Samsung Smart Ring: Features, Specs, and Users Reviews

Even though I'm not trying to brag, I guess I am. Samsung Health told me that after I wore their brand-new, $399 Samsung Smart Ring to bed for a week. The AI tool in the app tells me that lions "have healthy sleep patterns, sleeping at regular times, getting enough sleep, and sleeping deeply." They really are well-rested jungle kings, and it looks like I am too.

The famous Oura Ring was the first major competitor in this field since it came out, and Samsung's new Galaxy Ring is the first major competitor in this space since then. It came out in July 2024. They sent me a loaner ring to try for a month. Finding out I was a lion was probably my favorite thing I learned about myself while trying the ring, but I also learned some important things about my health. This is how it went.

What I Like About the Samsung Smart Ring?

To begin with, she's stylish! Even though smartwatches have been popular for a while, there aren't many ring choices. For more formal events, I found the Samsung Smart Ring to be the best. Since I like to keep an eye on my health all the time, I've lost my tracker a lot of times and had to hide it in my bag or have someone hold it while I took a picture. Though I love it, I don't always want to wear it to show off my style.

A ring, on the other hand, is hard to notice. Samsung's choice is about the same size as the Oura ring, but it has a slightly recessed shape that I think makes it look less heavy and less noticeable. It also comes in matte black, gold, and silver, so you can pair it with your other jewelry (unless you're currently crazy about rose gold). It would look great stacked with other rings.

The ring was comfortable, especially when I slept in it (which I can't do with a smartwatch). However, there were a few times when I woke up with red marks on my finger from wearing it all night.

I was amazed at how long the battery lasts in terms of how well it works. Just to make sure I don't lose power while running, I charge my smartwatch every night before t bed. However, the fact that it lasts for about a week changed my whole life. It let me regularly track my sleep while I slept, which I hadn't been able to do before.

This brings me to the sleep tracking, which I really liked. It was interesting to see my "sleep score" and get sleep teaching tips from this AI. I liked seeing how much time I spent in each stage of sleep, but it wasn't very different from other smart exercise data I've seen.

Still, I might have liked the sleep features because I like being praised, and the Samsung Smart Ring told me I was the best sleeper in the world (a "lion" or "level 4" sleeper). If I had tried the ring during a busier time, like during the summer, I might have been grouped with animals like penguins (they "remain alert and watchful even when they sleep"), moles (they "avoid sunlight and "wake up too often"), alligators (they "hunt at night"), or even a shark, which is at the bottom of Samsung's animal sleep hierarchy because they "never stop moving."

I also liked that the Samsung Smart Ring could track my stress level. You can see how my stress levels changed throughout the day. The highest levels seemed to happen when I was under a lot of pressure or in a long line at the food store. Last but not least, I liked that the Galaxy Ring tracked my runs and walks without me having to start or stop a workout myself. I thought the time and distance readings were a little off compared to my smartwatch, but it was nice not having to think about hitting the start button.

Samsung Smart Ring Fit and Comfort

I was given a matte black Samsung Smart Ring to review. It also comes in a shiny silver or gold finish. From 5 to 13, there are nine different sizes. Other smart rings I've worn and regular rings I've worn are all a bit bigger than the Galaxy Ring.

Apple lets you put the Samsung Smart Ring on any finger, but Samsung says the index finger is best for the best tracking. In most rings, my middle finger is a size 10, but this Galaxy Ring fits me as an 11.

Before you make up your mind, I really think you should spend some time with the size kit. The ring was put on me in New York City on a very hot and sticky day. It was a good way to see how the Ring might feel on my finger after working out because my hands were bigger than normal. (Yes, your hands can get a little bigger or smaller because of hormones, the weather, or working out. Mine do.)

Because the Samsung Smart Ring doesn't get wet, you can wear it while you shower, wash your hands, or swim. The titanium finish is also scratch-resistant, but after wearing the ring almost nonstop for a week, I saw a small scratch right at the edge on the bottom of the ring. Aside from normal things like riding my bike and doing the dishes, I haven't done anything crazy with the ring, so I'm a little worried about how long the matte black finish will last.

Samsung Smart Ring Sleep Score and Energy Scores:

Since I use a smartwatch to track my sleep, I always check my phone first thing in the morning to see what data I have. This is also true for the Samsung Smart Ring. You can see almost everything you could want to know about your sleep in the Samsung Health app. It shows your heart rate, blood oxygen levels, skin temperature, and the stage of your sleep. It adds all of this up to give you a sleep score on a range from 0 to 100.

If you keep your phone on your desk within two feet of your head, you can also keep track of how much you snore. The mic is needed so it can pick up the sound of you cutting logs. This feature, which is approved by the FDA, can only be found on the Galaxy Watch and not the Samsung Smart Ring.

