Samsung Announces the Galaxy Ring—What we Know So Far

After years of rumors and speculations, Samsung’s smart ring, officially titled the Galaxy Ring, is finally here. Samsung showcased the new form factor at Galaxy Unpacked 2024 but did not provide any definitive time schedule.

Over the past two years or so, we have been hearing rumblings about how the Galaxy Ring will make it to mass production by this year. With that possibility in mind, we can be looking at a late 2024 or early 2025 release.

At the event, Samsung didn’t provide any specifics nor any release slots, but from the presentation images, we do know that it’ll have all the fitness features from the Galaxy Watch, will be integrated with Samsung Health and will allow for sleep tracking; pretty basic, but it’s official.

Galaxy Ring’s May Come With Basic Health Tracking Functionality, But Will Not Replace the Galaxy Watch

Before the announcement, Samsung did mention a few key health tracking features that may make it to the Galaxy Ring. For one, it’ll have the ability to monitor sleep apnea symptoms, which is essentially when someone stops breathing while asleep. The ring will also look for blood oxygen changes and will give heart rate alerts, similar to what the Galaxy Watch did.

During the keynote, there was a mention of “My Vitality Score,” a feature that intelligently tracks your physical readiness and mental preparedness, giving you a score on how productive you can be on a given day. However, the chances of something like this to make it through to the smart ring form factor are limited.

Before the event, there were rumblings that the smart ring may be showcased at the event, and while that turned out to be true, Samsung’s presentation and focus on the Galaxy Watch clearly showcased how the Galaxy Ring is NOT a replacement for the Galaxy Watch, rather both of them are separate devices, in different form factors for different audiences.

The Galaxy Ring Could Cost More than $300, Judging by the Market Trends

Samsung’s smart ring could arrive within the next year, but one thing’s for sure—it won’t come cheap. At this point, the South Korean tech giant will be competing with the likes of Oura in this segment, which already produces sub-$300 rings with added subscriptions, similar to what Google does with the Pixel Watch.

With that being said, if Samsung decides to launch a very basic first-gen smart ring, it could be affordable and cater to the masses, but that would heat up the competition. What we could expect to see is AI. Samsung made it clear today that artificial intelligence will play a huge role in the direction the company takes in the future.

This is all we know for now, but rest assured that we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.