I've been saying it for a while now, but I firmly believe that smart rings (and smart glasses) are set to dominate the wearable tech market as soon as they become more accessible and more affordable for everyday users. It seems that Acer agrees, as the company has announced its first-ever smart ring product at Computex in Taipei. And, if pricing speculation is to be believed, it's going to be seriously undercutting the competition.
The Acer FreeSense Ring announcement came as a surprise to many, given that Acer is more commonly associated with manufacturing some of the best laptops for game development. While we don't know much about this new Acer product yet, it's confirmed to be AI-powered and will offer health monitoring features like sleep and fitness tracking.
According to our sister site, Tom's Guide, the Acer FreeSense Ring will have an incredibly low price tag in the ballpark range of $199 - $250, with an expected release date of August 2025. It will also charge no subscription fee for access to health data, unlike a lot of rival smart rings on the market (looking at you, Oura).
After Samsung launched its premium Galaxy Ring back in July, it signified that the tech industry is starting to take smart rings seriously. I absolutely love the design of the Galaxy Ring, but even as a diehard Samsung fan, I can't justify the £399 price tag (that's more expensive than my engagement ring!).
A more affordable smart ring entry from a well-known tech brand is much-needed, and I wonder if this announcement will cause Apple to potentially throw its hat in the, err, ring... and get a move on with any smart ring plans we don't know about.
An iRing or Apple Ring would certainly sell well, and the company has already faced criticism for being behind the curve when it comes to implementing AI features. Smart rings are a tech trend that I think Apple shouldn't sleep on, so it begs the question: is Apple making a smart ring, or what?
I'm very excited to hear more about the upcoming Acer FreeSense Ring, but for now, I'm still on the hunt for a great pair of smart glasses for gaming and content creation. If you're not sure what a smart ring is or does, I've covered the basics before. I've also rounded up some deals on popular smart ring models below.
