RingConn's ring gets FDA clearance for blood oxygen
The FDA has cleared a smart ring from RingConn's parent company as a pulse oximeter. What the record shows, what hasn't been published yet, and why a clearance is about one feature, not the whole ring.
Soma Labs3 min read
On October 10, Shenzhen Ninenovo Technology, the company behind the RingConn smart ring, announced that the FDA had cleared its ring to measure blood oxygen, also called SpO2. The FDA's own database confirms it.
Smart rings have measured blood oxygen for years, mostly as a wellness estimate. A clearance means the measurement itself went through the FDA's review as a medical device.
What the FDA record shows
The clearance is listed as 510(k) K260490. The applicant is Shenzhen Ninenovo Technology Limited, and the device is named the Ninenovo Blood Oxygen Ring, in sizes 6 to 14. The FDA received the submission on February 13 and decided on October 2. It sits under the product code for oximeters, and the decision is "substantially equivalent", the standard 510(k) finding that the device performs comparably to one already on the market.
According to the company, the ring reads SpO2 with optical sensors, the same principle as a fingertip clip: light shines through the skin and the device estimates how much of the blood's hemoglobin is carrying oxygen.
What isn't public yet
The company's release gives no accuracy figures and doesn't describe how the feature is meant to be used, for example as a spot check or overnight. The FDA's summary of the submission wasn't yet posted when we checked. The company also says it is still running clinical research on blood oxygen monitoring.
That leaves the most useful questions open for now. How close is the ring to a reference measurement, across which range of oxygen levels, and in which people? Optical readings depend on fit, movement and skin, which is why those details matter more than the clearance headline.
One feature, not the whole ring
A clearance applies to a specific function. It doesn't turn everything else a ring reports, like sleep scores or stress, into reviewed medical measurements. Those usually remain wellness features. When you compare devices, it's worth checking which number was reviewed and for what use, rather than reading "FDA cleared" as a label for the whole product.
If a blood oxygen reading worries you, from any device, the right step is to talk to a clinician. Neither a ring nor a fingertip clip is a diagnosis on its own.
Where Soma fits
We think clearances like this are good for the category. They push companies to show how their numbers compare with a reference, which is what anyone relying on them should want.
Soma takes a different route. It's a general wellness product, it isn't a medical device and it doesn't diagnose. Soma Axon, which we're still building, is a closed pod you'll visit once a week, with the same light, cameras and stance each time, and every value it shows will come with its margin of error. The same instrument, every week explains why we care about measuring the same way every time.
Sources, as of October 14, 2026: FDA, 510(k) premarket notification K260490 (decision October 2, 2026); Shenzhen Ninenovo Technology via PR Newswire, RingConn Receives FDA 510(k) Clearance for Non-Invasive Blood Oxygen (SpO2) Measurement (October 10, 2026). This post describes a regulatory decision and isn't medical advice.