REVIEW – Have you ever wanted to check your blood oxygen saturation levels (Sp02) because you have or think you might have sleep apnea or some other health issue. The Wellue O2Ring lets you do that quickly and will let you track oxygen levels and your heart rate while you sleep. Let’s take a deep breath and check it out.
What is it?
The Wellue O2Ring is a wearable oximeter that records sp02 levels and heart rate every second, as well as body movements.
What is Sp02? Its oxygen saturation and is a measurement of the amount of oxygen-carrying hemoglobin in the blood relative to the amount of hemoglobin not carrying oxygen. The body needs a certain level of oxygen in the blood or it will not function as efficiently. SpO2 (blood oxygen saturation levels) of a healthy person should be between 94% and 100%.
What’s in the box?
- Wellue O2Ring
- micro USB charging cable
- Instructions
Hardware specs
OXYGEN LEVEL RANGE – 70%-99%
PULSE RATE RANGE – 30 to 250 bpm
MEASURE INTERVAL – 1 second
DISPLAY INTERVAL IN APP DATA CHART – 4 second
BUILT-IN MEMORY – 4 sessions, up to 10 hours for each session
Design and features
You’ve seen the oximeters at your doctor’s office that clip on to the end of your index finger right? Well, the O2Ring does the same function, but it slips on your finger like a ring. A big ring. But don’t worry, it has an expanding band so it should fit just about anyone.
The top of the O2Ring has a touch button and a display that toggles between showing the blood oxygen saturation level percentage, heart rate, and time of day.
Inside the band of the O2Ring is the oxygen and heart rate monitor and on one side of the ring is the micro USB charging port.
My thumb is glowing red! I feel like I’m a superhero!
Although the Wellue O2Ring is large, I found it to be comfortable to wear on my thumb all night long. After a minute or two I forgot I was wearing it and it didn’t cut off the circulation or make my finger numb. The ring can also be worn on your pinkie or another finger.
The backlit display makes this wearable do double duty as a watch, so it’s handy for checking the time in the middle of the night. Note that the display is only on for a few seconds before it automatically turns off. But you can tap the touch button to wake it up again.
The app
The Wellue app which I installed on my iPhone 11 Pro Max has a relatively easy to understand user interface that shows a dated time range for the recorded sessions, along with the O2 score for the session and the number of oxygen level drops. Session data is automatically synced with the app if the app is open and you remove the O2Ring from your finger.
You can see even more info by clicking on the session. From there you can see a graph of the session for Sp02 levels, heart rate, and motion. You can zoom in on the graph and you can even export the data to CSV file that you can share with your doctor.
Another feature of the app gives you a real-time view of your Sp02 level and heart rate.
In the settings section of the app, you can customize various settings like the vibration to notify you if your oxygen level drops too low or an abnormal heart rate is detected. You can also allow the data to be sent to Apple Health.
Battery life
The O2Ring’s built-in rechargeable battery has 12-16 hours of battery life. I found that if I charged it before getting ready for bed, the charge would last the entire night and would only last part of the next night. So it’s important to charge it each day so it will record your entire sleep session before running out of juice.
What I like
- Easy to use
- Comfortable to wear
What I’d change
- Better battery life would be nice so you don’t have to charge it every day
- Add sleep tracking
Final thoughts
The Wellue O2Ring is a simple product that will record your Sp02 level, heart rate, and body movements while you are sleeping. From the week or so that I tested this device, I found that it worked as expected and I had no real issues with it other than the fact that it has to be charged every day. For the price, I am a bit disappointed that it doesn’t also have sleep tracking features. It does show body movements, but I think it would be easy to also include sleep state analysis too.
Price: $165.99
Where to buy: Wellue (Use Coupon code: TG10 to save 10% on Wellue’s site)
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Wellue.
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I had the O2Ring for a year and agree completely with your review, well done for a person looking to buy. BUT, I had an additional bad experience that you may or may not want to add to your review.
