Samsung Shows Smart Ring To Rival Oura In Renewed Health Tech Push

(Bloomberg) -- Samsung Electronics Co. previewed a new smart ring with sensors that the company hopes will vault them into deeper competition for health technology with Apple Inc. and others. 

The company teased the device — called the Galaxy Ring — Wednesday at its Unpacked product launch event in San Jose, California. Samsung didn’t share many details about the product, but said it would include a slew of sensors and integrate with the company’s other devices such as the latest Galaxy S24 smartphones also introduced at the event.

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While smartwatches from Apple and Samsung have been the primary consumer entry point into health tracking in recent years, smart rings have grown in popularity. Oura Health Oy has become well-known with its health-tracking rings, while Apple has filed patents for similar devices. 

“They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” Tom Hale, Oura chief executive officer, said in an interview. “New players entering the space is validation for the category and drives us to aim higher to serve our members and community.”

Samsung’s entry into the market will likely expand consumer interest in such products — and could push others into the competition. Amazon.com Inc. briefly sold a ring with a focus on taking Alexa voice commands, before discontinuing it in 2020 due to poor demand. That device didn’t include health features.

Samsung didn’t say when the Galaxy Ring would be released, nor its price. Oura’s latest rings start at about $300.

Samsung also announced new sleep analysis features based on artificial intelligence, including sleep apnea detection, for their smartwatches. Apple is working on a similar feature for this year, Bloomberg News has reported. Samsung also is rolling out what it calls a Vitality Score, a metric designed to tell users how prepared they are for their day.

(Updates with comments from Oura in the fourth paragraph.)

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