The Samsung Galaxy Ring is finally here — and we’ve tried it

Finally, Samsung is ready to put a ring on it — the new Galaxy Ring to be precise. Amid a flurry of product upgrades to its Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Buds and foldable phones at the summer 2024 Galaxy Unpacked, the company finally revealed the new wearable it first announced this past January.

Yes, to those whose eyes just perked up at the notion, you can now track your physical activity without slapping another display onto your body and gaining another set of notifications to disable. Of course, for the Oura ring crowd, I have to note that this isn’t actually the first of its class; it’s just the first smart ring from a big tech brand whose ecosystem you may already be a part of. And after getting my eyes on it at Samsung’s private press preview, I have a good idea of who should preorder one now. Expect them to ship later this month, as the general availability release date is July 24th.

Lightweight feel

During my hands-on (or is it on-hand) time with the Galaxy Ring, it didn’t even feel like it was there. Aesthetically speaking, I’m not a huge fan of its concave design, but I know I’m not the target market. This is the first ring I’ve worn since I was into Ring Pops.

Helpful health tracking and insights

Samsung’s positioning the $400 Galaxy Ring as an assistant to help with the seemingly universal problem of poor sleep. By tracking movement, heart rate and breathing when you’ve hit the hay, the ring will begin to give advice on how to get a better night’s rest. And since everything can be scored these days, the Galaxy Ring will give you an energy score when you wake, along with an explanation of how it got that rating of zero to 100. The Galaxy Ring will then turn all the data it collected into insights, including if you need to move or rest more or if meditation could help.

The concave Galaxy Ring is also offering heart activity monitoring, but you don’t get the instant feedback of irregular heart rate notifications on your phone unless you’re also using the Galaxy Watch. Speaking of which, using a Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Ring in tandem will deliver optimized results and battery life, as the two will only track the metrics that they’re best at and disable others. The ring will also deliver other notifications that wearables have also given, such as an inactivity alert (my Apple Watch Series 8 is to blame for why I stand up and walk to the back of the theater once an hour at the movies).

Specs and features

As for the Galaxy Ring’s specs? It’s got the kind of workhorse stats you’d expect for a piece of tech this intimate. Its titanium chassis is water-resistant up to 100 meters, and it offers up to seven days of battery life. Those specs match the Oura ring, which is also titanium.

Just as importantly for this writer — who tends to misplace smaller tech — you can trigger red and green lights to blast from the Galaxy Ring if you’re having trouble locating it. We tried this out, and it seems to work well enough. That said, the show floor didn’t have dark space for the lights to truly shine, so more testing is needed. The other cool trick in the Galaxy Ring is its gesture control feature, including a double-press of two fingertips that works as a camera shutter click. That specific gesture took a short amount of time to figure out, but worked easily after that initial learning curve.

The takeaway

As I hinted at above, the urge or need to get the Galaxy Ring likely stems from those who wish their tech accessories were a bit more discreet. I could also see the Galaxy Ring attracting those who are already invested in an actual watch and don’t want to part with that timepiece or wear a second on the same wrist. For those curious about plunging into this $400 commitment, stay tuned for our full review — we’re curious if Samsung’s proposal will lead to more new members of its wearable lineup or if this is more of a one-and-done-night stand.