I’ve by no means been an individual who enjoys sporting a watch. Even although I’ve used dozens of smartwatches through the years, I seldom put on one all day lengthy. That’s the place the concept of a sensible ring is available in for me. As somebody who already wears a marriage band each day and finds it snug, I had hoped a sensible ring would really feel like the perfect kind issue when in comparison with cumbersome health straps or cumbersome watches.
The Samsung Galaxy Ring is the most recent good ring to attempt to woo prospects with its idea, which began in 2015 with the discharge of the first-generation Oura Ring. But in case you had been hoping to switch your smartwatch with the Galaxy Ring, you are going to must mood your expectations.
The Samsung Galaxy Ring is designed for twenty-four/7 well being monitoring and little else. It’ll routinely monitor strolling, operating, and even sleeping, however whereas Samsung’s Health software program offers you a lot of information, I’m unsure I belief most of it. It lacks AFib detection, one thing the Ultrahuman Ring Air lately added, making it largely ineffective for twenty-four/7 coronary heart fee monitoring. Even the “discover my ring” characteristic solely actually works on Samsung Galaxy telephones, a vastly missed alternative for Samsung to one-up the competitors.
Samsung has plenty of enhancements to make however, fortunately, all of them are software-related and might be addressed sooner or later by way of updates. Samsung does not cost a month-to-month subscription like Oura, however with none sort of significant coronary heart monitoring information and no actual assist for understanding with the ring, I’m unsure what the purpose of sporting one is.
About this overview
I’ve been utilizing the Galaxy Ring for 5 weeks as of the publishing of the ultimate overview on August 30, 2024. My gold dimension 10 Galaxy Ring has been paired with a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra operating One UI 6.1, in addition to a lot of non-Samsung gadgets just like the OnePlus 12 and CMF Phone 1.
Price and availability
The Samsung Galaxy Ring is accessible for $399 and is available in three traditional ring colours: silver, gold, and black. Initial orders had been again ordered as a consequence of recognition however Samsung ramped up manufacturing considerably to satisfy demand. The Galaxy Ring at the moment takes a couple of weeks to ship out as soon as ordered.
To buy a Galaxy Ring, you will first must spend $10 on a sizing package. That comes with a $10 credit score in direction of the acquisition of a Galaxy Ring, so the sizing package is successfully free as soon as you purchase a Ring. You also can discover a sizing package obtainable at some Best Buy areas totally free, so chances are you’ll need to name round first earlier than ordering a package. Samsung makes Galaxy Rings in commonplace ring sizes 5–13.
Unlike its greatest competitor, the Oura Ring Gen 3, the Galaxy Ring does not require a month-to-month subscription to entry your information. All that’s dealt with by way of the Samsung Health app, which works with any Android telephone. Samsung Galaxy telephones with Galaxy AI built-in, just like the Galaxy S24 Ultra, will get additional insights for his or her information powered by Galaxy AI when paired with the Galaxy Ring. Additionally, you will solely get full ring monitoring performance and ring gestures when paired with a Samsung telephone.
Hardware and design
If I might get true characteristic parity, I’d swap out a smartwatch for a sensible ring practically any day of the week. Except for some sorts of exercises, a sensible ring is a considerably extra snug gadget to put on 24/7 than a smartwatch.
Samsung’s {hardware} design is essentially glorious, stuffing a battery and tons of tech right into a svelte ~2.6mm thick ring. This is notably thicker than some commonplace rings — like my gold wedding ceremony band — but it surely’s not so thick as to really feel extra noticeable on my finger than an ordinary ring.
On launch, Samsung was the thinnest good ring till the RingConn Gen 2 got here out simply two weeks later. Unlike that ring, although, the Galaxy Ring is an ideal circle, whereas RingConn opted for a extra distinctive squircle design.
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After 5 weeks of use, the ring appears to be like prefer it’s seen 20 years of wear and tear and tear.
The Galaxy Ring incorporates a concave design that helps make the ring look thinner than it truly is, and the titanium development is impressively gentle however I’m not absolutely satisfied of its sturdiness. The concave design helps maintain the middle from getting scratched but it surely does not achieve this a lot for the sides.
After 5 weeks of use, the ring appears to be like prefer it’s seen 20 years of wear and tear and tear. My 16-year-old gold wedding ceremony band appears to be like in much better form, for reference.
I ran a Spartan Race with the ring in early August as a result of I wished to see the way it held up throughout an occasion that largely consisted of operating and strolling with obstacles thrown in each few hundred meters. The outcome was lower than glorious on all counts—which I’ll element additional within the well being monitoring part under.
