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, between my first impressions of the Galaxy Ring and my official in-depth review, it had a cornucopia of impressive perks.
For example, unlike the Oura Ring, it doesn't require a subscription. Secondly, its ability to track my stress has been creepily accurate, with the trend line in Samsung Health (the companion app) spiking during work hours and dipping during breaks.
Plus, save for the blood-oxygen sensor and the absence of a display, it can do almost everything my Apple Watch Series 9 can do when it comes to health tracking and fitness monitoring.
As a cherry on top, I can use the Samsung Galaxy Ring to initiate a hands-free experience with my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, allowing me to use a double-pinch gesture to take photos, record videos, and snooze alarms.
However, nothing could prepare me for how well the Samsung Galaxy Ring can take my health data and make intelligent inferences based on the information it collected about me. I thought the Samsung Galaxy Ring was great, but now I believe it's a mind-blowing piece of tech.
On Aug. 24, I checked my Energy Score in Samsung Health — and I received a measly score of 52.
What's an Energy Score, you ask? It's a calculation that looks at your sleep, physical activity, and heart rate. A score of 92, for example, is pretty good because it's quite close to 100, which is the pinnacle of health. (You've reached wellness nirvana at that point.) A score of 52, however, is quite mid.
My Energy Score was down a whopping 26 points from the day before. The Samsung Health app revealed that this score was negatively affected by my sleeping heart-rate variability and poor previous day activity.
However, when I read the short paragraph below my Energy Score, a chill ran down my spine.
“Sleep is compromised,” Samsung Health said. “REM sleep, sleeping HRV, and low heart rate early in the night are vital for full recovery. But, drinking alcohol and late-night eating can negatively impact them. Consider changing your habits before bed to ensure quality sleep and gradual waking.”
I couldn't believe what I was reading. "How the heck did my Samsung Galaxy Ring know that I had a swig of whiskey last night before going to bed?" I reached out to a Samsung rep for the answer.
"The Galaxy Ring can track your sleep patterns by measuring your heart rate, blood oxygen, and skin temperature while you’re sleeping, all things that are affecting your system," the Samsung rep told Mashable in an email. "The Samsung Health app will also monitor abnormal signs while you’re sleeping to ensure you’re staying healthy and receiving the proper rest."
Reading in between the lines, it appears that the Galaxy Ring doesn't directly detect alcohol consumption, but it can make an educated guess based on a combination of factors during sleep. All of the metrics the Samsung rep mentioned can be affected by alcohol consumption. For example, it can alter heart-rate variability and affect thermoregulation.
As such, my Samsung Galaxy Ring likely discovered some irregular patterns compared to my baseline sleep data, allowing it to make a smart inference based on abnormal deviations.
I didn't realize how helpful the Galaxy Ring's Wellness Tips would be. Initially, I thought, "Now, why would I need a device to tell me that I need to sleep more or be more active. Isn't that obvious?"
However, there are times where I was overworking and submerging myself in projects, and I didn't think it was noticeable enough to affect my health. Unfortunately, I ended up get nudges from Samsung Health to get some damn rest so that my body can return to its "normal functioning rhythm."
It's one thing to get readings on your blood-oxygen level, heart rate, skin temperature, and more, but the question is, can you actually analyze that data on your own to best determine what your body needs? The answer is likely no, making the Samsung Galaxy Ring one of the most useful tech products — if not the most useful tech product — I own.
The Samsung Galaxy Ring comes in nine sizes: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13. You can grab the Samsung Galaxy Ring for $399 on Amazon.
