Wearables like smartwatches and smart rings can be bulky, making them difficult to wear 24/7. That’s a gap that smart earring creator Lumia Health hopes to fill with the Lumia 2 device, which was originally created in collaboration with researchers at Johns Hopkins, Duke and Harvard to assist patients with chronic blood flow disorders.
The company calls the Lumia 2 smart earrings the world’s smallest wellness wearable. It’s an earring back-like device about the size of a coffee bean that houses a second-generation PreciseLight sensor, processors, a battery and additional health sensors.
On Tuesday, the Lumia 2 earrings launched on Kickstarter, earning more than $800,000, which is over 80 times the original goal of $10,000.
What Lumia 2 tracks
Weighing less than 1 gram and being five times smaller than AirPods, miniaturized biosensing technology allows the Lumia 2 smart earrings to track over 20 health metrics, including sleep, activity (steps, calories and active minutes), readiness, the menstrual cycle, temperature, heart rate and heart rate variability, blood oxygen (SpO2) and blood flow. The latter is what inspired the creation of Lumia Health.
“Six years ago, my father fell and broke six ribs because not enough blood flow was getting to his head,” Daniel Lee, co-founder and CEO of Lumia Health, said in a Kickstarter video. “We should be able to measure blood flow in real time, so we can avoid some of these catastrophic injuries.”
Event Tagging is also available, so you can log your activities and behaviors, such as caffeine intake, meditation and travel.
All of this will be available in the accompanying app, which is iOS– and Android-compatible with an iPhone SE (second generation) or later, iOS 17 or later and Android 11 or later, with Bluetooth Low Energy 5.0 or later.
Track sleep, blood flow, heart rate, energy and more with Lumia 2.
Different ways to wear it, one significant location
With its three designs — the stud, huggie hoops and ear cuffs for those without pierced ears — Lumia 2 places its sensors directly behind your ear. Compared with wrist- and finger-based wearable devices, this location near the heart and ear’s shallow blood vessels provides, according to Lumia Health, a stronger signal that is less affected by movement, enabling continuous, uninterrupted data.
While it was designed to match most looks in gold, silver and titanium finishes, you can also use Lumia 2’s SwitchBack technology to attach the device to your already-existing collection of push-back earrings.
Battery life that never ends
Unlike other wearables that require removal for charging, the Lumia 2 uses swappable batteries that each last seven days. Once your battery needs charging, you simply remove it, swap in the fully charged backup and then place your in-need-of-charging battery into the charger so it’s ready seven days later.
Using a swappable battery supports the company’s claim that the Lumia 2 can collect continuous data, especially when you’re sleeping, since most people charge their devices during this time.
Every 3 minutes, the Lumia 2 collects blood flow and heart rate metrics, including HRV. You can also enable Live Mode to capture data once per second for a fixed period, such as when you’re exercising or want immediate feedback.
There are plans to create a configurable data capture rate that lets you select a higher sampling frequency, such as once per minute, but this will sacrifice battery life.
With swappable batteries, you never have to wait for the Lumia 2 to charge.
Privacy
Data collected by Lumia 2 is encrypted, anonymized and access-controlled, according to the company, which states in its Kickstarter FAQs that it shares your data only with third-party cloud server providers, such as AWS, to help Lumia Health securely store and serve you your data.
Or, if you opt in to the Data From the People, For the People program, you would authorize your data to be added to a de-identified, aggregated pool of open-source data provided to top researchers. Lumia Health vets these research partners to ensure they’re working in the best interest of both public health and the health conditions the company aims to serve.
When asked about how research partners are vetted, a Lumia Health representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Note that Lumia 2 is not an FDA-cleared medical device, meaning it’s not designed to diagnose or treat any health condition.
Cost and membership
Lumia 2’s base price is $249, while hoops, cuffs and studs will cost extra. All finishes — gold, silver and titanium — are priced equally.
However, a membership is required. The monthly fee is $20, while the one-year plan is $14 per month, and the two-year plan is $10 per month. With all three, you get app insights, unlimited cloud storage and software updates.
Currently, the most affordable Kickstarter reward is priced at $279 and includes a smart earring back, a titanium cuff, two titanium studs, two batteries and a six-month membership plan. Pricier plans offer different designs, finishes and plans.
Shipping to the US is free, while shipping to Canada (except Québec) is about $20.
A membership is required to access Lumia 2’s insights through its app.
The Lumia timeline
Lumia Health was founded in early 2020, and yes, there was once a Lumia 1, released in February 2025. One month later, in March, the concepting for Lumia 2 began, and it was officially announced in November.
Now that the Lumia Kickstarter has begun, the device’s beta launch is scheduled for September, with shipments expected in December. Beta access was limited to 500 backers and has already sold out.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
