If you like the idea of tracking your health, fitness and sleep but don’t want a big bulky smartwatch strapped to your wrist that you have to charge every day then you might be interested in Samsung’s brand new Galaxy Ring, a wearable metal ring with enough sensors stuffed inside to track all your daily vitals – and the best part is the battery lasts for up to a week.
Smart rings such as the Oura Ring have been around for a few years but this is the first time a major global tech company has thrown its hat into the, ahem, ring. The Galaxy Ring is made from lightweight titanium and comes in either black, silver or gold at a cost of £399 – that’s actually pricier than the also-new £289 Galaxy Watch 7.
Before you buy a Galaxy Ring, you have to work out what ring size you are either by measuring yourself, or picking up a free sizing kit from Samsung that has plastic rings for you to find the correct fit.
The Galaxy Ring offers 24/7 tracking of your heart rate, skin temperature and general movement that helps build a picture of your health and habits in the Samsung Health app on your phone. Though the Ring is compatible with any Android phone running Android 11 and later, using it with a Samsung Galaxy phone lets you double pinch your forefinger and thumb together (when the ring is worn on the preferred index finger) to take a photo on your phone or dismiss an alarm. You can’t link up the ring to an iPhone.
Inside Samsung Health, wearing the Ring will present you with a daily ‘energy score’ that ranks how ready you are to tackle the day. This will be lower if you exerted yourself the previous day and didn’t get much sleep, or will be higher if you’ve rested. The app – which doesn’t require a subscription fee, unlike rivals such as Oura – also gives you wellness tips depending on your data and has advanced sleep tracking to tell you how to get a better night’s kip.
Express.co.uk has taken a look at the Galaxy Ring before its announcement, and it’s an incredible featherweight piece of engineering thanks to the titanium build and a concave, curved design. Smart rings are best worn on an index finger to get the best readings possible from the underside of your primary digit, but this can often mean it’s hard to forget you’re wearing one and they can get in the way. Samsung seems to have made the Ring as light as possible to counteract this.
The company also hopes you’ll be wearing the Ring along with a new Galaxy Watch 7 or Galaxy Watch Ultra, also announced today. With a watch, ring, and Galaxy phone, you’ll be quite tied into Samsung’s ecosystem of products – which is what the company obviously wants. Samsung told us that if you wear a Ring and Galaxy Watch together you’ll get better accuracy thanks to readings from two devices, plus 30 percent longer battery life on the Ring as it won’t be taking your heart rate as often. You might see the benefit here, but it’s also a real double up to have two heart rate monitors strapped to you most of the day. The Ring is at least more comfortable to wear to bed compared to a chunky watch, in theory.
The Galaxy Ring is available to pre-order now from Samsung for £399 before it ships and goes on full sale on 24 July.
Samsung also unveiled the aforementioned Galaxy Watch 7 and premium Galaxy Watch Ultra, along with the foldable Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6, as well as the Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro true wireless earbuds.
