Could Samsung’s ring-shaped wearable replace smartwatches for fitness tracking? Experts say it might.
Could Samsung’s ring-shaped wearable replace smartwatches for fitness tracking? Experts say it might.
At the beginning of the year during its January Unpacked event, Samsung teased the new Galaxy Ring wearable as the next gadget in its mobile lineup. By midyear, we still haven’t heard much more about the device with no official release date or price announced. While we could hear more at the Galaxy Unpacked event on July 10 in Paris, we remain curious about how its mysterious finger-worn product fits into Samsung’s plans to develop its health and wellness ecosystem, leading us to wonder — who is the Galaxy Ring for?
At first glance, the Galaxy Ring looks a lot like another health wearable, the Oura Ring — but seemingly in anticipation of a legal showdown, Samsung recently preemptively filed its own lawsuit against Oura to get a « declaratory judgment » that the Galaxy Ring doesn’t infringe on the latter’s patents, The Verge reported. But beyond litigious sword-rattling, the legal filing also gave a timeline for the product’s release: it’ll start production in June and reach the US market around August.
The filing also included a screenshot of the Samsung Health app showing an Energy Score, which represented factors like sleep, activity, heart rate and heart rate variability — all implied to be tracked by the Galaxy Ring. Outside of Samsung’s official presentations, this is the most we’ve seen about the Galaxy Ring’s capabilities.
To put it in the company’s words, the Galaxy Ring is another device in a network of wearables and phones that feeds data into the Samsung Health app. « I think you should look at the ring as one of many steps toward multi-device engagement », Samsung VP and head of the digital health team for the mobile business Hon Pak told CNET’s Lisa Eadicicco.
So it’s another way to track the kinds of personal data that funnel into Samsung Health: sleep, nutrition, activity and stress. Specifically, it’s a product for someone who might not want a Galaxy Watch or other wrist-bound wearable but still want to monitor their own health, and may find a ring less cumbersome to wear.
« A ring can be less intrusive than a watch, and the finger provides a better physiological location for some health metrics than the wrist », Avi Greengart, president and lead analyst at Techsponential, who also got a preview with Samsung’s Pak, told CNET.
Samsung expects that some consumers may want both a ring and a watch, while others will pick one or the other, Greengart said. Some may even pick up a ring because they like the look, which Eadicicco described as a sleek minimalist band that resembled a groom’s solid-metal ring (the sensors line the inside).
Samsung’s reveal of the Galaxy Ring at its Galaxy Unpacked event.
« Personally, I am very excited about this device because I’ve been looking at rings myself and I find that many are quite bulky and the Galaxy Ring might actually be perfect for me, especially since I already use a Galaxy Watch 6 classic », said Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy.
