OPINION: Another week, another chance to choose our winners and losers of the past seven days in the world of tech.
We’re deep into tech conference season now, with Microsoft taking to the stage for its annual Build conference this coming week. A day before Build started, Microsoft also hosted an exclusive launch of its next-gen Surface devices and we got an early look at the Surface Laptop 6 and Surface Pro 11.
Elsewhere, Sonos finally announced its first set of headphones with the Sonos Ace and the early signs are positive, while rumours suggested the iPhone 16 series could come with some huge camera upgrades. Neither of these nabbed our Winner or Loser spot for the week, so what did?
Winner: The Switch is still going strong
There has been a lot of talk about the Switch 2 recently, with a launch of the next-gen console likely coming sometime in early 2025. In the meantime however, owners of the original console – which has celebrated its 7th birthday this year – are still getting exceptional new titles to play, including Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
Our glowing 4.5/5 review of the remake of the Nintendo classic went live this week, shortly before the game’s release, and we called it a “fantastic and faithful remake of the beloved GameCube gem with enhanced visuals, reworked music and quality-of-life improvements elevating this classic to the same standard as modern Switch games.”
Yes, this is another remake of an older title, something which has become slightly commonplace on the Nintendo Switch, but given that The Thousand-Year Door is something of a cult classic, it’s great to see Nintendo finally give the game some recognition. Plus, it’s great to see the Switch still getting some top-class releases even with its successor getting ever closer.
Loser: Samsung’s pricing for the Galaxy Ring could be an issue
Samsung first teased its entry into the growing smart ring space alongside the launch of the Galaxy S24 series, and we got our first look at the dinky device a month later at MWC 2024. While many of the details of the ring are still under wraps, news this week has hinted at possible pricing – and it’s not cheap.
Leaker Yogesh Brar took to X this week to claim the Samsung Galaxy Ring will be priced between $300 and $350 in the US. If it was to be released at this price then the Galaxy Ring would be arriving at a similar price to its key rival, the Oura Ring 3, which starts from $299/£300.
Like the Oura Ring, it looks as if the Galaxy Ring would also require a monthly subscription of around $10 to enable all of its features.
If it were to start at this price, and with a subscription required, Samsung could have trouble trying to tempt people away from its own Galaxy smartwatch line which requires no recurring payments and can be picked up for much less.
Of course, smart rings have some benefits over even the best smartwatches – notably the more discreet form factor – but it’ll be interesting if Samsung can convince buyers to spend a large amount of money on a fairly new category of wearable. It also means Samsung will have to ensure that it doesn’t lack many of the features that have made Oura Ring 3 such a hit.
As with any early leak, this pricing must be taken with a pinch of salt until it’s confirmed by Samsung. We’d expect the Galaxy Ring to hit the market later this year, possibly alongside the release of Samsung’s next wave of foldables.
