We’re all just looking for a way to reduce the amount of technology we carry around, right? And a smart ring seems like a good way to do that.

Smart rings have exploded onto the scene in the last few months. Rings like the Our, the recently announced Samsung ring (which has no details), and even one like the Circular Ring Slim that I recently tried. They’ve been hailed as a great way to track everything from how long you sleep to your heart rate every minute. And being the gadget geek that I am, I thought, “Hey, let’s try using this ring and leave the phone behind for a change.” Yeah, it didn’t turn out quite the way I thought it would.

Advantages of a smart ring

Here’s the thing. Smart rings are amazing little pieces of technology. Think about it. It took Apple decades to develop a watch that tracks things like your exercise, heart rate, or blood oxygen levels. And a smart watch is much bigger than even a bulky ring.

When I tried the Circular Ring Slim, I was impressed with how it could track my heart rate, temperature, blood oxygen levels, energy output and more. From my finger. And my iPhone didn’t need to be anywhere near it to track those things. I found myself relying on the measurements I needed to figure out things like when I should go to bed or how long I should walk to reach my exercise goal.

So naturally, if it can do all these things — the same things the Apple Watch can do — why not just leave the Apple Watch at home and just wear a ring?

The smart watch thing

If you read the title of this article, you know it didn’t turn out well. The smart ring did exactly what it was supposed to do… Track things. I was really annoyed by what didn’t work. Or, more accurately, maybe it’s how much I rely on my Apple Watch that tripped me up.

The first time I left my smartphone behind, everything went well. I usually leave my iPhone in my car a lot when I’m away from home, so I didn’t notice that I wasn’t getting any call and text notifications. It wasn’t until I stopped at the park for my daily walk that I realized my mistake.

I usually throw my phone in the pocket of my workout pants and just use the watch to control my audiobook, podcast, or whatever I’m listening to that day. The smart ring has no media controls. Given that Apple has perfected hand gestures for virtual reality, you’d think that maybe the smart ring might have some basic Stop/Start controls for sound, but it doesn’t.

The first time I missed notifications was when I was at home, running errands and working around the house. The smart ring tracked all my activities, but when I went back to my phone, there were a few notifications I missed because I didn’t have a watch on my wrist to alert me (and like the rest of the world, I often keep my phone on silent).

I also missed the timer on the watch, the actual clock, and Siri. I haven’t counted how many times a day I activate Siri on my watch to set a reminder or ask a question. Sure, I could do those things on my iPhone, but I don’t always have my iPhone in my hand and I don’t want to.

In the end, I learned a few valuable lessons. First, I rely on my Apple Watch more than I ever thought. If I’m honest, when I bought the watch, it was just a cool gadget. But the more I’ve used it, the more useful it’s become, and I find myself relying on it more and more for obscure things I didn’t think about before I lost it (remote camera shutter release, for example).

The other lesson that really solidified for me during this experiment was that a smart ring is just an addition to the tools you already have. Does it have its place? Of course. I’ve found it useful for adding to the information my iPhone already tracks to get a more complete picture of my activity and some useful health metrics. But the Smart Ring is not a replacement for the Apple Watch (or any smartwatch), in the same way that the Apple Watch is not a good replacement for the iPhone.