Samsung Galaxy Ring review: Ringing in fitness
The Samsung Galaxy Ring is finally here in Singapore, and fitness buffs are going to love it. This smart titanium-clad wearable tracks your heart rate, sleep, exercise, and best of all, has a battery life of up to seven days.
If you're wondering if you should get one, well, the answer to that is yes, especially if you find wearing a smartwatch to bed to track your sleep cumbersome. The Galaxy Ring fits snugly on your index finger, and you won't notice wearing it as you doze off into dreamland. In fact, you'll barely remember that you're wearing it, especially while exercising, too.
Get the Samsung Galaxy Ring here from Singtel
Specs
Colours: Titanium Black, Titanium Silver, and Titanium Gold
Dimensions and weight: 7mm x 2.6mm, 2.3g to 3.0g
Size options: 5 to 15
Memory: 8MB
Battery: 18mAh (Size 5) to 23.5mAh (Size 13), 30 minute charge for 40% battery
Charging Case: 361mAh
Sensors: Accelerometer, PPG, Skin temperature
Connectivity: Bluetooth Low Energy 5.4
Compatibility: Android 11 or higher
Design, comfort and fit
The Galaxy Ring comes in three colours: Titanium Black, Titanium Silver, and Titanium Gold. Of the three, the Gold really stands out, but for a more subtle look, go for Black. Now, the Ring is really quite comfortable to wear, and feels just like a normal ring.
Samsung recommends that you wear the Ring on your index finger, but you can also wear it on your middle or ring fingers. But the index finger feels the most natural, especially when you want to activate the double pinch gesture (more on this below).
The Ring has a slight concave design to prevent scratches. We've yet to scratch it in our two weeks of testing, though you should still be careful when handling heavy metal objects.
On the inner band of the smart ring, you'll find the sensors that need to remain in contact with your skin. There's an indicator on the outside of the Ring to tell you where the sensors are, and you have to wear the Ring with the indicator facing down. But don't fret, as the ring won't move too much, even while exercising, especially if you have the right fit.
Speaking of fit, since it's a ring-shaped wearable, you won't be able to adjust the Galaxy Ring like a watch strap. The Samsung Galaxy Ring comes in 11 sizes, and when you order one from Singtel, be sure to select the free 'Sizing kit' option and pay the full price (S$538) of the Ring first.
The kit will then get shipped to you, select a size and wear it for a full day to see how it feels. Once you've settled on the size, then add the correct sized Ring in your preferred colour to your cart and use the code that's been sent to you via email to redeem the Ring.
Exercising, sleep tracking, performance and features
If you think of the Ring as a much smaller fitness band, you won't be too far off. As mentioned, it tracks your heart rate and skin temperature, as well as your movements via an accelerometer. It can track your workouts with the Samsung Health App, and can also automatically detect workouts such as walking or running. You can also swim with it, but it won't track your heart rate.
Tracking is pretty accurate. We compared the Ring's heart rate BPM versus the Apple Watch Series 10 and found it to be similar. If you have a Samsung Galaxy Watch, the Samsung Health app will treat the Watch as the primary device and turn off some features of the Ring, such as heart rate and sleep measurements. According to Samsung, this will extend the Ring's battery life by 30%. If your Watch runs out of battery, the Ring will automatically turn its features back on.
Besides monitoring your exercises, the Ring can also help you with tracking your sleep. You get data about your heart rate and blood oxygen levels, and the Samsung Health App will show you your sleep score.
The Ring won't be able to measure your snoring, but you can have your phone plugged in and charging and the Samsung Health App on your phone will listen out for your snoring at night. Note though, it won't be able to detect Sleep Apnea unlike the Samsung Watch or the Apple Watch.
Another feature is period cycle tracking – the Ring can measure your skin temperature while you're asleep, track and predict your menstrual cycle. You can turn this on in the Samsung Health App.
If you're using a Samsung Galaxy phone that's running OneUI 6.1.1 and above, then you can make use of the Gesture feature. You can double tap to stop an alarm or take a picture. It's pretty fun to use, but you'll need to be quite precise with the timing. Too fast or slow, and it won't activate.
Battery life and performance
Compared to a smartwatch, such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra LTE or the Apple Watch Series 10, the Samsung Galaxy Ring lacks a screen. But that's fine, because it cuts down on power consumption.
In fact, the Ring can last for up to seven days on its tiny 23.5mAh battery. On smaller Rings with an 18mAh battery, it's rated for six days. In our tests, the Ring (23.5mAh) lasted for around six days before the battery ran out. To recharge, just plug the Ring into the case it comes with.
When removing the Ring from your finger, it will flash a green light if the battery is above 15%, and red if below 15%. Putting the Ring into the case will also show you how much battery life it has left.
Conclusion
At S$538, the Samsung Galaxy Ring is a great wearable for those who prefer not to use a smartwatch or just want to wear a normal watch like a Seiko. Of course, the best thing about the Ring is the long battery life – there's no need to charge it every day like your smartwatch!
Get the Samsung Galaxy Ring from Singtel's online shop today.
