Samsung Galaxy Ring: ‘potential game-changer’ smart ring announced, price and UK release date

• Samsung reveals its highly anticipated Galaxy Ring at its Unpacked event. 
• It could be a ‘game-changer’ for smart rings. 
• The gadget has a battery life of up to seven days and tracks health and fitness data - including giving you a sleep score. 

Samsung has unveiled its highly anticipated new wearable device - and this time it is not a smart watch. The lid was lifted on the Galaxy Ring at the tech giant’s unpacked event on Wednesday (10 July). 

The full reveal comes after Samsung initially teased the device months ago and it is among the most highly anticipated upcoming gadgets. It is a 24/7 fitness and health tracker that can even be worn when you are sleeping. 

Samsung says that the Galaxy Ring has up to seven days of battery life. It also comes in three colours - Titanium Black, Titanium Silver and Titanium Gold. 

What does the Galaxy Ring do? 

The smart ring will provide “round-the-clock support”, according to Samsung. The company also says that it is customised to your needs and becomes more powerful over time “thanks to the advanced technology of Galaxy AI”. 

The Galaxy Ring feeds all the data and insights it records into Samsung Health, so they can be easily accessed. It will be able to track things like sleep, menstrual cycles for people who menstruate, heart rate, if you are being too inactive and plenty more. 

Smart rings are a new take on the popular wearable technology boom - which has seen smartwatches and fitness trackers become ever more omnipresent. Samsung is the first major tech giant to launch its take - getting ahead of the curve on big guns like Apple.

The devices - including the current industry leader Oura - have proved popular with celebrities and sports people. Members of the England men’s football team were spotted using them ahead of the 2024 Euros in Germany this summer. 

But beyond the health features, Galaxy Ring users will also be able to take pictures with a simple gesture and also snooze your morning alarm similarly. 

How does the Galaxy Ring work? 

The Samsung smart ring looks just like a normal ring, the kind that might regularly feature as part of your wardrobe. The devices use sensors to track your health data and connect to your phone via bluetooth. 

Explaining how it will track your sleep, Samsung explained that the smart ring will use metrics such as movement during sleep, sleep latency, heart and respiratory rate to provide a detailed and accurate analysis of sleep quality. 

You can also enable Heart Rate Alerts which will send you instant notifications if it detects unusually low or high heart rates.

The Galaxy Ring works with Android phones, CNET reports. 

“A potential game-changer” 

Samsung’s Galaxy Ring has been hailed as a potential game-changer for smart rings on social media. Consumer tech expert Prakhar Khanna wrote: “The Samsung #GalaxyRing is a potential game-changer for smart rings. I wrote last month how it needs these 4 features to be the best ring around, and Samsung seems to have delivered.”

Anshel Sag, who attended Samsung Unpacked, tweeted: “Oh yeah and Samsung now has cool features like taking photos using gestures on the #GalaxyRing also works for snoozing alarms. Only with a Galaxy Phone and Watch.” 

Will the Galaxy Ring fit me? 

If all of the above has got you contemplating pre-ordering a Galaxy Ring, you might be wondering about sizes. The device comes with a sizing kit that helps you find the right fit from nine size options, Samsung has confirmed. 

How much is the Galaxy Ring? 

On Samsung’s website it has confirmed that the Galaxy Ring will start at £399 for UK customers. It is more expensive than the standard Oura smart ring, but unlike its competitor no monthly subscription is required. 

The Galaxy Ring is available for pre-order now - here. (https://www.samsung.com/uk/rings/galaxy-ring/buy/) 

When does the Galaxy Ring come out? 

Samsung’s smart ring is available to pre-order from Wednesday, 10 July, and will go on general sale a couple of weeks later. It will be available from Wednesday, 24 July. 

If you are wondering exactly what it is like to use the Galaxy Ring, tech experts at CNET had the chance to get their hands on the device at Samsung’s Unpacked event. They have posted a 3 minute video detailing their experience with the smart ring on Youtube - watch it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVwKOkGGg2c