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Kensington SD5010T5 EQ: 30-second review

The Kensington SD5010T5 EQ is a 13-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 docking station announced in May 2026. It sits at the entry end of Kensington's growing TB5 line-up and is designed to bring next-generation connectivity to a broader audience without the price tag of the flagship EQ Pro.

The key design choice here is straightforward. Kensington trades two of the three downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports found on the SD5000T5 for a pair of built-in HDMI 2.1 outputs. That is a significant swap.

Windows users gain the convenience of plugging monitors in directly, but Mac users with Apple-only displays lose access to the full TB5 daisy-chain capability offered by some of the alternatives.

What remains is still competitive, but it’s a Windows-centric choice.

Another PC-friendly inclusion is that the dock delivers 140W power delivery with KonstantCharge, meaning peripherals continue charging even when the laptop is absent. There are two USB-C Gen 2 ports that the SD5000T5 lacked, three USB-A ports across two speed grades, SD 4.0 and microSD 4.0 card readers, 2.5Gbps Ethernet, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack.

That spec pitches to Windows-based creatives who want to connect their laptop to multiple monitors and peripherals while recharging.

The issue with Kensington-branded equipment is always the asking price, and the SD5010T5 EQ is at the premium price end of the small TB5 dock offerings. That said, it’s a highly capable device, and on the cusp of being the best laptop docks for Thunderbolt 5 right now.

Kensington SD5010T5 EQ: Price & availability

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

• How much does it cost? $300/£330
• When is it out? Available now in the USA
• Where can you get it? Direct from Kensington or via an online retailer

The Kensington SD5010T5 EQ Thunderbolt 5 Triple 4K Docking Station is currently available through Kensington's official site and selected retail partners.

Launched at an MSRP of $349.99 / £329.99, it falls squarely within the premium pricing tier commanded by next-generation multi-display docks. The actual retail price is $299.99 on Amazon.com in the US, but it has yet to appear on European Amazon locations.

On the UK Kensington website, you are directed to ask for ‘business pricing’, hinting that Kensington want to keep this product decidedly B2B in some regions.

This investment positions it alongside competitor offerings like the Cable Matters Thunderbolt 5 Dock, yet it undercuts hyper-premium alternatives by choosing a tightly curated 13-in-1 layout over expansive, multi-device enterprise chassis. For business fleets, it's a standard three-year limited warranty and unified hardware SKU offer tangible IT cost-reduction benefits during long-term workspace standardisation rollouts.

However, the recent Ugreen Maxidok 10-in-1 offers very similar specifications, equivalent build quality, and better availability than the SD5010T5, but it sells for $50 less.

Also cheaper is the StarTech Thunderbolt 5 Dock, which sells for around $283 on Amazon, and bears an uncanny resemblance to the Kensington product. The same spec, ports, and layout hint that one or both of these products are rebrands or derivatives.

Therefore, with this pricing, Kensington is hoping that its customer base is more trusting of its brand than Ugreen, or that the deals its B2B channel pathway can offer counter those comparisons.

What I should say is that, compared to a few Kensington docks I might mention, the SD5010T5 seems to be on the right side of affordable. But that doesn’t make it a bargain.

• Value: 4 / 5

Kensington SD5010T5 EQ: Specs

Feature

Specification

Model

SD5010T5 EQ (K35210EU)

Compatibility

Thunderbolt 5, Thunderbolt 4, USB4 (Windows 11 23H2+, macOS 14.5)

Total Ports

13

Thunderbolt 5 (upstream)

1x TB5 host port (80Gbps / 120Gbps Bandwidth Boost)

Thunderbolt 5 (downstream)

1x TB5 ports

USB-A ports

3x USB-A 3.2 Gen2 (1x 10Gbps, 2x 5Gbps)

USB-C ports

2 x USB-C Gen2 10Gbps (1 x 30W, 1 x 7.5W)

Video

2x HDMI 2.1 (+ 1xTB5 ports with adapters)

Display Output (Windows / TB5)

Triple 4K @ 144Hz, or Dual 8K @ 60Hz

Display Output (macOS M4/M5 base, M-Pro/Max)

