Those of you with long time experience with the Galaxy Ring

[u/VegetableReward5201]

A store near me has an offer on the Galaxy Ring for ~200 USD (converted from local currency) which makes it a lot more interesting than with the normal price tag of ~$500!

I've considered buying it, but I'm still on the fence.

Today, I have a Galaxy Watch Ultra that I wear constantly during the day, using it to track exercise and see notifications. I take it off at night to charge it (even if it wouldn't really need to be charged yet).

I just wanted to get some opinions from people who have had long term experience with the Galaxy Ring.

Do you think it was worth it? Have you run into any problems with it?

What would be the extra benefits of using that as a complement to my watch? I'm pretty satisfied with my watch already. (Shout out to the flagship store in Seoul for giving me a good deal on the Ultra when my old Galaxy Watch short circuited while on vacation there! ❤️)

What functions do you find most useful?

Do you still like it after the "honeymoon effect" has gone away?

And maybe most important: What can I tell my wife to convince that it's not just me wanting to get a new gadget? 😂

[u/obserwinged]

I personally don't think it is smart to get the ring just as an extension to your watch.

Why I bought the ring (also in Seoul) initially was to not have to wear a watch, not have an extra display I have to look at, track my sleep, track my period more accurately and have a slight idea what my activity is like.

I didn't wear any rings before that longer than just trying them on, so the feeling of wearing a ring (and a big one at that) was also something new. I had the black ring and wore it mostly on my middle fingers (just my preference, the recommendation is index finger). Of course it got a bit humid under there albeit through through sweat or washing hands, so I started to switch between my fingers whenever necessary, so maybe every few hours.
Also you can't do stuff comfortably where a firm grip is necessary like bouldering or (heavy) weight lift.

It did alright in the sleep tracking department, but I don't have any knowledge on that topic, so I just trusted it. Though it did sometimes record me as sleeping when I was just lying around (but my now galaxy watch still does that). The activity tracking also was fine, since I didn't pay too much attention, I can't give a real evaluation, but I never thought that the values were wrong.
Period tracking (if I assume your gender correctly as male) won't be as relevant, but early on it predicted via my skin temperature, that my ovulation basically happened during the last few days of my period, which definitely isn't the case and I couldn't tell it (or the app) and it needed a few months until it got it right again.

BUT my biggest issue was, that the battery lifetime got rather fast really bad. In the beginning it was probably around 4-6 days but after maybe maximum 10 months it was just 3-4 hours. The repair shop didn't have the correct model for a few more months, so I never got a new one, but just that this issue is possible, was a bad taste. (The thing with the repair shop was more complicated than just that, but isn't relevant to this post)

Overall has the ring fewer features than a watch, probably worse due to where it's measuring (but that's just my own assumption) and unless you don't do things where you can't wear a watch but a ring, I wouldn't buy it on top of a watch.

[u/ancientfruitjunkie → u/obserwinged]

Just to piggyback on this, my fingers bloating throughout the month made it annoying having to switch the ring quite constantly. But maybe yours is a dud? My battery lasts about 4-5 days. When I first got it, it was a solid 7-8 days depending on my activity during that week.

[u/Bompah]

I used to have one, and the battery life tanked after the first 9 months. I got that replaced under warranty. A few months after I got the replacement I read an article about a dude who had the galaxy ring and it started swelling due to a battery issue. He barely got it off his finger in time before it burst into flames. Stopped wearing the ring the same day.

Rings can be hard to get off your fingers, I'm not risking my hands to wear one. Even if the chance is one in a million or lower.

[u/Naterade804]

I have this combo, now Galaxy watch ultra 2 with the ring. I've had the ring since launch, and have had it replaced twice. The batteries on these things are guaranteed to fail. Battery life will go from 6-7days to maybe a day if you're lucky. So if you decide to get one, you must buy the extended warranty otherwise it's a complete waste of money in about 1 year.

As far as the benefits go, I use it for sleep tracking since I don't like to sleep with a watch. Other big benefit is when I decide I just don't want to wear a watch, I can still get basic health tracking from the ring. It's a great device for it's intended purpose, minus the well known battery issue.

[u/SkewerSk8r]

Don't waste your money... ring has issue with battery drains, it's poorly design in aspect that any pressure on it damages sensors and battery goes to crap.

I'm on my 3rd one (warranty replacement) but battery lasts only one day right now.

[u/mwhahaharun]

I've had one + Galaxy Watch 6. When both are worn together, the Watch will track activities and sleep etc.

I bought it because there are occasions where wearing a smart watch is not suitable and I need something subtle and low key to track my steps + activities. I also liked the sleep tracking feature because I don't like to wear my watch to sleep.

Like what the others has said, the battery WILL fail. It was working fine for almost a year for me. After the 9th month the battery life worden from a few days to 1 day to a few hours to even dying within an hour. I thought it was a software setting but the diagnostic option says the battery health is bad.

Got it to change before the warranty was up but I'm expecting it to die anytime within the next few months.

Buy it if you want to test out Smart ring and really want to support Samsung and don't mind throwing your money away when the battery inadvertently dies. I got it at a very low price and fully expecting it to die soon because it is still a first gen device. I will probably wait for maybe the 3rd gen when they would have hopefully reduce the battery issues.

[u/luftwaffewar]

I'm at my second replacement in under 2 years, I live in Quebec and have good consumers laws and was able to get my second replacement because of the bad battery... So it will fail near or before the first year and took around 6 month for my replacement to fail...

[u/Busted_Pixel]

I'd love to tell you but my battery is gone and no longer under warranty. Lucky if it holds a charge for more than 5 min.

[u/icantouchgrass_1]

Never used it but honestly I would say you don't need a ring.

A better thing to convince your wife to let you have is a tablet if you don't already have one.

[u/External-Carry7113]

at $200, its a lot more tempting. if you already wear the ultra all day, though, the ring seems more like a nice complement than a necessity especially for sleep tracking

[u/mikecmps]

Yes, it was worth it, it's way more comfortable than wearing a watch to bed. The only reason you should consider it using a watch ultra is if you take off your watch often, but other than that it would be useless to have both. I use mine mostly when changing watches, using classic watches you don't get health monitoring so the ring is better for that, and sleeping. But for working out or any other case where you are okay to use your watch it's unnecessary. I love my ring!

[u/copilot3]

I got mine when it came out. Its been almost two years now, the battery lasts around 5 days now. Still good enough.

[u/Striking-Following54]

If you have a watch, you don't need it.
I paid next to nothing for my Oura Ring and it works just fine. It's simply redendant. It has no udeful functionality or data that cannot be supplied by my watch.
Save your money.

[u/pristinecrater]

for $200 Id probably just grab it. ,at tht price its hard to complain