After many teasers and hints at the Samsung Galaxy Ring, we finally saw the device take shape and from the first looks, it seems quite promising. After the initial hints at a possible Samsung Galaxy ring in the works during the Galaxy Unpacked event last month, the company put the rings up on display today at the Mobile World Congress 2024 event. Designed in black, silver, and gold hues, the Samsung Galaxy ring specs remain shrouded in some mystery but we’re closer than ever to an official release. When we first heard about the Galaxy ring, we had assumed that we were still a few months away from the company unveiling an actual product but it seems they were closer to the finish line than expected. We are still in the dark about a fixed Samsung Galaxy ring release date, but we should be closer to release than we are to an Apple Smart Ring launch.
Image: Samsung Newsroom
The Samsung Galaxy Ring Features Health Monitoring at the Heart of Its Design
While we saw the Samsung Galaxy Ring showcased at the MWC 2024 event, the company has still maintained its silence on the device’s entire list of capabilities. From what we can tell, the Samsung Galaxy ring specs are designed to complement the Samsung Galaxy Smartwatch and work best in tandem with it, but it should work just fine as a standalone health tracker as well. There are only so many sensors they will be able to fit onto such a small device so the company has likely been very selective with the Samsung Galaxy ring features to ensure it covers their top list of priorities. There is also talk of a subscription-based service to the Samsung Health app but that should only happen after the ring is fully optimized and released to the public. This might lead you to a few questions, What is the Samsung Galaxy Ring Priced at? When will the Galaxy Ring launch? What are the Samsung Galaxy Ring’s features? Let’s see what we know so far.
Is Samsung Making a Galaxy Smart Ring?
It seems Samsung already has! What seemed like a distant possibility is now unfolding in real time and the Samsung Smart Ring is finally here to capitalize on the smart wearable tech market. The recent public unveiling was more of a “look but don’t touch” showing as the rings were arranged in display cases for visitors to witness. There are currently three colorways designed—gold, platinum silver, and ceramic black—and they all have a shiny, metallic finish to them. SamMobile reports that the rings actually have a plastic shell in the current prototype which doesn’t sound as appealing but it may or may not be the final structure. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for an upgrade. The design is very discrete and unobtrusive, it looks like a simple wedding band, which makes you wonder just how many features you could expect to be packed into the little thing.
According to The Verge, the lightweight Smart Ring will be available in eight sizes, from 5 to 13, giving users some options for finding the right fit. The Samsung Galaxy ring price remains unknown but speculations suggest a price range between $300-$400 USD which is what the higher-tier smart rings are currently priced at. An additional subscription fee could also make an appearance for the device’s insights to be fully accessible, but there’s no concrete news on that just yet.
When Will the Galaxy Ring Launch? Expected Samsung Galaxy Ring Release Date
Considering the Samsung Galaxy ring specs remain a work in progress, there should be at least a few months’ delay before we see the devices hit the shelves. Some reports suggest the Samsung Galaxy ring release date has been set for July but considering how secretive the company is and how the test rings have not been tester models even during this showcase, it seems more and more likely that the device is not ready for a full launch.
We’ll have to wait and see what else we can learn about the ring during the rest of MWC or in the weeks that follow. Some have even suggested that an Apple Smart ring may be released before the Samsung ring, but we find that to be very unlikely. Samsung seems much closer to a complete product than Apple does.
What Are the Samsung Galaxy Ring’s Specs and Features?
The Samsung Smart Ring is set to be a health and fitness tracker first, and all the necessary sensors and modules will be included accordingly. There’s nothing concrete to suggest what tech is behind these sensors, but Dr. Hon Pak, Samsung’s VP of Digital Health, was able to discuss some of the health-centric uses of the ring. Samsung Galaxy ring features include advanced sleep tracking in the form of respiratory rate, heart rate, sleep latency, and movement at night. Apart from sleep, the Samsung Galaxy ring specs will include sensors for step counting, blood oxygen levels, etc. Samsung’s partnership with women’s health app Natural Cycles will carry over from the Galaxy Watch to the Galaxy Ring. The app uses temperature-based measures for period tracking which should soon be possible with the ring as well.
Another Samsung Galaxy Ring feature to look forward to is the Vitality Score. The Galaxy Watch 6 series should be the first to showcase this metric. “My Vitality Score offers personalized health insights based on multiple factors including Sleep, Activity, Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability, while Booster Card helps make each day healthier by tracking predefined goals and delivering actionable insights,” says Samsung. According to The Verge, the company is working on “ambient sensing” or creating an ecosystem that gathers data from multiple sources in order to give you a comprehensive assessment of your body, lifestyle and overall health.
Will the Samsung Galaxy ring specs extend to other services like controlling peripheral devices or NFC payments? Maybe, but there’s no evidence to suggest it yet. The current marketing around the device remains centered around the concept of wellness, with Dr. Hon Pak’s blog post stating, “Galaxy Ring will offer users an all-new way to simplify everyday wellness, empowering them with greater insights and more ways to understand themselves day and night. With Galaxy Ring, users can embrace an unrivaled experience during every step of their wellness journey, all while being delivered in lockstep with Samsung’s broader vision for a more connected, integrated and seamless digital wellness platform.” These wellness ideas will find some integration with AI as well but the exact incorporation remains to be seen.
The Samsung Galaxy ring price and release date is anyone’s guess, all we can say is that we’re excited to try the ring out and if it offers anything beyond the smart watches and rings already on the market. While the Samsung brand will be one of the selling points of the device, if it doesn’t do anything spectacularly different from the Oura ring or the Galaxy smartwatch, then customers will see little reason to upgrade to another health tracker that does what their devices already accomplish on their own. We hope we don’t have to wait longer than July to see the final Samsung Galaxy Ring make its debut.