Dual 4K @ 60Hz via HDMI, or 4K + 6K via HDMI + TB5

Power Delivery

Up to 140W on upstream

Power Use

4.5W each on USB-A ports, 30W on 1x USB-C, 7.5W on 1x USB-C, 15W on TB5 downstream

Storage Slot

N/A

Card Readers

SD 4.0 + microSD 4.0

Network

1x 2.5GbE Ethernet

Audio

1 x 3.5mm Combo Microphone & Headphone Port (front)

Security

Kensington lock slot (cable lock sold separately, (K65020EU or K65021WW))

Thermal

Passive cooling

Construction

Aluminium

Weight

780g

Size

140 x 140 x 40mm

Warranty

3 years

Kensington SD5010T5 EQ: Design

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

• Mac mini-sized
• Plenty of ports
• Only one TB5 downstream port

In terms of physical construction, Kensington has delivered an exceptionally solid, industrial-grade brick. The shell is sculpted from 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) aluminium, featuring a striking milled exterior with structural ridging across its top surface that serves dual purposes: heat dissipation and minimalist styling.

Capped with sleek black impact-resistant composite faces on the front and rear, this unit sits anchored heavily on the desktop. It is a substantial, reassuringly weighted device designed to remain planted even when thick, stiff high-bandwidth cables are plugged into its rear ports.

While this is a guess on my part, I think the target audience here was undoubtedly Apple Mac Mini owners. The size is about 13mm larger, front and side, than the current Mac Mini, and therefore it would easily fit on top of the SD5010T5. I could test that assertion if I owned one, but I never have.

On this dock, the Port layout follows a logical workflow separation, though they show distinct philosophy differences from lower-tier hubs. The front face hosts immediate-access operational IO: an informative status LED, one high-speed 10Gbps USB-A port providing 7.5W of charging, a 3.5mm audio combo jack, and twin high-performance SD and MicroSD 4.0 card readers.

Wisely, the primary high-power upstream Thunderbolt 5 connection is routed safely away to the rear panel alongside the downstream expansion tree.

This layout successfully pushes trailing host cables out of sight, maximising usable desk space. The rear array includes two native HDMI 2.1 ports, a 2.5GbE LAN interface, two standard legacy USB-A ports, and two Thunderbolt 5 receptacles, one each for uplink and downlink.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Unlike competing consumer-grade products, the dock includes integrated dual security-lock slots for Kensington cables, along with an optional zero-footprint vertical-mounting bracket array tailored specifically for dense corporate desks.

The issue the port selection immediately raises is how committed is this dock to TB5. Since you can only connect a single downstream device, that doesn’t naturally translate into more direct ways to exploit its maximum performance potential.

Unsurprisingly, the Kensington Security Slot is present, as it is across the EQ range. A zero-footprint mounting bracket is also available as an optional accessory (K34050WW), allowing the dock to be hidden beneath a desk. That is a thoughtful addition for hot-desking environments where visibility and access are priorities.

Build quality across the Kensington EQ family has been consistently praised. The three-year limited warranty reflects confidence in that construction.

• Design: 4 / 5

Kensington SD5010T5 EQ: Features

• TB5 Bandwidth
• Triple monitors
• 140W charging

The core proposition of the SD5010T5 EQ centres entirely on the transformative potential of Intel's Thunderbolt 5 standard. By doubling the bi-directional throughput of Thunderbolt 4 to a baseline of 80Gbps, it eliminates the strict interface constraints of yesteryear. Or, that’s the theory.

For complex multi-monitor tasks, its asymmetric Bandwidth Boost mechanism dynamically flexes to deliver up to 120Gbps of pure display pipeline throughput. This immense pipeline allows a Windows 11 host to comfortably drive a spectacular three 4K monitors at 144Hz or dual 8K displays at 60Hz simultaneously over native HDMI and downstream ports without sub-sampling artefacts or compression stutter.

For macOS workflows, the docking station provides comprehensive native support, although it is constrained by Apple's architectural variations across its silicon tiers. Base M4/M5 MacBooks can confidently extend to dual 4K monitors at 60Hz via the direct dual HDMI outputs, while advanced configurations equipped with M5 Pro or M5 Max silicon can completely maximise productivity by driving a full triple-display array.

