{"id":640508,"date":"2025-12-18T15:58:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T15:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/640508\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T15:58:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T15:58:27","slug":"watch-an-ingenious-hacker-turn-an-old-smartwatch-fit-for-the-trash-into-a-unique-smart-ring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/640508\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch an ingenious hacker turn an old smartwatch fit for the trash into a unique smart ring"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Instead of throwing one of those old smartwatches many of us have stowed in a desk draw away, why not turn it into the basis for a DIY gadget hack?<\/p>\n<p>That seems to be the driving force behind this YouTube video, where an ingenious hacker turns a smartwatch into a smart ring.<\/p>\n<p>                        Smartwatch fit for the trash<\/p>\n<p>The 10-minute video, posted to the Gadget Industry YouTube channel, caught my attention because it reminded me of the social media trend of taking old cars, watches, and many other decayed items and returning them to glory through restoration. <\/p>\n<p>I find these videos intriguing because the restorer displays skills I don\u2019t have myself, and seeing something fit for the trash become something new again is satisfying. Gadget Industry\u2019s old smartwatch isn\u2019t fit for restoration, but it is ideal for re-purposing.<\/p>\n<p>While the resulting smart ring doesn\u2019t rival the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.androidpolice.com\/oura-ring-4-review\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oura Ring<\/a> for fit and finish, there are various special touches that make it fun, and with a bit more work, it\u2019s entirely the kind of device I could see making its way to crowdfunding sites. <\/p>\n<p>                        Taking it apart<\/p>\n<p>        <img width=\"1650\" height=\"928\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A still taken from a Gadget Industry video\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/gadget-industry-smartwatch-smart-ring-1.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/gadget-industry-smartwatch-smart-ring-1.jpg\" class=\"img-brightness-opt-out\"\/><br \/>\n        Credit:\u00a0Gadget Industry<\/p>\n<p>The old smartwatch is disassembled, ready for the screen, battery, USB-C port, and parts of the circuit board to be re-used. The host creates his own ring body out of epoxy resin, cleverly shaped into a suitable form using various entirely non-technical tools. <\/p>\n<p>The various components are attached to the screen and the custom body, which is where it\u2019s worth looking closely at the construction. The 30mAh battery previously hidden inside the smartwatch\u2019s body is adapted so it can be wrapped around the smart ring\u2019s body, and is reattached in sequence.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps my favorite part of the build is the tiny screw which is attached under the screen. At first, it\u2019s not obvious what it\u2019ll be used for, but it soon becomes clear it\u2019s now both an on\/off button and a touch sensor for the screen, which will later be covered in epoxy resin. It\u2019s not pretty, but it is clever. <\/p>\n<p>                        The final result<\/p>\n<p>Once all the components have been assembled, it\u2019s put inside a pot of resin, and once it\u2019s hardened, is shaped into the final device. Some careful polishing finishes the whole thing off.<\/p>\n<p>The smart ring puts the old smartwatch\u2019s screen on your finger, which, as you\u2019d expect, makes it pretty big, but it\u2019s shown connected to a phone using Bluetooth and receiving notifications. The whole device is even water-resistant. <\/p>\n<p>Screens in smart rings aren\u2019t common, and although this gadget is obviously a bit too big, a few tweaks and some miniaturization would make it far more usable. Whatever its real-world potential, it\u2019s always cool to see what creatives can do with old tech that would otherwise be thrown away. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Instead of throwing one of those old smartwatches many of us have stowed in a desk draw away,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640509,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3160],"tags":[1685,53,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-640508","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gadgets","8":"tag-gadgets","9":"tag-technology","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115741402446153906","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}