How to allow RingConn push notifications

The first thing to understand is that RingConn notifications depend on the app staying active in the background. It’s not ideal but it is the way it works. If you fully close the app, the ring and phone will not keep the connection alive in the way needed for this feature.

On iPhone, that means leaving the RingConn app minimised rather than swiping it away from the app switcher. Also you need to allow notifications for the RingConn app in the phone’s settings.

Android needs a bit more care because battery management can be more aggressive. Go into your phone settings, find the RingConn app, open the battery or usage section and set it to unrestricted. The exact wording may vary slightly by phone brand. There is also an in-app setting worth turning on. In the RingConn app, go to Settings, then Connectivity and switch on Persistent Mode.

What the notification settings actually do

Once the phone-level settings are sorted, open the RingConn app and go to Me, then App Settings, then Notification Settings. This is where the ring-related notifications live.

They are separated into several groups. Under Ring, there are Battery Reminder and Wearing Reminder toggles. Battery Reminder does what you would expect, sending updates about ring battery status. Wearing Reminder is designed to flag when valid data has not been detected for 20 minutes while wearing the ring.

Under Vital Signs, there are sedentary and high heart rate reminders. The sedentary reminder can warn when no standing activity has been detected for a set period, with the example shown in the app using 50 consecutive minutes. The high heart rate reminder can trigger when heart rate exceeds the chosen maximum value for 10 continuous minutes while the user is not exercising.

There are also Plan Reminders and Service Notifications. Plan Reminders are used for pending check-in plans, while Service Notifications cover app or account-related messages through channels such as SMS, email and other methods.

What vibration can do on Gen 3

For Gen 3 devices, the app also has a Vibration page. This is where you can switch vibration on or off for Battery Reminder, Sedentary Reminder and Wellness alerts.

Most smart rings don’t have this feature, but vibration makes sense on a device with no display. It can give you a subtle nudge when something needs attention without turning the ring into a watch. It also keeps the feature focused on ring-related alerts rather than trying to mirror every phone notification.

I’ve been testing the Gen 3 device and can confirm that the vibration feature works as advertised. It is subtle and short when it springs into action. For now, ring vibrations are limited to Battery Reminder, Sedentary Reminder and Wellness Notifications.

Unfortunately, the device does not currently support a vibration alarm for waking up in the morning. Or any sort of alarm. Many people like the idea of a ring buzzing gently on the finger instead of using a phone alarm, but that is not part of the current feature set.

There is a possible upgrade path here. RingConn has indicated that official OTA firmware updates are scheduled to gradually add vibration alarm features in Q3 to Q4 2026. The exact release date remains subject to the official rollout, so it is best treated as planned.

For now, anyone buying Gen 3 mainly for silent alarms or custom timed reminders should keep expectations in check. The hardware may be there, but the current software does not yet turn it into a fully flexible haptic reminder tool. Still, it is a useful first step for a smart ring category that is only just starting to experiment with on-finger feedback.

Keep an eye out for my full RingConn Gen 3 review. It should drop in the next week or so. In the meantime, you can check out the full RingConn range on the company’s website.

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The company has, reportedly, filed a draft registration statement with the SEC. The details remain private, though. There is no listing date, no price range and no share count yet. Oura says the IPO would happen after the SEC review process, subject to market conditions.

The timing makes sense

The numbers speak volumes. It seems the company is on track to pass five million paid members this quarter. It was valued at $11 billion in October after a $900 million Series E round, and revenue has grown fourfold over the past two fiscal years.

That gives Oura a strong story to tell. It is no longer just a sleep ring with a loyal following. It is a hardware and subscription business with enough scale to test public market interest in smart rings.

The company has also said it could reach close to $2 billion in sales in 2026. That is a big number for a wearable that still sits outside the normal smartwatch lane.

Users may not love every part of this

Investors will probably like the subscription angle. But some users may feel differently.