That said, for numerous reasons, I suspect that Apple fans are more likely to gravitate toward a dock with TB5 daisy-chaining as a priority than toward this layout, which has only one downlink port.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Beyond data and video, power delivery is a standout highlight. Operating under the advanced USB-C Power Delivery 3.1 architecture, the dock outputs a massive 140W over its single upstream link. That’s plenty of power to rapidly fast-charge a high-end 16-inch workstation laptop under maximum computational loads, assuming nothing else is sucking power from the dock.

I’ll talk more about this later, but a 140W output uses most of the PSU's capacity, leading to potential deficits elsewhere.

Kensington has integrated its clever KonstantCharge engineering, which guarantees that downstream accessories and smartphones connected to the designated charging ports continue to receive stable power even when the host laptop is entirely uncoupled from the desk. Which is useful.

Power management on this dock is one of its strengths, but conversely, if you do use three monitors, you won’t have any downstream Thunderbolt ports to connect a TB5 external SSD or an adapter to run 10GbE Ethernet.

• Features: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)Kensington SD5010T5 EQ: Performance

• 80Gbps upstream bandwidth
• TB5 Bandwidth Boost for video
• Power seems an issue

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

In synthetic testing and real-world deployment, the SD5010T5 EQ runs at the absolute peak of peripheral capabilities, provided you are feeding it from a native Thunderbolt 5 silicon host. Interfacing with next-generation external storage configurations reveals blistering cross-device speeds, easily saturating high-end NVMe drive enclosures well beyond old Thunderbolt 4 thresholds.

The built-in SD and MicroSD 4.0 readers operate natively on the UHS-II bus, consistently sustaining benchmarked file transfer rates up to 312MBps. This easily outpaces the built-in card readers integrated into premium notebooks, making it a highly valued asset for digital content creators, photographers, and video editors handling raw 8K video timelines.

Networking performance is similarly robust. Upgrading from standard 1GbE to an integrated 2.5Gbps RJ45 Ethernet port allows the dock to mesh perfectly with modern high-speed corporate network infrastructures, accelerating large local network backups and NAS file transfers.

However, early testing uncovers a clear hardware limitation regarding the dock's 180W external power supply unit. While 140W is reliably allocated to feed the host laptop over the upstream cable, that leaves a slim 40W headroom to run the internal hub logic, the high-power 2.5GbE controller, and all remaining downstream ports.

When a user populates the 30W fast-charging USB-C port while simultaneously running a 15W downstream Thunderbolt accessory and drawing power from the front legacy USB-A line, the power envelope hits an absolute wall, which might lead to minor wattage throttling on the uplink or brief accessory disconnection cycles under full load.

It’s hard to say how much extra power the PSU needed to negate this possible pitfall, but some smaller docks, like the Ugreen Maxidok 10-in-1, have roughly 60W to work with above the laptop charging requirements. And, I did also notice that the Maxidok 17-to-1 promises 140W laptop charging, but has a 240W PSU.

But conversely, the Plugable TBT-UDT3 has the same 180W PSU and 140W output as the SD5010T5 EQ, but doesn’t include a 30W-enabled USB 3.2 port.

It may be that Kensington thinks that much headroom is unnecessary for the majority of customers, but evidently, other dock makers see things differently.

Overall, the SD5010T5 EQ delivers the sort of experience that encourages those who have the choice of a laptop or Mini PC with TB5 to side with that technology. For those with TB4 or USB4, there is no practical advantage to this over cheaper docks.

• Performance: 4 / 5

Kensington SD5010T5 EQ: Final verdict

(Image credit: Kensington Technologies)

There is plenty to like here, if you can ignore Kensington’s temptation to make things more expensive than it can easily justify.

However, if you intend to attach three monitors to a dock, then the ports on this one are well organised, unless you use DisplayPort and not HDMI. That could save you additional expense on adapters that other docks require implicitly.

The flip side of those design choices is that there is only one TB5 downlink, so those who designed this device assumed the buyers wouldn’t have more than one TB5 high-performance peripheral. While that might not seem crazy now, in a few years' time, TB5 or USB4v2 external SSDs might be the norm, creating a bottleneck with this arrangement

In this respect, the SD5010T5 EQ makes a guess about the future: while Thunderbolt 5 is an excellent technology for connecting a dock, it's too expensive for external storage that isn’t premium-priced. If you agree with that prediction, the SD5010T5 EQ is likely a good fit for you. If you think differently, that faster external drives are going to dominate in the near future, a dock with more TB5 ports would probably be a better choice.

