Samsung has teased a smart ring at its unpacked product launch that seems destined for the health market.
The South Korean company hasn’t detailed the purpose of the Galaxy Ring, but the sensors on the device suggest it will monitor your health.
The company did say its smart ring will integrate with its latest devices such as the Galaxy S24 launched overnight.
That’s a lay down misère as a ring doesn’t have much scope to convey information independently.
It is likely to be configured from a phone app using a Bluetooth connection. It is also likely that you will upload data from the ring to an app on your phone and view the data from there.
It’s also possible that you might use a ring to control the volume and change channels on your TV, and to control other home appliances and smart devices, but that would require it to be powered.
All of this is conjecture without verification from Samsung.
We can look to the existing Oura smart ring for an idea of what ring technology can achieve.
According to the Oura website, the Oura ring can monitor more than 20 biometrics including heart rate, body temperature, and blood oxygen SpO2 and track your daily activity level. Data is fed into the Oura smartphone app.
Oura’s Heritage ring costs from US$288 (A$440) and its Horizon ring from US$348 (A$531).
Apple has filed patents for a smart ring but nothing appears destined for market yet.
You can buy NFC smart rings from about $10. You can write data on them using a smartphone app and hold it close to a receiver to transmit that data.