Oura already sells expensive hardware and then charges monthly for the better part of the experience. That works if the app keeps improving and the insights feel worth paying for. It becomes harder to defend if prices rise, support slips or more features move behind higher tiers.

That is the risk with going public. Oura will need to grow, but it cannot make existing users feel squeezed. Health wearables run on trust, and trust disappears quickly when people feel they are paying more for access to their own data.

Oura’s strongest argument remains the ring itself. It is discreet, easy to wear overnight and still has a clearer purpose than many wrist-based wearables.

That edge will matter more now. Samsung is already in smart rings along with a few other subscription-free alternatives. Whoop owns a chunk of recovery tracking, Garmin is strong in fitness and Google has moved further into screenless tracking with Fitbit Air.

Oura still has the brand lead. The question is whether it can keep improving the product without turning the app into a maze of paid extras.

We will soon find out

The IPO filing gives smart rings a bigger spotlight. It could also help Oura stay independent rather than being swallowed by a larger platform.

But the hard part starts now. Oura has to prove that a smart ring can support a serious public company without annoying the people who made it successful.

That means better health insights, clearer value from the subscription and less vague wellness language. Oura has already shown that people will wear a ring for health tracking. Now it has to show that the business model can grow without making the product feel worse.

There is also the Ring 5 angle in the background. A recent leak points to a possible May 28 announcement and June 4 release, which could help explain why Oura may want IPO momentum building alongside a new hardware cycle.

The post Oura files for IPO after massive membership growth appeared first on Gadgets & Wearables.

The image looks like internal launch material. It describes Oura Ring 5 as a “smaller” and “more comfortable” ring while saying it keeps the same health-tracking capabilities and membership features as Oura Ring 4. If genuine, that suggests Oura may be focusing more on refinement than a major feature overhaul.

The timeline matches earlier clues

The screenshot lists late May for the announcement, pre-orders and sizing kits. A week later is when launch and shipments are expected to happen.

That fits the picture that has been building around Ring 5 over recent months. We spotted FCC filings for OA13 and OA14, which appeared to point to a new Oura ring and related hardware. The confidentiality timelines attached to those filings already suggested a much nearer launch window than the late 2027 estimates that had surfaced elsewhere.

There was also the brief Oura Ring 5 mention in Oura’s own sizing video flow before the reference disappeared. On its own, that did not confirm anything. But combined with the FCC activity and now this screenshot, the overall timeline starts looking more consistent.

The focus may be on comfort

The wording in the screenshot is interesting because it does not push a major new health feature. Instead, it leans heavily on size and comfort.

That would make sense for this category. Oura Ring 4 already covers the main health, sleep and recovery features most buyers expect. Making the ring smaller or less noticeable could be just as important as adding another metric inside the app. The likely direction seems to be a more refined version of the current hardware rather than a dramatic shift in appearance.

Still worth treating cautiously

There is still an obvious caveat. The screenshot has no visible source, URL or metadata, which means it could be genuine internal material or a convincing mock-up built around existing rumours and filings.

But nothing in the image clashes with what has already surfaced publicly. In fact, the timing fits unusually well with the earlier FCC trail and the accidental Oura Ring 5 reference that briefly appeared in official material.

If the dates are accurate, Oura Ring 5 could be announced on May 28 and begin shipping from June 4. That would make the next-generation ring much closer than many originally expected.

The post Oura Ring 5 screenshot hints at smaller design and June launch appeared first on Gadgets & Wearables.

The filing was published on May 7, 2026 as US 2026/0123720 A1. It is technically a continuation of an older application from 2022, so this is not Oura suddenly revealing a brand new product direction. But it does show the company is still spending time protecting modular ring concepts.

This looks broader than the earlier battery idea

The earlier patent was easier to explain. It focused on a ring with a removable battery section, which immediately made sense because battery lifespan is one of the weak points of smart rings. Tiny batteries degrade and there is only so much room inside a ring to work with.

