Samsung’s Galaxy Ring Brings AI to the Finger

Samsung may have cemented artificial intelligence’s place in a new frontier — namely the finger.

The South Korean electronics giant is officially in the smart ring business now, with a debut wearable called Galaxy Ring that puts AI in jewelry form to power health and fitness monitoring.

The company described the device as “a lightweight titanium frame that’s so comfortable, it’ll slot onto your finger with ease. The Galaxy Ring is water resistant for all-day use, in addition to a battery that lasts up to seven days. There are three built-in sensors that monitor your health around the clock, and the Galaxy AI analyses data to provide you with personalized health and sleep tips.”

The Galaxy Ring isn’t the tech sector’s first attempt to fidget with the finger. Amazon once dabbled with a ring to make its Alexa voice assistant readily available anywhere. Today, the Oura ring remains a popular option for consumers looking to track health and wellness data.

The latter recently introduced new AI powers through Oura Advisor, an experimental feature that personalizes insights, recommendations and coaching based on the wearer’s data.

Where Samsung has an advantage is in the breadth of its mobile footprint. The Galaxy Ring ties into Galaxy smartphones, which, according to IDC, led the market in the second quarter. “The preliminary market results show that Samsung captured the top position in 2Q24 with 18.9 percent share of shipments, thanks to a strategic focus on its flagships and a strong AI strategy.”

There’s a deep bench of potential users already steeped in the platform. While $400 may be a bit steep for some users, others may see the Galaxy Ring worthwhile to keep a cohesive experience within a single ecosystem.

As IDC noted, a lot of Samsung’s momentum stems from the introduction of Galaxy AI, and its push to extend it across the ecosystem. This now includes the Galaxy Ring, its latest Galaxy Watch7 smartwatch, a new premium Ultra version of the watch and a new generation of foldable phones, with the Z Flip6 and Z Fold6 touting slimmer profiles, better specs and improved hinges.

Galaxy AI puts a number of new features in people’s hands, including live translation, advanced photo taking and editing and, especially, a novel function called “Circle to Search.” With the latter, users can circle an intriguing item, like a particular fashion look, on the screen to find more info and where to purchase it.

At this point, both Samsung and Apple are looking to AI as a way to soup up their mobile devices and wearables. This matters, because as market leaders, they are uniquely positioned to raise the level of AI-savvy among consumers on a huge scale.

The implications look sweeping. The efforts could change how people shop on their phones and could increase the appeal of different types of wearables, including jewelry. And that could lead to unforeseen opportunities for designers and brands who know the category best.