Noise Luna Ring – Over the moon or just white noise?

Let me be honest, I have been putting off writing the review for the Noise Luna Ring for a long time. Initially, I was quite excited to check out the new wearable form factor and put it through its paces. After the initial few days of use, it ended up being quite underwhelming as the battery life was not great, the charging indicator was not particularly consistent, and the app lacked polish. So as intrigued as I was with the Noise Luna Ring and the hardware it packed into its slim and petite package, I had to wait a while for the experience to improve.

And thankfully it has finally reached that stage. So has it improved? Well, it’s still not perfect but at least I can review it without wanting to pull my hair out. Needless to say, that should be a basic benchmark for a device that is advertised to help track or improve your health.

Noise Luna Ring specifications

Here’s the full list of specifications for the Noise Luna Ring.

Material

• Durable titanium
• PVD Coating
• Non-allergenic, non-metallic
• Seamless inner ring molding
• Water resistant up to 50m/164 ft

Weight & dimensions:

• Width: 8mm
• Thickness: 2.8mm
• Weight: 3 to 4 grams

Connectivity

• BT Low-Energy ( BLE 5 )
• Automatic firmware updates via Luna Ring app
• Compatible with iOS and Android
• EMF radiation safe

Battery & power

• Up to 5 days of battery life*
• Full charge in 90 to 120 minutes

Sensors

• Green LEDs (optical heart rate sensor)
• Red LED (blood oxygen sensor)
• Infrared Photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors
• Skin temperature sensor
• 3 axis Accelerometer

Noise Luna Ring build & design – Slim and Subtle

Like the heavenly body, the Noise Luna Ring is named after, the design and build is an area where the Luna Ring truly shines. In terms of its looks, it is as subtle as a basic band-type ring. Nobody is going to suspect that it is anything more than normal jewellery. Even for me, a guy with rather slim and spindly fingers, the Luna Ring fits fine with absolutely no feeling of bulk. Just make sure to pick the correct size though. The Luna ring is available in seven different sizes and when you place an order you receive a sizing box with several mock Luna Rings in different sizes. Try them on, wear them for a day and pick the one that fits you best.

The materials used are pretty premium as well. The outer side is made using titanium, and the inner side (the side that touches your skin) is made from a type of plastic that is hypoallergenic to prevent skin irritation. The inner shell is also transparent so you can see all the sensors and inner workings of the ring.

The inner shell has three bumps, each of which houses a sensor. We’ll talk more about the sensors in a while. The bumps being on one side of the ring help with aligning the ring on the charging puck. However, we did notice that the ring would slide onto the puck in ways that did not align with the charging coils. So if you didn’t pay attention to the little bumps, then you might plop the ring onto the puck the wrong way at night and wake up to a completely discharged ring in the morning. The key to figuring out whether you’ve placed the ring onto the charging puck properly is to see if the Noise logo in the centre of the puck lights up and pulses slowly.

You’d assume that a ring with a couple of sensors and a battery of its own might weigh quite a bit, but that’s where I was pleasantly surprised. At 3-to-4 grams (depending on the size), you can barely feel the ring on your finger. And if you do manage to drop it, it can handle a few falls.

Lastly, if you’re one to be a little concerned about the aesthetics, then you get a few options to pick from between colour options (Stardust Silver, Midnight Black, Lunar Black, Rose Gold and Sunlit Gold) and finishes (glossy and matte). There’s not much other than colour options and finishes. The design is the same across all the rings and it’s quite simple. There’s a protruding diagonal crease that spans from one edge to the other. Simple.

Noise Luna Ring features and sensors – Sauron might get jealous

This tiny and subtle ring packs in a surprising number of sensors. A few years ago, not even full-blown smartwatches and fitness trackers had some of these features. So let’s get the hardware out of the way first.

In terms of the sensors, the Luna Ring has an optical heart rate sensor, a blood oxygen (SpO2) sensor, a skin temperature sensor, a 3-axis accelerometer and an infrared photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor. I even know what that last one means, now that I have Googled it. From what I understand, the PPG sensor is used to provide a secondary reading for heart rate and blood oxygen saturation and helps get you a more reliable and consistent measurement. If you’re trying to figure out which sensor is which, then the green light is for the heart rate sensor, the red light is for the SpO2 sensor and there’s another green light for the PPG sensor. The SpO2 sensor is sandwiched between the two other sensors. We could see the green lights emanating from the ring but not once could we spot the red lights.

