Samsung finally launched the Galaxy Ring this month and within a few days of opening it up for preorders, the advanced fitness tracker that fits on your finger sold out. While the company is rushing to produce more to meet the better-than-anticipated demand, the buzz has some shoppers asking what all the hype is about.
Before Samsung, the biggest game in town was the Oura Ring. Now in its third generation, the stylish smart ring has had time to perfect its design and user experience. With both carrying triple-digit price tags -- $400 for the Samsung Galaxy Ring and $299 (and up) for the Oura Ring -- it's worth learning a bit more about what each one does and how they differ before you make a purchase.
What the Samsung Galaxy Ring and Oura Ring have in common
Let's start by looking at what these two smart rings have in common. No matter which wearable you choose, you'll have access to the following features:
- Multiple sensors that track heart rate, blood oxygen levels and circulation, skin temperature and movement.
- Key health and wellness features like the ability to track sleep, physical activity and your menstrual cycle.
- AI-powered health insights and recommendations in the ring's accompanying apps (with a catch, you need a membership for the Oura Ring and a Samsung phone for the Galaxy Ring).
- A long battery life of up to 7 days on the Oura Ring or up to 6 days on the Samsung Galaxy Ring.
- The ability to find your ring with your phone.
- A water-resistant design you can wear while showering.
Get the Samsung Galaxy Ring:
$400 at AmazonGet the Oura Ring:
$299 and up at AmazonWhat to know about the Samsung Galaxy Ring fitness tracker
The Samsung Galaxy Ring is a powerful fitness tracker that's comfortable to wear, even while sleeping, and compiles that data into a user-friendly interface in the Samsung Health App on your phone. It does just about everything you've come to expect from a wrist-worn fitness tracker, including tracking heart rate, blood oxygen, temperature and more. It can also track activities and alert you when you've been sitting for a bit too long.
But the new smart ring goes a step beyond a standard fitness tracker by adding cool features like the double pinch gesture. While wearing the ring, you can use this gesture to dismiss alarms or control the camera on your phone. But there's a catch: this feature is only possible with a Samsung Galaxy phone. The ring can work with any Android phone, but that gesture functionality along with the AI-powered guidance discussed below are only available if you pair the ring with a Galaxy phone.
Galaxy AI, the AI-powered guidance in the Samsung Health App, was initially one of the big differentiators on the Galaxy Ring until the Oura Ring launched its own AI advisor. Even so, it's still an impressive feature. Galaxy AI will use data tracked by your ring to deliver customized insights into your overall health, sleep quality and menstrual cycle (if applicable). Then, it translates those into actionable wellness tips for the day that will help you achieve your health and fitness goals.
The $400 price tag is a bit higher than the Oura Ring, it's important to note that there's no subscription required with the Samsung Galaxy Ring. You can access all the features it has to offer right out of the box.
Meanwhile, most of the features on the Oura Ring are subscription-only, including some of the more basic fitness tracking functions like 24/7 heart rate tracking. Without a membership, Oura Ring users can only see their three daily Oura scores, ring battery life, basic profile information and app settings. Everything else is locked behind a membership that costs $6 per month (or $70 per year). Since a paid membership is required to really get the full benefits of wearing a fitness tracker, you'll easily end up paying more than $400 over the life of the smart ring.
What the Samsung Galaxy Ring does better than the Oura Ring
- There's no subscription required to access any of the features on the Samsung Galaxy Ring.
- You can use gestures while wearing the ring to control your phone's camera or snooze your alarm. The Oura Ring is purely a fitness tracker with no smartwatch-like features.
- Weighing in at 3 grams or less depending on size, the Galaxy Ring is slightly lighter than the 4-6 gram Oura Ring.
- If you already have a Galaxy Watch, wearing the watch and the ring can extend the battery life of both devices by up to 30% as the Samsung Health App can prioritize one device and disable the sensors on the other to conserve battery.
What to know about the Oura Ring fitness tracker
The third-generation Oura Ring is sleek, stylish and jam-packed with the latest and greatest fitness tracking features the wearable world has to offer. More importantly, for anyone who doesn't own a Samsung phone, the ring is compatible with both Apple and Android phones. As long as you have the membership, there are no restrictions on which features you can access based on the device you pair it with.
The Oura Ring offers robust sleep tracking, cardiovascular health monitoring and cycle tracking features that are intuitive and easy-to-understand in the app on your phone. The holistic health focus of the ring includes automatically adjusting your daily activity goals based on your workout history as well as your recent activity trends to help you find a way to incorporate exercise into your routine in a way that matches both your lifestyle and fitness level.
With the ability to auto-detect over 40 different activity types, the Oura Ring also offers a more seamless experience. There's no need to fiddle with your phone or watch before a workout. Just get up and start moving when you want to and your ring will track it automatically. While the Galaxy Ring has auto-detect as well, it currently only recognizes running or walking.
Another standout feature of the Oura Ring is the way it uses body temperature. While both rings can measure body temperature, Oura uses continuous temperature tracking to identify trends and anticipate when you might be pushing yourself too hard on a workout, feeling unusually stressed during the day or that you might be coming down with something.
Temperature is also a core metric for the ring's cycle tracking, one of the most advanced we've seen in a fitness tracker. While most cycle trackers rely on a calendar to predict where you are in your cycle, Oura uses temperature and other biometric data to better adjust its predictions. To take it a step further, the ring also offers pregnancy tracking. After logging the date of your positive pregnancy test, it can estimate gestational age. Then, get daily insights into how your current phase of pregnancy may impact your energy levels, sleep quality and more.
With six metal finishes and two designs, the Oura Ring gives you more ways to personalize the look of the ring to match your style. Prices start at $299 for the Heritage style or $349 for the Horizon style.
What the Oura Ring does better than the Samsung Galaxy Ring:
- The biggest differentiator is that the Oura Ring is compatible with both Apple and Android phones.
- You have more finishes and styles to choose from.
- This ring can auto-detect more than 40 activities, compared to just two for the Galaxy Ring.
- If you're pregnant or trying to become pregnant, Oura has the most advanced cycle tracking features and it's the only one of the two that offers pregnancy tracking.