Like the Galaxy Watch, it takes all the information about your nighttime activities and turns it into a sleep score. Because you can drill down into each measure, you can learn more about what they mean, which is useful.

I compared the Ring's data to those of the Eight Sleep, which tracks your whole body while you sleep. Both my heart rate and the rate at which I breathed or respired were pretty much the same. It said I slept a little longer than the Eight Sleep, though.

You can also use a number of sleep teaching tools to improve your night's sleep. Like with last year's Galaxy Watch 6, the results I got aren't great because the advice is pretty clear. If you don't know how to start improving your sleep, this is a good place to start.

Your sleep score is not the same as your energy score, even though sleep is one of the things that determines your energy score. It's said to be a Galaxy AI-powered feature, which means that only Galaxy phones can have it. But I'm not sure how much AI is actually used here. As far as I know, the Oura's ready score, which is very similar, doesn't use AI to figure out or make suggestions. (Yes, Oura will soon have an AI coach called Oura Advisor.)

It's important to note that none of Samsung's health data is hidden behind a fee or membership. You have to pay $6 a month to Oura in order to see most of your data, not just the three numbers for readiness, sleep, and exercise. You can get genetic information from Oura's "My Account" page, though.

I do think the energy score is a quick way to see how well your body is handling play and rest. I find it helpful to quickly check my number in the morning to see if I'm ready to work out or if I need a day off.

Also Read: Is the Samsung Galaxy Ring Worth It? Real User Reviews

Galaxy Watch Ultra and Samsung Smart Ring Details

The Samsung Smart Ring lets you know when your heart rate is too high or too low, but it doesn't have ECG or irregular heart beat alerts. For those, you'll need a Galaxy Watch. To see your heart rate in real time or see trends, you'll need to pull out your phone and open the Galaxy Wearable app.

I checked the real-time heart rate and saw how it matched up with a chest strap, which is the best way for most people to track their heart rate. The beats per minute were almost the same, which is good. That's where most smartwatches fall, so I was glad to see that the Samsung Smart Ring did the same well for resting heart rate.

Samsung Smart Ring Workout and Activity Tracking:

Because the Samsung Smart Ring can tell when you work out, you can take a walk or run and have it track your exercise instantly. Plus, the ring doesn't have a screen, and it's a pain to pull out your phone to start an action by hand. This feature, however, only works for walks and runs. There are no other workouts that can be used.

If you work out for a while, the Ring should notice and give you credit in the Samsung Health app. After 10 to 15 minutes of walking, it picked up on my walks. You can also walk or run without your phone, and the Samsung Smart Ring will still track you. However, it won't get GPS information.

With Samsung Health, you can keep track of a lot of different workouts. But for some types of workouts, like riding, the ring only shows real heart rate data. Aside from running, I also like to do Pilates and yoga, but I couldn't get my heart rate to show them.

Also, Samsung's help page says that you shouldn't wear the Samsung Smart Ring while pulling weights.

Samsung Smart Ring Battery and Charging Case

It says that the smaller 5 to 11 sizes can be used for up to six days on a single charge. The six-day estimate works pretty well for me because I'm a size 11. Every day use, with a workout or two and watching sleep, the ring dropped about 15% to 20%. The 12 to 13-inch sizes have a slightly bigger battery, which means they can go up to seven days without being charged.

The clear charging case has enough juice for about 1.5 charges, which, based on the size of your ring, is about 9 or 10 days of use. The case can be charged through a USB-C port, but it's smart that it can also be charged wirelessly from a Samsung phone.

The Samsung Smart Ring LEDs will flash if the charge level drops to 15%. This works much better than just getting a phone alert. A few times, I went to sleep with my Oura Ring flat because I didn't see a ping in time.

Samsung Smart Ring Gestures

With a simple double pinch, the Samsung Smart Ring lets you communicate with a wide range of connected products. For now, though, this motion can only take a picture or turn off an alarm from afar. Plus a phone that has OneUI 6.1.1 installed. That only works on the Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 at the time of the review. It doesn't work on the S24 Ultra that I have paired with the Samsung Smart Ring.

It's a shame that I can't use these features yet on my other flagship unlocked samsung phones from 2024, but I was able to try them out during a meeting.

Just like the Galaxy Watch, I wish Samsung had given us a few more moves. You can play and stop music, turn off alerts, and answer and hang up calls on the watches by double-pressing them.

The "Find My Ring" tool is very useful. The first day I wore the ring, I dropped it in my makeup bag by mistake. I couldn't see until I opened the Samsung Find app and made the LEDs blink. This is because my ring is dark black. With the Find app, you can also see where the ring was last seen on a map and get a phone alert if you forget it.

