Smart rings are on track to be the latest techwear trend of 2024, and speculation around what we can expect from Samsung's upcoming Galaxy ring has us super excited. Wondering what is a smart ring? It's a wearable device, shaped like a ring, which is worn on your finger – a very simple concept with great potential (at least we think so) if the predicted features are anything to go on.
Samsung revealed a first look at its upcoming Galaxy Ring during the latest Samsung Unpacked event in February, and kept the details to a minimum, given that the focus and star of the show was the Samsung Galaxy S24 series. We got a glimpse at what this Galaxy ring could look like, although reports suggest that by the time we actually see it in stores, the design might be completely different as nothing is finalised yet.
One thing we do know for certain is that the Galaxy Ring is arriving in the summer of 2024, and if Samsung's latest innovations with AI are anything to go by, we wouldn't be surprised if this smart ring had a voice assistant, could initiate commands through morse-code like touch responses, or even be used to control music apps like Spotify. This is probably just wishful thinking on our end, but we can dream.
We've compiled everything we know about the Galaxy Ring in the sections below, but a lot of it (at least for now) forms from speculation, reliable tips, and patent diving. So as always, take things with a pinch of salt until we get official confirmation from Samsung on its upcoming wearable. In other news: Is Apple making a smart ring, or what?
Design
Samsung gave us a very vague glimpse at the design of the Galaxy Ring during the Unpacked event last month, and not much else has been revealed since. We know that prototypes do exist, however, and our sister site TechRadar was given an exclusive sneak peek at the ring during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
TechRadar's expert on all things fitness, wellness, and wearable tech – Matt Evans, described the prototype Galaxy ring as "incredibly light, perhaps too light, feeling as though they’d come out of a toy dispenser – and a little plasticky." Well, that doesn't sound too promising. Thankfully it was just a prototype.
According to Matt, the ring also had several sensors and nodules on the black-coloured plastic inside, to ensure good skin contact, and was comfortable to wear. The prototype had a concave design to avoid surface scratches
We also know that the ring will come in three colours: Ceramic Black, Platinum Silver, and Gold (or at least a close version of these colours). Black might look a little out of place on someone's finger compared with typical silver and gold jewellery, but the alternative goth teen inside of me would absolutely choose the black variant.
Features
Smart rings are relatively new territory for most creatives, although models like the Oura ring and Circular ring series are very popular and offer features like health monitoring, sleep data, and fitness tracking as standard.
According to TechRadar's Matt Evans, the Samsung ring will offer advanced sleep insights different to what you might find on a smartwatch, such as night movement, respiratory rate, sleep apnoea detection, and sleep latency.
Dr. Hon Pak, Samsung’s Chief Medical Officer, told Matt that a Vitality score will also be included to collect physical and mental readiness data from users, and combine this with sleep data to form an overall singular number.
We can also expect the ring to perform simple step tracking and movement, with a skin temperature sensor and the ability to track women's menstrual cycles, and Evans was told that wearing a Samsung Galaxy Watch and Ring together will reap additional benefits with added accuracy.
Availability and price
We know nothing extremely little about the price of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy ring (maybe Samsung hasn't figured it out yet?) but we can say with confidence that it definitely won't be cheap. At a guess, given the price of competitors like the Oura ring and the Ultrahuman Ring AIR models we would expect nothing less than between $300-$400.
According to a report by TheElec, a Korean-based website, Samsung is supposedly planning to start mass production of the Galaxy Ring in May this year, with a goal for release towards the second half of 2024, as early as July or August.
Should you get one?
Smart rings won't be to everyone's tastes, with the screenless nature of these wearable ring devices leaving a few people scratching their heads. It may seem a pointless product to some, but smart rings can do more than you think and can integrate seamlessly into your lifestyle – especially for sleep tracking.
For example, the Oura Ring generation 3 has recently been praised for advancing women’s health monitoring by introducing helpful Pregnancy Insight features. It offers cycle measuring and context on how and when bodily changes will occur during different stages for pregnant women.
While this is a great feature, for creatives in general, smart rings might not be considered the most helpful tech on the market. There's no screen to show your notifications, remind you of important business meetings, or set alarms. But you'll be able to keep tabs on your general health and well-being, which is important for any artist to thrive.
It might take a lot to get most people to switch from their trusty smartwatch to a smart ring instead, but the less-intrusive form factor of these screenless devices will certainly be easier to wear while you sleep and avoid eye strain.
Ultimately, whether a smart ring is right for you and your lifestyle depends on how you plan to use it, and how much you value fitness and health data over being able to see widgets and app shortcuts like with the best smartwatches.
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