As a consumer tech editor, I’ve worn a slew of smartwatches that seem like they can do it all: track my health stats, help set up my video shoots, control my music and so much more. But the constant stream of notifications can feel annoying—and may be increasing my blood pressure in addition to tracking it. Plus, the battery often dies halfway through the day since I forget to charge it. The Samsung Galaxy Ring, a first-gen foray into the smart ring space from the South Korean tech giant, removes all of the notifications and increases the battery life tenfold, so I can focus on my health-tracking metrics.
The Samsung Galaxy Ring is the tech giant’s first foray into the smart ring space.
During the month I’ve been testing it, I ditched my Samsung Watch 5 Pro to see how the Ring worked as solo device. This setup isn’t for everyone, especially those who need smartwatch features like texting from their wrist and at-a-glance GPS tracking. But for those like me, who want a simple, no-frills way to track their health stats, the Samsung Galaxy Ring is a game-changer. Read on for my Samsung Galaxy Ring review and my thoughts on its design, performance and more.
Our score: 9/10 | Operating system: Android | Battery life: Up to 7 days | Charge time: 80 minutes | Sizes available: 5 through 13
Best for:
- Getting no-frills, casual fitness tracking
- Those who forget to charge things frequently
Skip if:
- You have anything other than a Samsung phone
- You want detailed fitness tracking on your wrist
- You need to have and respond to notifications from a watch
Samsung Galaxy Ring: Design
Sleek And Fancy
The Samsung Galaxy Ring has a subtle, sleek build, so much that my family members were fooled into thinking I splurged on some new bling. I received a review unit in the matte black. While I’m not 100% a fan of the color (I have almost no black in my wardrobe, as I personally prefer to be a human rainbow), those who prefer a neutral or dark tone should take to this hue in droves. And, of course, if you don’t want the matte black, it also comes in gold and silver.
The Samsung Galaxy Ring comes with a bulky charging case.
During my briefings, Samsung continuously highlighted the concave design, and with good reason. It’s thin and light—compared to my Movano Evie Ring, I forget I’m wearing it most of the time. That concave build removes most of the bulk of other smart rings, and I appreciate that as I’m playing with my Meta Quest 3.
A small notch indicates the proper placement of the Ring on your finger to ensure the sensors’ accuracy. Friends of mine who have the Ring have issues keeping that notch where it’s supposed to be. I didn’t have this issue, though, and it stayed firmly in place on my finger.
Just be sure to invest in the Samsung Sizing Kit—it’s worth the $10 for testing different sizes. I discovered by using this kit that my usual size would not have fit had I ordered without double-checking.
Samsung Galaxy Ring: Battery Life
The Real Game Changer
The Ring comes with two parts: the Ring itself and a boxy smart charging station. During my testing, it gave me around 50% juice in an approximate 40-minute charge time. This tracks with Samsung’s claim of getting a 100% charge in 80 minutes. But it’s the Ring itself and its battery life that wows me.
I can’t recall when I last charged my ring, but even with low battery life, it can still last for … [+]
Contextually, almost all of the current Samsung and Google Pixel smartwatches can last a couple of days on a single charge with power-saving features turned on. The current exception to this is the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, which Samsung claims can last for multiple days. (As we’re still testing this device, our preliminary tests have shown around 60 hours, but stay tuned for the review and its ranking on our best smartwatches list.)
Depending on your ring size, the Ring can last up to a week on a single charge, with sizes 12 and 13 lasting longer compared to, say, my size 8 since they can hold a slightly larger battery. As someone who can hardly remember to stick the Watch 5 Pro on a charger, this, “wear it and forget it,” feels so refreshing. This might be my favorite feature about the Ring, because it’s one less thing for me to worry about most days. My Ring consistently lasted six days before I received a low-battery notification, which shows when it drops to 15% so you don’t forget to charge it. And if you’re in a pinch, the case can act as a quick boost.
Samsung Galaxy Ring: Performance
Samsung Optimized
If you’re a Samsung user, this Ring is designed for this ecosystem. I used it first with my Samsung Watch and then switched to using just the Ring, and I still got access to the full roster of health tracking. Instead of being able to see it on my Watch, I simply opened the app on my phone, where I could see the data tables, including stress tracking, heart rate and more. It also told me how much time I spent working out every week at a glance, which I found was a great way to get quick health-information bites during my busy day.
Energy Score Ups And Downs
The Samsung Galaxy Ring also features the new AI-based Energy Score, a new offering that analyzes your health metrics—sleep included—and generates a number out of 100. Depending on where it lands out of 100, the health app either tells you to take on the world or rest up. It’s locked behind the Samsung moniker, so while you can still use the Ring as a Google Pixel user, as an example, you don’t get to see your Energy Score.
The Energy Score is great in practice, but it influenced my decisions a little too much for comfort.
