Samsung Galaxy Ring ZDNET's key takeaways The Samsung Galaxy Ring is a smart ring that excels at wellness tracking, especially for delivering actionable insights to help you improve areas of your health that could use some attention.
People interested in digital health tracking will appreciate the Galaxy Ring's minimalism, comfort, long battery life, and minimal notifications.
At $399, the Galaxy Ring is more expensive than some of its competitors, but it does not require a $5.99-per-month subscription like its biggest rival, Oura. $399.99 at Amazon $399.99 at Best Buy more buying choices
Wearable technologies made 2024 their moment to shine, with the surprising popularity of the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, the long-awaited arrival of the Apple Vision Pro, and the then-runaway hit of the Samsung Galaxy Ring.
Also: This subscription-free smart ring gave my Oura a run for its money (and it's cheaper too)
For the past decade, the smart ring market has been dominated by startups like Oura and former pioneer Motiv, but Samsung was one of the first big tech companies to launch a ring of its own, taking the smart ring to new heights.
I've used a matte black size 10 Galaxy Ring ($399) on my index finger for about two weeks in 2024 -- after testing the matte black Oura Horizon Stealth ($449) for roughly a month and the Motiv ring for about six months back in 2018. I've also been a perennial Apple Watch user since it launched in 2015 and a Fitbit user for several years before that.
I've been very surprised at how polished and useful the Galaxy Ring is. It doesn't feel at all like a 1.0 product. Samsung has clearly taken the lessons from other smart rings and smartwatches and delivered a device that is beautifully designed, easy to use, and communicates health information in ways that are as useful as any fitness tracker on the market.
In fact, I thought the Galaxy AI stamp on the Galaxy Ring was mostly Samsung marketing, but when it comes to the overall "Energy" score that the ring gives you -- as well as the sleep and stress reporting in the Samsung Health app -- it delivers much more actionable insights than I've ever gotten from the Apple Watch.
Wearables are having a moment: Apple Watch Ultra, Meta Ray-Ban Smart Glasses, and the Samsung Galaxy Ring. Jason Hiner/ZDNET
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