When the Samsung Galaxy Ring was teased at Samsung Unpacked at the start of the year, I will admit I was rather surprised. I didn’t see it coming and it marked the first major electronics manufacturer to enter the smart ring domain. I couldn’t wait to see what it could do differently from the other entries.
Well, for the most part, apart from its integration into an already well-fleshed-out Samsung Health ecosystem, it didn’t really come with anything distinct beyond no subscription and the power of AI. However, it looks like it is finally going to get a killer feature — smart home integration.
Your Samsung Galaxy Ring Might Soon Be Able To Act As A Trigger For Smart Home Routines
IFA 2024 is going on in Berlin right now and it is one of the best times in the year for a myriad of electronics manufacturers to come and show off the newest and coolest thing that they’ve been brewing in their labs. We’ve reported on a few things that have shown up at IFA 2024, such as the now-global Honor Magic V3. Samsung was at the event too, though they didn’t have any new mobile devices to show off.
However, they did bring some of their already-released mobile devices, including the Galaxy Ring. There, they showed something that your Galaxy Ring currently can’t do but that you might really like it to be able to do. They showed off SmartThings integration.
SmartThing is the South Korean manufacturer’s smart home platform. While the Galaxy Ring doesn’t currently support this, Samsung has shown that it is capable of supporting it. In the demo at IFA, they showed how your Galaxy Ring could potentially detect when you fall asleep and use that sleep recognition to turn off the lights in your house, boot up your robot vacuum to do some nighttime cleaning, and more.
There’s No Word On When This Integration Will Roll Out
If this sounds like something that would really be right up your alley, you’re going to have to be patient. There’s currently no word on when SmartThings integration might roll out to the Galaxy Ring. However, I’m just going to make a completely uninformed guess and say that it likely won’t be this year. I’m basing that on absolutely nothing but a gut feeling, so don’t take my word for it.
The Samsung Galaxy Ring Is Expensive, But You Don’t Need To Worry About A Subscription
The Samsung Galaxy Ring launched at $399. That’s expensive and there’s no other way to put it. The base Oura ring is cheaper and most other smart rings are, to be honest. However, the Galaxy Ring does cost extra to save you the trouble of a subscription.
At the same time, you pay for the Samsung brand name and the well-established Samsung Health platform. You also get the magic of Galaxy AI to bring forth insights from your health metrics and values. These might be the major things that set the Galaxy Ring apart from the competition, but if you were expecting contactless payments and other novel knick-knacks, you won’t find them here.
