Review of smart rings with NFC on board: how to set up and pay for purchases

The things that surround us are getting smarter before our eyes. First - smart phones, then - smart TVs and wristwatches, now it’s the turn of smart plugs, toilet seats and, God forgive me, rings. If the cunning Asians can squeeze a processor or NFC chip somewhere else, rest assured, they will do it. Sometimes innovators come up with something really convenient, and sometimes they come up with terrible trash, the place of which is in the encyclopedia of technical curiosities, and not on store shelves. Time will tell which of these two groups smart rings belong to. In the meantime, let's try to figure out what kind of animals these are, what they are needed for, and which 4 smart rings can be called the best options for budget-conscious geeks, athletes and fashionistas.

Smart rings: buyer's guide
TOP 4 best smart rings
FAQ

What is NFC smart ring

The NFC (Near Field Communication) ring is a “smart” jewelry equipped with a contactless chip. This technology allows you to use it instead of a bank card to pay for purchases or services in places where there is a PayPass terminal.

The first rings with NFS came out back in 2013. Since then, the device has captivated many and has become widespread among banking and mobile organizations. Such devices are found in:

Tinkoff Bank;
Sberbank;
Alfa-Bank;
VTB;
Moscow Credit Bank;
Apple et al.

Features of the technology

The rings are made of waterproof and durable alloy. The design is simple and versatile. There are white, black or gray models. For a lot of money, you can make a special product that will not only serve as a wallet, but also serve as decoration.

Some products are capable of:

manage household appliances;
understand gestures;
notify about an SMS received on your phone or a missed call;
monitor your heartbeat;
count calories or steps taken;
wake up your smartphone from sleep mode;
open doors;
store passwords, etc.

Keep in mind! It will be impossible to find a ring with a complete set of all functions. You will have to decide what is more important to you and make a choice.

How the NFC ring works

This device runs on an NXP MCU processor. It makes it possible to use the product to pay or open a lock. The NFS module can operate for up to 10 years.

You can set up or see information on linked cards using your smartphone. For example, to view card data, you just need to bring the ring to the phone.

The ring operates at a distance of 5-10 cm from the reader. To implement your plan, just press the button located on the product.

How does a contactless card work?

The most titled manufacturers

Logbar

Japanese, released for sale in 2015, is a unique invention that reads the gestures of the owner of a smart ring. If there are many devices around that support Bluetooth technology, Ring “Zero” will work actively: turn on the lights, open the door, adjust the music - all this can be done using gestures. Why is such an electronic miracle needed? The manufacturer is confident: to make life more comfortable.

McLEAR

In 2013, the English company released the world's first smart ring, the NFC Ring. In 2016, jewelry capable of being a payment device and information storage was presented at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and later demonstrated at the Super Cup, FIFA Confederations Cup, Eurovision, and Grammy. McLEAR's partners include Visa, Gemalto, Infineon and other financial institutions. According to the co-founder and CEO of the company, another invention of British engineers - the McLEAR Smart Ring payment device does not require charging.

Ringly

The founder of the brand is Cristina Mercado. The startup is aimed exclusively at a female audience. The model is elegant, a real piece of jewelry with a precious stone: black onyx, emerald, sapphire or rainbow moonstone. The body has a built-in Bluetooth LE transmitter that works in tandem with a smartphone based on iOS or Android. The jewelry not only has a mobile alert function, but also tracks the physical activity of the ring owner, including the distance traveled per day and calories burned.

Jackom

Comparison table of the best smart rings

To have a general idea of rings with NFS, we present several popular products, with their functionality and price.

Name	Characteristic	Cost in rubles
Smart Ring	NFS, does not require charging, waterproof.	200-300
Pay Ring	NFS, information transfer, electronic key. Can be made from noble metals.	4500
Motiv Ring	NFS, Bluetooth, all the functions of a smart bracelet, recognition of the owner step by step.	15000
Jakcom R3	NFS. Can be made from different materials.	1500

From the table we see that there are plenty of rings. There are many manufacturers and each creates their own unique product. The price segment varies, which means that everyone can choose something for themselves, according to their budget.

