Welcome to Capsule Considers, where we try out and review the latest products on the market and offer our honest, unbiased opinions, free from any obligation or expectation because if you’re parting with your hard-earned money based on any of our recommendations, we’re gonna make sure it’s damn well worth it. Here’s Alice’s Samsung Galaxy Ring review…
A few months back the good folks at Samsung asked if I’d like to try out one of their Galaxy Rings on a little loan and I of course said, yes please. I love data! Especially niche data about myself, like exactly what’s happening in my sleep, what my heart rate’s doing, or even what my skin temperature is up to. And this, one ring, promises to do it all!
They had just a gold ring in my size available to test, which, or course, is hereby known as My Precious.
It’s precious, because my lordy does it know a lot about me now, but also t’s not a particularly cheap piece of jewelry, with an RRP of $699. Thankfully it’s either on my finger, or the neat little charging station box it comes in, so I haven’t even come close to misplacing it.
Smart jewelry has really taken off in recent years and I really grew to love my smart watch. But… to be honest what I didn’t love was that it often became a distraction – oh, is that an email coming through? A new text message? As someone who is trying to not be such a phone addict (how do I tell my kids to get off their phone, if I’m attached to mine?), strapping a notification device to my wrist seems like a complete step in the opposite direction.
That’s why I’m loving the switch to the ring. It’s less obtrusive, whilst giving me a similar result in terms of data. I can sleep with it better than a watch and it’s just all around much easier to forget about, until I’m ready to keep a track of my data and my goals for the day.
So, what does it do exactly?
The ring (which thankfully is water resistant because I only checked this after I absent mindedly wore it in the shower) features three tiny little sensors that sit at that base of your finger. There’s a skin temperatures sensor, and optical bio-signal sensor (to track your heart rate) and an accelerometer.
It can track exactly what’s happening while you’re sleeping, from your sleep stages (light to deep to REM) to whether you’ve snored. It’ll warn you if your oxygen levels have been too low, suggesting you might need a doctor’s visit. It’s fascinating to wake up to – it’ll tell you exactly how well you slept overnight. It’ll combine that with your activity and stress levels from the day before and will let you know your energy score for the day.
After wearing it for a week, it’ll know you better than you know yourself and will offer you some sleep coaching based on your results.
It can measure your stress levels and will give you a nudge to do meditation or some breathing exercises when needed. And, it can track your menstrual cycle.
I found the skin temperature feature particularly interesting. I didn’t think it was possible, but our family has had Covid twice in four months and I was wearing my ring for the second onslaught of it. The ring was the first to pick up on it. I had a rise in my temperature (that wasn’t related to my cycle) and with two family members already down with Covid, I knew what was likely coming – and sure enough, by that night my throat was feeling scratchy, my ears full and my muscles began aching. All the while my temperature was slowly creeping up.
For the next week I could see how Covid affected my poor body – my temperature was out as well as my heart rate and my sleep, which was completely different with lots more wake ups than normal.
What I Love
The process of choosing your ring is made extremely easy. When you purchase one, you get sent out a free ring kit which includes every ring size available in dummy rings. You figure out which one fits the best (snug, but not too tight!) and then wear it for a full 24-hours to make sure your pick is definitely the right one for you. Our fingers do change size ever so slightly over the day (particularly if we’re hot or cold) so it is super handy getting to try it out first.
Like I mentioned, I love the unobtrusive ease of the ring – there’s so much data, but without having to think about it or be distracted by it.
It also has a battery life of around seven days, which is, quite frankly, incredible and makes me much more likely to stick with it.
And, as I’ve written in other articles lately, I’ve had a real focus on health this year. I know – hilarious as I have had Covid twice this year and we’ve only just passed the halfway point, but having a kid at school and another one just newly into daycare will do that. My health focus has been broader as I’ve had a few things crop up since I turned 40 – of most concern to me is a drop in bone density, which has led me down a path to really take care of this body of mine as it ages.
For that reason, having a smart ring that keeps me accountable, but also tracks how I’m going and keeps me motivated, has been fab. Like anything new, I was obsessed with checking my results the first couple of weeks and it’s certainly been more of a challenge to stay motivated since, but I’ve been able to stick with it (often because the ring – or rather the app – reminds me!).
What I Don’t Love
This is a very first world problem, I know, but I don’t find the ring goes with my existing jewelry. It’s recommended you wear the ring on your non-dominant index finger for best results. I’m right-handed, so that puts in on my left, a couple of fingers over from my wedding rings. It is available in titanium black and silver – which would look better next to my platinum rings than the gold I’ve been trialing. The ring itself is comfortable enough to wear, but it’s still quite a bulky ring, whereas I’m a very minimalist person when it comes to my rings and jewelry – I prefer finer, delicate and more feminine designs. But, I fully appreciate that in order to do everything this ring does, it’s going to take up more space than my little wedding band.
Generally, it seemed to be fairly accurate with its results – but I did notice a couple of times in my sleep that I had twisted the ring during my sleep, altering where the sensors were hitting, and my results weren’t as accurate (I got up with my toddler one night at 2am, but it had no record of this). This could have been down to user error though.
The Final Say
I’m a smart ring convert.
Personally, I love the sleep information the most. So much of our overall health and mood comes down to how well we sleep, so having an accurate, reliable tool to track feels like a good investment. And, having a little coach in my pocket to tell me exactly how I can improve in this area is definitely helpful.
It has certainly held me a lot more accountable to my overall health goals too – particularly around movement and stress.
It’s pricey, but if you’ve got health or fitness goals I think it’s well worth the investment.
Transparency: While we have an ongoing partnership with Samsung, this review is completely independent and has not been signed off, viewed or edited by Samsung prior to publication and remains editorially independent, and our honest opinion.
