7.0 Score
While smartwatches can live to tell a tale of a person’s health and integrate with one’s lifestyle, not everyone is keen on putting a screen on their wrist (like myself), as I enjoy my horological pieces more than a digital screen. The Samsung Galaxy Ring looks like an ideal wearable for my use-case-scenario. But at RM 2,199* (if you purchase online) –we are going to share if it’s worth paying that much, in this Samsung Galaxy Ring Review.
Samsung Galaxy Ring Review
Design and Build
While this is the first time Samsung has attempted to make an intimate wearable for users, they sure did nail it right. The ring is extremely comfortable to wear with a titanium band on the outside and a “plasticky” resin finish on the inside, which holds all the hardware. We received the black finish Samsung Galaxy Ring, which I honestly believe is the best looking one, and the other one worth getting would be the Silver. However, if you do want the gold colour, you might want to take a look in store because it is not gold like a gold ring. And the glossy finish is just pretty weird.
Apart from the comfort, I kind of wished that the finishing is a bit more justifiable for the price you pay – because when you see ring wearables like UltraHuman or Oura to have a much finer finish and to have that jewelry like touches such as chamfered edges and a nice sandblasted finish to give a more subtle colour – it’s no excuse for Samsung to miss out on those. Despite that, even if you really want to give the brand a benefit of the doubt, then sure, it’s still worthy of one.
I must say the charging case is the best we have seen – it’s a nice case, for you to not just store away but use it to charge the ring as well – so, a case with a charging feature is a nice touch. Something other smart ring makers could learn from Samsung.
Hardware-wise
Now hardware-wise, expect to not get blown out because since it is a ring wearable, the limited space could only hold a limited set of hardware features and Samsung thought including the following sensors are enough: Accelerometer, PPG and Skin Temperature. Aside from that, you have the battery which varies according to the ring size you opt for. We went for Size 12, so the battery capacity is 22.5mAh.
The charging case, however, offers 361mAh which is more than enough for you to get through every week. It does have IP68 certification with 10ATM rating.
Software Experience
Samsung’s software experience for the Samsung Galaxy Ring is limited as compared to their smartwatches, which could be paired with Apple devices. The Samsung Galaxy Ring is a very exclusive wearable made for Samsung devices. But if you intend to use it with other Android phones, you can – like we did with our Xiaomi 14. But expect to lose out on so many features such as the gesture controls, which can be used to dismiss alarm, as a camera shutter and such.
The Galaxy Ring depends on two apps: Galaxy Wearable app for the Ring and Samsung Health for tracking and getting the data synced for you to understand what’s going on. This two app setup doesn’t bother me as we have done it before for the Galaxy Watch Ultra and so on. It’s pretty simple and straightforward, however, for non-Samsung Android users, you will have to give a lot of permissions whereas Samsung users would have a more seamless setup experience.
In our case, the Galaxy Wearable app only gave access to Samsung Account, Health Settings which comprises of Measurement and Auto Detect Workouts, Reset, Ring Software Update, About Ring and the ability to Find the Ring with light. This is okay because its not a smartwatch and you get limited features. Samsung Health on the other hand, gave us the metric we need to understand the ring better.
Tracking Experience
With only three sensors included in the Samsung Galaxy Ring, it’s already obvious that we are going to get limited metrics. So, Samsungs focus are on Energy Score, Sleep, Heart Rate and Stress Monitoring. Interestingly, with just the PPG and Skin Temperature, Samsung has somehow created an algorithm to give data that’s concise in almost every aspect. With Energy Score, we managed to see the score factors, HR and even some achievement data which looks pretty legit in the first glance.
With the Daily Activity, we wore only the ring most of the time to see how accurate the metrics are – for this, it uses the accelerometer to understand the speed, pace and such – while the dataset wasn’t as quite detailed as you’d want, it gives the bare minimum such as Steps, Active Time, Calories Burnt, Auto Detection and Motion.
And then we have the HR, which gives you the resting range, Stress Detection and the Blood O2 while sleeping. For women, it does support Menstrual Health tracking but we are not sure how detailed it is.
After checking the data, we realized something odd—the ring sure did track, but the data is a mixed bag—there are days when the stats are more in the range of what I’d usually achieve, and then there are moments when it gives a completely odd data set.
I have noticed this with the HR, where the Heart Rate drop as low as 40 bpm which makes no sense, especially when our smartwatch detected 62bpm. We then cross referred to our other data we have collected with the Smartwatch, not just limiting to the Galaxy Watch Ultra, but Smartwatches from other brands. It’s safe to say that the accuracy of the Samsung Galaxy Ring is not as great as their watch and it gives a similar type of results to smart bands which only has such sensors.