User reviews

Many bank clients have already personally evaluated payment rings and share their experience of using this accessory on various review sites.

“I have been using Visa Pay Ring relatively recently and so far there have been no incidents with payment. It works properly, the materials are of high quality, it looks beautiful and elegant, which is an important criterion for girls. It’s convenient to pay for purchases in stores or for subway travel,” Svetlana wrote.

Alfa-Bank client Valentin agrees with her, who wrote: “I am a lover of new gadgets, so I bought a smart ring from Alfa-Bank out of curiosity. I can’t say that the device delighted me. I have a bracelet with an identical function and I use it more often. Payments didn’t go through the first time a couple of times.”

However, there are also negative reviews. For example, Maxim believes that a contactless ring: “A useless purchase for those who travel a lot. The ring does not work in foreign stores. Therefore, it can only be used in the Russian Federation. For me, in this case, the ring loses 50% of its meaning. And it’s not cheap by my standards – 4,500 rubles.”

Many bank clients have already personally evaluated payment rings and share their experience of using this accessory on various review sites

Alexander didn’t like the device either: “I didn’t like the gadget at all. The antenna in it is much weaker than when using a smart bracelet or phone with NFC technology, so I still carry the card with me so as not to get into an unpleasant situation. My opinion is that it is a waste of money because there are many nuances to it, especially regarding safety. It’s very easy to write off money from such an accessory.”

Christina was pleased with the purchase: “I ordered a ring from China. It came with instructions for settings, so I didn’t need a lot of time to use it. I've only been using it for a couple of weeks, but I'm very pleased. Everything is read instantly, I pay them almost everywhere where possible.”

Whether you should buy yourself a payment ring is up to you to decide. But many note that using the already familiar Samsung and ApplePay is still much more convenient, especially if you have a smart watch.

5 / 5 ( 5 votes)

about the author

Evgeniy Nikitin Higher education majoring in Journalism at Lobachevsky University. For more than 4 years he worked with individuals at NBD Bank and Volga-Credit. Has experience working in newspapers and television in Nizhny Novgorod. She is an analyst of banking products and services. Professional journalist and copywriter in the financial environment [email protected]

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How it works: review of models and technology

To get better acquainted with the models of rings with NFC, let's look at their detailed description.

Inexpensive NFC Smart Ring

The most affordable product without unnecessary functionality. It only has an RFID tag. Classic design. You can program the NFS module yourself. The owner is given the opportunity to configure Smart Ring for:

opening doors;
unlocking the phone;
logging into applications;
transfer a contact to another device.

The ring works without recharging and is waterproof.

NFC ring Visa Payment Ring

The ring was issued by the Visa payment system. You can link it to both an account and a card. The design is standard - black or white gloss, with a logo on the inside. You can only purchase the product from a bank, not from third-party resources.

You can use the ring to pay at retail outlets that accept contactless payments.

Premium Motiv Ring Product

The Americans have released a ring that functions as a fitness tracker. The device is capable of:

count the steps taken;
calculate calories burned;
take your pulse;
help you quickly log in to the site;
make a payment in a second.

It will not function on the finger of another person, since the “smart” ring recognizes its owner by his gait. It runs on a battery, which will need to be recharged periodically. The payment ring can be combined with iPhone or Android phones. Made from high-strength titanium alloy

Apple Ring

This ring can be paired with iPhone and iWatch. There are several options for products - for wearing on the hand (right or left), in the nose and a wedding band (made of precious metal).

Regular rings are made of sapphire glass. Another feature is the presence of a touch display, the size of which is 0.125 inches.

How to pay by phone instead of a Sberbank card

Ring for payments from Visa Sberbank

A ring from Sberbank with NFC was recently introduced. Made of ceramic, shock-resistant and moisture-resistant. The presence of a chip in the device allows the owner to quickly pay for purchases.