I love the concept. But when my Ring told me, “Rest is best,” I immediately reached for my Amazon Kindle Paperwhite and flopped on my sofa instead of strapping on my Meta Quest 3. It demotivated me to continue the workout regimen I’ve been trying to maintain. But, if my smart ring is telling me I should feel like hot garbage from lack of sleep or movement, it has to be true, right? And that’s where my concern lies. It’s great for recommending actions like resting, but be mindful you don’t take it too seriously.
It’s important to wear the ring as directed, as the chipsets and sensors are located in the bottom … [+]
In speaking with Girish N. Nadkarni, MD, MPH, director of The Charles Bronfman Institute of Personalized Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, it turns out my concerns were somewhat validated, but from a clinical perspective. “A lot of these scores are not calibrated or validated against anything clinical,” cautions Nadkarni. “Before clinical decisions start being made, various studies need to be done on these wearable technologies, and they need to be benchmarked and calibrated against the FDA technologies.”
However, it’s not all a cautionary tale. One day, my Energy Score showed me at 78, and I received a “Get moving,” signal with the following tip: “You’ve been sedentary for more than 11 hours and less active than usual overall. Not moving for long periods of time can lead to health issues like obesity and heart disease. Get up, stretch and go for a short walk.” It definitely helped me stand up from my desk, stretch and start playing with my cats. And, as Nadkarni told me: “But as long as you’re not using them to make important clinical decisions, and as long as you’re using them to lead a more balanced, healthy lifestyle, I think they’re fine.”
Accurate Health Metrics
I loved being able to check my steps per day. I also enjoyed being able to see my other exercise metrics, although I had to enter the app and start them before my workouts to accurately register the information. I wouldn’t recommend wearing it boxing or at the beach, but it truly helped me get off my bum after work and enhanced my workout regimen. Another great thing I noticed: I’ve run into issues with other smart rings I’ve tried registering my typing, which obliterated my real daily movement stats. The Ring doesn’t do this, and seemed to keep pretty darn accurate health measurements as I wore it, from my steps to my stress and blood oxygen levels.
When placed on the charger, the ring’s notch and the red mark on the charger should line up.
Part of the reason I stopped wearing my Watch was the battery life, but the other reason was the accurate metrics taken by the Ring. I felt it made my casual tracking by my Watch obsolete. Sure, the two work in sync to give you more accurate health metrics by “talking” to one another. But personally—and emphasis on my focus as a casual health tracker—I didn’t need both. I didn’t want the stress of constant notifications, and the Samsung Galaxy Ring does the job well on its own.
Samsung Galaxy Ring: Verdict
A First-Gen That Doesn’t Feel First-Gen
The Samsung Galaxy Ring is the best first-gen device and the best fitness tracker I’ve tested all year. It’s small, thin, lightweight and stylish. Those who want a casual fitness tracker should really enjoy this, because it lasts for days before needing a recharge with no additional worries. There are no notifications, built-in apps or other extras compared with its smartwatch cousins. It’s simply a smart fitness tracker that fits on your finger.
What gets me excited about this device is that Samsung nailed this fitness tracker out of the park. It doesn’t feel like a first-gen product. To me, it feels like Samsung spent years plotting out this device to make it the best it could be right out the gate. At $400, its price tag is a little steeper than the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 ($299) but significantly less than the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra ($649). And unlike its main competitor, the Oura Ring (Gen 3), there’s no extra subscription fee to access all the features. You pay the $400 and, as of right now, no features are behind a paywall. I’m impressed, and I’m glad I made the switch from wearing my Watch to solely wearing the Samsung Galaxy Ring.
How I Tested The Samsung Galaxy Ring
I wore the Samsung Galaxy Ring daily for one month. I checked the Samsung Health app multiple times per day while cross-checking with my Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro to see how the devices communicated with each other to track my health stats.
Eventually, I removed the Watch 5 Pro and focused on using only the Samsung Galaxy Ring as my daily health tracker. I checked my stats daily as well as monitored battery life to get a sense of how long the device lasted away from a charger. Additionally, I checked the charging case to see how much battery life it could provide in a pinch, and cross-checked the charge times with Samsung’s claims.
I participated in roundtables with Samsung executives, including Dr. Hon Pak, Samsung’s vice president and head of digital health team, Mobile eXperience Business, on smart wearable technology, to learn the nuances of Samsung’s wearable technology. I also spoke with Dr. Girish N. Nadkarni, director of The Charles Bronfman Institute of Personalized Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, for a clinical perspective on the Samsung Galaxy Ring’s accuracy and health-tracking features.
My Expertise
As the consumer tech and electronics editor at Forbes Vetted, I’ve been covering tech for over five years. In addition to working with home entertainment, such as testing the best gaming TVs, I have also tested most of the latest smart wearables currently on the market, from the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses to the Apollo Wearable and more. I’ve also tested most Samsung mobile devices available, including the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra—the latter of which was used to test the Samsung Galaxy Ring.
My time testing wearables focuses on everyone, from the casual folks who want simple, no-frills health tracking to the fitness enthusiast prepping for the next marathon. For this story, I focused on the new Ring as a whole, including its accuracy as a first-gen health tracker and such latest Galaxy AI features as Energy Score.