Tim
I have been wearing the Galaxy Ring on and off for the past month or so. I’m a pretty active individual these days, so I figured Samsung’s new wearable could give me some neat insight into my body, plus how I’ve been recovering and dealing with daily stresses. I’m now ready to share my thoughts on Galaxy Ring.
For background, I used WHOOP for quite some time, so I’m familiar with a device being worn to simply track health data and to have no real interaction with. Frankly, that’s what draws me to the Galaxy Ring. It can track your heart rate, O2 levels and sleep all while being a neat little ring you wear on your finger. It’s very convenient, and so long as you get it sized properly, it’s comfortable and doesn’t feel overly bulky. Samsung recommends wearing it on your index finger for optimal results, but I wear it on my ring finger to replace my wedding band and it’s been working fine.
But after wearing it for a bit and then opening up the Samsung Health app, I’m left wondering what Samsung is charging $400 for. What am I doing with this data and is it even useful to me?
Data: In Samsung Health, you have a bunch of different metrics to look through. There’s an energy score, which is a “daily measurement of your physical and mental readiness,” daily activity rings (steps, activity time, cals burned), sleep score, a place to enter the food you’re eating, body composition, cycle tracking, stress scores, and medication reminders. For being a little thingy you wear on a finger, it’s pretty cool, but is it $400 cool? For that price, I could get a really good smartwatch, so I’m essentially paying a premium not to interact with it at all. I suppose some people will be cool with that?
I could argue that Samsung not charging a monthly fee to access this data on top of a hardware fee makes it feel like more of a deal over services like WHOOP which charge a pretty large fee to access your data (when paying monthly it’s $30). However, I’m not getting the same level of insight as I did on WHOOP. Samsung’s gathered metrics seem less detailed, and maybe more importantly, less actionable. Galaxy Ring collects data in such a passive fashion that I usually forget to even check on my scores, thus defeating the purpose of collecting them in the first place.
How accurate are these scores, anyway? I would say relatively. Both the energy and sleep scores seem pretty good about delivering an accurate numerical representation of how I feel, but it’s not always accurate. I believe my general level of stress has been higher lately, so I’m sure that has been affecting both my sleep and energy, essentially throwing off my baseline levels. For example, I woke up feeling pretty good today, though, Galaxy Ring gave me an energy score of just 76. Jokes on you, Galaxy Ring, I have softball tonight so rest and recovery won’t be happening.
Wearing It: And sadly, wearing the device for a few of my physical activities has been difficult. When I go to the gym, I have to remove Galaxy Ring whenever working with a barbell, certain dumbbell movements, as well as gymnastics work on a rig. The ring fits my finger fine, but it’s slightly too thick to use while doing certain things and it can pinch my finger skin. And since I do a lot of gymnastics and barbell training, if I can’t wear the ring while doing that stuff to track the data, what’s the point? This isn’t a Galaxy Ring issue, it’s just a general ring wearing issue. The wedding band is the same issue. Point being, if you’re shopping for a fitness tracker and find yourself doing a lot of CrossFit, maybe skip over the ring and go for a wrist-worn tracker device?
Galaxy Ring also has the same issue that Kellen had on the Galaxy Watch Ultra — where are the activities that people are actually doing? In the Ring’s list of exercises to track, there is no CrossFit option, no HIIT, plus no pickleball option. Pickleball is wildly popular, so leaving that out seems like an oversight. My Pixel Watch 3 has options for both CrossFit and HIIT, so at least something I’m wearing can help me keep track of my specific activities.
Durability: As for hardware durability, it’s been holding up really well with hardly any noticeable scratches or issues. There’s a few baby scratches, but nothing significant. If anything, it gives it character. Unlike my wedding band, which is definitely made of metal, the Galaxy Ring is lighter and feels more like plastic. It’s not as premium feeling as I had initially thought it would, but it’s been holding up just fine. Plus, this black color option looks super tough, definitely my favorite of the three options.
Battery: Battery life has been good. I’ve been getting roughly a week’s worth of juice from a single charge, though, I assumed the charging case would be capable of providing many more charges than what I get. Once the ring gets to 10%, I charge it. It takes about an hour to get back to full. I can get about a charge or two out of the case before having to plug it in, too. The ring’s battery ranges from 18mAh to 23.5mAh depending on the size, but the case is listed 361mAh. If that’s the case, why am I getting so few charges out of it? After looking through other reviews of Galaxy Ring, I don’t seem to be the only one with this concern.
Conclusion: Again, for $400 I feel like I could get a lot more with a smartwatch, but Samsung is giving you the tracker and access to all of the data without the need for a monthly subscription. That has to count for something. My final takeaway is that the Galaxy Ring is a fine option for those looking for a passive way of keeping an eye on their overall health and fitness. If you’re looking to make a change in your overall health situation, though, you’ll need to be proactive and set goals then stick to them. Simply accumulating the data and then looking at it in the app won’t do anything for you. If you’re already someone who tracks this stuff, but doesn’t want to be bothered with an entire smartwatch, it might be worth the look.
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