It is possible to block the device via a smartphone.

What banks offer?

Russian banks have been offering contactless payment rings since 2017.

Sberbank

It is impossible to purchase an NFC ring from Sberbank, the joint project with Visa is closed, and you can only get the gadget from three Russian banks. To secure the ring’s binding, a separate account was created, in which a limited amount of funds was allowed to be stored.

The maximum volume of transactions during the reporting period was limited.

Alfa Bank

Alfa-Bank offers contactless payment rings only for Alfa-Private clients. The project was started jointly with the Visa payment system.

You can link the gadget to an account or only to Visa Alfa Miles Signature and Infinite cards. No battery charging or replacement required. The ceramic gadget will withstand falls and dives to a depth of up to 50 m.

Tinkoff

Tinkoff Bank, despite its desire to keep up with the times, does not offer its own version of a “smart” ring, but any purchased independently can be used to link to a card or account.

Rosselkhozbank

Rosselkhozbank offers rings costing 4,500 rubles and weighing 5 grams. together with the manufacturer Pay Ring, which are positioned as a new form of payment card and are made of zirconium dioxide.

There are 4 models to choose from called Saturn (black, matte, with two types of cuts), sizes from 16 to 24 (0.5 steps). Linking is only possible to cards with the “Individual” or “Personal” tariff plan. You can use the gadget to play sports, wash your hands, swim, or get caught in heavy rain.

ICD

A ring from MKB costs 4,500 rubles, but the size range is smaller (16.5-21). Available in smooth, matte, smooth and faceted, black and white and black and blue with stripes.

When you register for a Black Moskarta before July 10, 2022, the gadget for contactless payment comes as a gift.

In Belarus, payment accessories are offered by MTBank and Belagroprombank. Ukrainian Oschadbank accepts pre-orders for payment rings; the service is available only to premium clients.

How to choose the right size smart ring

“Smart” rings, like jewelry ones, are selected according to size. Different manufacturers may have slightly different sizes. You can view the list directly from the seller. Usually these are 2 columns, which indicate the size of the product and its internal radius.

Size	7	8	9	10	11	12
Radius	54mm	57.1mm	60mm	62.8mm	66mm	70mm

Attention! To avoid mistakes, try on the ring first.

Comments: 7

Your comment (question) If you have questions about this article, you can tell us. Our team consists of only experienced experts and specialists with specialized education. We will try to help you in this topic:

Author of the article Evgeny Nikitin

Consultant, author Popovich Anna

Financial author Olga Pikhotskaya

Olga
02.12.2022 at 19:09 I had a ring from Alfa Bank.
This is the most convenient thing you can think of, it’s such a pity that the validity period was only 3 years, it ended in 2022. I would really like to use this device again. Reply ↓
Eating
11/19/2021 at 07:27
I really liked the article. It is not for nothing that the author bears the title of journalist. He processed a lot of ancient, outdated and irrelevant information/rumors on the Internet and presented it all under the guise of real research. The article is absolutely useless and contains zero information, but I was pleased to read from the point of view of how the author combined all this unnecessary dross into an article that consists almost entirely of misinformation.
Reply ↓
Denis
09/04/2021 at 09:05
The network is full of information about payment rings, in fact, not a single bank, even those that are declared, offers such a service and does not give the opportunity to link your bank card to a third-party payment ring from China, the article is another canard about the development of technology.
Reply ↓
Valery
05/18/2020 at 18:53
What the hell are the rings from Sberbank and VTB...they didn’t issue them and don’t plan to
Reply ↓
Anonymous
02/07/2020 at 13:54
You can kill them)))
Reply ↓
…
07/27/2019 at 12:59
Lol people won't buy rings if they can use an orlata phone
Reply ↓
Aksam
10/11/2019 at 5:15 pm
lol. who needs a smartphone when it’s even more convenient and easier to pay for what you need with a ring?
Reply ↓

How to connect and configure after purchase

The payment ring will be useless if you do not activate and configure it. A smartphone will help you do this. First, you need to download and install the NFC Ring Control application on it.