As a product in the broader Thunderbolt 5 docking market, the SD5010T5 fills a specific gap. Entry-level TB5 docks with built-in video outputs and strong USB-C provision are not yet common. If the pricing were more competitive, this dock would be easy to recommend to the right buyer.

Kensington SD5010T5 EQ: Report card

Value

High-quality product but a premium price

4 / 5

Design

Nice engineering and plenty of ports

4 / 5

Features

Works with TB5, TB4 and USB4, and the native HDMI ports avoid the need for adapters.

4 / 5

Performance

Native TB5 video and dual HDMI, but no DisplayLink, The 180W PSU gets stretched thin if every port is used.

4 / 5

Overall

The price and only a single TB5 downlink stop this device from being a go-to choice.

4 / 5

Should I buy a Kensington SD5010T5 EQ?

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)Buy it if...

You have Thunderbolt 5
If you have the right ports, you can extract levels of performance from this dock that TB4 and USB4 could only dream. And it can also handle dual 8K video, should you have the monitors to connect to. However, the enormous architectural benefits and 120Gbps video boost require a proper next-gen host to be fully realized.

You demand multi-display native HDMI setups
The inclusion of dual native HDMI ports significantly streamlines multi-monitor cable management without relying on adapters. And, not needing those might save the difference between this and something cheaper.View Deal

Don't buy it if...

You are running a Thunderbolt 4 or legacy USB4 laptop
This dock won’t work with TB3, it requires TB4, TB5 or USB4. But while fully backwards compatible with TB4 and USB4, you will pay a massive early-adopter premium for speed capabilities you cannot access.

You need a native DisplayPort
Those aiming to route displays solely via traditional DisplayPort connectors will find this dock heavily prioritising HDMI. You can get a Thunderbolt to DisplayPort adapter, but that’s an extra cost, and you can only use one.

Also consider

Kensington SD5000T5 EQ
More of a hub than a dock, but overall, it is a well-specified dock for those planning to head down the TB5 rabbit hole. However, the lack of machines with this port and peripherals to connect does make it largely overkill at this point. But cheaper than the SD7100T5 EQ Pro.

Check out our Kensington SD5000T5 EQ reviewView Deal

Ugreen Maxidok 10-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station
A similarly sized dock that went a different path with the display and Thunderbolt downlinks, making it probably more suitable for Mac users. I wasn’t a fan of a permanently attached uplink cable, but the rest of this device is excellent. And, it's also $50 less than the Kensington SD5010T5 EQ.

Check out my full Ugreen Maxidok 10-in-1 review

The Kensington SD5010T5 EQ Thunderbolt 5 Dock is an elegant option for those with TB5 ports.

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Circular Ring 2: One minute review

The Circular Ring 2 is an ambitious smart ring. On paper, it has almost everything you need. Alongside standard health, recovery and sleep tracking, it offers features you won't find on many rivals, including electrocardiogram (ECG) readings and atrial fibrillation (AFib) detection. Circular is also promising blood pressure and blood glucose trend monitoring in future updates.

At first glance, it feels like a genuine challenger to the likes of Oura, RingConn and Samsung. The ring itself looks good, feels lightweight on the finger and comes with a charging case, which is a welcome upgrade over the previous Circular model. Battery life is solid too, lasting around six days during my testing.

But unfortunately, the day-to-day experience doesn't live up to that impressive spec sheet.

(Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)

The biggest issue is the software. Smart rings don't have screens, which means the app is incredibly important. That's where the Circular Ring 2 struggles the most.

Syncing regularly took several minutes, occasionally failed altogether and often required multiple attempts. Several times I opened the app to check my data, waited for it to sync, gave up and closed it again.

The app itself feels cluttered and unintuitive. Health data is scattered across multiple screens, navigation can be confusing and the language often feels strangely robotic.

One morning, for example, I was told my sleep was "Incorrect" and the next my wellness summary informed me: "Your sleep was correct. Your energy seems low. Your body and mind are unbalanced." Rather than helping me understand my health, experiences like this often left me more confused.

