Samsung’s Galaxy Ring is a shocking first-gen product – and it beats my Apple Watch in a single huge method

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The Samsung Galaxy Ring delivers a sensible ring that’s excellent at general wellness monitoring, particularly for delivering actionable insights in regards to the knowledge it collects that can assist you enhance areas of your well being that might use some consideration.

• Individuals curious about digital well being monitoring will respect the minimalism, consolation, lengthy battery life, and lack of notifications with the Galaxy Ring in comparison with sporting a smartwatch. 

• At $399, the Galaxy Ring is costlier than a few of its rivals however it doesn’t require a $5.99 monthly subscription like its largest rival, Oura; and whereas Oura rings begin at $299, among the nicer finishes price greater than comparable Galaxy Ring variations. 

Wearable applied sciences have seized 2024 as their second to shine, with the stunning recognition of the Meta Ray-Bans Sensible Glasses, the long-awaited arrival of the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional, and now an rising runaway hit within the Samsung Galaxy Ring. 

After the sensible ring market had been dominated by startups akin to Oura and former pioneer Motiv for the previous decade, Samsung has change into the primary huge tech firm to launch a sensible ring.

I’ve used a matte black measurement 10 Galaxy Ring ($399) on my index finger for the previous two weeks — after testing the matte black Oura Horizon Stealth ($449) for the previous month and the Motiv ring for about six months again in 2018. I’ve additionally been a perennial Apple Watch consumer because it launched in 2015, and a FitBit consumer for a number of years earlier than that. 

Additionally: ZDNET’s picks for one of the best sensible rings you should buy

I have been very shocked at how polished and helpful the Galaxy Ring is. It does not really feel in any respect like a 1.0 product. It has clearly taken the teachings from different sensible rings and sensible watches and delivered a tool that’s fantastically designed, simple to make use of, and delivers well being data in methods which might be as helpful as any health tracker in the marketplace. 

In truth, I assumed the “Galaxy AI” stamp on the Galaxy Ring was principally Samsung advertising and marketing, however in the case of the general “Vitality” rating that the ring offers you — in addition to the sleep and stress reporting within the Samsung Well being app — it delivers way more actionable insights than I’ve ever gotten from the Apple Watch. 

For instance, in the future I checked out my Vitality rating of 78 within the app and it was “Good” however on the decrease finish of fine, which was in line with my notion of how I felt that morning. Once I clicked into the Vitality rating, I discovered numerous metrics that contributed to it. Most of them have been associated to sleep however my lowest one was “Earlier day exercise.” It famous that my “moderate-to-vigorous train time” was solely 6 minutes and really helpful that I improve that to 33-87 minutes. So I acquired extra disciplined about persistently growing my cardio, which had the supposed impact of giving me an power increase — albeit for the brief interval I examined the product.

I additionally discovered the Galaxy Ring tracks stress very precisely. It makes use of Coronary heart Charge Variability (HRV) from its Optical Bio-Sign Sensor — a really fancy title for its coronary heart sensor. Once I see my stress degree spiking within the app, there is a direct choice to open a guided deep respiratory session from immediately inside the app. And in that “Breathe” part of the app you may set the variety of respiratory cycles and the time per cycle, which helps you to customise how lengthy you wish to do the workouts and the way a lot you wish to decelerate your coronary heart fee to hack your stress degree. 

The Apple Watch may monitor HRV and has a helpful guided respiratory train in its Mindfulness app. In truth, I’ve written about how these Apple Watch instruments helped me uncover my poisonous stress degree and enhance it. Nevertheless, Apple has by no means constructed these options into its smartwatch software program, doesn’t particularly name out stress, and does not tie its knowledge into helpful well being insights or teaching ideas. 

The design and construct high quality of the Samsung Galaxy Ring additionally impressed me. It is a little bit bit thinner and lighter than the Oura ring and many of the different sensible rings. The Ultrahuman Ring Air is probably the most comparable in measurement and weight. However the different distinctive design characteristic of the Galaxy Ring is that it is barely concave, which ought to assist defend it in opposition to long-term scuffs and scratches. The Galaxy Ring additionally comes with a novel case and charging resolution. The case is evident, has a battery, and fees independently from the ring in an effort to recharge wirelessly on the go — in comparison with different ring chargers which might be all docks that have to be charged by way of a wired cable.

Additionally: This sensible ring for health freaks almost beats Oura. Here is how

Like most different sensible rings, the Galaxy Ring is each a fancy piece of expertise miniaturized into an impossibly small bundle whereas additionally being a comparatively easy system that options three sensors which were round for a very long time: an accelerometer, a pores and skin temperature sensor, and a coronary heart fee sensor. As talked about above, Samsung’s coronary heart sensor is named an Optical Bio-Sign Sensor and it is likely one of the most superior coronary heart sensors in the marketplace as Samsung has been investing in well being tech for years in its numerous smartwatches.

However that additionally brings us to one of many Galaxy’s Ring’s largest drawbacks: the truth that its exercise sensor tends to overestimate steps by about 10%, in my testing. It was off by much more within the first few days I attempted the ring, overestimating steps by 20% in comparison with what was tracked by the Apple Watch Extremely 2 and the Oura ring I wore on the similar time to gut-check it. The Galaxy Ring appeared to regulate over time and there have been days when it was solely about 5% larger, however it was nonetheless at all times above the steps rely of Apple Watch and Oura. An exercise tracker that overestimates your exercise would possibly make you’re feeling higher and extra assured, however might negatively influence your progress to your general well being and health objectives. 

The opposite huge disadvantage of Galaxy Ring is that it’s Android-only and it’s most built-in with Samsung smartphones and smartwatches. Android customers on non-Samsung telephones will nonetheless profit from one of the best options of the Galaxy Ring, however iOS customers might want to go in a unique route, and we have a pair suggestions there.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

The software program on the Galaxy Ring is smarter than my Apple Watch, and I by no means anticipated that may be one in all my conclusions from this assessment. However the AI-powered insights within the Samsung Well being app present extra immediately actionable data from the Galaxy Ring than I’ve ever gotten from Apple. So if you would like extra actionable well being and wellness insights than you get from the most well-liked smartwatches — and you’ve got an Android telephone — then the Galaxy Ring may very well be the product you’ve got been ready for. It additionally does not have a show to distract you and solely must be charged each 4-7 days. 

If you happen to’re studying a few sensible ring then there is a good probability that you simply’re as a result of 1.) you’d somewhat put on a hoop than a smartwatch, or 2.) you want to trace your sleep and also you’d somewhat put on a hoop to sleep than a watch, or 3.) you are a girl who wish to use a hoop for cycle monitoring to optimize your well being. The Galaxy Ring is a superb alternative for the primary two choices and ZDNET’s sensible ring professional Nina Raemont goes to comply with up along with her evaluation of the Galaxy Ring in comparison with the opposite sensible ring choices in the marketplace and can consider how good it’s for cycle monitoring.

If you happen to’re an iPhone consumer and also you need the advantages of a tool just like the Galaxy Ring, ZDNET recommends the Ultrahuman Ring Air or the Oura ring, since each work properly with Apple’s iOS.