Samsung Teases the Future of Wearables with the Galaxy Ring

Samsung was cheeky earlier this year when it teased the Galaxy Ring wearable for a half second at the end of its Galaxy S24 launch event. They told us nothing about the device. No launch date, no specs, no nada.

In a recent report out of Samsung’s home country, it’s circulating that an unveiling date has been set in the second half of July. The event is reported to be an Unpacked event, which means we could also be seeing the company’s latest foldables, including the Galaxy Z Fold 6, at the same time. Last year, Samsung announced the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 in late July, so the timing does align.

What to Expect from the Galaxy Ring

As for what we can expect from the Galaxy Ring, it actually sounds pretty feature packed for being so small. It’s reported to support ECG (electrocardiogram), wireless payments, sleep tracking, blood flow measurement, and all your fitness/wellness tracking items. One feature in the report that is said to come with the device is a remote control functionality for other devices. This could be exclusive to Samsung devices, but the idea could be really nifty if there’s any sort of air gestures involved.

The last piece of the report is related to sizing. It’s noted that the Galaxy Ring will be available in 8 options.

Apple’s Foray into the Smart Ring Market

It’s no secret that Apple has been eyeing smart ring technology for a while. Now, it seems the market is ripe, and Apple is ready to go beyond the patent stage. According to a report from the Electronic Times, Apple’s development process is closer to giving us a market-ready product.

“It seems likely that commercialization is imminent,” says the report, citing an insider with knowledge of the supply chain. Unfortunately, the report doesn’t say exactly when we can expect an “Apple Ring” to hit the retail shelves, but it shouldn’t be too long, given the current status of the market.

The Competitive Landscape of Smart Rings

Samsung has officially confirmed plans to launch its own smart ring later this year. Plus, the market is no longer exclusive to just one big name like the Oura Ring. We now have new entrants like RingConn, Ultrahuman, and Amovan — among others. But players in the market are not merely making rings that do fitness tracking.

There are also brands like Quontic and McLear that are hawking smart rings that facilitate contactless payments. Those are both areas where Apple has vested interests, especially if one looks at products with blockbuster success like Apple Fitness+ and the entire Apple Pay ecosystem.

It seems Apple has been preparing for it. All the way back in 2015, Bloomberg reported about an Apple patent for a ring with a touchscreen interface. In the following years, a few more patents emerged detailing a ring that could also be used to control other connected devices such as a Mac, Apple TV, iPad, and even VR gear.

Recently, Patently Apple uncovered another smart ring patent filed in the U.S. that offered NFC and could also be technically deployed as a controller for the Vision Pro mixed reality headset. It’s worth noting here that Apple hasn’t made a physical controller for the headset, so launching a ring as a companion device would make sense. We’ve seen some concepts of what an Apple Ring could look like based on Apple’s patent history, and it looks mighty impressive.

Market Dynamics and Consumer Expectations

In our mind, Galaxy Ring only works if Samsung essentially spares no expense and makes it a killer wearable. The hardware needs to be very nice and the sensors need to work very well. Even if it costs more than what people would want, that’s what needs to be done. If Apple was making an iRing (reports say they are working on one), we all know it would be legit and people would easily pay $999+ for it. Bottom line, it has to be good in order for people to care.

After several years of dominating the smartwatch market, Apple is reportedly considering the development of a smart ring similar to the already-launched Oura ring. This information was disclosed by an “industry insider” to Korean outlet ETNews.

Keep in mind, however, that Apple Insider has noted that ETNews doesn’t have a particularly strong track record in predicting Apple’s future ventures.