*buzz buzz* You’ve got a text from bae.
My first impression of Ringly, a line of smartphone-enabled rings, was Damn, this thing is cute. Beneath Ringly's semi-precious stone is a Bluetooth receiver and other high-tech gizmos that make the ring buzz and/or flash when you have important notifications. It's like a 21st century pager for your finger.
I've semi-hated every wrist-bound gadget I've tried, so when Ringly offered me the chance to try their smart ring, I wanted to see if it could change my mind about wearable tech.
Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed
I have a big problem with smartwatches. It's not the concept (anything that stops me from obsessively checking my phone for notifications is OK by me). It's the form factor.
Touchscreen smartwatches have terrible battery life, they're bulky as hell (no good for tiny wrists), and they bang against the desk when I type. I've given up on every watch on the market, and have been on the hunt for a dramatically different smartphone-enabled gadget ever since.
I challenged myself to wear Ringly for a month to see if I could wear it every day without getting sick of it.
Nicole Nguyen / BuzzFeed
Ringly does two things: it 1) produces different buzzing patterns and 2) lights up in various colors.
The vibrations aren't exactly, er, gentle. It's a forceful buzz that's less "'Sup, girl" and more "AGH SOMEONE NEEDS YOU." I found the vibrations to be too intense and eventually opted for some light-only alerts.
The light comes from the side of the ring and not through the stone itself. I'm guessing this is the case so that Ringly isn't limited to translucent semi-precious stones. Above all, Ringly is focused on the fashion first. But it does mean you have to remember to wear the ring with the light facing you – lest you miss an important call like I did when I set my phone notification to light-only (ugh).
Nicole Nguyen / BuzzFeed
You can use the app to program each Ringly notification. Just . . . don't set too many.
The app, available for iOS and Android, is Ringly's central hub. Here, you can choose the light color and buzz pattern for over 20 different apps, including phone, texts, Snapchat, Uber, Hangouts, and Slack. It's very easy to figure out.
You could say I was a little notification happy. In my first few days with Ringly, it buzzed incessantly. The ring clamored for my attention so often that it became impossible to remember which combination was which. Was it two or one buzzes and then a purple light for Slack? Or is that email? Shit. Was that light red or purple?
As with all new technology, Ringly has a bit of a learning curve – but seven different combinations of lights and vibrations was too much. I cut my Ringly notifications down to four: priority email, Lyft, texts, and calls.
Nicole Nguyen / BuzzFeed
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