Movano’s new smart ring is focused on women’s health • TechCrunch

Movano gets a week-long jump on what could well turn out to be a CES banner for the smart ring. Today, the Bay Area-based company launched Evie, a smart ring focused on women’s health that is expected to hit the market later next year. The device capitalizes on the recent popularity of the low-profile form factor, led by Oura and Circular.

It is, however, among the first to focus on a specific market segment (as about 51% of the population can be considered a segment, I guess). Women’s health certainly makes sense as a target. Companies like Fitbit and Apple have had some success with the addition of cycle tracking and related features.

It is, of course, included out of the box here. Evie’s high-level features include:

[R] estimation heart rate, heart rate variability, SpO2, respiratory rate, skin temperature variability, period and ovulation tracker, menstrual symptom tracker, activity profile including steps, active minutes and calories burned, sleep stages and duration, and mood tracking.

The “mood” bit here is the main selling point of the yet-unreleased Happy Ring, which uses its data in hopes of helping users manage things like stress and sleep better. The rest of Evie’s details are still pretty hazy – Movano promises a better preview of the product at the show next week. Of course, you can’t really blame the company for wanting to come out on top of the fray.

On top of that, Movano says it “plans to seek FDA clearance” for the product. Obviously, no firm timeline on this. He notes:

The company plans to file for pulse oximetry measurements after successfully completing a hypoxia trial in October 2022, in which clinical SpO2 and heart rate accuracy meeting the consensus standard of FDA has been demonstrated. While a few wearables are only cleared by the FDA for specific software, such as ECG and Afib, Evie is designed to regulatory standards and built in a medical device manufacturing facility that meets ISO13485 and cGMP. The clearance will offer women reliable, personalized information that can help them make the connections between cause and effect, so they can better understand the “why” behind what they are feeling. Additionally, Evie will provide data that clinicians may deem reliable for patient care.

This is clearly the end game for many of these companies, moving from the consumer space into something that’s taken a bit more seriously by healthcare professionals, insurance companies and the like.

“As a medical device, Evie will go beyond the status quo of other wearables on the market, and we believe it has the power to transform the lives and overall health of women,” said CEO John Mastrototaro. in a press release. “We bring together medical-grade biometric data and insights into a comfortable, contemporary wearable device that empowers women to take ownership of their unique health journey.”

The product is expected to cost around $300, and unlike Oura, it won’t charge any additional subscription fees.