This new filing takes the idea further. Instead of just swapping a battery section, Oura describes a removable outer cover that can connect to the ring itself. The diagrams show electrical contacts and inductive components lining up between the ring and the cover, which suggests this is more than just a protective shell.

In simple terms, Oura seems to be imagining a ring that can temporarily gain extra hardware when needed. That could mean more battery life, different sensors or extra functionality without making the main ring permanently bigger.

Why this direction makes sense

Smart rings are always fighting the same battle. People want more sensors, better battery life and more advanced tracking, but they also want the ring to stay thin and comfortable. There is not much physical space to play with.

A modular setup could help with that. You keep the everyday ring small, then add something extra only when you actually need it. Maybe that is overnight tracking, longer battery life during travel or more advanced health monitoring for certain situations.

That part is still speculation, because patents often stay patents forever. But the interesting thing here is not the exact implementation. It is the fact that Oura keeps circling around the same general idea of expandable smart ring hardware.

The drawings also show different attachment methods. Some use electrical contact points. Others appear to rely on inductive components. There are even locking mechanisms and partial outer modules that clip around sections of the ring instead of covering the whole thing.

Probably not a near term product

We would not read this as evidence that Oura Ring 5 is about to launch with snap on accessories. Patent filings are often much broader than what companies actually ship. Sometimes they are defensive. Sometimes they are just future thinking.

Still, it is notable that Oura now has multiple patents pointing toward some kind of modular architecture. There was the detachable battery concept. Now we have removable functional covers that could hold different electronics.

That starts to look less like a one off experiment and more like an area Oura genuinely finds interesting. Whether users would actually want clip on ring modules is another question entirely.

This article originally appeared on Gadgets & Wearables, the first media outlet to report the story.

Source: USPTO

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The easiest mistake is to treat this as a simple sequel. It is not. Gen 3 shifts RingConn’s top model into a more active smart ring, while Gen 2 keeps the slimmer design and Gen 2 Air remains the cheaper entry point.

Let’s dive into the detail.

The headline change is vibration

The clearest hardware difference is vibration. RingConn Gen 3 has vibration alerts, while Gen 2 and Gen 2 Air do not. That gives the new model a direct feature split from both older rings.

RingConn has also clarified what this feature does. Gen 3 does not vibrate for messages or alarms. It uses vibration for health alerts and reminders, so this is not a phone notification ring.

That limit is worth spelling out because vibration on a smart ring can easily sound like smartwatch territory. RingConn is taking a narrower route here. The ring can nudge the user, but only for health-related prompts and reminders rather than texts, calls or wake-up alarms.

That makes the feature less broad than some people may have expected. But it also keeps Gen 3 in the smart ring lane. It adds a physical alert layer without pretending the ring can replace a wrist device.

The sensors have changed too

RingConn is also saying Gen 3 has new optical heart rate sensors for more accurate readings. The temperature sensor and 3-axis accelerometer have also been upgraded. That is important because it gives Gen 3 more than just an added vibration motor.

Those changes are harder to judge from a spec sheet because accuracy depends on fit, firmware and real-world use. Still, better optical heart rate hardware should matter most during daily tracking, sleep and overnight health data collection. The upgraded temperature sensor and accelerometer also feed into the kind of background tracking smart rings rely on.

The vascular health feature needs careful wording. Gen 3 uses vascular load patterns, which RingConn describes as automatic background blood pressure measurements, alongside optional manual blood pressure inputs and lifestyle factors. The result is personalised vascular health insight, essentially blood pressure trend data rather than single cuff-style readings on demand.

Now, this feature is also currently in Beta for the Gen 2 device. So presumably at some stage it will be coming to owners of that version as well. Gen 2 Air is not part of that Beta so those rings are not capable of capturing the metric.

Battery life moves up

Battery life also improves with Gen 3. RingConn rates the new ring at up to 14 days, compared with up to 12 days for Gen 2 and up to 10 days for Gen 2 Air. That gives Gen 3 the longest quoted runtime in the current lineup.

