I tested the new Samsung smart ring for a week and I already know what it is for

Samsung is one of the most valuable technology companies in the world and the largest in its home country of South Korea. This giant is a company known above all for its consumer electronics division, which In countries like Europe it is leader in many segmentslike televisions, cell phones and much more. Part of the company’s success comes from not ignoring any possible new sector in which to gain market share.

This is what happened with a new technological product that has been around for a few years but still remains a niche device: the smart rings. Brands like Oura have been making money for some time with rings that have a layer of technology focused on taking care of our health, although other models even allow for mobile payments.

For months, rumors had been circulating that Samsung was working on a smart ring that would complement its consumer and health division, a device for its health ecosystem, of which watches and cell phones were the protagonists. It was officially presented a few months ago and recently arrived in Europe. He Samsung Galaxy Ring It can be purchased now in our country at the price of 449 dollars.

As expected, This price makes it a niche product.like foldable cell phones, and not something potentially interesting for everyone, like smart watches, which have many price options. Smart rings are expensive products, regardless of the model, even if they are on sale.

The positive part of the Samsung Galaxy Ring is that offers all its features without having to pay monthly feesas is the case with the recently renovated Oura Ring. This way, if you are interested in buying it, we will know that the initial bet is the only one we will have to make to be able to get the most out of it.

Comfortable and stylish

I’m a person who never wears braces, and this could have affected my week-long experience with this device. However, this was not the case. Samsung explained that before purchasing this product, it would send a sample box to the buyer’s home so that they can try the different sizes and choose the one that suits them best. This is also what happened in my case. After a few minutes of trying out the different options and clearly knowing which finger I was going to wear it on, all that remained was to wait for the final model.

This arrives in a small transparent box. reminiscent of the Nothing headphones. Inside was the ring, located in an anchor around which was an LED strip that gave us an indication of the remaining battery both in the box and in the ring itself, when we placed it on top. This box has a USB-C port this allows you to charge it as happens with headphones. It is available in three colors, black, gold and silver, and although we chose black for the test because it seemed the most elegant to us, silver is perhaps the one that resists scratches the best, although its titanium finish should give us some peace of mind. mind in this regard.

Once released, the only thing to keep in mind is that The Samsung Galaxy Ring’s notch, a line perpendicular to the ring, points toward the palm of the hand. Indeed, it is in this area that the me asurement sensors are located, and if we rotate the ring, the accuracy of the data will be lower.

Wearing a ring of this type is not uncomfortable, although it can be somewhat strange if you are not used to wearing one. The only time I saw him move more than necessary was when I was washing my hands or taking a shower. since the soap acted as a lubricant and the ring itself moved more, but at no point did it feel like it was going to come loose and fall off.

In this regard, it is important to emphasize that I didn’t take my ring off at all.neither to scrub myself, nor to shower, nor to sleep, nor to play sports, whatever I do. The latter has a small footnote, but we explain it in the next section.

Health and more health

The Samsung Galaxy ring It gave me the feeling of a product designed as a minimalist smartwatch. It is able to measure our health parameters but does not do other things that the watch can do, like showing us notifications, serving as a hands-free device. The entire use of the ring revolves around exercise and analysis if we lead a healthy life, with the control of our heart rate, the steps we take, stress and, above all, the quality of the sleep.

The latter is perhaps what the ring does best since its measurement is very precise. I compared it with the measurements given to me by the Google Nest Hub 2 and the Amazfit GTR 4, and the Samsung ring is more in line with reality. Furthermore, not even having a doubt about whether or not to wear it at night, I could be sure that the measurements were going to be continuous, without even a single night without having to charge the device.

but the ring It can also be worn during training. In my case, I do three activities per day: 30 minutes on a stationary treadmill, 40 minutes on a stationary bike and about 20 minutes of strength training. In the first two it is logical to think that it is not necessary to remove the ring, since these are not activities in which the hands have major importance. However, in strength training exercises, one might think so.

In my case this was not the case because I’ve always trained with gloves, and since the ring stays underneath, as you see in the video, it’s not uncomfortable to wear it. when using the machines or picking up dumbbells. Of course, I did the test without gloves and in this case it was more uncomfortable for me, in addition to being able to scratch the ring extremely easily.

Limited features

One of the disadvantages that can be attributed to a ring of this type is that the functions for which it is designed are few. He does them very well, but they are few in number. The most notable is undoubtedly being able to measure sleep even if you don’t want to wear a watch on your wrist, which many people hate. In my case this is not the case, since I use it as an alarm due to the vibration that it can exert without waking my partner.

En el caso del anillo no tenemos esa función ya que no hay un sistema de vibración. Algo parecido pasa con la medición del pulso o del estrés, que es más precisa que en los relojes pero que llega hasta donde llega. Además, aunque tienen la detección automática del pulso en dos actividades, carrera y paseo, hay que iniciar la detección continua cuando vamos a realizar cualquier otro deporte desde la propia aplicación.

Es cierto que Samsung ha diseñado funciones extra para el anillo, como el poder hacer una foto usando de disparador el anillo o parar una alarma, todo con gestos desde la mano. El problema es que por ahora sólo es compatible con los nuevos plegables, y nuestra prueba ha sido con un Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Eso sí, el Galaxy Ring se puede usar con cualquier móvil Android actual.

Gran batería

Posiblemente la mayor ventaja de un anillo inteligente con respecto a un móvil o reloj sea su autonomía. El Samsung Galaxy Ring ha aguantado una semana con una sola carga, permitiendo ser llevado encima en todo momento. De esta forma, es más improbable que se nos olvide cargarlo y perdamos esas métricas.

Si lo comparamos con los relojes de Samsung la diferencia es notoria ya que el Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 puede durarnos un día y el Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra el doble. No obstante, hay modelos como los de Huawei o Amazfit cuya autonomía se mide en semanas, y eso es bastante más de lo que nos puede dar cualquier reloj inteligente.

¿Me lo compro?

Siempre que llegamos a esta parte del análisis en un producto tan especial como este la respuesta es sencilla. Depende. Y mucho. Para el común de los usuarios gastarse 449 dollars en un anillo no tiene mucho sentido, sobre todo porque esa cifra sería elevada incluso para un reloj. Incluso para un móvil.

Este tipo de aparatos está enfocado a esas personas que valoran mucho su salud, que están pendientes de sus parámetros y que se cuidan mucho más que la media. Además, dentro de ese grupo hay gente que no quiere usar reloj, o que sólo usa relojes clásicos, o que no quiere dormir con él. Para ese grupo de personas es para el que se orienta este Samsung Galaxy Ring.

Es un producto de precio elevado, como todos los anillos de esta categoría, pero eso no quiere decir que no tenga sentido en algunos casos. La cuestión es si Samsung puede hacer evolucionar este tipo de aparatos como para que se vuelvan interesantes para el gran público. Eso será todo un reto.