With acceptable accuracy in monitoring sleep quality and long battery life, Samsung Galaxy Ring can be an alternative to smart wristbands; But at what price?
Smart rings are somewhat reminiscent of Fitbit bracelets such as the Flex 2; Wristbands that had no screen and only measured steps and calories burned. Although these wristbands gradually gave way to more advanced smart watches and wristbands, now they have returned with more precision and features in the form of smart rings.
Before big companies like Samsung entered the smart rings market, this field was mainly in the hands of startups like Oura. However, Oura smart rings have not yet entered the Iranian market, and Galaxy Ring is considered to be the first smart ring from a well-known brand that was released in Iran. Galaxy Ring, due to its high accuracy in sleep quality, is perhaps only ideal for people who do not feel comfortable wearing a smart watch while sleeping.
If you have a Samsung watch and phone, the Galaxy Ring is easily compatible with the Samsung ecosystem and provides you with various features; Of course, users of other Android phones can also use the ring feature; But the advanced features of Galaxy Ring, such as providing daily points and using motion gestures, are only for Samsung users.
Almost all the features of the Galaxy Ring are also offered by many cheap smart watches; perhaps with much higher accuracy than the Samsung Smart Ring; But the popularity of smart rings like Galaxy Ring is mostly due to their design and very light weight. Can the features and attractive design of the Galaxy Ring justify its high price? To answer this question, stay with me until the end of the Galaxy Ring review.
Galaxy Ring is available in 9 sizes from 5 to 13; So you can definitely find the right ring for your finger size; In order to find the right ring size, Samsung suggests that you must get a measurement kit before buying, which of course is not applicable for users inside Iran. Samsung doesn’t specify exactly which finger to use the ring with, just make sure it fits around your finger in a way that’s not too tight and not too loose.
The silver color of the Galaxy Ring has given it a special and eye-catching effect; so that if someone is unaware of its intelligence, they will see it as a beautiful accessory on your finger; Of course, considering the cost you have to bear to buy this ring, you might feel more satisfied that others know you have a smart and expensive ring on your finger.
Apart from silver color, you can also choose from gold and black colors; But since its gold color is very similar to wedding rings, black and silver colors are more attractive options. The titanium used in making the ring, in addition to its beauty, makes it resistant to scratches; Therefore, you will have a combination of beauty and durability together.
Galaxy Ring is so light that just like a simple ring, sometimes you forget you have it in your hand. This light weight makes you not feel bad while sleeping, unlike smart watches. Thanks to 10ATM and IP68 certification, there’s no need to take it off even when washing hands, swimming or showering. These certificates guarantee that the ring will remain undamaged in 1.5 meters of water for half an hour, and if the water depth increases to 100 meters, there will be no danger to the ring for 10 minutes.
To use the Galaxy Ring and connect it to the phone and use the sensors, which I will talk about in detail later, open the case and make sure that the battery of the ring has enough charge. Remove the ring from the charging case and, as I mentioned before, place it on your finger so that the sensors are under the finger; To guide the user, Samsung has created a small appendage on the ring that should be placed under your finger.
Setting up Galaxy Ring is very simple and fast; Just turn on the phone’s Bluetooth and tap Connect after seeing the connection window. After that, you can proceed with the other setup steps through the Samsung Wearables app.
In the inner part of the ring, there are grooves that host the sensors. One of these sensors is an accelerometer that tracks movement activities such as walking and running. Another sensor designed by the Koreans is called Optical Bio-signal and monitors heart rate. The latest sensor is also responsible for measuring changes in skin temperature during sleep, and using this information, it can also track women’s menstrual cycle.
To access all the features of the Galaxy Ring, you need to sign in to the Samsung Health app. This program is available to Samsungs by default; But if you don’t have a Samsung phone, you can download the application from the Play Store; However, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, some features are only available to users who connect to the ring with a Samsung phone.
We at Sajatech usually compare gadgets with their competitors to check their performance; However, due to the fact that smart rings are not widespread in the market yet, as a result, there is no competitor to compare. However, wristbands or smart watches can be a good benchmark for measuring the accuracy of the Galaxy Ring’s sensors. Therefore, in order to better examine the sensors of the ring, we went to the Xiaomi Smart Band 8, and the ring left us very hopeful in some areas and completely disappointed in others.
