Samsung Galaxy Ring review: Premium but expensive.

Galaxy Ring review, Samsung’s first smart ring is arrived, and it will undoubtedly bring the category into the mainstream.

The big question is, ‘What does a smart ring do?’ And is ‘Samsung’s better than rivals?’, with the Oura Ring Gen 3, RingConn Smart Ring, and Ultrahuman Ring Air all viable options.

There’s a lot to unpack, so I’ve spent a few weeks wearing the Galaxy Ring on my finger to observe how it works.

Design & Build

• Three colours
• Nine sizes
• Titanium and waterproof

In my opinion, the Galaxy Ring is one of the most attractive smart rings on the market.

It has a concave form on the outside but is mainly flat on the inside, with the exception of three bumps where sensors are located.

The Galaxy Ring’s design, as well as its Grade 5 titanium construction, aid to prevent scratching. My sample still looks brand new after about two weeks of use, which is not the case with all competitors, and it appears to be durable in the future.

I have the Titanium Silver colorway, which has a great matte finish, but it is also available in Titanium Black and Titanium Gold if you want.

On the negative, the Galaxy Ring does not feel as nice as I expected given the material used. My first wedding band was titanium, and this feels nothing like it; I’d have thought it was plastic.

This is due in part to how the ring feels to the touch, as well as its weight (2.3-3g, depending on the size). It’s a race to the bottom, which I don’t understand given that massive, heavy jewelry is the standard and people wear it all the time without issue.

If it was heavier, it would appear more luxurious and expensive. I find it incredibly comfortable, and I doubt I would feel any differently if it were twice the weight.

One of the most difficult aspects of smart rings is determining the appropriate size. It must fit properly, thus you’ll need a sizing kit (or visit a Samsung store if possible), as guessing will not enough.

You can acquire one for £10 in the UK, and Samsung will deduct that from your order if you go on to purchase a Galaxy Ring. In the United States, it is free.

There are nine sizes to chose from (5-13 US sizes), with no price difference. Those with larger fingers get a greater battery, so consider this while choose which finger to put it on.

I chose my index finger to avoid clashing with my wedding ring (it is not recommended that you wear a smart ring on your dominant hand).

To wrap out this segment, the Galaxy Ring is IP68 and 10ATM rated, which means it is completely dust and water resistant, making it suitable for swimming.

Setup

• Not the smoothest experience
• Multiple apps required

When I assess items from well-known businesses like as Samsung, I expect a more enjoyable and smoother user experience than from lesser-known competitors.

Although I didn’t have the same troubles with the Circular Ring Slim, which took me a week to pair, it wasn’t without flaws.

With no screen to provide directions, I dug into the box to retrieve the quick start guide. This essentially instructed me to open the case with the ring inside and wait for a notification on my phone.

This never arrived (perhaps because I wasn’t using a Samsung Galaxy phone), but there should be guidelines for this situation. Instead, I connected the ring over Bluetooth, as if it were headphones, and it worked the first time.

Then I downloaded the Samsung Health app to get started, but there was no method to add the ring. It turns out you also need the Galaxy Wear app, and the two function together.

After a long and confusing procedure, I finally got everything set up, although it required more guesswork and fumbling than was desirable. It would be much better if Samsung combined these apps and made it clearer what to do.

Fitness & Tracking

• Heart rate sensor
• Skin temperature sensor
• Sleep tracking and more

Overall, a smart ring functions similarly to a fitness tracker, but without a screen. The Galaxy Ring has heart rate and skin temperature sensors, as well as an accelerometer for tracking your activities.

You get all of the expected data, such as how many steps you’ve done each day, heart rate, minutes active, and calories burned. There’s also sleep tracking, which includes monitoring blood oxygen levels while you sleep.

It isn’t the most complete tracking system because Samsung only has so much space in the ring to fit all of the necessary technology. It means there is no GPS or altimeter to count the floors climbed.

You also miss out on features that you would expect from a smartwatch at this pricing point, such as an ECG or Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis sensor for sophisticated metrics like body compositions.

You might suppose there is an NFC chip for contactless payments. However, as with other contemporary rivals, this is not a feature available.

So, if you’re not searching for GPS-tracked runs (without your phone), electrocardiograms, or other advanced data, you’re fine to go.

Overall, I found the Galaxy Ring’s fitness and wellbeing tracking to be accurate and helpful.

In addition to the essentials such as step count, you receive a ‘Energy score’, which is comparable to Google/Fitbit’s ‘Readiness score’. It collects numerous data and parameters (mostly sleep, exercise, and heart rate) and essentially tells you how ready you are for action, along with some notes and an overall score out of 100.

It works nicely and is well identified. I was exhausted from a long and heavy lunch out for my wedding anniversary, which disrupted my sleep. The following day, the app suggested that I prioritize rest, which I gratefully accepted.

Sleep tracking is mostly accurate, albeit on the liberal side, implying that I fell asleep as soon as I climbed into bed, which is rarely the case. While it may not be entirely accurate, I’d rather have good sleep scores; even if it’s a placebo, they make me feel better.

I’ve stopped using other devices that can track my sleep because they simply made me feel worse when I looked at the results in the morning. And the Galaxy Ring was not wrong enough to imply that I was being informed I possessed energy I did not have.