The greatest difficulty right here is not the questionable sturdiness. It’s the truth that good rings aren’t repairable.
On the underside, you will discover an orientation indicator letting you know the way to put on the ring. This line ought to all the time line up with the center of the underside of your finger because it ensures the Ring’s sensors are in probably the most optimum place. I’d commonly test to verify this indicator was in the appropriate place and located it normally wanted a couple of rotational fixes all through the day.
The Ring match properly on the center finger of my proper hand the place I discovered that specific finger form to be higher for sporting a hoop than my index finger. It’s extra snug, general, but it surely additionally does not get in the best way like it might after I tried to put on it on my index finger.
Samsung recommends sporting it both on the index or center fingers if you wish to use the gesture characteristic, so that is proper in step with expectations. Gestures are one thing distinctive to the Galaxy Ring and a bonus Samsung has over opponents, however they solely work when paired with a supported Samsung Galaxy telephone.
| Category | Galaxy Ring |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 7.0mm (width) x 2.6mm (depth) |
| Weight | 2.3-3g |
| Materials | Titanium grade body |
| Water resistance | 10ATM, IP68 |
| Colors | Titanium Black, Titanium Gold, Titanium Silver |
| Sizes | 5–13 |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth LE 5.4 |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, PPG, pores and skin temperature |
| Battery | 18mAh-23.5mAh, 40% in half-hour |
| Charging cradle | 361mAh |
Aside from being unique to newer Galaxy telephones, it is also price noting that there are solely two major gestures proper now: take a photograph, and cease an alarm in your telephone. To carry out both of those actions, you will double-tap your ring-wearing finger and thumb collectively within the air as in case you’re pinching one thing twice.
While these are cool to make use of in very particular circumstances, they are not product-selling options by any means.
The Galaxy Ring’s two most unusual options are gesture assist and the flexibility to remotely discover a misplaced ring, however each solely work with sure Samsung Galaxy telephones.
Samsung additionally helps a “discover my ring” characteristic that works identically to different Samsung Galaxy gadgets. Open the Galaxy Wearables app, then faucet discover on the primary menu. The app gives you a tough location of the place the Ring is—or the place it was final detected if it is not in your normal neighborhood—together with a useful Global Positioning System map utilizing Bluetooth for native location, however this performance solely works on Samsung Galaxy telephones.
The Galaxy Ring does not vibrate or make noise, which implies that it does not assist notifications. That additionally implies that it is a little bit troublesome to search out, particularly if it fell between the sofa cushions or rolled below one thing like a fridge or range.
The app enables you to quickly blink the lights on the Galaxy Ring’s sensors however that is solely helpful at night time or in a darkish room. The lights merely aren’t vibrant sufficient to be seen in the course of the day or in any kind of vibrant lighting.
Find my Ring is usually ineffective until you’ve a Samsung Galaxy telephone to pair the Ring with.
As I beforehand famous, this performance solely works on Samsung Galaxy telephones. The Samsung Find app is unique to the Galaxy Store. Sideloading the APK does not work both because it requires hooks present in Samsung’s One UI to work.
Samsung might have made it work with Google’s newest Find My Device improve — many different Samsung gadgets do — but it surely awoke and selected violence. The greatest you can do with a non-Samsung telephone is blink the Ring’s lights which, as I identified, is usually ineffective.
Still, different good rings do not have a “discover my” characteristic in any respect, so any technique to discover your misplaced Ring is a bonus for Samsung, even with its limitations.
Battery and charging
One of the primary causes to decide on a sensible ring over a smartwatch is battery life. Most of one of the best smartwatches must be charged each day, whereas some fitness-focused choices just like the Garmin Forerunner 965 can final 1-3 weeks relying on how typically you employ Global Positioning System monitoring.
My Galaxy Ring lasted 6-7 full days on any given cost. In the preliminary overview, I famous that the Ring had 10% left on the finish of the sixth day, which is lots to nonetheless carry out sleep monitoring that night time.
The remaining battery proportion may be tracked each on the Galaxy Wearables app and with the Ring itself. Just take off the ring and take a look at the indicator LEDs inside for a couple of seconds. They’ll flash inexperienced indicating the battery proportion left in 25% increments. Four flashes imply between 75%-100% battery is left, three flashes for 50%-75%, and so forth.
