I really hate the Samsung Galaxy Ring’s design and it needs to change

Buying a Samsung Galaxy Ring was always going to be a gamble, but I committed myself to pre-ordering one when it launched in July 2024. On paper, the Galaxy Ring seemed like the perfect complement to my lifestyle.

At the time, I was testing several fitness trackers, and I was tired of having my fitness stats spread across different apps, most of which couldn’t talk with each other.

In the Galaxy Ring, I had a wearable I could wear at the same time as a watch, while collecting basic data, such as steps. The Galaxy Ring is very good at this.

However, I struggled with one issue. I hated the design. While I could forgive a lot for a device like the Galaxy Ring, its design was part of the reason I gave up on it. Since Samsung isn’t likely to change the design for at least another generation, I won’t buy a Galaxy Ring for the next few years.

The Galaxy Ring’s design went too far

Maybe there’s a reason nobody else did this, Samsung

How different can a ring be from its competitors? It turns out, not an awful lot. There isn’t much room to change the basic shape of a ring, since it must fit on a finger. Still, Samsung found a way to make the ring slightly concave.

The Galaxy Ring, unlike other rings, dips in the center. It’s ever so slight, but you can see it if you look carefully. You can feel it when you rub your thumb along the ring.

I can see why Samsung went for this design. It’s different enough to be iconic, and rubbing your thumb along it feels great. You’ll find yourself playing with it, almost like a fidget toy. So, it’s a slam dunk, right?

However, you’ve read the headline, and you know it isn’t. The issue with a concave center is that the edges have to flare out for it to be effective. Those flared edges catch on everything.

I’m not downplaying this. My first few days with the Galaxy Ring involved it getting snagged on almost everything my hand went near. Pockets? It caught them going in and out. Into bags? It invariably gets snared on something.

I even felt the hard edges of the ring scrape against the back of my newborn baby’s head. I cannot explain my horror at feeling a metal ring scrape across the delicate back of a baby’s head. Thanks to Samsung, it’s something I’ll never forget.

While my baby’s situation is niche, I still have to ask what Samsung was thinking. Surely someone wore this before sending it out? Surely they realized how much the flared edges grab onto anything they can?

It may seem like a minor complaint, but it underlines a key element of rings that the Galaxy Ring fails to meet. You should be able to forget you’re wearing a smart ring.

Every time I felt it scrape on a surface or catch on a pocket, I was reminded it was there, and it wasn’t a nice reminder. Not many manufacturers have created rings with this design, and I can see why they haven’t. Perhaps Samsung should have thought about that.

Samsung isn’t likely to change yet

No new Galaxy Ring for me

There’s an easy fix to this: change the Galaxy Ring 2‘s design. However, that isn’t looking likely at this stage. The latest rumors suggest that Samsung will focus on internal upgrades for the Galaxy Ring 2, and won’t be looking to make any radical redesigns.

That means the design will probably be in place until at least the Galaxy Ring 3.

That’s a shame, because it means I won’t be buying the new Galaxy Ring 2, or potentially the Galaxy Ring 3. To be fair to Samsung, I understand why they wouldn’t want to ditch a design that can be described as iconic.

Iconic or not, it’s bad. It’s not a good design, and it makes the Galaxy Ring a worse product. If the Galaxy Ring curved down into its frame at the edges, would I still be wearing it now? I’m not sure, but it would help.

As it stands, and as long as Samsung hangs onto a design that makes my experience worse, I won’t go back to the Galaxy Ring, and I won’t upgrade to a new one.