You can get an overview of several variables, including the sleep score, or delve further into the measurements. After seven days of using the ring, you’ll be allocated a sleep animal – evidently, I’m a Lion, though I believe this would have been different if those first seven days had been spent at home, at work, and caring for a kid rather than primarily on vacation.

The Galaxy Ring also displays information and images about your heart rate and blood oxygen levels, albeit data for the latter is only available while sleeping. I’m normally healthy and fit, so I didn’t find this data to be really useful in isolation.

I found the stress tracking to be utterly wrong. Almost every day of using the Galaxy Ring has been a stressful rollercoaster, alternating between relaxed and completely overloaded.

Many of the times the Galaxy Ring indicated I was stressed, I was actually doing something more active, such as walking the dog or digesting a meal. I didn’t feel stressed throughout either, but when I realized I was stressed, the ring assumed the opposite.

Samsung does caution in the app that it does not always reflect how you are feeling, and that substances such as alcohol and caffeine can impact measurements. Perhaps I drink too much tea and coffee for it to be effective, but I believe many people will experience a same situation.

Fortunately, the app does not send me messages when I am worried, but if I could, I think I would disable this feature to avoid the comical tension of the readings being all over the place.

Stress measurements are meant to cease during activity, but I didn’t always find this to be the case, and automatic tracking of activities such as dog walking only succeeded a few times.

Other sports and hobbies require manual activation, which I wished I had understood when I went for a rare swim.

As a man, I was unable to try the menstrual cycle monitoring feature, however it is available if you are interested.

All of the information above is attractively presented in the Samsung Health app. It’s well-organized, colorful, and easy to use, without overwhelming you with data while still providing the opportunity for more information and extensive breakdowns.

There are alternatives for manually entering data such as water intake, food consumption, and body composition. Other tabs beyond the Home screen include Together and Fitness, which allow you to compete with friends, as well as Videos of things like Zumba sessions.

As previously stated, my primary complaint is that the Galaxy Wear app is also present, and the two are inextricably linked. For example, the Samsung Health app does not display the Galaxy Ring battery level, and tapping items on the Galaxy Wear app, such as the Energy score, simply redirects you back to Health.

With Bluetooth 5.4, I’ve had excellent connectivity with the Galaxy Ring. And this is especially important when you rely on the mobile app for information and notifications.

The ring syncs swiftly with the Health app, and I appreciate the thoughtful touches that Samsung has included, such as being told when the Galaxy Ring has reached 100% charge in the charging case.

If you combine the ring with a compatible Galaxy smartphone, a double pinch motion between the ring’s finger and your thumb can be used to shoot a photo or turn off an alarm.

Battery Life & Charging

• Week-long battery life
• Green/red light indicators
• Excellent charging case

As previously stated, battery life will vary slightly depending on the size Galaxy Ring you purchase. Battery sizes are as follows for the nine sizes:

• Sizes 5, 6, 7: 17mAh
• Sizes 8, 9, 10, 11: 18mAh
• Sizes 12, 13: 22.5mAh

This equates to up to six days of use on a single charge for sizes 5-11, with an additional day if you choose 12 or 13.

I tested a size 12, which has the largest battery, and found Samsung’s claims to be spot on. In actuality, the Galaxy Ring lasted slightly more than a week, expiring in the early hours of day eight.

The crucial thing to note is that I’m not a gym bunny and haven’t been performing any documented workouts.

When it comes to charging, Samsung has nailed it with a very cool charging cover. I’m not a great lover of the clear design, which gives me a dentist sense, but I’m getting used to it.

It functions similarly to a set of wireless earphones, with the case containing a battery that charges the ring anytime it is inserted. When you open the cover, an LED ring around the Galaxy Ring reveals the battery level, and you can also couple it by tapping the button in the center.

I discovered that the ring had charged from dead to 26% in 30 minutes. The case itself can be charged using USB-C or Qi wireless charging, which is fantastic.

I also found the case beneficial when I needed a place to safely store the ring while doing something that did not require me to wear it.

If you don’t have the case or your phone with you to check your battery level, the Galaxy Ring features a clever function where if you take it off and wait a few seconds (the period appears to vary), the sensors will flash green or red to indicate if you have more than 10% battery or less.

The final item to mention in this part is that there is a way to increase battery life by up to 30%. It sounds too good to be true, but when you pair the Galaxy Ring with a Galaxy Watch, the tracking is shared between the two devices. The battery lasts longer since the ring does not have to take measurements like heart rate as frequently.

Price & Availability

The price of the Galaxy Ring is something of a dual-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s one of the most expensive smart rings on the market at £399/$399.99.

You can buy it from Samsung as well as John Lewis and Currys in the UK. In the US, find it at Samsung as well as Amazon and Best Buy.

Specs

• Bluetooth 5.4
• Accelerometer
• Optical Heart Rate Sensor
• Temperature Sensor
• Charging case with USB-C and wireless charging
• Battery: 17-22.5mAh (depending on size)
• IP68
• 10ATM
• Sizes: 5-13 US
• Weight: 2.3-3g (depending on size)