Samsung is shifting past the wrist with a $400 good ring for health monitoring.
The Galaxy Ring seems to be just like different good rings, such because the Oura Ring Gen3 and the Ultrahuman Ring Air. It has coronary heart fee and pores and skin temperature sensors, and it may observe steps, sleep, coronary heart fee, and menstrual cycles.
Samsung’s foray into good rings is a part of a slew of Galaxy gadget bulletins, together with up to date foldable telephones, earbuds, and smartwatches. It’s a brand new product class for the corporate and one that almost all different tech giants, equivalent to Apple and Google, haven’t ventured into. (Amazon launched a chunky health ring referred to as the Echo Loop in 2020 however discontinued it one yr after launch.)
As you would possibly anticipate, Samsung’s making a giant push round “Galaxy AI” for the Galaxy Ring and its different wearables. You would possibly assume meaning generative AI or chatbot-driven teaching, however it’s actually only a catch-all time period for varied options pushed by health-tracking algorithms.
As an illustration, Samsung’s introducing an “Power Rating” that grades your general readiness primarily based on exercise ranges and sleep metrics. Samsung’s Well being app can even present “Wellness Suggestions” primarily based in your exercise, although it’s unclear how nuanced this recommendation will likely be. (In a briefing, the corporate gave an instance of being inspired to meditate round bedtime in the event you’re struggling to go to sleep, which anybody with sleep points has virtually actually heard earlier than.)
The larger differentiator could also be Samsung’s up-front pricing, as the corporate says it gained’t cost a subscription charge for any of its fitness-tracking options. By comparability, Oura fees $6 per month or $70 per year for superior options together with in-depth sleep evaluation, customized insights, and dwell heart-rate monitoring.
Samsung’s additionally touting ties between the Galaxy Ring and different Samsung gadgets. Samsung’s Discover app will present the ring’s final recognized location, as an illustration, and the ring will help some cellphone management gestures, equivalent to double-pinching to snap a photograph or dismiss an alarm. Extra apparently, the Galaxy Ring will acknowledge while you’re additionally sporting a Galaxy Watch and disable redundant sensors to stretch battery life. (Samsung is promoting as much as seven days of battery life usually.)
On the draw back, the Galaxy Ring gained’t work in any respect with iPhones, and a few main AI options equivalent to Power Rating and Wellness Suggestions would require a Samsung cellphone specifically.
Evaluations of good rings have praised their stylishness and the comfort of wearing them to bed in comparison with a smartwatch, although in fact they’ll’t spare you from pulling out your cellphone by serving up notifications or glanceable information. Samsung’s betting that there’s a large market of parents who wish to faucet into its well being options whether or not they put on a smartwatch or not.