Samsung Galaxy Ring review: a nitty-gritty health tracker that's not worth $399

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Samsung Galaxy Ring review: a nitty-gritty health tracker that's not worth $399

Published: 15 Aug. 2024, 14:33 Updated: 15 Aug. 2024, 18:47

JIN EUN-SOO
jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr

From left, a ring from a jewelry brand, the Galaxy Ring in silver shade, and its charger [JIN EUN-SOO]

[REVIEW]

If you expect Samsung's Galaxy Ring to spruce up your look with a high-tech touch on your finger, you may not find its $399 price tag worth it.

The Galaxy Ring, Samsung Electronics' smallest wearable to date, launched in July as the company's first legitimate competitor to the $300 Oura, which currently leads the still-nascent smart ring market.

The Korea JoongAng Daily tried out a silver Galaxy Ring model, and its main attractions — the sleep- and stress-tracking features — were quite impressive, as was its nearly weeklong battery life.

But its size, despite its 2.3-gram (0.08-ounce) weight and seemingly slim 7-millimeter (0.3-inch) width, presented some inconvenience, and users should be aware that it may be a bit chunky to serve as a fashion accessory.

Here are the key takeaways from two weeks of testing.

The Galaxy Ring on the index finger and an ordinary ring on the ring finger [KIM MYEONG-JI]

Design
The ring is indeed sleek, thanks to its simple black, silver and gold shades and concave design.

The matte finish of the black and silver options is especially appealing.

The ring's titanium finish did a good job of repelling scratches, with no damage detectable to the eyes at the end of the two-week try-on.

When worn next to platinum jewelry, however, the metallic material looked a bit too futuristic. It was almost impossible to wear them on the same hand.

The design of the charging station is a bit more charming.

A circular LED surrounding the ring holder indicates how much battery is left in the charger; when you begin charging the ring, the LED switches to indicate the battery level of the device. That all-too-intuitive feature was very pleasing.

The Galaxy Ring was unveiled to the public at Galaxy Unpacked 2024 in Paris in July. [YONHAP]

Wearability
To start off, the Galaxy Ring is much easier to wear than its larger sibling, the Galaxy Watch.

While it is stuffed with various sensors to detect heart rate, blood oxygen, skin temperature and acceleration that manifest in three small bumps on the inner side, those didn't result in any discomfort or excessive heat.

The Galaxy Ring can be worn on any digit, but many will want it on the index finger due to the gesture control features that are enabled if the device is paired with a Samsung phone.

And those who are tempted to remove their smartwatch while sleeping in order to relieve their wrist from stuffiness will likely not feel such urges from a smart ring — at least, not when the hand is idle.

The inconvenience sweeps in when that finger is called upon to grab or rub something.

When washing hands, putting on lotion and taking a shower, bubbles and lotions got stuck between the finger and the ring due to its bulkier shape. The ring had to be removed to wash the substances off.

The ring also cluttered on the surfaces of smartphones and mice during basic work — you have to put in extra effort to flex your fingers if you want to use your gadgets quietly.

What was, however, impressive was the ring's light weight considering the large capacity of its battery. When at rest, the portable build made it easy to forget that an extra ring was on the finger.

Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Ring during the Galaxy Unpacked media preview in Seoul on July 8, 2024. [AP/YONHAP]

Functions
The Galaxy Ring's battery lasted six full days to a charge. That enabled the device to track sleeping patterns and stress levels consistently, raising the accuracy of the data.

Each morning, the Health app on the Galaxy smartphone proposes a comprehensive energy score based on the sleep, activity and heart rate detected the previous day and throughout the night. If the score is lower than usual, it makes suggestions for improvement.

If a user's overnight heart rate differed significantly from its usual patterns, the app suggests that they focus on recovery, taking breaks or getting a good night's sleep — though those can be hard to achieve.

The two weeks did not include any binge drinking or overnight work, so this reporter's energy score stayed well above 60. When sleeping earlier than usual or working out more than usual, the score went as high as 82.

The ring also measures certain biomarkers to determine stress levels every 10 minutes and displays trends over periods of a day, a month and a year.

Measurements were quite accurate considering this reporter's daily schedule.

Stress hit red in the morning, of course, because waking up is always a stressful activity, and hit another high red around 7 p.m. near the Korea JoongAng Daily's deadline. This fluctuation repeated for most working days but stayed green throughout the day on weekends.

It is disappointing, however, that the Galaxy Ring doesn't offer much new in regards to health tracking compared to the Galaxy Watch. The watch, in fact, offers more diverse functionality, including tracking workouts.

Blood glucose and blood pressure monitoring are not included in the device, reportedly due to medical regulations.

What ended up being more interesting was the ring's integration with Samsung's phones. Pinching two fingers, one of which is wearing the ring, allows a user to dismiss a Galaxy's alarm or use its camera to take a photograph or video. That gesture worked well, and is a more unique feature that the ring can offer.

There are surely some who will find the ring intriguing, but there are also many improvements to be made, especially in terms of functionality. Adding more features to the finger-snapping motion, in particular, would make the this ring stand out more from rivals like the Oura.

At the moment, your $399 could be better spent elsewhere considering the mediocre health-tracking features and less-than-attractive look.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]