Smart Ring Competition Heats Up With Samsung’s Announcement of Galaxy Ring

Samsung’s Galaxy Ring may seem familiar to those who know or or wear the Oura ring.

James Martin/CNET

Samsung’s Galaxy S24 phones ween’t the only devices revealed on Wednesday at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event. The company also teased the release of a smart ring, the Galaxy Ring, which will track a wearer’s health much in the same way as the Oura ring. 

Samsung didn’t say much about the Galaxy Ring, although the confirmation that it’s coming may be enough for now. Samsung representatives only discussed the ring briefly, near the end of the hour-plus-long event, and didn’t go into much detail about specifics, but it seems likely to be a competitive product for the Oura and Evie smart rings.

It’s likely the ring will follow in the footsteps of other smart rings and track a wearer’s heart rate, sleep statistics, temperature and exercise and fitness. Samsung will need to differentiate its wearable from the existing rings, in hopes of enticing both Samsung and non-Samsung users to try the product out.

What do we know for sure?

Not a lot of specifics, beyond the name: Galaxy Ring. The company didn’t release pricing information or an on-sale or pre-order date.

The company touted Samsung’s health innovations for the S24 phone series, and then dangled the ring news out there, noting that it will “(bring) Samsung Health cutting-edge innovations to a brand-new form factor.” The presentation also called the Galaxy Ring “a powerful and accessible health and wellness device here to change the shape of future health.”

Was the Galaxy Ring news unexpected?

Kind of, but also not really. Tech sites had been buzzing about leaks that Samsung was developing a smart ring since 2022. But it wasn’t clear that the ring would be discussed at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, where the focus was more on the S24 series of phones.

For more from Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, check out CNET’s full coverage of the event.