There is a catch, because vibration affects runtime. RingConn says Gen 3 lasts around 10 to 12 days with vibration on, or 11 to 14 days with vibration off. So the headline figure depends on how the new alert feature is used.

The charging setup changes as well. Gen 3 comes with a universal wireless charging case. Gen 2 uses a size-specific wireless charging case and Gen 2 Air uses a universal wired charging dock, so the new model gets the cleaner charging accessory in the lineup.

Offline data storage also increases. Gen 3 stores data for 10 days, while Gen 2 and Gen 2 Air store 7 days. It is not the most exciting upgrade, but it is useful if the ring does not sync with the phone every day.

Gen 3 is slightly thicker

Not everything is in favour of Gen 3. That version measures 2.3mm and weighs between 2.5 and 3.5 grams. Gen 2 is thinner at 2.0mm and weighs between 2 and 3 grams. Gen 2 Air is also 2.0mm thick, but weighs between 2.5 and 4 grams. So Gen 3 is not the thinnest RingConn ring, even though it stays within a light range for a smart ring.

The bottom line

Gen 3 is currently showing at $383, reduced from $426 on the RingConn website. It comes in Future Silver, Royal Gold, Matte Black, Brushed Silver and Brushed Rose Gold. RingConn also offers trade-in discounts of up to $70, depending on which older ring you own.

One detail worth flagging is sizing. Gen 3 uses a different sizing system, so existing RingConn users should not assume their Gen 2 or Gen 2 Air size will carry over. The sizing kit is the safer option because fit affects both comfort and sensor contact.

Gen 3 is the obvious pick if you want the newest hardware. Vibration alerts, upgraded sensors, longer battery life, 10 days of offline storage and the wireless charging case give it the strongest spec sheet in the lineup. The price and slightly thicker body are the trade-offs.

RingConn Gen 3*

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The $299 Gen 2 still has a role. It is thinner than Gen 3, lighter at the low end and still offers up to 12 days of battery life. For users who do not care about vibration alerts, it may still be the cleaner choice.

The $199 Gen 2 Air is the value option. It keeps the basics, costs less and still reaches up to 10 days of battery life. But it misses out on vibration, uses stainless steel rather than titanium and does not get the same top-end positioning.

All three rings keep RingConn’s no-subscription setup, which remains one of the cleaner advantages in this category.

The post RingConn Gen 3 vs Gen 2 and Gen 2 Air: Differences explained appeared first on Gadgets & Wearables.

What is new with Gen 3

On the health side, Gen 3 adds vascular health trend insights. This is RingConn’s blood-pressure-related feature, but it is not the same as taking a single cuff-style reading. The ring looks at longer-term vascular patterns and presents trend insights rather than one-off blood pressure numbers.

That distinction is important. Gen 3 should not be described as a normal blood pressure monitor, but it also should not be described as having no blood pressure feature. The accurate middle ground is that it provides vascular health trends tied to blood pressure insight, not individual readings on demand.

It is also worth noting that RingConn has already been testing the feature in beta with Gen 2 users. So it should not be framed as a Gen 3-only addition.

Also, new optical heart rate sensors have been added to Gen 3 for more accurate readings. The temperature sensor and 3 axis accelerometer are also newly upgraded.

Vibration has a clear limit

The other clear hardware addition is vibration alerts. RingConn Gen 2 and Gen 2 Air do not have this feature, so it gives Gen 3 a direct point of difference. It also means the ring can now alert the user directly, instead of relying only on the app.

RingConn has now clarified the limit. Gen 3 does not vibrate for messages or alarms. Vibration is used for health alerts and reminders, not phone notifications.

That keeps the feature narrower than some may have expected. This is not a notification ring for texts, calls or wake-up alarms. It is a smart ring that can give the user a physical nudge for health-related prompts and basic reminders.