With the hardware out of the way, let’s get down to the software and the way all the data collected by the sensors is shown to you. Since the Luna Ring is a… well, ring, there is no display or screen to show you any of the data so you have to use the Luna Ring app which although had some bugs in the beginning, now works just fine. It’s a pretty simple app and every time you open it, the app syncs with the ring to update the readings with the new information. It’s quite seamless for the most part and everything you need to check out at a glance is neatly laid out.

It does have a couple of problems though. For example, if you have not opened the app in the last few hours, the app does not know the status of the ring and if in that time the ring has low battery and then is completely drained of battery, you would never know. The app would just not be able to sync with the ring and you would be left wondering why because the battery indicator on the app still shows the previous battery reading which might have been quite a few hours ago. It was a bit nerve-wracking in the beginning, but now after having established a routine for charging the ring, the issue can be worked around.

Another major gripe I have with the app is that it is not at all customisable. You are shown what it wants to show, in places it wants to show it. Oh, and the worst part is that you cannot initiate a measurement on the spot, except if you want to measure the heart rate. So you’re out of luck if you want a reading of your body temperature or SpO2 at that moment. The app seems to have a very Apple way of doing things, where it seems like the user is on a need-to-know basis.

Thankfully though, you can connect Google Fit with the Luna Ring app and both can work in conjunction to give you more accurate measurements. Using Google Fit, you can also gamify your fitness and health tracking while competing with friends. But you will need a different app for that.

When it comes to battery life, Noise claims up to five days of use on a single charge, but realistically it’s more like three days. Noise also claims a full charge time of 90 to 120 minutes which is a bit long and personally I tend to forget it if I have left it aside for so long. Smart rings such as the Samsung Galaxy Ring, Ultrahuman Ring, Oura, etc. have about a 14-24 mAh battery and the Noise Luna Ring will also have something around the same capacity considering that the form factor would only allow as much. Noise does not mention the battery capacity anywhere. And most other rings also take a similar amount of time to charge their batteries. The best way I found to maximise usability was a 15 to 20-minute charge every day. That way you are nice and topped up most of the time and you are also getting the most tracking done.

Verdict – Tracking the trek to Mt. Doom

Overall, the Noise Luna Ring seems to have done what it set out to do. Add a whole new genre of fitness trackers to the mainstream Indian market. Yes, we know there have been others like this in the past and since its launch, there have been some more from competing brands. But this one is a bit special. What makes it special is its size-to-feature ratio. There are other rings that provide the same or more features, but they also add a bit of bulk. There are other rings that are just as slim, but miss out on a few features that the Luna Ring sports. The Luna Ring seems to have hit the sweet spot when it comes to the size-to-feature ratio.

BUT. And there is a big but to consider, which is the price. Coming in at an eye-watering Rs. 19,999 the Luna Ring is definitely not for the masses. For a small fraction of the price, you can get yourself a fitness tracker from many other reputable brands with more sensors, a display, vibration alerts, more battery life, and did we say more sensors? And it can tell you the time as well.

For about half the price you can get yourself a decked-out smartwatch, Like the Amazfit T-Rex Pro which again would have a 40-46 mm display, potentially way better battery life, way more sensors, Bluetooth calling, built-in GPS, more tracking parameters and who can forget, multiple watch faces to tell the time. If you are an iPhone user, the Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen) which is regularly on sale for under Rs 25,000, is a great buy. And for Android users who want a smartwatch from a more well-known brand, there is the Samsung Galaxy Watch series ranging from the Watch 4 to Watch 6. Take your pick for whichever one falls within your budget.

So if you have loads of cash to spare and want a fitness tracker that is limited in its capabilities but makes for a fine conversation starter, then this is the one for you. But if you are looking for a good deal and have the same amount to spare, a smartwatch would give you a way bigger bang for your buck.