The next course of action is as follows:

Find Settings on your phone.
Go to "More".
Open the "NFC Android Beam" option and activate it.
Log in to the Ring Control app.
Set a security password. This will make it possible to unlock the smartphone with a ring.
Set tasks.

Here you can program the ring to turn on or off the alarm clock, Bluetooth, music, etc. Here it’s easy to link cards that will later be used for payment.

How is this better or worse than a regular card?

There is no consensus on whether a smart ring is better or worse than a bank card. Fans of progressive technologies are inclined to believe that Smart Ring is an excellent solution for everyday tasks. The application allows you to simultaneously perform many functions without the use of additional gadgets.

Another point of view is negative, since the rings from some banking organizations require serious modification. For example, the accessory does not always work when paying for purchases or is completely blocked without good reason.

Payments using NFC rings

For the Smart Ring to work properly, you need to use it correctly. Not advisable:

overheat or keep the product at a very low temperature;
cover the location of the chip during data transfer;
expose the product to physical impact (falls, impacts).

To pay for an item, you just need to hold your finger with the ring to the terminal and wait. There is no need to unlock it (as is the case with a smartphone).

Where to buy

You can buy a smart ring at a bank, online, or in a store that sells mobile devices.

It will be cheaper to order online. Aliexpress is especially popular. There are numerous Chinese models with different functionality. You can receive it at the post office or in person by ordering courier delivery.

NFC and MIR card (contactless payment): how to link

The NFC ring, as mentioned above, is offered by banks. You can purchase such devices from a specific financial structure. Cloning of such products occurs systematically, as people actively order smart rings. Products are sometimes provided free of charge. Usually these are promotional programs. If desired, you can buy a ring for an additional fee if you pre-order.

It is convenient to purchase such products in banks, because the employees immediately help with the settings. After leaving the branch, the client can immediately go to the store and pay with the device.

If you have time to visit mobile stores, then purchasing there is not excluded. Prices will be slightly higher than on the Internet, but consultants will show and tell you how to work with the device.

Attention! When placing an order for a Smart ring, be careful - indicate everything you need (color, size, functionality). Also pay attention to the warranty card. This must be the case.

conclusions

Despite the fact that today smart rings have gained quite a lot of popularity, the possibilities of their use are still not fully defined. The development of new versions of these devices is in full swing, and Chinese developers are especially active in this. It is thanks to them that the global market for electronic gadgets is replenished with new models of smart rings, the price of which is not as high as for devices produced in Europe and America. And it is the Chinese who claim that the scope of use of smart rings in the near future will increase so much that ordinary, traditional mobile devices will have to make room very much.

Advantages and disadvantages

Before you buy and start using a ring with NFS, you should study all its positive and negative sides.

Pros of the smart ring:

does not take up much space;
convenient to use;
always in sight;
saves time (no need to waste time counting cash or entering the card PIN code);
has a universal design (can be purchased for both men and women, suitable for any clothing);
some models have an affordable price;
can replace a fitness bracelet;
has a high level of security during payments;
Many models do not need to be recharged.

Disadvantages of this device:

it is impossible to buy a ring with advanced functionality for a small amount;
if the product is lost or stolen, there is a risk of money being withdrawn from the account;
to protect funds in the event of loss, you will have to block the linked payment instrument;
A phone is required for setup and use.

Everyone decides for themselves whether they need such a device.

Key function

Almost every entrance door has intercoms installed. Sometimes troubles happen when the key to the front door is lost or remains lying on the table in the hallway. You can avoid this situation thanks to the smart ring.

Most electronic locks can be opened using the NFC module. Before unlocking the intercom, the lock tag is read. The smart ring stores the key type in memory for future use. The technology works at a distance of no more than 15 centimeters from the door.

The smart ring also works well as a transport and parking card. Therefore, it is not necessary to carry plastic with you. A smart ring will be a worthy analogue.