Silicone jewelry maker QALO is expanding beyond its existing smart ring with a new screen-free wearable. The company announced the SL-1 Smart Band, a device in the same category as Whoop that is designed to monitor a set of vital statistics. It is available for purchase starting today at a price of $199.95.
The SL-1 tracks movement, sleep, blood oxygenation, heart rate, stress, heart rate variability and skin temperature. It uses that data to produce insights about the wearer's health and fitness, and it also tracks the wearer's menstrual cycle. As with competing products, the collected information is reduced to a Q-Score, a 1-to-100 metric that indicates how well the wearer is doing on a daily basis.
QALO is positioning two features as points of distinction from the larger brands it aims to rival. The first is that the SL-1 does not require a monthly subscription. The second is that QALO now offers both a ring and a band, creating an ecosystem of devices the company expects users to combine.
According to QALO, users are likely to own and wear both devices at different points in their day. A wearer might use the band at the gym or at work and then switch to the ring when out and about. Both devices feed into the same app and profile, a combination QALO says none of its competitors can claim.
Customers who buy the SL-1 through the company's website will receive a spare strap with their purchase. Those who prefer to buy the device at a retail location will be able to pick one up from Walmart later in the fall. The $199.95 price applies to the band as announced.
The launch places QALO in the growing market for screen-free trackers, a category defined by wearables that collect biometric data without a display. QALO's move into that segment follows its earlier entry into smart rings. For US consumers, the absence of a monthly fee and the availability of the band through Walmart later in the fall are the terms attached to the product at launch.
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