The Galaxy Ring is the health device I'm most excited about this year. Samsung's foray into the smart ring ecosystem was first revealed in January, and I saw it in person in February. Two weeks ago, Samsung made it official and revealed the key things that set it apart.
I wore a Galaxy Ring, here’s why it’s got me excited
My Galaxy Ring has finally arrived, so let's kick off a review with a difference. Most products are reviewed within a week or two of use, and often, how you feel about them changes further in the first month or two. Health products, especially, require longer testing to understand their impact on your health.
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That's why I'm doing things differently with the Galaxy Ring. Welcome to Day 1 of “30 Days with the Galaxy Ring”, a multi-platform ongoing real-time review of the Galaxy Ring and whether it lives up to the hype.
Why you should care about the Galaxy Ring
The Galaxy Ring is Samsung's answer to the Oura Ring. It's designed to work as a standalone health device but is enhanced when used alongside Samsung's Galaxy Watch range.
Available in 9 different full sizes from 5 to 13, the Galaxy Ring bucks the trend and uses a concave design that curves inwards from the outer shell versus being rounded outwards or relatively flat. As I discovered back in February, this makes it far better for those with swollen fingers, which is a byproduct of my health conditions.
My index fingers swell the most, and while the Galaxy Ring can track health metrics from any finger, you have to wear it on the index finger to use gestures. Simply pinch your finger, and you can quickly take a selfie or snooze an alarm.
The Galaxy Ring is rated to deliver up to seven days of battery life (for the largest two sizes) and comes with a portable charging case that should more than double it. It solves one of the biggest problems with smart rings: the charging pucks are usually unremarkable and easy to lose.
Health tracking without the smartwatch
Smartwatches aren't ideal for many people. While they are very popular — thanks to the Apple Watch Series at first — many people want the health benefits without having to have the whole watch experience.
Whether it's the watch's style or you don't want a big display on your wrist, the alternatives usually have some sizeable tradeoffs. The Galaxy Ring gives you the essentials of the Samsung Health ecosystem while also providing a way to get more accurate readings for those core metrics.
The finger is a much better place for reading health metrics than the wrist, and the data coming from the Galaxy Ring will almost certainly be better than the data captured by a watch on your wrist. If you are tired of Smartwatches that give you inaccurate heart and sleep recommendations like I am, smart rings are designed for you.
On the heart front, the Galaxy Ring captures heart rate data continuously and can alert you of unusually low or high rate rates. There's no screen, but it pushes the alert to your Samsung Health on your Android phone. Samsung is hoping you'll want to buy a Galaxy Phone like the new Galaxy Z Fold 6, but most features should work with any Android phone with the Samsung Health and Galaxy Wearable apps installed.
The Galaxy Ring also monitors your sleep and updates Samsung Health in the morning. Then you’ll be given an Energy Score, which assigns a number between 1 and 100 to determine your readiness for the day. Think of it as your very own Energy Bar; when you’re feeling 100% percent, you’re pretty unstoppable. Energy Score gives you a number to aim for, a personal goal to hit, and lots of little tooltips and information to get you there.
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Beyond Energy Score, the Galaxy Ring also feeds a lot of sleep data into Samsung Health, providing the best Sleep reports of any major smartphone manufacturer. Samsung and Sleep go hand-in-hand — largely thanks to the close partnership with the National Sleep Foundation — and this is a marriage made in Sleep.
The Galaxy Ring is already far more popular than Samsung expected
The biggest issue for Samsung so far has been availability. Since pre-orders opened, the Galaxy Ring has been virtually out of stock everywhere. Recent reports suggest that Samsung only made 400,000 rings, and the demand surprised them.
Based on what I've seen for my own orders, this feels accurate. Most sizes and color options have been back ordered for several weeks. Production is ramping up, so there'll definitely be more availability, and I'm seeing that relief already as I track the stock levels.
Why Samsung, not Apple, has the best health ecosystem
Samsung’s foray into the smart rings category feels different from other launches. It’s not asking you to replace your phone; it’s simply saying to use this alongside your Android phone. Sadly, it isn’t compatible with the iPhone, so you’ll have to use the Oura Ring instead, but I do hope that Samsung opens this up to everyone. It could be the best way to get people to join the Galaxy Universe.
30 Days with the Galaxy Ring starts now!
I’ve got a lot planned for the Galaxy Ring. I’ve started the review with a size 10 that only fits on my wedding finger, while I’m waiting for the size 12 that will fit on my index finger. I’ve got content planned for this newsletter, all of my social channels, and several of the sites I publish freelance content on.
For the next 30 days, I’ll mix written, video, and photo posts related to the Galaxy Ring across all platforms. Each day, I’ll post a brief update on the Galaxy Ring on Twitter or Threads, and it’ll either include or link to screenshots, photos, and videos that I’ve written or published.
Throughout this, I hope to be able to test every feature of the Galaxy Ring and answer any questions that people have. Reach out on social, or let me know if you have any specific questions, and I’ll cover these throughout the review process!
Follow 30 Days with the Galaxy Ring
Follow the following platforms to keep up-to-date in real-time!
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Let’s get healthy together!
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