Battery life improves

Battery life is another area where Gen 3 moves ahead. RingConn says the ring can last up to 14 days, compared with up to 12 days for Gen 2 and up to 10 days for Gen 2 Air.

With vibration on, RingConn gives a battery estimate of 10 to 12 days. With vibration off, that rises to 11 to 14 days. So the headline figure depends on how the ring is used.

Offline data storage also increases to 10 days. Gen 2 and Gen 2 Air both offer 7 days. That is not the most exciting spec, but it helps if the ring spends time away from the phone or if syncing does not happen every day.

The charging setup also changes. Gen 3 uses a universal wireless charging case, while Gen 2 uses a size specific wireless charging case and Gen 2 Air uses a universal wired charging dock. That makes the new model cleaner from a charging accessory point of view.

The trade off is size

Gen 3 is not the thinnest RingConn model. It measures 2.3mm and weighs between 2.5 and 3.5 grams. Gen 2 is thinner at 2.0mm and weighs between 2 and 3 grams. The increase is probably to accommodate the vibration motor and larger battery.

That gives buyers a fairly simple choice. Gen 3 brings the newer features, but Gen 2 keeps the slimmer body. Gen 2 Air stays as the lower priced model, with fewer advanced features and up to 10 days of battery life.

Gen 3 is currently showing at $383, reduced from $426. It comes in five finishes: Future Silver, Royal Gold, Matte Black, Brushed Silver and Brushed Rose Gold. So the buying choice is not only about size and features, but also about which finish fits best.

Worth noting is that Gen 3 uses a slightly different sizing system. That means buyers should not assume their existing RingConn size will carry over. The sizing kit is the safer option, especially because ring fit affects both comfort and sensor contact.

The post RingConn Gen 3 pre orders go live with vibration alerts clarified appeared first on Gadgets & Wearables.

The cheaper route comes with the smaller charger

The headline number is easy to understand. The Super Early Bird Kickstarter tier is $299 and includes the Ultrahuman Ring PRO, three PowerPlugs free for one year, the Ring PRO Mini Charger and a Type-C to Type-C cable. Local taxes and customs may still apply, but free worldwide shipping is part of the reward.

That puts the Kickstarter price quite a bit below the Ring PRO price shown through Ultrahuman’s own direct channel. The official website currently sells the Ring PRO with the PRO Charging Case at $479.

The difference sits in the charging accessory. The Kickstarter reward includes the Mini Charger, which Ultrahuman describes as the compact everyday charging companion for the Ring PRO. It is a small dock that plugs in via USB-C and is designed for simple charging at a desk, in a gym bag or while travelling.

The official website bundle includes the larger PRO Charging Case. That accessory adds more than just another way to charge the ring. Ultrahuman says the case extends total battery life to up to 45 days, stores up to one year of ring data, includes Find My Case support with an integrated speaker and supports Qi wireless charging.

So yes, Kickstarter is cheaper. But the official store bundle gives you the more capable charging accessory from day one.

The core Ring PRO pitch stays the same

The Ring PRO itself is still the same. Ultrahuman claims up to 15 days of battery life, a dual-core processor with on-chip machine learning, BLE 5.3 and up to 250 days of on-ring storage. The ring also has 100 metre water resistance, a unibody titanium design and ProRelease technology, which allows it to be cut apart more easily if finger swelling or injury becomes an issue.

There are four finishes on offer: Bionic Gold, Aster Black, Space Silver and Raw Titanium. Sizes run from 5 to 14, and a free sizing kit ships before the actual ring. That is useful because smart ring sizing can be awkward, and a poor fit can hurt both comfort and sensor performance.

Ultrahuman is also using the campaign to push Jade, its real-time biointelligence AI. The company says Jade connects ring data with Blood Vision biomarkers, M1 CGM glucose trends and Ultrahuman Home environmental data. It is available as a platform upgrade to Ultrahuman users globally, including Ring AIR users, so this is not being framed as a Ring PRO-only feature.

