Circular brings mobile payments to its 3 Series smart ring

Circular , one of the smaller stars in the smart ring galaxy, is rocking up to IFA to debut its new ring; the Series 3. The company has made its name bundling in more complex hardware than its rivals, and this time around has added NFC payments. It thinks consumers shouldn't have to choose between owning a health-tracking ring or one to help you buy your morning coffee. The ring is compatible with Visa and MasterCard products, although it's not clear if it's possible to switch between them without your phone in tow.

To maintain its reputation for cramming more hardware into such a small space, the company is bringing back the vibration motor last seen in the first generation ring. It says the haptics will be good for silent wake-up alarms, medication reminders and to alert you to check your app. It'll be interesting to see how strong this motor is, given the tiny package it'll need to sit inside. And how much battery life it'll slurp given that's a precious resource in a smart ring.

Plenty of other tweaks have also been made, including nearly doubling the battery life to 12 days. Many of the other features are familiar from the Series 2, including the usual sleep and activity tracking, blood pressure and glucose trends. Not to mention, of course, Circular's killer unique feature, the addition of a single-line ECG to help people keep an eye on their heart health. It's hewn from titanium, is water resistant to 50 meters, and is available in sizes six through 14.

The fully-featured model will be known as the Ring 3 Pro, while the company is also pushing out a Ring 3 Slim. Whereas the former is 6.8mm wide and 2.78mm thick, the latter is 5.9mm wide and 2.35mm thick and, depending on the size, will weigh about half as much as its better sibling. But there will be compromises if you opt for the slimmer model, with the 3 Slim losing the ECG and haptic motor. Both will ship with a charging case equipped with a 700mAh battery, although you should expect to get fewer full charges for the larger ring.

Sadly, the company isn't yet releasing any information about price or availability, which will arrive "in the coming months." Perhaps it's looking to remind folks to keep their options option ahead of the holiday buying season that's lurking just around the corner.