Pricing is also very aggressive, with around a $200 price tag for the device, which is being sold via Indiegogo InDemand. It’s set to ship in December, but as usual, there’s no guarantee on delivery, and few protections – and you can’t get a refund if the product doesn’t get shipped.
However, by buying through Indiegogo, you will save on the $10 a month subscription fee that Iris will demand, if it ever goes on sale properly.
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.