We’ve all been waiting for more information – mainly a release date, a full list of features, and a price – for the Milky Way Ring since Samsung first hinted at it during January 2024’s Galaxy Unpacked, but the tech giant has now finally made it official.
Samsung’s latest wearable is available to order now for $399 / £399 (and around AU$750, though exact pricing is still unknown) and is set to launch on July 24, 2024. But since Samsung also makes a range of watches, the team has gone the extra mile to make its wearables work together, even designing the Galaxy Ring to work holistically with the Galaxy watch.
I had the chance to chat with Drew Blackard, VP of Mobile Product Management at Samsung Electronics America, at the Galaxy Unpacked event in New York. While wearing both a Galaxy Ring and a Galaxy Watch might initially be for the “super enthusiast,” there are other reasons to do it, like tracking your sleep.
“I don’t like sleeping with a watch, but I sleep with the bezel and it’s super comfortable,” Blackard noted. And that’s a common comment from people who want sleep tracking but also don’t like the idea of wearing a smartwatch on their wrist at night. Plus, there’s always the chance that it’ll buzz or glow and wake you up.
Perhaps even more important, however, is a battery life benefit that Blackard described: “If you wear the two at the same time, the devices can intelligently determine which sensors in the ring to use to offset some of the power usage. So you can actually get more battery life out of the ring if you wear them both at the same time.”
That’s a potentially big win, and Samsung noted that you could save up to 30% on power over the Ring or a Watch, as it decides which sensors it needs and which device is most accurate. Blackard expanded that since you have multiple readings from potential sensors on your wrist and on your finger, “intelligence on the device can figure out how to balance those readings and give you more accurate step counts, heart rate, and other things.”
The level of intelligence between both devices is impressive and creates some unique experiences. We’ll be testing them out when we go hands-on, but it could be a step up in accuracy, given that Samsung may opt to use the Ring instead of the Watch or vice versa.
It also speaks to Samsung’s unique entry into the smart ring space, given that they already have experience with wearables. They anticipate that some people will pair a Galaxy Ring with an existing smartwatch, or possibly the Galaxy Watch 7 or Ultra, and want to deliver a compelling experience.
Samsung hopes that these, along with the promised higher accuracy for certain measurements and up to 30% longer battery life, will be two more reasons to choose the Galaxy Ring over competitors like the Oura Ring or the Ultrahuman.
In the meantime, you can read our hands-on with the Galaxy Ring here and TechRadar’s Editor At Large Lance Ulanoff’s interview with Samsung’s Dr. Hon Pak here.
