The newest entrant in the market, the Samsung Galaxy Ring, is set to take over your finger and your health. Equipped with many advanced features and Samsung’s reputation for innovation, the ring has sparked curiosity in many people’s minds, including myself, as to how accurate is the one thing prominent in the Galaxy Ring– sleep tracking?
Let’s dive deeper into getting to know the Galaxy Ring and its sleep-tracking abilities. Does it live up to the hype, or are there gaps that need to be addressed before we can have it claim the title of “gold standard”?
What Sleep Metrics Does the Galaxy Ring Track?
- Total sleep
- Sleep stages
- Sleep score
- Sleep pattern
- Night-time movement
- Skin temperature
- Blood oxygen
- HR and HRV during sleep
- Snoring analysis
- Wakefulness
- Mental recovery
- Physical recovery
The Galaxy Ring boasts a number of health metrics, putting a special focus on sleep, as with any other smart ring. Along with the metrics mentioned above, the Samsung app offers a few suggestions to improve certain underperforming areas.
The snoring analysis is something I found lacking in other smart rings I’ve tried so far, and even though I’m not the audience for it, I’m sure it will provide value to users who need it.
Another interesting feature of the Galaxy Ring is the ‘Sleep Coach’. This assigns an animal to the user based on the sleeping patterns. Mine was the hedgehog, which is not the most ideal. After looking at Samsung’s explanation of these animals, skipping to Tier 2 would be a blessing to my schedule.
My Sleep Metrics Calculated Using the Galaxy Ring
I’ve had an Apple Watch for the longest time, but I have never used it for tracking my sleep. Then, I entered my era of smart rings. I remember being so fascinated with my sleep insights, and then I started testing out many smart rings to review them for you.
The one that has stuck with me for the longest time is the Oura ring, so I tested out my sleep metrics with the Samsung Galaxy Ring and compared it to what I am used to the most.
| Days | Total Sleep Time (Galaxy Ring) | Total Sleep Time (Oura) | REM Sleep (Galaxy Ring) | REM Sleep (Oura) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | 8h 1m | 7h 8m | 1h 45m | 1h 39m |
| Day 2 | 7h 55m | 6h 39m | 1h 7m | 1h 12m |
| Day 3 | 6h 39m | 6h 12m | 1h 19m | 1h 11m |
| Day 4 | 7h 55m | 7h 28m | 1h 35m | 1h 17m |
| Day 5 | 6h 40m | 6h 21m | 1h 6m | 1h 32m |
| Day 6 | 6h 8m | 6h 15m | 0h 39m | 1h 33m |
Personally, the total sleep time and REM sleep aren’t that off on the whole, even though some days the deviation is more than others. But Rob Ter Horst explains it the best in his YouTube video; it’s a decent correlation between the medical-grade devices and the Galaxy Ring when it comes to sleep tracking, but not the best.
I also felt my time of sleep and the time I woke up was more in sync with the Oura Ring as compared to the Samsung Galaxy Ring. The fact that Samsung doesn’t have a subscription model is surely enticing, but since this is their first stride into the wearables market, focusing more on sleep as compared to activity and movement, the accuracy still leaves room for improvement.
I also noticed that the Galaxy Ring skipped recording my sleep a few times when I woke up in the middle of the night because my dog wanted to go outside or I randomly woke up. I fell back asleep, but in the morning, I only had data till the initial time I slept. This wasn’t the case every time this happened, but this inconsistency was not appreciated.
I, personally, don’t get the point of an animal being assigned to my sleeping habits; like do I really need another point to stress about? That being said, the AI suggestions to improve my sleep score do come in handy, only if they were backed by accurate readings.
There have also been no studies performed on the accuracy of the metrics tracked by the Galaxy Ring currently.
Wrap Up
Samsung’s health metrics, for me, have always felt mediocre at best. But, since Samsung has delved into a niche that puts health at its forefront, especially with the release of the Galaxy Ring, they are clearly shifting their focus.
This new intention leads me to believe they would be motivated to improve their sleep tracking with the upcoming updates. For now, they feel skin deep. I do love the fact that it’s so sleek and comfortable to wear to bed; now if they get their metrics right, that would do me a solid.