When you put on a Galaxy Ring and a Galaxy Watch on the similar time, the Ring’s well being sensors fall asleep to save lots of battery life. To me, this is senseless in any respect. It needs to be the opposite means round.
Samsung highlights {that a} Galaxy Ring and a Galaxy Watch can be utilized in conjunction for probably the most correct well being monitoring and higher general battery life. But it looks like Samsung acquired issues backwards with the battery portion of this equation.
When you put on a Galaxy Ring and a Galaxy Watch on the similar time, the Ring’s well being sensors fall asleep to save lots of battery life. To me, this is senseless in any respect. It needs to be the opposite means round because you usually must cost a smartwatch each day, whereas the Galaxy Ring has week-long battery life with regular use.
Samsung significantly must rethink how this works, as it might make much more sense to save lots of battery life on the watch by utilizing the Ring’s well being monitoring sensors, as a substitute.
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The Galaxy Ring has true week-long battery life, and the included charging case works like a wi-fi earbuds case for straightforward journey.
Like one of the best earbuds, you will cost your Galaxy Ring utilizing the included charging case. This case has its personal battery with sufficient capability for a number of full Ring expenses. It additionally expenses through USB-C, so it is handy to rapidly cost and tackle the go along with you in case you want it.
The case itself is a bit tech stylish, with a clear, flashy design together with a hoop of LEDs that illuminate when opening the hinge. This ring is used to show the case’s remaining battery life, and tapping the button also can provoke pairing.
Like many Samsung gadgets as of late, although, charging the Galaxy Ring is abysmally sluggish. A 30-minute cost resulted in a measly 50% Ring cost, whereas it took a full hour to top-up the tiny ~20mAh battery. No doubt, Samsung makes the charging so painfully sluggish in an effort to extend battery longevity however no less than you solely must cost it as soon as per week.
I bumped into a number of conditions the place the case would not cost the Ring in any respect, solely to search out out I had it the wrong way up on the dock, which appears an odd design for a hoop.
Not solely that, however I bumped into a number of conditions the place the ring would not cost in any respect, even after I thought I had correctly mounted it within the case. Part of the confusion comes within the case design. When you open it, the LED ring inside lights as much as offer you a view of the battery proportion of the case itself. But I typically mistook this for the Ring’s battery proportion because the LED stays illuminated after I dock the ring.
So as a substitute of charging the Ring, I’d come again after an hour or two to search out that nothing in any respect occurred. In all occasions of this occurring, flipping the ring over fastened the charging difficulty. I’m unsure why charging the ring appears to work on one facet however you will must pay additional shut consideration to the app to make sure your ring is definitely charging within the case, denoted by a standard charging lightning bolt icon within the Galaxy Wearables app.
Sleep monitoring
I hate sporting a watch to sleep. It’s not one thing I do outdoors of the occasional smartwatch overview, so the Galaxy Ring appeared like an excellent technique to monitor sleep. It’s extremely snug to put on to mattress.
If you have worn a Galaxy Watch to sleep earlier than, count on the identical sort of metrics from a Galaxy Ring. That, in and of itself, is a triumph. A smaller, extra snug gadget that may get the identical sorts of readings for sleep information as a Galaxy Watch Ultra is actually a implausible proposition.
The downside is that Samsung’s sleep information is not thought of one of the best within the business by any means, and bands just like the Whoop 4.0 or smaller smartwatches just like the Pixel Watch 2 ship way more correct information.
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Of course, a lot of that is going to return all the way down to alignment and match. Smartwatches must be worn pretty tightly with the intention to get an correct studying. Move round an excessive amount of at night time with a unfastened wristband and also you would possibly as properly simply delete the monitoring information. Likewise, a Ring that spins or wobbles lots in your finger will not do you a lot good.
For this motive, I attempted to put on the Ring on a number of completely different finders but it surely did not appear to have an effect on general accuracy a lot. It additionally does not assist sleep apnea monitoring just like the RingConn Gen 2, which implies any information it delivers is essentially pedestrian in nature. In different phrases, whereas this can be a good sleep-tracking gadget, I would not take its outcomes as Gospel.
Sleep monitoring was largely inaccurate in comparison with one of the best smartwatches, and the Galaxy Ring does not assist superior measurements like sleep apnea detection.
The Samsung Health app is chock stuffed with nice little particulars and well-presented info, from the outstanding sleep rating to the person metrics and easy-to-read graph that break your sleep down into awake, gentle, REM, and deep sleep patterns.
