SamsungAt last month's Galaxy Unpacked event, with a cool video and a name -- theGalaxy Ringthat heralds a whole new category of wearables. Now we know a little more about the ring, which is expected to hit stores this year.
Prior to Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, The Verge editor Allison Johnson had the opportunity to go hands-on with a prototype device of the Galaxy Ring. The ring is said to be very lightweight and available in three color options, though Samsung emphasized that the final product is subject to change, and Johnson said she got a sense of Samsung's larger goals for the new line, which they see not just as another wearable, but as part of the company's future vision of being "environmentally aware".
Johnson tried on the prototype Galaxy Ring in three colors: platinum silver, ceramic black and gold. No photos were allowed during the test drive, but Johnson says the Galaxy Ring is lighter than it looks and not as heavy to wear as you might expect. The ring has a slightly concave shape, and each color is available in sizes 5 to 13, which is slightly wider than the usual wearable sizing range, with sizes marked on the inside of the ring in S to XL.
Dr. Hon Pak, vice president of Samsung's digital health division, didn't specify what sensors are on the ring, but he did mention sleep analysis based on heart rate, exercise, and respiration metrics.Dr. Hon Pak said that Samsung's collaboration with its partner Natural Cycles, which has already brought menstruation and ovulation tracking to the Galaxy Watch lineup, will be extended to the Galaxy Ring, which puts it in direct competition with the Oura Ring. Dr. Hon Pak said that Samsung's collaboration with its partner Natural Cycles (which has brought period and ovulation tracking to the Galaxy Watch series) will also be extended to the Galaxy Ring, making it a direct competitor to the Oura Ring, and that the larger sized version of the Galaxy Ring will have a larger battery capacity, but Dr. Hon Pak didn't provide an exact battery life figure.
The Galaxy Ring will provide data to support the Samsung Health app's recently launched My Vitality Score, which is based on a model from the University of Georgia that combines four factors - sleep, activity, resting heart rate and heart rate variability - and will also be a feature of the Samsung Galaxy Watch, which will be available first on the Watch 6 later this year, but will need to be paired with a Galaxy S24 series phone. The Vitality Score will also be a feature of Samsung's Galaxy Watch, which will be available first on the Watch 6 later this year, but will need to be paired with one of the Galaxy S24 series of phones. Galaxy Ring users can also set specific health goals and receive updates and reminders in the form of "Booster Cards," which will also be available on the Samsung Health app later this year.
Throughout his presentation of Samsung's vision for the future of wearables, Dr. Hon Pak repeatedly described the Galaxy Ring as a step toward building a larger "ambient-aware" ecosystem -- providing "home-centered, connected care". home-centered, connected care". The idea of "ambient awareness" is not dependent on a single device, but rather on collecting data from multiple places. For example, your ring, your watch, and even your refrigerator could all work together to remind you that the last time you ate a vegetable was four days ago, which could be why you've been feeling sick lately.
Dr. Hon Pak describes the vision in more elegant terms, envisioning a holistic system that supports individual health goals rather than bombarding users with unrelated data. It sounds logical, even aspirational. But first, Samsung needs to get this ring right.