It doesn’t stop there. Since it is a ring afterall, and while the data is more of an estimation rather than being accurate, it is a concern – which makes total sense that the Ring is not cleared as a Certified Medical Device to be used for proper health-care use like the Watch is.
Samsung recommends using the ring along with the watch, to give more accurate data and that raises a whole question: is this Galaxy Ring an Accessory to the Watch and not worthy of being a standalone device?
And the answer is…
Yes, it’s an Accessory made for your Watch
Unlike OuraRing, UltraHuman – the two leading brands to make smart-ring devices in the market and has achieved a level of data accuracy and gives you more information, which could rival a smartwatch, is a concern. And if you are the type of person who does not wear Smartwatches at home, that’s where the Ring steps in a does the bare minimum tracking that’s required to keep your metrics tracked.
With the lack of sensors such as EDA, which is the specific sensor you’d require to track your Wellness is something you can’t find on the ring due to space constraint. This is where it uses the HR sensor to “estimate” your Wellness.
We had friends come up to us and say, that they are stressed but the Ring says that they are relaxed. But the watch says, they are stressed. In my case, the data has always showed that I am stressed unless I track it manually, then it says I am relaxed. The slightly inaccurate Fitbit Sense I rely on gives me a better data than the Galaxy Ring does.
Battery Capacity is Dependent on the Size you get
We had a great battery life experience with our Size 12 Samsung Galaxy Ring, but that doesn’t mean you will have the same experience – especially if your finger is a smaller size.
Here in Malaysia, you can pick from Size 5 to 14 and here are the battery capacities: for Ring 5,6,7, it comes with a 17mAh battery, which claims to last for 6 days. Ring sizes 8, 9, 10, 11 has an 18.5 mAh battery, which also lasts for 6 days. Ring size 12,13, and 14 are the only ones to get a 22.5mAh battery which lasts for 7 days.
At least, I am glad that it comes with a charging case and battery inside of it, that allows you to charge your ring and get more battery life on the go as well. I love the case I must say that.
With those metrics, the Price is a tough one to swallow…
… when compared to Singapore and the USA. In Malaysia, the Ring Sizing Kit must be purchased via Online, whereas in other countries, consumers can receive it for free. The only way you can measure your ring size for free is by walking into their stores. The Galaxy Ring costs RM 2,099, which is just as much as a Galaxy Watch7 – and it gets more complicated when the price in Singapore and the USA threads the RM 1700 range.
That’s a bit concerning.
Unfortunately, Truly for Samsung Users
As much as any Android users could use, you are not provided with 100% of the experience that they claim to offer. Which is only reserved for Samsung users. As for Apple users, the Galaxy Ring is out of the question for you – including myself, because as someone who enjoys horology pieces on my wrist, I was okay with having the Galaxy Ring, despite its hit and miss data – which I am sure can be improved with an update.
But it’s a tough pill to swallow when the data I get to check out on my Xiaomi 14 is not as near-perfect as the data on the Samsung smartphone.
Conclusion – So, why get the Samsung Galaxy Ring then?
Wearables that come in the form of a ring has a huge limitation – and that’s space. Which means, including the core features should be the main focus. Along that, comes comfort because rings are – well, it’s safe to say, it’s a very intimate form of wearable. The Samsung Galaxy Ring gets the comfort aspect right, I loved wearing this except during occasions where I didn’t want it to be on my fingers.
The standalone tracking is not the best, but it’s okay as it doesn’t have the accuracy you need. But when you pair it with the Galaxy Watch, you’ll realise the metrics are far more accurate. And pair the ring with a Samsung Smartphone, you reap all the features it offers and other smartphone users are going to be bummed with the limited features and Apple users out there, can just forget about this rings existence.
As an Android user in general, if I owned a smartwatch for health-centric reasons, I have no reason to get a smart ring. As someone who is not a fan of smartwatches, I’d prefer the ring but not when it: gatekeeps a lot of the features for Samsung users only, when it costs RM 2198 (because the ring sizing kit in Malaysia costs RM 99, if you purchase online) when its cheaper in Singapore (The Ring sizing kit is free too in SG. What?) and more importantly, only offers accurate metrics when you use a Galaxy Watch with it.
RM 2198 is a lot of money for an accessory to your smartwatch, and as much as I hate wearing a smartwatch, I’d rather wear the Watch occasionally just to track my workouts or forkout RM 1500 ($349) for an Oura ring which does so much better for so less.
As a tech journalist, I can only recommend it for Samsung users if you want to spend the extra RM 2000 on top of spending for a Smartwatch and Smartphone and as a healthcare professional, it’s a tough recommendation. To all the Samsung fans out there, enjoy – as for the rest of us, let’s hope for a better ring wearable where we are accepted with arms wide open.
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