Below the sleep rating is the breakdown of what metrics fueled the rating, together with sleep time, bodily restoration, restfulness, psychological restoration, and sleep cycles. I’m a really gentle sleeper by nature, and the Ring picked that up handily.
But whereas I initially felt good concerning the general sleep rating, diving into the information made me really feel much less assured in it. I typically observed blips within the graph the place no information was collected in any respect. I assume a few of that is down to suit however, like I stated beforehand, I attempted sporting it on a number of completely different fingers—lots of which had been a fair tighter match than my center finger—and nonetheless discovered these bizarre lapses in information.
Other information factors like blood oxygen and pores and skin temperature whereas sleeping must also be taken with a grain of salt. Skin temperature readings from a finger will probably be completely different from a wrist or perhaps a torso band due to their location — some folks like heavy, heat-trapping blankets, whereas others might put their fingers below a pillow, each of which might produce inaccurate readings.
Samsung supplies a lot of sleep monitoring information however I’m unsure I belief its accuracy.
Daily vitality rating is calculated by combining all of the obtainable metrics, however my quantity was by no means fairly correct as a result of the Ring by no means efficiently detected any of my exercises on the health club, which you will examine under. If I had been going to plan my day round that vitality rating quantity—which is all the goal of such a rating—it is possible I’d have a much less lively day than I ought to.
The Energy Score metric is not unique to Samsung telephones, fortunately, however you will solely get the Galaxy AI-powered abstract on the prime whenever you pair it with particular Samsung telephones.
One YouTuber confirmed how the Galaxy Ring strains up with different bands and watches, placing it in step with the remainder of the Galaxy Watch line and proper in the course of most different sleep and fitness-tracking wearables. In quick, it is not unhealthy, but it surely’s not nice, both.
Fitness monitoring
My greatest disappointment with the Galaxy Ring revolves round health monitoring. I by no means anticipated this to switch a smartwatch due to the dearth of a display screen—I primarily put on a smartwatch whereas understanding to watch my coronary heart fee—however Samsung’s software program is significantly missing some needed health monitoring necessities and it makes it practically ineffective at a health club.
If your exercises contain extra than simply strolling or operating, do not even trouble utilizing the Galaxy Ring.
While happening a neighborhood stroll or a hike, coronary heart fee monitoring gave the impression to be correct in comparison with my Pixel Watch 2. I used to be pleasantly stunned at how easy and clear monitoring was. I additionally discovered that the Galaxy Ring was dead-on correct when utilizing it to trace steps, which is not one thing I can say concerning the Pixel Watch 2.
First off, in case you’re not a runner or do not plan to make use of the Ring to trace a stroll or a hike, do not trouble getting one. Automatic exercises are solely supported for strolling or operating, and even then, I discovered that computerized monitoring solely appeared to work after I walked or ran outdoors. Even then, shorter 400m runs on the health club—together with out of doors runs—had been not often routinely detected.
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During a Spartan Race, the time, distance, and tracked coronary heart fee had been all flawed on the Galaxy Ring.
Let’s take a look at the outcomes from my Spartan Race above. Since there is no technique to manually monitor with a Galaxy Ring, I solely have no matter it routinely tracked. During the race, I wore the Samsung Galaxy Ring and Google Pixel Watch 2 on my proper hand, whereas the OnePlus Watch 2 was on my left hand.
The first downside with the Galaxy Ring is the exercise time tracked. My precise race time was one hour 22 minutes. Both watches tracked for an hour and a half as a result of I manually began them earlier than the race began whereas I used to be ready on the beginning line, however the Galaxy Ring’s computerized monitoring comes 13 minutes wanting my precise motion time.
The second downside is the gap logged. This Spartan Race was the 5k model which equates to three.1 miles. The Galaxy Ring thought I ran 4.15 miles.
Third is the standard of the information itself. Since the Ring did not correctly monitor all the race, the graph technically will get lower off roughly 4/5ths of the best way by way of, however we are able to no less than examine the remainder of it. At first, there seems to be no correlation in any respect between the Galaxy Ring and the 2 watches, nonetheless, a more in-depth inspection reveals come similarities.
But even with comparable peaks and lows, the numbers from the Galaxy Ring aren’t even near the 2 watches I wore.
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Part of the issue is the polling fee. Heart fee information is just recorded each ten minutes — to save lots of battery — and this does not appear to be typically sufficient to detect a exercise efficiently. Samsung makes use of different sensors inside to assist with detection however they did not appear to do a lot good for me.
