As if making some of the best Android phones and best smartwatches wasn't enough, in the form of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, the South Korean firm is reportedly planning to move into a new and even more personal category: smart rings.
As SamMobile (opens in new tab) reports, Samsung has apparently begun the development of a smart ring that's designed to control other devices as well as track health and fitness. The tech giant has already applied for a patent for a ring featuring heart rate and ECG monitoring, and it's now working with "multiple firms" to obtain the necessary components to make its ring real.
What will the One True Galaxy Ring actually do?
We only know the broadest brush strokes just now based on what Samsung has patented, so in addition to the health trackers the ring will apparently also be able to control a smartphone, a tablet or a TV – and presumably other smart home things via SmartThings.
If you're wondering why anybody would want a smart ring rather than a smart watch, there are two key reasons: improved health tracking accuracy and vastly improved battery life. Because a smart ring doesn't have a display, or at least we assume Samsung's one won't, it doesn't use anywhere near as much energy – and that means you can wear it much longer before you need to recharge it.
Samsung isn't the first tech firm to make smart rings; for example Oura is onto its third generation of smart rings, and there are several other firms doing interesting things with smart rings too. But Samsung's sheer scale and market power are in a completely different league, and a Samsung Galaxy Ring would doubtless shift considerably more units than any rival.
I think this could be a really interesting development because the most effective health trackers are the ones that just get on with their job without you having to do anything or even think about them. I'm not particularly fussed about waving my arms around to control my Samsung TV, but a health tracker that runs for weeks without needing attention or a recharge? Count me in.
