Samsung Galaxy Ring Hands-On Review

The Samsung Galaxy Ring is a compact, lightweight, and effortless way to track your health without the need for a smart watch. Designed for all-day wear, it seamlessly integrates with Samsung Health, tracking heart rate, activity, sleep quality, and recovery. With a durable titanium build, 10ATM water resistance, and a battery life of up to a week, it’s built to be worn 24/7.

This is a no-fuss health tracker that focuses on the essentials, delivering personalised insights and comfort in a form factor you’ll barely notice.

Whether you want to improve your sleep, monitor recovery, or keep an eye on daily activity, the Galaxy Ring provides an effortless, well-integrated solution that fits seamlessly into everyday life, so long as you have an Android device.

Design

The Galaxy Ring is lightweight and durable. Made from titanium, it weighs only three grams (depending on what size you opt for) and its concave design helps protect it from scratches and wear and tear. As someone who doesn't wear any rings, I was able to have it on all day without any issues, it wasn’t annoying, intrusive or uncomfortable.

It’s important to know that, unlike a watch, the ring cannot be resized… obviously, so you will have to find a size that fits you. Fortunately, before purchase, Samsung provides a sizing kit, which makes this process easy.

Aesthetically, it’s not the most sleek ring I’ve ever seen. It’s a bit bland, but that suited my personal preferences. I liked how it looks like a normal ring rather than some out there, tech gadget. It comes in three colours, Black, Silver and Gold. I was given the Silver version for this review, which is the most “plain” of the options...

It boasts a 10ATM water resistance rating, which means it can withstand pressures equivalent to a depth of 100 metres underwater. This means you can wear it in the shower, swimming or in the rain, and it will be perfectly fine.

Ecosystem Integration

Typically, the Galaxy Ring is designed to work best with Samsung devices, but you can use  the majority of the features with any Android device, which is a very nice touch. It’s important to know you will need to create a Samsung account and download the Samsung Health app on your chosen device though.

Of course, the experience is better when the Ring is paired with a Samsung device. It seamlessly integrates with the Samsung ecosystem, with quick pairing and Samsung Health compatibility without any extra steps, and there are features that will only work with a Samsung device, like gesture controls and Find My Ring. 

I used the Ring with both a Samsung device and an OPPO device, and other than the lack of gesture controls in which you can pinch the ring to turn off alarms, or use the ring to take pictures remotely, the experience was pretty much the same. You won’t have any issues getting the most out of the Ring if you aren’t using a Samsung device.

At the moment, the Galaxy Ring does not support iOS, meaning it won’t work with iPhones.

Health Features

The Galaxy Ring offers health tracking features, powered by three key sensors: an optical heart rate sensor, a skin temperature sensor, and an accelerometer. These work together to monitor heart rate, blood oxygen levels, skin temperature, step count, and activity levels. This data is then synced with the Samsung Health app.

One of the standout features is the Energy Score, which uses the data gathered by the Ring to assess how well your body has recovered based on sleep data, heart rate variability, and daily activity levels. At a quick glance, this can tell you things like whether you're ready for an intense workout or if you should take it easy for the day.

The auto workout detection is another standout. The ring will recognise when you’re walking and running without requiring manual input. This means you can go about your day without needing to start a session, and your exercise will still be recorded. Sometimes this was a bit too sensitive though; on a couple of occasions, the ring recorded a workout when I was just walking around my house, and annoyingly, this could impact my data.

All of these features work through Samsung Health, which acts as the central hub for your data. It provides insights based on trends over time, offering suggestions on activity levels, recovery, and general wellness based on the data collected from the three onboard sensors.

Sleep Tracking

If you’ve used a smart watch, you’ll probably know that you have to charge it every night, meaning they aren’t ideal for tracking sleep. Also, wearing a ring to bed is far more comfortable than a smart watch.

One of the strongest aspects of the Galaxy Ring is its sleep tracking capabilities. This is where the Ring truly shines, it tracks a number of things like sleep duration, sleep stages (light, deep, and REM), and sleep consistency, giving a detailed overview each morning. The Ring also measures blood oxygen levels throughout the night and can detect skin temperature changes, which can be useful for monitoring trends in overall health.

But it’s not just for gathering data, it also provides 'sleep coaching' within the Samsung Health app. This generates tips and recommendations on how to improve sleep quality, and I especially liked that these were easy to understand and follow.

Battery Life

The Galaxy Ring lasts six to seven days on a single charge, depending on usage. You can wear it consistently without having to think about charging it every night.

The included charging case is compact, convenient, and it looks great. It holds multiple full charges before needing to be plugged in itself. This means you can travel for extended periods without worrying about battery life.

Verdict

The Galaxy Ring is a discreet and capable health tracker that works well with any Android device.

Offering sleep tracking features, health recommendations, and all-day health monitoring in a form factor that’s easy to wear and forget about, it's excellent for someone who wants to keep track of this sort of data, without requiring bulky, more cumbersome gadgets.

Everything is seamlessly integrated within the Samsung Health app, which is intuitive, well-organised, and easy to navigate. It’s a great choice for anyone looking to keep track of their health with minimal effort, offering a clear and accessible way to monitor daily wellness.

However, while the Galaxy Ring provides solid health insights, it’s designed more for general well-being rather than in-depth medical analysis. It excels at giving you a broad overview of your health, but if you're looking for clinical-grade precision or highly detailed biometric tracking, this isn’t the device for that. Instead, it delivers practical, easy-to-digest insights that help you stay aware of your overall health trends without overwhelming you with data.