Vital Signals is shipping a $399 ring called the Signal Ring in October, built around skipping the cuff entirely, no setup with one and no recalibration either. Founder Tom Moss built the company after a hypertension scare he didn't see coming, convinced people want a real number instead of a trend arrow.
Apple Watch flags a pattern that looks like hypertension but won't show actual systolic or diastolic numbers. Samsung's watches show numbers, but only after cuff calibration. Whoop's top-tier band needs the same calibration plus regular manual check-ins, and some users still report drift. The Signal Ring skips the cuff in both directions.
Getting a reading still means sitting still and manually starting a session in the app, with an auto-pause if you move or talk. Data only shows up once the ring has a connection, since processing happens in the cloud.
Rings have stayed further behind watches on this. Samsung's Galaxy Ring doesn't measure blood pressure at all. Circular Ring 2, funded on Kickstarter past $1 million, promised blood pressure tracking as a live premium feature, using ECG and PPG sensors together to estimate readings, but the ring has had mixed reviews and no independent testing has confirmed its accuracy.
Oura requires a monthly fee to unlock most of what its ring measures. Moss won't charge one, telling Bloomberg investors have warned him it's a mistake that will sink the company.
Moss isn't pitching this as a replacement for Oura or Fitbit. He's positioned it narrowly, for people who already have hypertension or are at real risk, and points everyone else toward a mainstream ring or watch instead. The Signal Ring hasn't been cleared by the FDA. The two wearables that have, Omron's HeartGuide watch and Aktiia's Hilo Band, both still require periodic cuff calibration to stay accurate.