Samsung surprised everyone when it teased the launch of the Galaxy Ring alongside the Galaxy S24 Ultra in January, and at MWC 2024 we got our first look at the wearable.
While this product is still at an early stage and slated for release later this year, the three colours of the ring and all its varying sizes have been on show at MWC in Barcelona. Samsung has also revealed a few more details about the ring, though we’re still in the dark about when exactly it’ll be available and how much it’ll retail for.
Smart rings are having something of a moment in early 2024, with many brands aiming to dethrone the Oura Ring 3 as the default choice in this category. We saw multiple offerings at CES earlier in the year, and we were very impressed with the Ultrahuman Ring Air when we reviewed it late in 2023. There’s even been rumours Apple has been looking at creating its own smart ring.
Smart rings typically offer a similar feature set to smartwatches – obviously without the display – and it seems that the Galaxy Ring has been designed as a wearable that can be worn 24/7, either paired with another Galaxy Watch or worn on its own.
Comfort is key
The smaller, less intrusive design of a ring makes it far comfier to sleep with than a watch, and it should be of interest to those who would prefer not to ditch a nice mechanical watch but who want to keep an eye on sleep tracking, daily movement and more.
While I wasn’t able to actually try on the Galaxy Ring for size, I was able to take a good look at the three colours it’s currently stated to be available in – silver, gold and grey. The Ring has a concave design, meaning the middle is recessed, and it does look good. It’s understated and subtle, standing out a whole lot less than even the prettiest of smartwatches.
Samsung hasn’t released the full feature set for the Ring yet, but it has detailed a few services that’ll be supported including a partnership with Natural Cycles and My Vitality Score. The latter combines multiple pieces of data the ring has captured, including sleep and movement, to give you a quick overall look at your health. According to a report from The Verge, this Vitality Score feature will work exclusively when the Ring is connected to a Samsung device.
It’s far too early to make any sweeping judgements about the Galaxy Ring with details so scarce, however there’s every chance this product could offer most of the benefits of a Galaxy Watch in a much sleeker design. We can’t wait to hear more.
