Like most exercises Tracking Ring, Samsung Galaxy Ring has been positioned as a minimalist health wearable for people who don’t want to hear the pings and buzzes of a wrist-worn smartwatch or health tracking. But that’s only part of its appeal. Its real appeal is that it’s an additional wearable if you Satisfied have a Galaxy Watch and a Galaxy phone.
When I received the tester, I immediately charged it and added it to Samsung’s Health app, where it connected to my Samsung. Galaxy Watch Ultra. You can choose to send battery-intensive tasks to either the watch or the ring to save battery on either device. I assigned the heart rate tracking task to the watch, and after two days, the ring’s battery life was still at 97 percent.
I can’t think of any other device that works so seamlessly together to get such an immediate and quantifiable improvement. I compared the Ring’s measurements to a Apple Watch Superwhich I will discuss later, but after a few days, I switched back Galaxy Watch. This is exactly what the ring was created for, so this is the most suitable test situation.
Box it out
Right from the first unboxing, the Galaxy Ring compares favorably to Oura Ring. It comes in a gorgeous transparent charging case with a USB-C connector that snaps shut with a flap. I love the flap. You wouldn’t believe how often I drop the Oura Ring from its charger while it’s sitting on my desk. You can also check the battery level by placing the ring on the charger. An LED around the perimeter shows the ring’s battery level, unlike the Oura, whose light only shows whether the battery is full or not.
Photo: Adrienne So
The ring is made of titanium and comes in three finishes; I tested the titanium silver. Samsung has a sizing guide for other fitness bands, as I fit into my usual size 8. Like most bands of its kind, it has a range of sensors inside; a photoplethysmograph (PPG) sensor with three LEDs to track changes in blood volume, an accelerometer, and a skin temperature sensor.
I can’t feel any sensors when I wear the ring. I don’t mind wearing the Oura Ring, but the Galaxy Ring is a gram lighter and significantly thinner and lighter. As a bonus, you can go into the Health app on your Samsung phone and tap Find My Ring and the LEDs will start flashing! You can’t see them in the daytime, but at least the company has acknowledged that one of the main problems with smart rings is that you keep losing the damn things. I keep accidentally taking my ring off to do the dishes, lift heavy objects, or play the violin. It’s also rated 10 ATM and IP68and I still wear it when I go swimming and boating with the kids.
Battery life depends on how many tasks you want to assign to the watch. If I wear the Galaxy Watch, the Galaxy Ring can last for over a week. If I don’t wear it, it can last for three to five days straight.
During menstruation
The Galaxy Ring measures a fairly similar set of metrics to the Oura Ring. For example, it offers a Energy PointIt’s similar to Oura’s Readiness Score in that it takes into account a number of factors, like your sleep duration and consistency as well as the previous day’s activity, and spits out an easy-to-understand number to let you know how ready you are to tackle the day.
To do that, it tracks your sleep. You can tap into the Samsung Health app to check your sleep stages, including how long you were awake, your blood oxygen levels, and whether you snore. It often logs more sleep than my Apple Watch Ultra; I guess the watch has a better idea that I’m reading in bed instead of sleeping when my hand is on my face with the Kindle.