Samsung Smart Ring or a Galaxy Watch?

There aren't many good reasons to have both a Samsung Smart Ring and a Galaxy Watch, unless you get a great deal on an old phone in exchange for a cheaper ring or you hate sleeping with a watch on. It's possible to wear both, but Samsung Health will only use one and turn off the sensors on the other one to save battery life. As long as I had both on during this study time, Samsung Health mostly used data from the Galaxy Watch instead of the Samsung Smart Ring.

Do you think the Samsung Smart Ring is right for you? If you're on Android and want to keep track of your sleep and exercise without any other apps getting in the way, I think it is. I really like the energy score, but you'll need a Galaxy phone to see it. The sleep tracking is correct and helpful.

The health tips are less plausible right now. I haven't learned anything really useful from using the Samsung Smart Ring with the new Galaxy Watch 7 and Ultra for a week now. Samsung Health only told me I did a good job of going to bed on time every night. But my phone doesn't need to tell me that.

Things You Should Know Before Using the Samsung Smart Ring:

The Samsung Smart Ring app gives you a daily "energy score" based on your sleep, exercise, and other habits from the previous day. It also gives your health advice based on AI. The advice was good for the most part, but some of it seemed to go against what was being said. For example, on days when I thought I had been pretty busy, the app's AI told me I should do milder to vigorous exercise. The app told me to cut back on exercise after a day when I didn't feel like I did more than normal. It said my busy time was "excessive." I thought I had no chance of winning.

For someone who mostly uses a health tracker as a fitness tracker, I thought the Samsung Smart Ring didn't have many choices for logging workouts, especially when compared to the Apple Watch, which has a big library. It's possible to log running, hiking, swimming, and biking on the Samsung Smart Ring, but a lot of workouts would have to be "other workouts," and the only way to do strength training is with "weight machines." I personally prefer dumbbells.

Lastly, one of the most important things to know about the Samsung Smart Ring is that it only works with Samsung-version Android phones. Smart features like the "energy score" won't work if you don't have a Samsung with Galaxy AI. This means that iPhone girls (guilty) would have to make a big move (so long, blue text boxes) in order to use the Samsung Smart Ring. They could also wait and hope that the tracker works with iPhones soon.

Why the Samsung Smart Ring Is Best For?

If you like exercise trackers as much as I do, you'll love the Samsung Smart Ring. To me, it feels like a truly comprehensive health tracker because it tells me about my stress, sleep, and exercise, among other things. But if you really want to learn more about your exercise habits, you might like a watch with a screen that shows your workout stats in real time or that lets you log more types of workouts. You might not want to use this kind of tool if it makes you feel too much information about your health or if you have a past of eating or exercising in a bad way.

Samsung Smart Ring Price:

At $399, the Samsung Smart Ring is about the same price as the metal Apple Watch Series 9 and a bit more than the Oura Ring's starting price of $299, though you do have to pay $70 a year to use their app, which might finally make up for this price. You should think about what you want from your tracker to decide if that price is worth it. You might be willing to pay if it gives you information on your health, sleep, and worry.

Additional Details About the Samsung Smart Ring

• There are three shades of titanium for the Samsung Smart Ring: titanium silver, titanium gold, and titanium black.
• It comes in nine sizes, from US 5 to 13, and you can get a free fitting kit to help you find the right one.
• For each size, it's 7 mm wide and 2.6 mm thick, and it weighs between 2.3 and 3.2 grams.

Where Is the Samsung Smart Ring Available?

You can buy the Samsung Smart Ring at flexemarket.com or Samsung.com.

Conclusion:

It's been interesting to wear the Samsung Smart Ring for a month; it feels more like a discreet health companion than a flashy gadget. It gave me a level of seamless tracking I didn't know I needed by putting information about my sleep, stress, and activities right on my finger. It changed the game compared to bulky alternatives because the battery lasted a week and it was comfortable to sleep in. It's not made for every workout and doesn't work with iPhones, and the gesture controls feel like they could use some work, but as a stylish, reliable, everyday fitness tracker for Android, it does everything right.

The Samsung Smart Ring competes with the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Oura Ring, which costs $399. However, it stands out because it offers health data without a subscription, a long battery life, and truly continuous wear. If using a Galaxy phone is important to you and you want to easily keep track of your sleep, stress, and daily activities, the Samsung Smart Ring is a great option. It might not be able to replace a smartwatch designed for workouts, but it definitely deserves its spot as a stylish and useful health tracker.

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Refurbished: A Smart Choice for Quality and Savings