Smart rings have quietly become the wearable tech category’s most intriguing battleground, where companies are cramming increasingly sophisticated sensors into jewelry-sized packages. While most players focus on basic health metrics or sleep tracking, IDO’s new IDR01 Smart Ring takes a decidedly different approach by positioning itself as a comprehensive fitness companion that happens to live on your finger. Fresh off a successful Kickstarter campaign, this titanium-wrapped device promises to deliver what many athletes have been waiting for: serious sports tracking without the bulk of a traditional smartwatch.
The IDR01 represents IDO’s first foray into smart rings after 16 years of building sports watches, and that experience shows in every aspect of the design. Rather than treating the ring format as a limitation, IDO has leveraged the finger’s optimal positioning for sensor accuracy to create what might be the most sports-focused smart ring we’ve seen. With 18 dedicated sports modes, real-time performance feedback, a proprietary Body Energy system that calculates your training reserves, and no pesky subscription fees, the IDR01 feels less like a miniaturized fitness tracker and more like a purpose-built tool for serious athletes who want their data without the wrist real estate.
Designer: IDO
Click Here to Buy Now: $169 $384 (56% off). Hurry, only 82/300 left! Raised over $50,000.
The timing couldn’t be more perfect. Smartwatches have essentially evolved into glorified notification centers, buzzing with texts, emails, and app alerts while their fitness capabilities have stagnated. Sure, your Apple Watch can track a run, but it’s also constantly interrupting that run with reminders about meetings, social media notifications, and battery warnings. The IDR01 strips away all that digital noise and focuses purely on what your body is doing. No screen to glance at during a deadlift, no notifications during a yoga flow, just continuous, accurate data collection that happens invisibly in the background. This represents a fundamental shift in how we think about fitness tracking, moving from reactive screen-based interactions to proactive, ambient monitoring.
IDO’s sports pedigree becomes immediately apparent when you examine the feature set. The 18 supported activities aren’t just generic “workout” modes but carefully calibrated algorithms for specific sports, from outdoor running and cycling to HIIT and yoga. Each mode leverages different sensor combinations and analysis patterns based on IDO’s years of optimizing sports watch performance. The multi-chip architecture enables real-time heart rate monitoring, SpO2 readings, and skin temperature tracking during workouts, with data syncing instantly to your smartphone. Post-workout reports include detailed breakdowns of training time, calorie burn, heart rate zones, aerobic training effects, and estimated recovery periods. For outdoor activities, GPS integration provides route tracking with full Google Maps compatibility, letting you analyze performance in real-world contexts that most ring competitors simply can’t match.
The Body Energy system solves one of fitness tracking’s biggest challenges: knowing when to push and when to rest. By analyzing heart rate variability, blood oxygen levels, breathing patterns, and your daily routine, the ring calculates your energy reserves and provides guidance on training intensity. This isn’t another generic recovery score based on sleep duration and step count; it’s a dynamic assessment that adapts throughout the day based on your body’s actual physiological state. The system helps prevent overtraining while maximizing workout effectiveness, something that’s particularly valuable for athletes juggling multiple training modalities. While your smartwatch is busy calculating stand goals and reminding you to breathe, the IDR01 is actually analyzing whether your nervous system is ready for another interval session.
Sleep tracking gets equally sophisticated treatment, with the IDR01 analyzing REM, light, and deep sleep phases alongside skin temperature fluctuations and breathing quality. The visual sleep reports provide comprehensive data on sleep efficiency, wake times, and recovery quality, with personalized recommendations for improving rest. The stress monitoring system uses HRV analysis to generate real-time stress indices throughout the day, helping users understand how their mental and emotional states affect their physical performance. Blood sugar management features allow manual logging of glucose levels with contextual tags for symptoms or conditions, creating a more complete picture of metabolic health. All of this happens without a single notification, alert, or screen interaction disrupting your day.
The gesture control functionality is clever, allowing you to turn your ring into a control interface of sorts, simply by moving your hand in the air. Users can customize one of three gesture options to answer calls, control music playback, or trigger camera functions without reaching for their phone. This feature becomes genuinely useful during workouts when accessing your phone isn’t practical, but it’s implemented subtly rather than as a flashy selling point. The magnetic charging dock provides quick top-ups for the 18.5-20mAh battery, which varies slightly based on ring size but delivers 5-day usage regardless of activity level. No daily charging anxiety, no battery percentage widgets cluttering your watch face.
The design philosophy centers on what IDO calls “seamless integration,” and they’ve executed it flawlessly. The titanium alloy outer shell provides durability that can handle everything from pool sessions to rock climbing, while the inner polymer ring ensures comfort during extended wear. Available in matte black, silver, and gold finishes, the IDR01 manages to look like premium jewelry rather than obvious tech. The 5ATM water resistance rating means you can swim laps or shower without a second thought, and the ultra-lightweight construction makes it genuinely forgettable on your finger until you need the data it’s collecting. Compare this to the chunky, screen-dominated smartwatches that announce their presence with every gesture and constantly demand attention through haptic feedback and visual alerts. Moreover, the ring just works with Android and iOS devices seamlessly. The app is free, and features aren’t hidden behind any paywall. You pay once and never again – just how good tech is supposed to be.
For early bird backers, that payment is to the tune of $169, which is vastly discounted from its original $384 MSRP. Place your pledge and IDO will send over a finger sizing kit for free, allowing you to determine the size that fits you the best. Once confirmed, the final ring ships to you in the size of your choice, across gold, silver, or metallic black color variants. The IDR01 ships globally starting November, with the sizing kit shipping 2 weeks before the ring itself.
Click Here to Buy Now: $169 $384 (56% off). Hurry, only 82/300 left! Raised over $50,000.
The post This $169 Smart Ring Tracks 18 Sports Better Than Your $400 Smartwatch first appeared on Yanko Design.