Some of the ring's most exciting features also failed to impress. ECG and AFib monitoring never fully worked during my testing, while promised blood pressure and glucose tracking features have yet to arrive.

What makes all of this especially frustrating is that when I revisited my Circular Ring Slim review from back in 2024, I found many of the same complaints. The hardware has definitely improved, but the software experience still feels a step behind the competition.

The Circular Ring 2 isn't a bad smart ring. It has a good design, respectable battery life and an ambitious feature set. But in a market increasingly dominated by the best smart rings from polished competitors like Oura, RingConn and Samsung, ambition alone isn't enough. Right now, Circular still feels like a company with great ideas struggling to execute them.

Circular Ring 2: Specifications

Component

Circular Ring 2

Price

£280 (black), £360 (silver), £440 (rose gold, gold) / $349, $449, $549 / AU$497, AU$639, AU$782

Dimensions

2.55mm thick, 7.8mm wide

Weight

3g

Finish

Black, silver, rose gold, gold

Sizes

6 to 14

Material

Titanium body, hypoallergenic interior with a PVD coating

Battery life

Up to 8 days (power mode); 5 days (performance mode)

Sensors

ECG, PPG, temp sensor, 3x accelerometer

Connection

Bluetooth

Water resistance

Fully waterproof (rating not specified)

(Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)Circular Ring 2: Price and availability

• Pricing starts at £280 / $349 / AU$497
• Rolled out after a Kickstarter release in late 2025 / early 2026
• No subscription needed, but premium features expected soon

Rather than arriving as a traditional retail release, the Circular Ring 2 began life as a Kickstarter project in 2025 before gradually rolling out to customers through late 2025 and into 2026.

Pricing starts at £280 / $349 / AU$497 for the black version, rising to £360 / $449 / AU$639 for the silver model I tested. The gold and rose gold finishes sit at the top of the range at £440 / $549 / AU$782.

At first glance, the Circular Ring 2 looks competitively priced. One of its biggest selling points is that it doesn't require a mandatory subscription to access core features, unlike the Oura Ring 4, which starts at £349 / $349 / AU$534 and also requires an additional monthly membership fee of £5.99 / $5.99

However, the picture becomes a little more complicated when you look closer. Circular is already promoting upcoming premium features, including blood pressure and blood glucose trend monitoring, which aren't available but are expected soon. The company says these features will either require a subscription or can be unlocked using Circular Coins, which are earned through regular use, but details remain limited and pricing has yet to be confirmed.

Looking across the wider smart ring market, the Circular Ring 2 sits in a crowded middle ground. It's cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy Ring, which starts at £399 / $399 / AU$699, but more expensive than the RingConn Gen 2 at £299 / $299 / AU$460. There are also budget-focused options now, like the Amazfit Helio Ring, which costs significantly less at £149.90 / $149.99 / AU$269.

The problem isn't necessarily the asking price here but more that the performance doesn't justify it. While the Circular Ring 2 undercuts some of the biggest names in the category, like Oura, Samsung and RingConn, they all currently offer a more polished experience. That makes the Circular Ring 2 difficult to view as good value, even before any future premium features are brought into the equation.

• Value score: 2.5/5

(Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)Circular Ring 2: Design

• Lightweight, slim design
• Silver color doesn’t scratch
• Nice new charging case included

I liked the design of the Circular Ring 2. The fit was very comfortable throughout testing, even when I was sleeping, and at just 2g it felt light on my finger. The silver finish also looks fairly premium.

Circular offers a wide range of sizes here, from 6 to 14, which beats most rivals. I tested a size 8 on my left index finger, which matched the recommendation from Circular's new digital AI sizing tool.

While the company still offers a traditional sizing kit as well, it's nice to see a less wasteful digital alternative that actually proved accurate in my case. Especially considering you’ll need to pay an extra £5 / $5 for Circular's traditional sizing kit.

The Circular Ring 2 has softer, more rounded edges than rivals like the RingConn Gen 2 or previous Circular Ring Slim. Whether that's a positive or negative will come down to personal preference, but it does make the ring feel slightly chunkier than some competitors despite it being one of the slimmest choices available at 2.5mm thick. A small circular logo on the outer edge makes it easy to get the right way round so that the sensors are where they need to be.