The campaign also leans into PowerPlugs. These are Ultrahuman’s add-on health tools, and the Super Early Bird tier includes three of them free for one year. The included PowerPlugs are Respiratory Health, Cycle & Ovulation Pro and Cardio Adaptability, with the campaign valuing the bundle at $130.

Kickstarter adds a different kind of buying decision

The lower Kickstarter price makes the Ring PRO easier to consider, but it also changes the nature of the purchase. Buying through Kickstarter is not the same as ordering through a normal online store.

That said, this is not a mystery startup trying to build its first device. Ultrahuman points to previous Kickstarter campaigns for the Ultrahuman Ring and Ring AIR, and says it previously raised close to $1 million from 3,135 backers. This new campaign also passed its $10,000 goal quickly, with about $30,101 pledged in the first few hours and 29 days still left to run.

That does not remove the usual Kickstarter caveats, but it does make the campaign feel less speculative than most crowdfunded wearables.

For buyers, the decision is fairly simple. Kickstarter gets the upfront price down, but the Super Early Bird tier includes the Mini Charger rather than the larger PRO Charging Case sold through Ultrahuman’s own website.

I reviewed the Ultrahuman Ring Air back in 2023 and came away thinking the basics were already strong. It was light, the recovery and sleep tools were useful and there was no subscription to deal with. The weaker bits were comfort around the sharper edges and some uneven health data, so Ring PRO feels like Ultrahuman trying to move the hardware up a level with longer battery life, tougher titanium construction and a more serious charging setup.

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The slip was spotted by a Reddit user during Oura’s sizing flow, where the official sizing video instructed buyers to place “Oura Ring 5” on their index finger. Not Ring 4, Ring 5. Oura later changed it back to the current Oura Ring 4 version.

Why this supports our FCC filing view

This is not some random supplier rumour or a vague certification clue. It is Oura’s own customer-facing sizing video, built for people getting ready to buy a ring. That is usually the sort of thing prepared much closer to launch.

When we covered the FCC filing, the main question was the name. The paperwork showed new Oura ring hardware in late-stage certification, with model OA13 for the ring and OA14 for the charger, but it did not actually mention “Oura Ring 5.” That left a small possibility it could be a redesigned version of the current Gen 4 device. That now looks much less likely.

Of course, the latest leak still does not make it certain that Gen 5 is about to launch. But it does make the late 2027 timeline some media outlets were pushing much harder to square with the evidence. The 180-day confidentiality request in the FCC paperwork, points to early September 2026 as the outer deadline for hidden materials such as internal photos and the user manual.

What to expect from Ring 5

Earlier images of the Gen 5 device shared by Android Headlines showed a ring that stays close to the current Oura look, but with a slightly more rounded outer profile.

The images also showed a new Deep Rose finish, which appears to replace the current Rose Gold option. Other finishes shown in the leak included Gold, Silver and Matte Black.

The inside of the ring also looked different in those images. That suggests Oura has changed the internal layout, although the leak did not confirm what sensors or features may be different.

The FCC filing adds one more concrete detail. It included an OA14 charger with a refreshed square dock, so the charging hardware also appears to be changing alongside the ring.

The timing is what makes this interesting. One stray Ring 5 mention in a sizing video could be brushed off, but it lands right after the FCC paperwork we found. That makes the next few months worth watching, because Oura now has more than one breadcrumb pointing in the same direction.

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What Zepp Health is accusing Oura of

The lawsuit was filed on April 21st in Texas, in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. It centres on six patents.

These include patent US 8,781,610 for ball game motion recognition, US 8,989,441 for motion recognition data acquisition, US 9,729,693 for determining confidence in wearable sensor measurements, US 10,959,649 for stride length calibration, US 11,806,120 for health risk indicator determination using heart rate and motion data, and US 10,624,575 for sleep monitoring through microactivity states.

