Circular Ring 2 Review (2026): Great Hardware, Rough App
The Circular Ring 2 gets the hardware right - on-device ECG, no subscription, light build and good battery - but the cluttered, buggy app and missing promised features hold it back. Great ideas, rough execution. Buy it if no-subscription ECG is your priority and you can tolerate fiddly software; otherwise the RingConn Gen 3 or Oura Ring 5 are safer. Score 3.2/5.
Strengths
- On-device ECG with FDA-cleared AFib detection, rare at this price
- No mandatory subscription - all features included in the purchase
- Lightweight, well-built design with a charging case
Watch outs
- Companion app is cluttered, buggy and slow to sync
- The Kira+ AI health coach feels clunky and half-finished
- Promised blood-pressure and glucose trend features are still missing
- Price From ~£280 (Black); £360 Silver; £440 Gold/Rose
- Battery ~6 days typical, up to ~8 in performance mode
- Standout feature On-device ECG with AFib detection
- Subscription None - all features included
- In the box Charging case included
- Still to come Blood-pressure and glucose trend estimates (teased)
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The Circular Ring 2 is one of the most ambitious smart rings on the market, and it does something most rivals don't at its price: on-device ECG with AFib detection, with no subscription to unlock it. The hardware is genuinely good. The problem, as reviewers consistently find, is the software - and that gap between ambition and execution is the whole story of this ring.
What does the Circular Ring 2 do well?
The hardware is the headline. The Circular Ring 2 packs ECG with FDA-cleared atrial fibrillation detection, the kind of clinical-leaning heart feature that's still rare in a ring at this price. It's well built and light - reviewers describe it as barely more noticeable than a wedding band - and it ships with a charging case.
Battery life is solid too: around six days in normal use, stretching towards eight in performance mode. And crucially, unlike the Oura Ring 5, there's no mandatory membership - every feature the ring offers is included in the one-off purchase, which makes the total cost of ownership far lower over time.
What's the catch with the Circular Ring 2?
The companion app. Across independent reviews, the same pattern recurs: syncing is slow and sometimes fails outright, often needing several attempts, and the app itself feels cluttered and unintuitive, with health data scattered across screens and confusing navigation. For a device whose entire value is the insight it surfaces, a frustrating app is a serious flaw.
The Kira+ AI health coach adds to the friction - reviewers find it clunky, with recommendations you sometimes have to generate manually rather than having them surface each morning. And some of the features Circular teased, including blood-pressure and blood-glucose trend estimates promised for early 2026, simply aren't available yet. Sleep tracking is generally fine but struggles with fragmented or irregular sleep patterns.
How does it compare to Oura and RingConn?
Against the Oura Ring 5, the Circular wins decisively on cost of ownership - no subscription versus Oura's £5.99/month - and matches or beats it on ECG. But Oura's app and sleep analysis are in a different league of polish. Against the RingConn Gen 3, which also skips a subscription and adds haptic alerts with a cleaner data presentation, the Circular's software again looks the weaker option. The Circular Ring 2's case is strongest for buyers who specifically want subscription-free ECG and can live with fiddly software while it matures.
Who should buy the Circular Ring 2?
Best for
No-subscription ECG seekers
Skip if
