Over the past week, testing the Galaxy Ring has been an eye-opener—not just about rings but also about myself. It’s been quite a ride: I got the ring resized, had a few existential thoughts, and now, I might have a bit of a bold opinion on smart rings versus smartwatches. So, let’s get into it!
Smart rings aren’t exactly a new thing. The Oura Ring, for example, was first introduced around ten years ago through a Kickstarter campaign. The big advantage of these rings is that you can wear them all the time—literally 24/7. With a battery life that lasts for seven days, the concept is simple: you go about your day—eating, sleeping, showering, even swimming—just with a ring on your finger.
Design
What really impressed me about the Galaxy Ring is how close it feels to a regular ring. If you’ve got smaller hands, it might look a little chunky, but overall, it’s pretty normal-looking. It’s 2.6 millimeters thick, so it does stand out a bit on your finger, but honestly, I’m amazed at how much tech they’ve crammed into this tiny thing. We’re talking about a small battery and a few basic sensors, but together, they create an all-day activity tracker that you can put on and pretty much forget about. No need to stress over the battery running out—just wear it day and night, and it gives you tons of useful info on your health, sleep, and energy levels. At least, that’s the idea.
Since I’ve never worn a ring before, it’s taken some getting used to having something on my finger all the time. Plus, there are a few tips and tricks to keep in mind when wearing this one.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Ring
First things first, there’s a right way to wear this ring. All the sensors are lined up on one side, marked by a little notch at the bottom. To get the most accurate readings, you’ll want to line up those sensors with the palm side of your hand and wear the ring on your index finger—not your ring finger. Once you’ve got it on correctly, the Samsung Health app should show you all the good stuff: calories burned, steps taken, miles walked—it all adds up to an energy score out of 100.
Now, while I was testing the ring, I had my Apple Watch Ultra on as well, and the numbers between the two were all over the place. The ring seemed to overcount a lot of everyday activity but didn’t register nearly as many floors climbed. So, yeah, there was a noticeable difference in the data.
And here’s the weird part: I took the ring off around 10:00 p.m. one night (I’ll get into why later), but it kept recording my heart rate until 3:00 a.m.—even though I wasn’t wearing it. That’s a little concerning. I’ve done a test before where I walked 1,000 steps using different smartwatches and a pedometer, and they all came in within a few percentage points of each other. So, based on that, I’m more inclined to trust the watch over the ring when it comes to accuracy.
Ring Sizing
When it comes to sizing a smart ring, it’s crucial because you only get one chance—unlike a watch, you can’t just adjust the fit on the fly. You might have seen Samsung’s ring sizing kit. It costs around $10 on their site, and they send you a bunch of plastic rings, each with the same sensor nubs as the real thing. You try them on, find the one that fits just right—not too loose, not too tight—and that’s your size. They even give you $10 off when you buy the actual ring.
I bring this up because I went through that whole process, but somehow ended up with the wrong size—maybe I used the wrong finger or just misjudged it. I got a size 11 ring, but when it arrived, it was slightly too big. I noticed it didn’t feel secure on my finger, and that was a problem. My sleep data was inconsistent, probably because the ring was shifting or slipping off while I slept. So, I had to get a size 10 instead, and it made a world of difference. By the way, wearing the ring on your index finger is actually a smart move for tracking heart rate and other vitals. Funny enough, the back of the wrist, where most smartwatches do their tracking, isn’t the best spot for accuracy. The ring really excels in this area.
Benefits
After wearing this smart ring for a while, I’ve learned a few things about myself. All the perks are still there: it’s way more comfortable to wear than a watch, especially since it lasts about a week on a single charge. After a few days, you almost forget it’s even there. Plus, it’s super versatile—you don’t have to worry about matching it with your outfit. It’s got a clean, simple titanium design, and it comes in three colors: gold, silver, and matte black. Personally, the matte black just feels right.
But here’s the thing—I’ve realized I’m not really a smart ring person. The activities I love most don’t play well with wearing a ring. For example, I play a lot of ultimate frisbee—lots of throwing and catching, and a ring just gets in the way. Same goes for golf; it just doesn’t work. And when I’m weight training, I need a solid grip, so the ring has to come off. Basically, for all the key workouts I do, I end up taking the ring off, which kind of defeats the purpose of a fitness tracker. It’s supposed to track everything, but it’s not there when I’m doing my most important activities.