The first thing we checked on the Samsung Smart Ring was its performance and accuracy when monitoring sleep quality. Considering that many people will probably buy smart rings to evaluate the quality of their sleep, Samsung itself has a special emphasis on this issue and has obviously spent enough time on it. The ring’s performance in monitoring sleep quality was very good. The interesting thing is that the ring can detect the signs of snoring before others know about it and inform the user.
Unlike sleep monitoring, the Galaxy Ring did not have satisfactory accuracy in assessing the stress level, and during several tests, it showed variable results each time. In contrast, Xiaomi’s smart band provided better performance and more stable and reliable results in this field; So, if accurate stress level monitoring is important to you, the Samsung Smart Ring is not a reliable option, at least not yet. This issue also applies to the ring’s accuracy in counting steps and distinguishing walking from running; Unless Samsung increases the accuracy of the sensors with a software update.
The ring can automatically monitor sports activities and record important information such as exercise duration, calories burned and steps taken, but you need to enable this option to automatically track sports activities. The complete list of sports and the details of recorded activities can also be seen in the Samsung Health application.
One of the interesting features of the Galaxy Ring is the support for motion gestures; A feature that is not activated automatically and you have to activate it through the Wearable application. After activation, you can take a picture of yourself by pressing your index finger and thumb twice. Fortunately, it is also possible to personalize this feature and it can be used to turn off the alarm, which is much more useful than taking photos. As I mentioned, the activation of this feature must be done through Wearable and is only available for Samsung users.
Another feature that is exclusive to Samsung users is called Find My Ring and it helps you have a chance to find your ring if you lose it. Find My Ring helps you find the ring effortlessly by displaying the ring’s location on the map and blinking LEDs. This feature can be a lifesaver when you’ve lost your ring in unfamiliar places.
Samsung users have other advantages; Longer battery life and more accurate sensors. If you have a Samsung smart watch, you are a few steps ahead of other users; Because you can divide tasks between the ring and the smart watch; For example, the watch can perform tasks such as measuring heart rate and stress level, and the Galaxy Ring can only monitor the quality of sleep. In this case, both the watch and the ring will have more charging.
Samsung says that if you wear the ring continuously, Galaxy AI will analyze your health data and based on them, make recommendations to improve your health; For example, it will notify you if it detects an irregular heartbeat. However, since the ring doesn’t have a built-in speaker or vibration capability for notifications, it keeps you up to date with alerts using notifications sent to your phone. Galaxy Ring gives you a score between 0 and 100 in the Energy Score section of the Samsung Health app, based on sleep data, heart rate and the previous day’s activities, so that you can monitor your activities more closely.
Galaxy Ring battery capacity varies depending on its size; Samsung announced the battery capacity of the smaller sizes at 18 mAh and the battery capacity of the larger sizes at 23.5 mAh and claims that it will charge up to 7 days if the ring is used 24 hours a day.
In our tests, in 24-hour use and while constantly testing various parameters, only 2% of the battery charge was reduced; So, we can conclude that Samsung’s claim about charging the ring is correct and even in case of continuous use, the ring lasts between 6 to 7 days. Unlike the ring, the battery capacity of the charging case is equal to 361 mAh for all sizes.
To recharge the Galaxy Ring, the USB Type-C port is installed on the charging case and wireless charging is also available. Samsung says that the ring can be charged up to 40% in 30 minutes. With a thumb calculation, we can conclude that fully charging the battery takes approximately one hour and 15 minutes, which is a reasonable time considering the one-week charging of the ring.
If you have connected the Galaxy Ring to a Samsung phone, you can see the remaining charge in the Wearable application; But Samsung offers other solutions for this. By pressing the central button of the case, through the lighting around the ring, you can see the approximate charge amount of the ring. If the ring is not inside the case, you can see the charge amount of the case by pressing the same button. If the amount of charge is less than 15%, the lights will show red and otherwise they will show green.
I mentioned earlier that smart rings are not yet widespread in the Iranian market as they should be, and the Galaxy Ring is one of the first rings to enter the Iranian market. If you intend to buy a Samsung ring just for sleep and you don’t have any financial worries, you can buy the ring with confidence; But you should note that the ring is not very reliable in areas such as stress level measurement.
Regardless of the relatively low accuracy of the ring in some aspects, its very high price is the most important issue to consider. In the price range of 400 dollars, you can buy the best smart watches and benefit from many more features; As long as the price of the ring remains in this range, it is not worth buying. What do you think about the Samsung Smart Ring?