After 11 months the battery life started quickly decreasing to less than 2 hours per night which is useless since the first 2 hours my O2 level is always great. WELLUE DID NOT HONOR THEIR 1 YEAR WARRANTY. I’ve argued with them for a month and they won’t budge because I submitted my claim 2 weeks after the end of the warranty though the log shows the battery was down to 1 1/2 hours before the end of the warranty. It worked great for me, but strongly recommend DO NOT BUY due to lack of warranty support.
Deac, thank you so much for adding your experiences to this review.
I did have also the problem wellue did not honor the 1 year warranty.
In my case the vibration function stops working exact one year after i received my device. After fruitless e-mail exchanges ( there support team ask for a picture ore video to show the not working vibration).
What is not possible!!! The support team let me know the warranty start an the day the order was done.
Because the two week delivery time i was two weeks to late for my claim. The proposal was to order a new ring sensor on my cost!
Very poor behavior in my opinion
I have same experience here.
Have it now for a year or so and I didn’t use it the last couple of months but wanted to re-using it recently.
Battery was totally down and needed a long time charge to become active again.
Now I have 2-4 hours battery time which is to short for a night.
Unfortunately it’s not possible to change the battery.
At the end the product works well if it’s new, but now it’s kind of use-less.
If it was 20$ or so that would be OK, but for that price it’s not really acceptable.
I was waiting for sleep study to be scheduled to see if I had sleep disorder. During the scheduling wait, I thought I would check on line for a product that might offer “at home” study. I liked the reviews on the O2 Ring and purchased. As promoted, the device is a ring that is placed on the thumb or finger to measure heart rate & blood oxygen level. It is designed to vibrate if your level drops below 90%. The concept is that if you are like me and roll on your back during sleep, your breathing path may be obstructed. The vibration warns you to roll over. I have found it to be a great tool for monitoring oxygen levels and I appreciate the fact I can wear it during sleep and analyze through an app in the morning … I showed it to my doctor during a checkup and he compared the oxygen level reading of the O2 Ring to his office oximeter and it was accurate. During COVID, I was the nurse for my wife as she contracted the virus and then recovered… I used the O2 ring to monitor her levels and had her wear it during the evening as well. I was able to determine her levels through the entire recovery. The app reports can be printed and emailed… I have read about battery life and haven’t experienced any problems. I have had the ring for almost 2 years. Additionally, being a health gadget man, I upgrade my Applewatch each year when new model comes out. Applewatch 6 blood oxygen measurement is not accurate… do not purchase the 6 if you are simply looking for O2 reading… O2 Ring is the real deal! I will purchase new one as soon as my current one wears out.
Ron, that is all great info. Thank you so much for sharing!
You are so right about the Apple watch 6 and SpO2 readings. I have lung cancer and COPD and after chemo and radiation I needed to figure out what kind of O2 flow I needed to keep my sats up above 91%. The O2 Ring has worked great. The issue with the Apple watch 6 is it will not give you a reading below 85% (at least as far as I can tell). The O2 Ring will measure down to 70%. It really helps me get my oxygen concentrator flow to the right level. I am very happy that this device works so well.
It is a bit of a limitation that it only measures down to 70%. I am gathering data to show my doctor and on a few occasions my readings hit the 70% lower limit, so I’m unsure as to what my true reading is on those occasions. BTW, this is nothing to do with Covid.
In all other respects, it’s an excellent device.
Two tips if you buy the device:
1. Only use the cable provided when connecting to your PC.
2. When pairing to bluetooth with your mobile phone, you must do it through the app they tell you to install, don’t try and pair it using the phone’s genral pairing mechanism.
If you stick to those rules, you won’t have any trouble with the device.
The main problem with the Apple Watch is not so much the accuracy, although it is not medically accurate, it is that it only measures once an hour. This is no good for monitoring health conditions during the night, I was missing all the important information. Using the O2 ring was a revelation, I had no idea I had such a problem. I am relatively healthy now but the O2 ring gives me the information to show my doctor and act to keep it that way.
How do you interpret your readings? Is there an example somewhere we can compare against?
Hi, how do we setup or use the remote view for 02ring. Thanks .
Julz I am not sure what you mean. If you mean allowing your doctor to see the readings, you’ll need to export the data through the app. If you mean a real-time view of your readings, you have to keep the app open and near you.