So, I wore the ring during some lighter plyometric workouts, and while it does have auto workout detection, it didn’t work that well for me. With lighter exercises—where you’re not moving fast and your heart rate doesn’t spike—the ring just didn’t pick up on the workouts accurately. The same thing happened with sleep tracking. A couple of nights, it thought I didn’t fall asleep until midnight, even though I was in bed much earlier, wearing the ring the whole time. I wouldn’t have even known if it weren’t for my smart mattress cover, the Eight Sleep, which tracked everything perfectly. Speaking of which, this video is sponsored by Eight Sleep.
I’ve been telling you how the improved cooling performance of the Pod 4 has been helping me get better sleep and more 100 sleep scores—and that’s still true. The autopilot intelligence automatically adjusts the temperature during the night, and the Ultra’s elevation responds to sensor readings to create the perfect sleep environment. The Pod 4’s tech is actually clinically proven to increase total sleep time by up to an hour each night, boost deep sleep by up to 2.5 hours a month, and cut down on wake-up time by up to three hours a month, all while being just as comfy as the last model. I’m really loving it. If you want to check it out, you can go to EightSleep.com/mkbhd and get $350 off a Pod 4 Ultra or $200 off a Pod 4. With that savings, you could even get a smart ring.
But here’s the thing—if I’m taking the ring off for my most important workouts, it’s just not a great activity tracker for me. Even for lighter workouts, my wrist device, which has a screen, can detect when I start exercising and track exactly what I need to know, even though it’s not the most convenient thing to wear all the time.
So, while I love the idea of the ring—it’s ultra-minimal, doesn’t bombard me with notifications, and you can wear it for a week straight—it’s just not for me. It’s a shame because it’s such a cool concept. Plus, Samsung’s made a really nice little case for their ring that charges it wirelessly and has clever LEDs to show how much battery is left in both the case and the ring. The case can even recharge the ring up to 1.5 times with its own built-in battery.
This isn’t meant to replace a smartwatch—it’s just another option in Samsung’s lineup. And speaking of that, Samsung’s really leaned into the whole ecosystem thing with the Galaxy Ring. They’ve added some quirky, Samsung-only features, like dismissing an alarm or taking a photo with a gesture on your Samsung phone. It’s a bit funny, honestly—I can’t see many people actually doing that often. But here’s the catch: it only works with a Samsung Galaxy phone, not just any Android phone. That’s straight from Samsung’s website. So, if you’re not using a Samsung, you’re out of luck. I’ve got a Samsung phone right now, so I’m good to test it out, but if I were using a Pixel or something else, I’d probably just opt for an Oura ring or an Ultrahuman ring—those have similar features and work with any Android phone. The fact that the Galaxy Ring doesn’t come with a subscription is a nice perk, though.
At the end of the day, this ring is really for people who already have a Samsung phone and prefer the ease of wearing a ring over the extra features of a smartwatch. A smartwatch obviously does more, but it’s not as easy to wear all the time. This ring is all about keeping it simple. But, there is one thing I wish it had—a tiny speaker, maybe an ultra-wideband antenna, or something like that. Something to help you find it if you lose it, because trust me, if you do, it’s not easy to track down. There’s a “Find My” feature in the app, which gives you a rough GPS location based on where it was last connected to your phone. It can also light up the LEDs on the inside that it uses to measure your heart rate, so if it’s really dark, you might spot it. But if it’s tucked away somewhere—like in a pocket, under something, or just out of sight—you’re basically looking for a regular ring.
And yeah, that’s exactly what happened to me. The smaller ring I was wearing before I got this one resized? It slipped off at some point, and I never found it again. So, Samsung, if you’re watching this, sorry about that. I hope I’ll find it eventually and can send it back to you. But seriously, that’s my feature request—plus, please, no more phantom heart rate readings at 3 AM. That’s just creepy.
Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. Thanks for watching. Let me know what you think, and I’ll catch you in the next one. Peace.