Some of these go back to Zepp Health’s earlier sports sensor days, particularly the motion recognition patents. Others are much more relevant to today’s smart rings, especially the ones covering sleep monitoring, signal confidence and health scoring.

That last group is where things get particularly relevant for Oura. Much of the company’s value comes from how it turns raw sensor readings into scores like Readiness, Sleep and recovery insights. If Zepp Health can successfully argue that key parts of that process overlap with its patents, the case becomes much more serious than a background legal dispute.

The counterpunch

There is important context behind this case because Oura has been aggressively defending its smart ring patents. It’s all part of a much bigger legal battle around who controls key technology in the smart ring space.

Last year, the US International Trade Commission opened an investigation after Oura filed a complaint against Zepp Healthh and other companies over alleged patent infringement. Oura argued that rival smart wearable devices were using technology covered by its patents.

This new Texas lawsuit looks very much like Zepp Health pushing back. It is now putting pressure on Oura by arguing that Oura’s own flagship products rely on Zepp-owned technology.

Samsung followed a similar path. Before the Galaxy Ring had even launched, Samsung filed a preemptive lawsuit in the US asking the court to declare that its device did not infringe Oura’s patents. After Oura later responded with an ITC complaint and a separate patent case, Samsung hit back with its own lawsuit in Texas, accusing Oura of infringing Samsung patents related to health tracking features. What started as a defensive move quickly turned into a full two way patent battle.h.

Our takeaway

The smart ring market is clearly no longer a niche category. Once companies like Oura, Samsung and Zepp Health start taking each other to court over patents, it shows these devices have become serious business, not just an interesting side category in wearables.

What stands out here is that both Samsung and Zepp Health appear to be reacting to Oura’s legal strategy rather than starting these fights themselves. Oura has been aggressive in protecting its patent portfolio, and both companies moved after finding themselves in its legal crosshairs.

Some smaller companies have chosen to back down and agree to royalty payments rather than fight through a long legal battle. Samsung and Zepp Health are in a different position. Both have the financial resources to push back.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, because the outcome could shape not just these companies, but how the entire category evolves over the next few years.

Source: Justia

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PVT2 suggests production is getting close

The first Production Verification Test happened at the end of March and exposed two main hardware problems. Some units were suffering BLE amplifier failures caused by possible ESD damage during assembly, while a change to the microphone waterproof membrane caused audio testing failures on certain devices.

According to Eric Migicovsky, both problems were fixed through changes to the assembly line. That has allowed the project to move into PVT2, which is usually one of the final serious checkpoints before larger scale manufacturing begins.

The current goal is to manufacture the first 2,000 Index 01 units by mid-May and start shipping them out from there. rePebble says it expects the full pre-order run to take around three months to complete, which would place the finish line somewhere around July.

Of course, that comes with the usual warning that delays can still happen. Still, compared to earlier uncertainty, this is the first timeline that feels reasonably specific. If things hold, early buyers should not be waiting much longer.

Brushed silver replaces polished silver

There is also a design update. The polished silver finish is being dropped in favour of a brushed silver option instead. Brushed surfaces tend to hide scratches better and usually age more gracefully than highly polished ones, so this may actually be the better long-term choice.

Customers with existing orders can switch colours through the rePebble order management page.

Software is starting to look far more interesting

The hardware update is worth noting, but the software side may be even more interesting. Alpha testers have been using early Index 01 units for the past few months, helping squash bugs across both iOS and Android.

Optional fully encrypted cloud backup has been added, along with local speech-to-text powered by on-device processing. Users can route audio or transcriptions to a webhook, which opens the door for direct integrations with AI agents like OpenClaw.

There is also Home Assistant support, plus integrations for Beeper, Notion, Apple Reminders, Google Tasks and Android music controls. Bring-your-own MCP server support is there too. More work is still coming, including a stronger UI and additional reminder app support like Todoist and Tasks.org.

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