The age of smartphones is over. The time of the smart ring has come. Of course, the age of smartphones is nowhere near its end, but since we’re about to talk of smart rings, I just couldn’t help but use a Lord of the Rings quote. It’s the law.Back in the summer of 2023, Itel and its parent company, Transsion (also responsible for the Tecno and Infinix brands) entered the ranks of the top five global smartphone makers by shipment volume, according to a report for the second quarter ending in June 2023.
Transsion shipped 22.7 million units, marking a 22% year-over-year increase. This boost raised Transsion’s market share to 9%, up from 6% in the same period in 2022. The company’s strong performance was driven by a rebound in the African markets and its recent push into other emerging markets.
Then, in 2024, Transsion was the fastest-growing manufacturer of the first quarter, recording an impressive 84.9% increase in shipments compared to the previous year.
Now, Transsion’s Itel appears to be joining the smart ring trend, as recent filings found by 91mobiles indicate that the company is working on its own finder gadget. The upcoming itel smart ring was recently spotted on Indonesia’s Telecom SDPPI (Directorate General of Resources and Equipment Standardization for Post and Informatics), along with an associated app listed on the Play Store.
While the listing does not reveal specific features, the involvement of itel’s parent company, Transsion, indicates that related brands like Tecno and Infinix might also be planning their own smart rings in the near future.
Details about the ring’s launch in India remain scarce, but insights from the itel ring app on the Play Store gives an idea of what to expect. The smart ring is designed for Android compatibility and could include several key health and fitness features. One notable feature is a “Physical Recovery score”, which estimates the body’s readiness for physical activity based on data like calorie intake and sleep duration.
The app also includes a selection of relaxing music to aid sleep, and it would be useful if future updates allow users to control playback directly from the ring.
The itel Smart Ring is expected to log various fitness metrics such as steps taken, distance covered, calories burned, and sleep duration. It will likely support multiple activity modes like walking, running, and cycling. Users will also have the option to customize gestures and enable or disable automatic heart rate monitoring, though the latter could be a battery-intensive feature.
As itel is known for its budget-friendly products, this smart ring may be priced competitively, targeting consumers looking for affordable wearable technology. In this price segment, itel’s offering would compete with existing options like the boAt Smart Ring Active (around $45) and the Pebble Iris Smart Ring (approximately $59).
Stay tuned for more information!