Commentary: After years of brushing off smartwatches and fitness trackers, I just may cave in and get a smart ring. Thanks, Samsung.
On Jan. 17, 2024, an unexpected announcement from Samsung had a surprising effect on me. I was sitting in the SAP Center in San Jose for the Galaxy Unpacked event, during which the company unveiled the Galaxy S24 series. The keynote went as expected until the end, when Samsung teased the Galaxy Ring. In a very un-Patrick moment I thought, «I want this and I don’t know why.»
How could I not be curious after seeing this?
Samsung’s reveal of the Galaxy Ring at its Unpacked event.
The Galaxy Ring is packed with sensors and it records health data including your heart rate, movement and sleep. It doesn’t have a screen and it looks fairly discreet. After some introspection, I realized that it could be the smart device I’ve been looking for.
I’ve always had a weird thing about wearing jewelry, like watches and rings. I spent a number of years working as a carpenter building sets for operas, displays for museums and even a zoo enclosure for monarch butterflies. There’s nothing as wonderful as having butterflies land on you while you’re trying to fix a leaky Aztec-inspired fiberglass waterfall and pool.
I’ve never been a ring person, but I enjoyed wearing watches until I scuffed one up while sanding a flat (part of a fake wall used on theater, film and TV sets). The experience was enough to make me wary of wearing watches. This isn’t the sole reason I hate smartwatches, but it is certainly part of my origin story. Smartwatches add an entire other level of complexity that I just don’t need, and they just don’t look as good or striking as a regular wristwatch.
The Galaxy Ring isn’t the first smart ring; there are also rings from Oura, Ultrahuman, Evie and others. But with its minimalist, distraction-free design, it could be the ideal complement to my phone. If Samsung wants the Galaxy Ring to be a hit beyond just early adopters, it needs to keep everything about the ring simple enough to court smartwatch haters like me.
