Ring One Gen 1: what went wrong, and what we fixed

Last updated: 29th July 2026

If you searched "is Muse Ring One legit" or "Muse Ring One delay" and landed here, this page is for you. We wrote it because some of the criticism about our first campaign is fair, and we would rather answer it directly than hope you don't find it.

Metric This week  Total till date
Refunds completed +5 14/420
Charging cases shipped - 0/343


The short version

Ring One Gen 1 raised over $1.2M on Indiegogo in 2023 and became the fastest wearable to reach $1M in the platform's history. We then shipped it far later than promised. Roughly 10,000 units are now in customers' hands. Along the way we had a defective charging case batch, refund requests we were slow to process, and some regions we ultimately could not ship to. Here is what happened in each case and what is different for Gen 2.

Why shipping was so late

We had contracted a large, established manufacturer to produce Ring One at scale. They were unable to develop one critical production process (potting, the step that seals the electronics inside the ring) and could not deliver our 15,000-unit order. Discovering this after the campaign left us with two options: refund everyone and shut down, or build our own manufacturing line from scratch. We chose to build. Our facility in Bengaluru now runs a 37-stage assembly process with capacity of about 300 units per day, and every Gen 2 ring will be made there, by us, on a line we control end to end. That decision cost our backers months of waiting, and we are sorry for how long it took and for how poorly we communicated during the worst of it. But it also means Gen 2 does not depend on a third party being able to make our product.

The charging case problem

A batch of Gen 1 charging cases had a PCB defect that caused them to fail, some after months of normal use. Some customers received a replacement that later failed too, which is a worse experience than the original fault.

What we did: Of the 7,538 charging cases shipped, 343 have reported an issue. We're currently manufacturing the redesigned Gen 2 charging case, which resolves these issues, and will begin shipping replacements soon.

If your charging case is faulty, contact support@musewearables.com with your order number and we will replace it under warranty.

The Gen 2 charging case is a new design that fixes this at the source — stronger protection against electrostatic discharge (ESD) and electromagnetic interference (EMI), both of which can damage the internal circuit board, along with better internal heat management and a refreshed look.

Refunds

Some backers requested refunds during the delay and waited too long to receive them. As of 29th July 2026, we have processed 14 refunds, we will be processing all refunds by last week of August. If you have an unresolved refund, email support@musewearables.com with the subject "Gen 1 refund" and your order number. These go to a dedicated queue reviewed daily.

The 18K Gold Ring situation

What happened: 110 backers who ordered the Gen 1 18K Gold / Rose Gold edition have not yet received that specific variant.

Why: Before manufacturing an expensive gold edition, we wanted to fully resolve a set of hardware issues present in early Gen 1 units — sharp edges on the band, potting defects (the internal sealant protecting the electronics), and an overheating issue. We didn't think it was right to carry those flaws into a premium gold product.

Resolution: As an interim step, affected backers have already been shipped the standard Gen 1 ring so they're not left waiting empty-handed. When Gen 2 launches — with all three issues resolved — we'll ship each of these backers their originally ordered 18K Gold or Rose Gold variant at no extra cost.

What is different for Gen 2

1. Our own factory. No contract manufacturer between you and your ring.

2. Rings are already in production.

3. New charging case design.

4. Published shipping regions and dates before you pay.

5. A public support commitment

Who we are

Muse Wearables (Conzumex Industries) was founded in 2016 and incubated at IIT Madras. We hold granted US and Indian patents on our ring technology, including the single-antenna NFC payment system (US 12,613,577 B2), and Ring One is EMVCo certified for contactless payments with Mastercard and RuPay partnerships. We are a real team, in a real factory, and you are welcome to verify any of this. Questions this page didn't answer: support@musewearables.com. A founder reads that inbox.