I’ve been wearing the Samsung Galaxy Ring for three weeks now, and I’ll admit that I underestimated it. Don’t get me wrong, my first impressions of the Galaxy Ring and my official in-depth review reveal that this product has a ton of great perks.
For example, unlike the Oura Ring, it doesn’t require a subscription. Secondly, the stress tracking is eerily accurate, with trend lines in Samsung Health (the companion app) that spike during work hours and drop during breaks.
View your stress levels throughout the day with Samsung Health
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
Plus, apart from the lack of a blood oxygen sensor and display, it can do almost everything the Apple Watch Series 9 can when it comes to health tracking and fitness monitoring.
Additionally, with the Samsung Galaxy Ring, you can initiate a hands-free experience on your Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, allowing you to take photos, record videos, snooze alarms, and more using the double pinch gesture.
To launch the camera on the Galaxy Z Flip 6, I used a double pinch gesture.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
But I had no idea how well the Samsung Galaxy Ring could process my health data and make intelligent inferences based on the information it collected about me. I thought the Samsung Galaxy Ring was a great product, but now I think it’s amazing technology.
After wearing the Samsung Galaxy Ring for seven days, it outperformed the Apple Watch Series 9
Samsung Galaxy Ring detects my drunkenness — But how?
On August 24th, I checked my energy score on Samsung Health and it was just 52.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
What is your energy score? It is calculated based on your sleep, physical activity and heart rate. For example, a score of 92 is a pretty good score since it is very close to the peak of health, 100 (at which point you have reached health nirvana). On the other hand, a score of 52 is average.
My energy score was down 26 points from the previous day, and the Samsung Health app showed that this was negatively affected by heart rate variability while sleeping and being less active the previous day.
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But when I read the short sentence below my energy score, a chill ran down my spine.
The Samsung Galaxy Ring detected my alcohol intake before going to bed, but the question is, how did it do it?
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
“Your sleep is impaired,” Samsung Health says. “REM sleep, heart rate variability during sleep, and a low heart rate early in the night are essential for full recovery. But drinking alcohol or eating late at night can negatively impact these. Consider changing your pre-bedtime habits to ensure quality sleep and gradual awakening.”
I couldn’t believe what I was reading. “How on earth did the Samsung Galaxy Ring know that I had a sip of whiskey before going to bed last night?” I reached out to a Samsung rep for an answer.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
“The Galaxy Ring can track your sleep patterns by measuring your heart rate, blood oxygen levels, skin temperature, and all the other things that affect your body while you sleep,” a Samsung representative told Mashable in an email. “The Samsung Health app also monitors for abnormal signs while you sleep to help you stay healthy and make sure you’re getting proper rest.”
Reading between the lines, it seems that the Galaxy Ring doesn’t directly detect alcohol intake, but can make an estimate based on a combination of different factors while you sleep: All of the metrics Samsung’s representative mentioned can be affected by alcohol intake, for example, it can change heart rate variability or affect temperature regulation.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
So, the Samsung Galaxy Ring was able to spot irregular patterns compared to my baseline sleep data and make smart inferences based on unusual deviations.
Samsung Galaxy Ring is great at offering health suggestions
I didn’t expect the Galaxy Ring’s wellness tips to be so useful. At first, I thought, “Why would I need a device that tells me I need to get more sleep or be more active? Isn’t that obvious?”
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
But there was a time when I thought I was too absorbed in work to let it affect my health, and unfortunately, Samsung Health reminded me to get plenty of rest to allow my body to return to its “normal functional rhythm.”
Samsung Health accused me of working too much.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
It can measure things like blood oxygen levels, heart rate, and skin temperature, but the question is: can you actually analyze that data yourself and determine what your body needs? The answer is probably no. That’s why the Samsung Galaxy Ring is one of the most useful tech products out there. of The most useful tech product I own.
The Samsung Galaxy Ring comes in nine sizes: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, and 13.. The Samsung Galaxy Ring is available on Amazon for $399.