I’m going to the health club a mean of 4 occasions per week—every go to is an hour-long exercise at a CrossFit-style health club—however all I noticed from the Ring was a blip or two on the guts fee graph exhibiting an elevated quantity. That was throughout one of the best of occasions. At the worst of occasions, the Ring did not seize any coronary heart fee information throughout my exercises in any respect.
There’s additionally no technique to manually begin a exercise, which was unbelievable to me.
The Galaxy Ring will not be a great exercise monitoring gadget, but it surely certain counts steps extremely precisely.
When I requested Samsung about this, I used to be advised that beginning a guide exercise from the Samsung Health app ought to clear up my issues. Unfortunately, this did not work. Any guide exercise began from the Samsung Health app by no means recorded any Ring information. All I acquired was a generic calorie burn worth relative to the exercise I selected and the size of the exercise.
In different phrases, I would as properly haven’t even bothered bringing the Galaxy Ring to the health club.
Other good rings just like the Oura Ring Gen 3 do computerized exercise detection much better and can commonly detect a exercise, then will let you choose its kind after the exercise was accomplished. No good ring is a correct smartwatch substitute for gym-style exercises however Samsung might have carried out lots higher with the Galaxy Ring’s exercise monitoring performance.
All in all, I’m not inclined to suggest this Ring as a severe fitness-tracking device.
Competition
The Ultrahuman Ring Air is a greater general purchase than the Galaxy Ring. It’s $50 lower than the Galaxy Ring and, not like Oura, has no subscription value. Our Wearables reviewer Michael Hicks discovered the sleep monitoring information to be fairly correct — not like my expertise with the Galaxy Ring. It even has AFib detection, one thing that is vitally necessary in a 24/7 wearable. The draw back is that lively health monitoring is not any higher than the Galaxy Ring.
Another glorious various is the RingConn Smart Ring Gen 2, which weighs in at $299 and incorporates a distinctive squircle design. Battery life is 3-4 days longer than the Galaxy Ring, it gives sleep apnea detection, and RingConn gives covers for its rings which may forestall harm whereas utilizing it throughout exercises or different occasions chances are you’ll be apprehensive about it getting scuffed up. It does not offer you a “readiness rating” like another rings however I discovered these sorts of scores to be largely ineffective, anyway.
Of course, no good ring overview can be full with out mentioning the Oura Ring Gen 3, a hoop that looks like a greater general purchase for folk who’re extra severe about health monitoring with a sensible ring. Oura’s software program does a greater job of routinely detecting exercises and provides you way more choices for categorization and monitoring than Samsung. The large draw back is that you will want a $6/month subscription to entry that information.
Should you purchase it?
You can buy it if…
- You desire a nice-looking ring that does greater than look fairly.
- You desire a good ring with out the costly subscription.
- Casual 24/7 well being monitoring is extra necessary to you than centered health or sleep monitoring.
You should not purchase it if…
- You desire a severe fitness-tracking gadget.
- Your exercises contain extra than simply strolling or operating.
- You’re attempting to switch a smartwatch with a sensible ring.
On the floor, the Samsung Galaxy Ring appears to be like like a implausible first-generation effort. It supplies a lot of information and options and not using a month-to-month subscription requirement. The {hardware} is glossy, and it is snug to put on all day, which is particularly necessary for sleep monitoring and computerized train detection.
But the well being monitoring options really feel novice by practically each measure. Automatic exercise monitoring is proscribed in scope to only strolling or operating and, even then, solely works properly when doing these actions for lengthy intervals and outdoor. Sleep monitoring is snug however not practically as correct as a great smartwatch. Some information is even restricted to customers who pair the ring with a Galaxy telephone that has Galaxy AI built-in.
While the {hardware} is stellar, the health monitoring expertise merely is not prepared for primetime. The quantity of knowledge you get is excellent, however the high quality of that information is questionable. Technology fanatics will possible be thrilled with the tech packed within the ring, however anybody severe about high quality health or sleep monitoring ought to look elsewhere.
Smart rings are the perfect kind issue, however Samsung’s general execution leaves lots to be desired. Even as a 24/7 well being tracker, different rings do it higher as a result of the Galaxy Ring is lacking options like AFib or sleep apnea detection. If I had spent $400 of my very own cash on this ring, I’d have returned it already.
Samsung’s newest wearable
Samsung knocked it out of the park with a beautiful {hardware} design that options tons of sensors, a week-long battery life, and an excellent charging case. Samsung Health is a strong app but it surely’s solely greatest when paired with a Galaxy telephone and, even then, solely nice for folk who want informal health monitoring.