I tested the silver model, which I'd recommend over the black version. Black smart rings tend to show scratches more easily, and that was one of the big problems on the previous Circular Ring Slim. After two weeks of wear, my ring had picked up a few minor scuffs but was in good condition overall.

Another welcome improvement here is the charging case. Unlike the Circular Ring Slim, which relied on a charging cable and small plinth, the Ring 2 ships with a compact clamshell charging case that's easy to carry and use.

Overall, the ring's design is one of the Circular Ring 2's biggest strengths. The company has clearly refined the hardware. Unfortunately, as we'll see later, the software hasn't evolved at the same pace.

• Design Score: 4/5

(Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)Circular Ring 2: Features

• Lots of features
• ECG and AFib
• Glucose and blood pressure readings on the way

The Circular Ring 2 has an ambitious set of features. Alongside standard health, sleep and activity tracking, it measures metrics like heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), skin temperature and breathing rate.

There are also women's health features designed to track hormonal shifts and fertility, plus stress monitoring, guided breathing exercises, medication reminders and an AI assistant called Kira.

The headline features are ECG measurements and AFib detection, both of which are rare in smart rings. Circular is also promising blood pressure and blood glucose trend monitoring in future updates, though neither feature was available during testing and both will sit behind a premium-ish model when they arrive. Blood pressure is not easy to measure with LED-based optical heart rate sensors, without an inflatable cuff for calibration: it will be interesting to see what form the blood pressure feature eventually takes, and whether it will be accurate.

On paper, it's an impressive package that rivals, and in some cases actually exceeds, what you'll find from bigger names in this space.

• Features Score: 4/5

(Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)Circular Ring 2: Performance

• Disappointing app
• Slow to sync and update
• Battery life is improved

The Circular Ring 2 made a good first impression. Basic metrics like steps, heart rate and sleep tracking all seemed reasonable during the first few days of testing. But the longer I wore it, the more problems started to emerge.

The biggest issue is the app. Smart rings don't have screens, which means if you think about it, the app effectively is the product, much like a Whoop band. That's where the Circular Ring 2 falls behind rivals.

Syncing is frustratingly slow. Pulling data from the ring often took several minutes and occasionally failed altogether, forcing me to try again. That might sound like a small complaint, but it adds unnecessary friction. Several times I found myself opening the app, waiting for data to sync, then simply closing it again. If I owned this ring long-term, I suspect I'd eventually stop checking the app altogether.

The app itself feels cluttered and unintuitive. Health insights, scores, charts and features are scattered across multiple screens, while the home page is filled with circles, cards and widgets competing for attention. Even as someone who tests wearables for a living, I often found it harder than it should be to locate specific information.

The language doesn't help either. As mentioned above, the app kept telling me my sleep was “Incorrect”, or my body was "unbalanced", which left me confused rather than enlightened.

The AI assistant, Kira, wasn't much better, largely repackaging existing data in a confusing format with tiny fonts and a huge chunk of text with generic recommendations, like "stay hydrated". Some of the ring's most exciting features also failed to deliver. ECG and AFib monitoring never fully worked during my testing, repeatedly getting stuck on a loading screen.

Sleep tracking was generally accurate when I followed a conventional sleep schedule, but it struggled with fragmented sleep and occasionally recorded inaccurate sleep times. On several occasions I woke up for a few hours before going back to sleep, only for the ring to record the entire period as one continuous sleep session.

Workout tracking isn’t what smart rings do best. But here it still feels like an afterthought. Sports Sessions are hidden away, must be started manually and there's no automatic workout detection, unlike competitors like the Oura Ring 4 and Samsung Galaxy Ring. I also experienced a handful of smaller bugs, including random disconnections and occasional time zone changes despite not travelling anywhere.

Battery life is one area where the Circular Ring 2 performs well. Circular promises up to five days in Performance Mode and I managed six days during testing. That's competitive with most major rivals and a significant improvement over the Circular Ring Slim.

Overall, the Circular Ring 2 feels like a smart ring with excellent ideas but inconsistent execution. Yes, the hardware is good, the feature list is impressive and the battery life is solid. But the software experience remains frustratingly rough around the edges, and in an increasingly competitive smart ring market, that's difficult to overlook.

