I’ve been wearing the new Samsung Galaxy Ring for a full week, and as many predicted, Samsung’s debut smart ring is shaping up to be one of the most exciting products to come out of a major tech company this year.
My first impression of the Galaxy Ring was that it had a lot in common with the Oura Ring that I’ve been using for the better part of the past two years. But I began to realize that Samsung’s $399 smart ring was built to stand out from the competition. From AI-powered health analytics to a clever double-pinch gesture, I began to understand the Galaxy Ring’s hype. But after a few days of wearing the Galaxy Ring 24/7 while working out, sleeping, and even in the shower, there was one feature that impressed me the most: battery life.
Samsung didn’t share many details about the Galaxy Ring’s battery life. The company said that specs say the battery capacity ranges from 18 to 23.5mAh depending on the size of the ring. Samsung also estimates that ring sizes 12 and 13 will last up to seven days, but didn’t say what that means for smaller ring sizes.
I’m testing a size 10 ring, which I estimated could mean about five days of battery life, according to Samsung’s scale. If the Galaxy Ring lasts five days, that gives it a slight edge over my experience with the Oura Ring. By comparison, my Oura Ring lasts closer to four days on a full charge.
But on the fifth day of wearing the Galaxy Ring, I still had about 15% charge left, according to the status in the Samsung Health app. I decided to give the ring a little charge before going to bed to avoid it getting completely drained overnight.
The Galaxy Ring’s battery life was great, but it had its downsides.
Let me clarify here that I am testing the Galaxy Ring in conjunction with the Galaxy Watch Ultra. Both devices are part of the Samsung ecosystem, so they can work together to provide more powerful insights into your health and wellness. Additionally, Samsung says that wearing the Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Ring together will extend the battery life of the ring.
Once we’ve finished testing the Galaxy Watch Ultra, we’ll know what the battery life of the Galaxy Ring is like when the smartwatch isn’t offloading it, and we suspect the real-world life will be closer to five days.
You could argue that the extended battery life would be an incentive to wear both a Galaxy Ring and a Galaxy Watch together, but that would undermine some of the smart ring’s main advantages: it’s less obtrusive and less intrusive than a smartwatch.
Either way, the Galaxy Ring impressed us with its initial battery life, and what’s even better is that it comes with a portable charging case, so you can top off your ring whenever you need it.