Samsung Galaxy Ring launch: Price, specs, feature, availability
The Samsung Galaxy Ring has the ability to track various health metrics such as heart rate. It is Samsung’s first foray into the smart ring category of product as it hopes to keep users locked into its ecosystem of devices from smartwatches to smartphones.
Arjun Kharpal | CNBC
PARIS — Samsung launched the Galaxy Ring on Wednesday, its first foray into “smart rings.” The South Korean tech giant is looking to integrate its products — such as smartphones and wearables — and offer health-tracking features to rival Apple‘s push into the space.
The Galaxy Ring, which Samsung has teased for the past few months, is a lightweight ring equipped with sensors designed for health monitoring 24 hours a day, the company said at its Galaxy Unpacked event Wednesday in Paris.
Samsung’s push into a new product category comes at a time when smartphone sales are making a slight recovery but users are holding on to their handsets for longer. Device makers are looking for add-on electronics products to sell.
For Samsung, the Galaxy Ring adds a new device to its portfolio that can track health features alongside its smartphones and smartwatches. Over the past few years, Samsung has been trying to market its health applications — which are increasingly popular among consumers — as a big reason to buy such products.
And Samsung is positioning the ring as a device to be worn alongside its smartwatches and with a smartphone, powered by artificial intelligence software, to offer a comprehensive picture of a person’s health, a move which could help drive sales to its other products.
“This will be the star of the show with all eyes on this new device and category for Samsung,” Paolo Pescatore, founder of PP Foresight, told CNBC.
Pescatore said the ring is a “product that could help drive smartphones sales and migrate users over to its platform.”
Galaxy Ring key features and price
Samsung says the Galaxy Ring can monitor the following things:
- Sleep: The device can monitor a person’s movement during sleep, sleep latency, heart and respiratory rate, and give analysis of the quality of sleep.
- Menstrual cycle: Samsung says it uses skin temperature to help track a person’s menstrual cycle.
- Heart rate: The Galaxy Ring can inform users when their heart rate is unusually high or low. Users can also check their heart rate in real time.
- Exercise: The Galaxy Ring can detect the kind of workout or activity a person is doing.
The Galaxy Ring weighs between 2.3 grams and 3 grams, depending on what size you buy. The device comes in three colors.
Samsung says the Galaxy Ring’s battery can last up to seven days. There’s a portable charging case, as with wireless air buds.
The Samsung Galaxy Ring will be available on July 24 and starts at $399.99.
Samsung ecosystem play
On Wednesday, Samsung also took the wraps off its latest smartwatches — the Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra. It’s the first time the company has released an “Ultra” model of its smartwatch, a device designed for athletes and…
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