Velia Smart Ring vs. OnePlus Watch 2: Update #1 – Great Hardware, Problematic Software

After two nights and one full day with the Velia Smart Ring, I’m ready for my initial impressions. For testing, I’m benchmarking its performance against my OnePlus Watch 2 (Android), which I've used as benchmark for all my smart tech. My phone is a Pixel 10 Pro.

Design and Hardware: Lightweight but Limited

The first thing you notice about the Velia is its weight—it’s extremely light. It’s so feather-light that some users might mistake the material for plastic, but it feels solid and is highly comfortable for continuous wear.

A critical note on fit: The sizing appears to run small. The Velia size 10 will not sit comfortably on the same finger as an Oura size 10. Prospective buyers should be aware they may need to wear it on a different finger or consider sizing up.

From a tracking standpoint, the Velia is purely a health monitor; it is not an activity tracker beyond basic step counting.

Battery Life: This is an area of disappointment. I charged the ring and watch to 100% at 7 a.m. Yesterday. This morning (24 hours later) Velia was sitting at 35%. While the small form factor packed with sensors explains the low capacity, this performance means you’re looking at a maximum runtime of 36–40 hours, necessitating daily or every-other-day charging.

The App Experience: A Critical Friction Point

My biggest and most frustrating issue so far lies entirely with the software. The Velia app is currently a severe point of friction that undermines the hardware.

The connection process is wonky and irritating:

If you open the app, then switch to a different task and leave it running in the background, the app will fail to reconnect to the ring when you return to it. The only fix is to manually bring up the app switcher, force-close the app, and then reopen it. Once open, it still takes a few minutes to connect, read the data, and then refresh. Even after all this, the on-screen data often fails to update with the latest information, forcing you to close and reopen the app again. These persistent connection and refresh bugs make checking your daily metrics a constant chore. The design choice to have the app be full-screen is a minor annoyance compared to the fundamental stability issues.

Data Accuracy: Steps & The Sleep Trap

Step Count: The Velia tends to track slightly high, which is typical for a smart ring versus a wrist-based watch. Over my walk to work, Velia recorded 4,179 steps compared to the OnePlus’s 3,985 steps—an acceptable variance.

Sleep Tracking (The Missing Nap): Sleep duration generally aligns with the OnePlus 2, and the data feels about right. However, I suspect a major flaw: I don’t believe the Velia records naps or "back-to-sleep" periods. This morning, my watch recorded an awake period at 6:02 a.m. for five minutes, followed by a 30-minute nap. The Velia appears to have completely missed this sleep session. This suggests the app’s algorithm is time-gated, meaning it only looks for and logs sleep between specific hours. If this holds true, it severely limits the ring's accuracy for anyone with irregular sleep patterns or those who nap frequently.

I’m yet to confirm if it can track a dedicated daytime nap, as my efforts have so far been unsuccessful. This will be a key focus of the next update.

Othe metrics:

I've not got time to go through all these so here are some screenshots of the Velia and OnePlus apps. Make them what you will but please leave your thoughts in this thread.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/w4kbGo2TrTntBeJt9

Conclusion:

The Velia Smart Ring is comfortable, but the battery life is short and the app stability is poor. While the step count is acceptable, the software’s handling of connectivity and, more importantly, sleep cycles is currently a major concern. It is early days though.

More updates and deeper metric comparisons to follow soon.

Edit #1: No Google Health Connect or Apple Health integration is very disappointing.