I thought Samsung somewhat fumbled the Galaxy Ring announcement during its big AI-centric Galaxy S24 event. It could have been a much better “one more thing” kind of reveal, had Samsung planned the reveal better.
Then again, Samsung did not share that much about the Galaxy Ring during the Galaxy S24 launch event in mid-January. Fast-forward to MWC 2024 and Samsung can at least show what must be prototype models of the upcoming wearable. I got my eyes on them in Barcelona, but that’s pretty much it. We still don’t know when this thing is coming out, how much it’ll cost, and what it’ll be able to track.
As someone who uses the Apple Watch religiously for tracking health and fitness parameters, I will say that smart rings sound interesting already. I don’t care that much about anything else on the smartwatch, and I could go without a display, even though I use the screen to glance at information. Like the weather, health parameters, and exercise stats.
Still, a smart ring could always complement a watch. Or maybe replace it completely. I did buy a crowdfunded ring that claims it can offer heart blood pressure readings from Indiegogo several months ago, suspecting it might be a hoax. Many moons later, it still hasn’t shipped, and I’m not too hopeful about it.
Back to the Galaxy Ring, I did learn during my time at the Samsung booth that it comes in three colors. That’s silver, gold, and black. Also, Samsung has come up with all sorts of sizes, from S to XL.
These are marked on the inside of the wearable, and Samsung will probably have a sizing method in place by the time it launches the device. The Samsung rep I talked to during my Galaxy Ring eyes-on could not give me more details.
Similarly, we don’t have a release date other than “maybe” later this year. There’s no price for the Galaxy Ring, either. And we’ll still have to wait for a list of features.
The Galaxy Ring has various health sensors on the inside. Heart rate tracking is probably a given, but that’s just me speculating here. Samsung could always try to bring as many health features as possible from its Galaxy Watches to the Galaxy Ring. Or try to match the Oura rings, which are the most popular smart rings in town. This is, of course, not official.
Some of these inwards pointing connectors/sensors would also serve as wireless charging points. Though, like anything else, we really have no idea. And on that note, I’d be curious to see what sort of battery life a Galaxy Ring has to offer. The Oura Ring lasts 7 days, and we’ll all compare the Galaxy Ring to that.
I might be speculating, but there’s one thing that’s certain. The Galaxy Ring will likely work closely with your other Galaxy-branded products, including phones, smartwatches, and laptops. That’s the entire point of making a smart ring. Or one of them. Apple is also reportedly working on a smart ring that would be part of its own ecosystem of smart devices. This sort of deep integration could be a big advantage over the likes of Oura.
