How We Engineered Extended Battery Life in the Orbyt Ring

Extending battery life in a compact wearable like a smart ring isn't just about finding a bigger battery. It's about rethinking the entire device architecture. In this blog, we reveal how improving battery life in the Orbyt ring led to critical redesigns in PCB layout, ring size, and even the charging dock. If you're exploring how power efficiency drives innovation in wearable tech, this detailed breakdown shows how each engineering decision shaped a better, sleeker product.

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Image by vectorpocket on Freepik

Importance of Battery Life in Wearables - Why it Became Our Focus

When people talk about wearables, they often default to sensors, connectivity, or features. But what truly defines a wearable's experience and its reliability is battery life. Users won’t trust a device that dies before the day is done. It becomes one more gadget to worry about, one more thing to charge, and one less thing you actually wear.

Battery longevity isn’t just about convenience. It’s about creating confidence. Especially in health-focused wearables, where consistent, uninterrupted data is the foundation for accurate insights.  With Orbyt v7, we weren’t chasing marginal improvements. We were targeting a leap that could unlock truly all-day (and multi-day) usage across all ring sizes, especially the smaller ones. This wasn’t just about user satisfaction; it was about product integrity. 

The Hidden Complexity of Battery Improvements in Smart Rings

Battery life in health tracking wearables is a multi-variable problem. It’s influenced not only by battery capacity, but also by board design, firmware optimization, sensor duty cycles, wireless protocols, material choices and even user skin tone. Unlike smartwatches or fitness bands, rings have to fit comfortably on a finger - which means no real estate for large batteries or expansive PCB layouts. You’re working with millimeters, not centimeters. Power drawn from sensors, Bluetooth transmission, and even the MCU has to be meticulously budgeted.

There’s no room to compensate for size. No bulky battery housing. No external antennas. Everything must work in harmony, efficiently and silently; while staying skin-safe, thermally regulated, and water-proof. That makes energy optimization a first principle, not a feature.

Earlier versions of Orbyt had shown promising results on larger sizes, but smaller rings consistently fell short in longevity. That gap created a non-negotiable design constraint: improve battery life across all variants, without compromising the product’s aesthetics or ergonomics. We considered increasing battery capacity outright, but that would’ve meant a thicker or wider ring. Our goal wasn’t just to fit a bigger battery; it was to engineer more room within the same footprint.

This single challenge kicked off a cascade of engineering decisions.

A Denser PCB Layout - Without Redesigning the Whole Stack

To create space for a higher-capacity battery, our first stop was the PCB. We asked: can we reduce its footprint without changing its core functionality?

We explored a denser, multi-layered PCB layout. Early quotes for this redesign were alarmingly high, and manufacturing complexity threatened to delay our timeline. So we paused and re-engineered. Over four intense weeks, our hardware team found a way to increase board density without changing the board’s outer dimensions. That breakthrough shaved 7mm off the length of the PCB, giving us the breathing room to embed a larger battery. And we did this while keeping the rest of the electronics stable, manufacturable, and cost-effective.

These PCB gains enabled more than just better battery life - they unlocked a slimmer design. Orbyt v7 came in at 2.6mm thickness, a noticeable reduction without compromising internal architecture. The width held steady at 9.1mm, but the overall form felt sleeker, more refined, and comfortable across finger types.

Most importantly, this redesign allowed us to introduce two new, smaller ring sizes - a longstanding user request. Smaller rings usually mean smaller batteries and shorter lifespans. But with the space we carved out from the PCB redesign, we could accommodate higher-capacity batteries even in the smallest sizes, bringing them up to par with the rest of the lineup.

A sleeker ring is only part of the story. We paired the hardware refinements with user-centric design details. Rounded electrodes were one of those small, intentional choices that made a big impact. Users had shared subtle but useful feedback - about how sharp electrode edges felt after prolonged wear, especially during sleep. With Orbyt v7, we integrated rounded electrodes that not only improved comfort but also enhanced contact reliability during biometric readings.

It’s a detail you don’t always see in spec sheets, but you feel it in daily use.

Rethinking the Charging Dock

Improving battery life isn’t complete without reconsidering how a product charges. Our previous dock worked, but it was bulky, hard to assemble, and didn’t match the product’s evolving aesthetic. So we went back to the drawing board. The new charging dock was:

• Proportionally aligned with the smaller ring sizes, making the full package more compact and visually balanced.

• Simplified in parts and assembly, reducing potential points of failure and easing mass production.

This wasn’t a flashy redesign, it was pragmatic. It made the user experience cleaner and the product more scalable. That’s what refinement looks like at this stage.

Sizing Kit: Solving a Silent Problem

One persistent challenge in smart rings is sizing. With wrist wearables, adjustability is simple. Rings? Not so much. Early on, we used mock rings to help users identify their correct size - but that didn’t scale well and lacked precision.

Orbyt v7 introduced a smart sizing solution: an adjustable band that mimicked the feel and form of the final product. It allowed users to pre-select their size confidently before purchase. This reduced returns, improved user satisfaction, and streamlined our logistics. Like many of our changes, it was a quiet fix to a loud problem.

From Problem-Solving to Product Maturity

There’s a certain energy when building early prototypes - things move fast, experiments are everywhere, and compromises are acceptable. But when you're inching closer to scale, the stakes change. Every flaw you ignore in v6 will become a crisis in v10.

Orbyt v7 wasn't a revolutionary leap. It was a carefully calibrated refinement; one that addressed the nuances that only show up after real-world testing. Fixing battery life meant redesigning the PCB. That opened up room for smaller ring sizes. That called for better comfort, refined charging, and smarter sizing. And every decision was made to protect the user experience - whether that’s better sleep tracking, fewer charging interruptions, or a ring that simply feels better on your finger.

What’s Next? With v7, Orbyt reached a new level of product maturity. But the work doesn’t stop here. Our next steps include even deeper firmware optimization, expanding sensor capabilities, and continuing to improve yield and manufacturing efficiency. Battery life was the challenge that sparked this round of improvements - but it also gave us the momentum to re-evaluate everything else.

And that’s what building a truly scalable wearable is all about.