• Performance score: 2.5/5

(Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)Circular Ring 2: Scorecard

Category

Comment

Score

Value

There’s no subscription, which makes it seem like good value. But once you factor in the inconsistent performance and the strength of the competition, it's difficult to justify the price.

2.5/5

Design

Lightweight, comfortable to wear and I liked the charging case. It doesn't stand out against the best-looking smart rings on the market, but the hardware feels thoughtfully designed with minimal signs of wear.

4/5

Features

An impressive range of health, wellness and sleep tracking features, including ECG and AFib monitoring. The challenge isn't the breadth of features available, but the fact that some are still missing despite being promised.

4/5

Performance

The feature set is promising, but it’s held back by slow syncing, buggy behavior and an app that feels cluttered and unfinished. Battery life is good, but an overall lack of polish makes it difficult to recommend.

2.5/5

Circular Ring 2: Should I buy?Buy it if...

You don't want to pay a subscription
Most of its features are available without an ongoing monthly fee. If you've been put off smart rings like Oura because of the subscription, this is a big draw.

You want a comfortable smart ring
It’s lightweight, comfortable to wear and a noticeable improvement over the Ring Slim that came before it.

You mainly want general health insights
If you're looking for a broad overview of things like sleep, recovery and activity rather than detailed fitness data, it does cover the basics.

Don't buy it if...

You want a polished, reliable experience
Slow syncing, occasional bugs and an unintuitive app make the Circular Ring 2 feel less refined than leading rivals.

You care about data accuracy
Sleep tracking struggled with fragmented sleep during testing, ECG and AFib monitoring didn't work consistently, and workout tracking feels underdeveloped.

You're considering Oura, Samsung or RingConn
The Circular Ring 2 has an ambitious feature set, but the overall experience isn't as polished as the leading smart rings on the market.

Also consider

Oura Ring 4

For a more premium and polished ring, app and performance, try the Oura Ring 4. The main reason I'd dissuade people from the Oura is it's expensive, but the silver version is actually cheaper than the Circular Ring 2. Granted you do then have to pay £5.99 / $5.99 per month for the subscription, but that's still better value considering it's a major step up in performance. The Oura Ring 5 has just been released, which means if you want the cream of the crop do consider that too.

Read our full Oura Ring 4 reviewView Deal

Amazfit Helio Ring

Now, this ring is not necessarily better than the Circular Ring 2. It certainly doesn't track as much, the design isn't as premium-looking and there are limited sizes. But I'm including it for those on a budget, as it's significantly cheaper and continues to be reduced. On the Amazfit site at the time of writing, you can pick one up for £149.90 / $149.99. Ideal if you're not sure if the smart ring form factor is for you.

Read our full Amazfit Helio Ring reviewView Deal

How I tested

(Image credit: Future / Becca Caddy)

I tested the Circular Ring 2 for 2 weeks. I wore it 24/7 and only took it off to charge it and when I was lifting weights — I learned the hard way testing smart rings over the years that they're very easy to scratch. It was on throughout workouts, working, socializing, relaxing on an evening and sleeping at night.

I've been reviewing smart rings since the very first iteration of the Oura ring came out in 2017 and have tested almost every generation from every smart ring brand since. Which puts me in a great position to compare models, tell you which is right for you and bring you that all important context about the smart ring industry.

• First reviewed: May 2026

The Circular Ring 2 looks good and packs in great features, but a messy app and inconsistent performance stop it from being an Oura challenger.

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Longsys shows how far edge AI computing has come by running a mammoth 397-billion-parameter model on a customized AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395-based PC with 128GB of RAM.

This meal kit service turned me into a confident cook.

Iranian-linked group Handala breached California Water Service, leaking 5GB of customer data and exposing critical GPS infrastructure across seven districts.

If you're searching for an espresso machine for your dad this Father's Day, here are the best options, tested and reviewed by CNET editors.

The New York Knicks celebrate their NBA championship win with a ticker tape parade in Manhattan.

(Image credit: Elias Wlliams for NPR)

Chinese firms were not added to the Entity List ahead of Trump's meeting with Chinese premier Xi Jinping.

Looking for NYT Connections answers and hints? Here's all you need to know to solve today's game, plus my commentary on the puzzles.