I need a charging cord for my O2Ring. Can you send information on where or how to buy one?
Melvin, please contact Wellue.
Hi Julie,
i think i’ve had mine about 18 months? was worried once that it would not take a charge after it had died, but eventually got a better charging pack and cord. so it DOES eventually come back to life. it may last 2 nights without charging; constantly charging it. I wear it at work sometimes too.
My main problem is: i CANNOT get doctors to listen nor believe me when i’m telling them oxygen is sinking low. I was down to 80% in July 2020 (a different measuring device). I gave that device to my mom who needed it; has COPD. I swear i’ve been tested 20x or more for CVD and it is NOT that. never a fever or loss of taste. My low oxygen levels stem from tons of mucus forming, due to stomach acid creeping up my throat. my LES isn’t keeping it down,and coffee/tea/soda/other things make it much worse. I can tell when i’m having a dizzy spell; slip the ring on, and sure enough it’s buzzing (below 89%).
I have worn another hospital-like finger monitor, and it NEVER shows low blood oxygen. I KNOW for a fact i’m having an episode because i get dizzy, weak in the knees, and the ring will reflect a low oxygen level but the one on my other hand will not sink below 95%, usually 97%. I can’t find anything showing the accuracy of the ring, but in my case it detects things a more standard finger monitor can detect. I BELIEVE the ring; these doctors tell me to throw it out as it’s giving me a ‘complex’
i literally have seen 24 doctors for this mucus/sinus/throat/lungs issue since jan 2020, and this ring it the only thing validating me. I had surgery July 2021 (TIF) to correct the LES, but it failed 6-8 weeks later. NOT only that, but i think since it failed, my diaphragm is not expanding like it should. hence the low blood oxygen. even the most basic yoga, i will get super dizzy. I had a CT scan yesterday to try to confirm any digestive blockage, or abdominal wall hernia from the daily coughing. By the way during coughing spells this ring will pick up low oxygen where normal finger monitors won’t.
Any idea how I can prove the accuracy to these ‘medical experts’? even in a hospital bed, wearing their monitor and mine, they never detect the low oxygen. the HEART rate is pretty accurate, they do both detect when it gets into the 50 BPM range. I feel like i’m losing my sanity here.
William, it sounds like you’ve been through the ringer in the last 2 years! I feel for you and wish I could help you but I’m not a physician and don’t know how to prove the accuracy of that device. I think your best bet is to contact Wellue directly and see what they can do for you. Good luck!
There should be a way to open this thing up and change the battery. Has anybody done that and if so what type of battery does it take?
The battery is a 3.7 volt dc, rechargeable lithium-polymer. To change the battery, the official Wellue Viatom support advises to take the device to a watch repairer, which sounds strange. However, I am led to believe by Remsleep from where I bought the O2 Ring that the battery cannot be replaced. If the battery runs flat within the warranty period, Remsleep will replace the O2 Ring. Unfortunately, the O2 Ring is built as a consumable with no serviceable parts; so when the battery goes flat after warranty finishes, you throw the O2 Ring away and buy another. I have owned two of these things in the past two years. They are great while they last but very expensive for what they are and do. If you have an issue, Wellue, will refer you to the seller. After warranty you are on your own. In short, from my experience, the O2 Ring is not built to last longer than around a year.
This product worked OK until just a few days after the one year warranty. I contacted the company, but they declined to replace the device. While they were correct that the warranty expired several days earlier, I would hope they would stand behind their products. If you research other review sites you’ll find the short battery life is a common problem with the product. I would not recommend the Wellue O2 Ring, as the price is excessive for such a short lived device. Customer service counts a lot with me, and Wellue failed the test.
I agree with you Glen. The same happened to me. I had two O2 Rings in two years and they both lasted around a year. The first was replaced at around 50 weeks. The second is out of warranty. These oximeters are expensive consumable items, with limited functions. They are great when they work but they do not last long and support is non-existent. Wellue support responses are pathetic. I am waiting for the sports watches such as Garmin to improve even more.
My ring does not disconnect from the app when I am not syncing and it keeps an icon on the ring screen showing connected to bluetooth. Does not turn off. Any suggestions ?