Best Smart Ring for iPhone

This is the first part in a two part special about the best smart ring to use with an iPhone. Any guesses what part 2 will be? That’s right, the best smart ring to use with Android. That will come later, for now, let’s talk about Apple iPhone friendly smart rings.

Not all smart rings are created equal

To put this conversation in some context, we first need to understand that there are different types of smart rings. This has a bearing on which rings work best with iPhones.

Smart Rings can be summarised into the following categories:

  1. Simple programmable Smart Rings
  2. Smart rings that work with a paired phone

Simple programmable Smart Rings

The simplest (and cheapest) smart rings are those that usually have an NFC capability inbuilt, often require no charging and can be programmed to do a huge range of actions. You can find some example simple NFC rings here

How to programmable NFC rings work?

Quite simply, there is a tiny NFC chip in the ring. It can be used to store a small amount of information and to communicate with any other NFC device, such as a phone.

This opens up a huge range of possibilities – where the sky is the limit. For example, you could set the ring up to work as a key, on digital door locks. Or, you could set the ring up to unlock your phone when it comes into contact with it. 

Do Simple Programmable NFC Rings work with iPhones?

Well, kind of. Apple won’t really let you use your NFC Ring with the NFC chip onboard the phone, apart from reading the data on ring. However, you can use a separate App to communicate with the ring, as is the case with the McLear Smart Ring. So if you use an NFC ring with an iPhone, you’ll be limited to:

  • iPhone 7 and above, with iOS11+ installed
  • simply reading what is on the ring and not much else
  • using third party apps such as that offered by McLear

Conclusion:  Simple programmable NFC smart rings have some usability with iPhone.

BSR Recommended NFC Rings

McLear Ring

Read more about the McLear Ring here.

Jackcom Smart Ring

Read more about the Jakcom R3 Smart Ring here.

Smart Rings That Work with a Paired Phone

More complex Smart Rings required a phone to either set them up initially, or to operate them all the time. This is because they have more complex features compared to the simpler NFC models we looked at above.

Let’s look at the best smart rings for iPhone.

Motiv Ring

Motiv Ring

A real favorite here at BSR, the Motiv ring largely focuses on fitness features. It has step tracking, monitors your heart rate, tracks calories burned, enhances your understanding of your sleep habits. At CES 2019, Motiv announced adding biometric security features (read more here).

Buy the Motiv Ring below

Oura Smart Ring

oura ring

The Oura Ring has become a really popular choice for tech lovers and those who want to achieve more effective sleep habits.

The ring is paired with an app to allow you to:

  • track your sleeping habits,
  • measure heartrate,
  • tracks fluctuations in body temperature
  • track steps and calories
  • help you achieve a more balanced life

HB Ring

hb ring

Few smart rings have caught the imagination of the world like the HB Ring. Once set up, the ring will allow you to feel and see the heart beat of your loved one, even if they’re in another country.

Popular with newly weds (partially because of the stunning rose gold construction), the HB Ring is a work of art.

Read more about the HB Ring here.

K Ring

k ring

The K Ring allows you to make payments, anywhere that Mastercard contactless payments are accepted. It is beautifully made and whilst currently not available in every country, we’re sure that will change soon.

The K Ring works with iPhone, so have no fear. Read more about it here.


There you have it, the BSR guide to the best smart rings for iPhone. We’ll keep this guide updated as new rings become available.

For those Android users out there, have no fear, we’ll be publishing our guide to the best smart rings for Android very soon.

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