Samsung’s Galaxy Ring has room for improvement. Here’s what I want to see

There really is a lot to love Samsung Galaxy Ring. The convenient portable battery case means you won’t have to think twice about when to charge it. The design is comfortable to wear all day and night, and Samsung’s power indicator feels like a step toward what could one day be Digital health coach.

But there are ways Samsung can push things forward, either in the next-gen model or via software updates. A silent alarm, easier access to exercise metrics, and more gesture controls could make the Galaxy Ring better at its most important function: being a sleep and workout companion.

The smart ring market is becoming increasingly competitive. Oura has just launched Oura ring 4 It’s October, and the Consumer Electronics Show is right around the corner, where we’re expected to see more health tracking rings debut. International Data Corporation In September, it expected that the smart ring category would grow by 88.4% in 2024, which would constitute a huge leap compared to other types of wearable devices such as Smart watches. This makes Samsung’s approach to the smart ring space even more important in the coming years.

Read more: Smartglasses will work this time, Google’s Android chief told CNET

Silent alarm

The Galaxy Ring can actually tell me how well (or how poorly) I slept last night. But, I want him to tell me when it’s time to wake up. A silent and vibrating alert would make the Galaxy Ring infinitely more useful in this regard. Ideally, I want two options: one that wakes me up at the optimal time in my sleep cycle and a manual option to set the alarm at a specific time. Health technology company Circular’s smart ring It does just thatI hope Samsung follows suit because it will make the Galaxy Ring feel like a more complete package.

Adding vibration capabilities will likely make the Galaxy Ring thicker and heavier than the current model. But if Samsung launches different levels of its smart ring in different price ranges, as it does with its phones, the “pro” or “plus” version of the ring may contain a warning, while the less elegant version will be sold without it.

An easier way to see metrics on Samsung phones

Smart rings, of course They don’t have screens like smart watches And fitness teams do that. This means you need to check your phone after a workout for metrics like heart rate and calories burned. But smartphone makers like Samsung can do a better job of getting around this problem by taking advantage of how its wearables work with phones. For example, what if you could pin health metrics to the always-on display on a Samsung phone? This makes it easier to see progress during exercise at a glance.

More gesture controls

One of the Galaxy Ring’s most unique capabilities is gestures; You can take a photo or ignore an alarm on your device Samsung phone By double pressing your fingers. It may sound a little strange – and it is – but I’ve found it surprisingly useful for silencing my alarm after waking up groggy from a nap.

I’d love to see Samsung take this further. Media playback seems like another opportunity where gestures can come in handy. I also like the idea of ​​being able to customize what this gesture can do, such as answering or rejecting a phone call while wearing earbuds or starting and stopping a workout. Or what if Samsung added another gesture, like a single or triple tap, so you could choose more than one shortcut?

It’s not clear when or if Samsung will launch new Galaxy Ring models every year as it does with phones and smartwatches. If that happens, we probably won’t hear more about it until the summer, which is when the company typically releases new wearables and… Foldable phones. But what’s clear is that there’s a lot of room for Samsung’s little health tracker to grow.