The wearable tech category just went up a ring size and with it, the Samsung Ring reviews have begun pouring in. During the Galaxy Unpacked event on July 10, 2024, the Samsung Galaxy Ring was finally opened up for pre-orders with the device set for release on July 24. Rumors about the Galaxy Ring’s features have been plentiful ever since the company confirmed the product was in the works during the first look-don’t-touch presentation at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024 in February.
Now we have more details about the Galaxy Ring specs and pricing so you should get a better idea of whether it is worth the investment for you.
Image: The new Samsung Galaxy Ring
Samsung Ring Review—What Does a Smart Ring Even Do?
The concept of smart rings has blown up in the last few years but we still have only a handful of brands making them and just as small of a percentage of the population putting them to use. The Samsung Galaxy Ring, like others in the category, is a health and fitness tracker. It’s designed to be the next iteration of the smartwatch, equipped to use mini sensors to test functions like heart rates, daily movement, and other health-related details.
For those who don’t find a watch comfortable to wear or prefer to wear old-school watches that are less bulky, smart rings can be a good alternative to still have access to fitness and sleep reports. These rings are designed to be much more discreet because they lack giant touch screens and they’re significantly more stylish than a watch. Case in point, we have the simple and sleek metal-toned Samsung Rings awaiting a review.
Galaxy Ring Specs—What Kind of Parameters Are We Looking At?
Samsung made quite a few announcements for its wearable fitness tracker category during the recent event including a new Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra, but we’re here to focus on their smart ring. The Galaxy Ring is lightweight, ranging between 2.3 grams to 3.0 grams, and users can find their perfect fit using the sizing kit before they receive the product, so the variety in sizing is great.
The device comes in three colors, Titanium Black, Titanium Silver, and Titanium Gold, and if it wasn’t obvious, the Galaxy Ring features a “Titanium” Grade 5 finish.
| Category | Galaxy Ring Specs |
| Weight | 2.3g – 3.0g |
| Size | 9 sizes (5-13) |
| Water resistance | 10ATM, IP68 rating |
| Sensors | Photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor, Accelerometer, Skin Temperature |
| Battery | 18mAh – 23.5mAh |
| Charging case – 361mAh | |
| Lasts up to 7 days | |
| Connectivity | BLE 5.4 (Helps with Find My Ring support to locate the ring if misplaced) |
Is the Battery Life on the Galaxy Ring Good?
A 7-day battery on the device is quite impressive but this number is reserved for the larger ring sizes. The smaller rings have a smaller battery which means its ability to charge up is also lower, but we’re not exactly sure just how much lower it is. It helps that the charging case also doubles up as a backup battery reserve. The case is simply designed and comes with a cover so you can pack up your ring and carry it on the go. Its battery life is probably one of most interesting as well as ambiguous things we’ve had to note in this Samsung Ring review.
Is the Galaxy Ring Water Resistant?
The device has a 10 ATM and IP68 rating. These Galaxy Ring specs mean the ring is water-resistant—it has a resistance rating of 100 meters and can be submerged in 1.5 meters of freshwater for up to 30 minutes. You could swim wearing the ring but high-pressure water activities are best avoided.
Galaxy Ring Features—Reviewing Its Actual Functionality
Smart rings are significantly smaller than a smartwatch or a smartphone—there are only so many sensors you can cram into the space available. As such, the smart ring has the most basic measurement capabilities you need to track the essentials. Sleep tracking is a major selling point of the ring and it records a few different metrics to assess the quality of your sleep.
The Galaxy Ring features support for an Energy Score on the Samsung Health app which uses the assistance of AI to consolidate four major details—sleep score, activity, sleeping heart rate, and sleeping heart rate variability. This energy factor is a great way to assess how much energy you have for your day-to-day routine and where you can stand to make improvements.
The Samsung Ring’s list of features also includes menstrual cycle tracking powered by Natural Cycles, and the actual measuring is done through overnight skin temperature monitoring. Lastly, the watch has a few key alerts it can provide such as a Heart rate alert or an inactive alert. The ring won’t notify you on its own like a watch does, but you can receive the alerts on your phone.
Does the Galaxy Ring Have Gesture Support?
If you have a Samsung Galaxy smartphone running One UI 6.1.1 or anything above it, you do have some limited gesture support available. This means one of the Samsung Galaxy S24s or the Galaxy Z Fold 5s will serve you well, but older models, for example those that came after the Galaxy Z Flip 3, should also serve you well.
With a double pinch gesture, you can control your phone camera and take a picture or dismiss an alarm that comes up. This means you can tell your alarms to pipe down without even opening your eyes in the morning—a dangerous power to leave on many of our fingers. The gesture support is quite limited compared to what we expected and is one of the more disappointing elements we’ve had to note for the Samsung Ring review.
Rumors of the Apple Ring expect the device will be capable of much more, but that particular gadget is still a distant dream.
The Galaxy Ring Price Might Cause You To Hesitate—No Subscription Plans for Now
The Galaxy Ring is priced at $399 USD. For comparison, the Oura Ring starts at $299 USD, the Ultrahuman Ring Air costs $349 USD, and the Amazfit Helio Ring is priced at $299.99 USD. Despite having cheaper alternatives on the market, one reason why the Galaxy Ring could be more affordable for you compared to the popular Oura Ring is that the Oura has a subscription plan for which you need to be ready to pay $5.99 USD every month or $69.99 USD every year. T
he Galaxy Ring has no subscription plans although the rumors had suggested it would. The Oura Ring does not make it necessary for you to have a Samsung device to experience all its features though, so that might factor into your decision.
Final Verdict On the Samsung Galaxy Ring
To summarize all our thoughts on this Samsung Ring review, we like what we see and Samsung has introduced a decent ring to the market. It isn’t doing anything revolutionary that other rings are capable of doing, but it’s not a bad ring. Especially if you’re a Samsung smartphone user already, it’s a great buy. If you use a Galaxy Watch that does your tracking but you don’t like having it on all the time, the ring can give you a good way to switch between devices that suit the occasion.
We can imagine the convenience of having the ring on while sleeping and dressing up for occasions where the watch ruins the outfit. And then when you need more intensive exercise tracking, the watch can step in. If this sounds excessive to you, you’re right, it is. You don’t need two separate health trackers to remind you that you’ve been sitting too long at your 9-to-5 every day.
Still, it’s always good to have the option for those who do want a comprehensive setup of fitness devices and the Galaxy Ring features do just enough to be worth the investment.