Another manufacturer has beaten Samsung to the market with a smart ring. While we're waiting for Samsung to tell us more about the so-called Galaxy Ring, Noise has just released its new Luna Ring. Can Samsung learn anything from it?
Samsung is often the first OEM to release new technologies, but not being the first to an emerging market has advantages. For Samsung to be first, it needs to get a lot of things right from the get-go. But if you follow other OEMs, you can learn from their mistakes. It worked wonders for Apple, and it could work for Samsung, as far as smart rings are concerned.
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So, what has the Luna Ring by Noise achieved? It's out now and offers a new way for users to track their health and fitness activity. In these respects, it's similar to a smartwatch or a fitness band but isn't as interactive as those wearables.
In fact, the Luna Ring appears to lack any controls (via 91mobiles). There's no touchpad to control features. It only collects fitness and health data and sends it to the connected smartphone through a dedicated app.
What can Samsung's Galaxy Ring learn from the Luna Ring?
Another unusual omission by the Luna Ring is that it can't sync with Apple Health, Google Fit, and presumably Samsung Health. It works only with its dedicated Luna Ring app.
Furthermore, workouts need to be added manually through the app, and according to 91mobiles, users can add them only for the current day. There's no option to go back to the previous day and add workout information.
Luna Ring appears to have roughly twice the battery life of the Galaxy Watch 6. But it also seems to have some charger alignment issues. It's probably something Luna Ring users will get used to, but it is something Samsung should avoid for its Galaxy Ring once it's ready to hit the market.
Lastly, the Luna Ring costs almost $200, which might seem a bit pricey, especially considering some of its downsides and missing features.
So, can Samsung learn from Luna Ring? Most likely.
- The Galaxy Ring would probably be better if it had a touchpad or an input/control method. Music playback and phone call controls would be a nice touch.
- Compatibility with Samsung Health is a given, but the Galaxy Ring might not work to its fullest with other platforms. If widespread compatibility won't be possible, at the very least, Samsung Health is a lot more popular than the Luna Ring app.
- Samsung should also try to make the Galaxy Ring a perfect activity and workout tracker without forcing users to input data manually.
- Samsung needs to make sure to develop a charging method that doesn't leave room for misalignment.
- If Samsung can make the Galaxy Ring cheaper than $200, that would also be a huge plus.
Unfortunately, the Galaxy Ring might be further from release than we'd like. Some of the more recent rumors say that a Q1 2024 launch is unlikely and that the Galaxy Ring may go on sale in late 2024 or even 2025.
On the positive side, this should give Samsung more time to prepare the Galaxy Ring for a strong debut, and hopefully, the company will use this finite resource we call “time” to learn all it can from other smart ring manufacturers.
