Should there be an Apple Ring with health tracking and gesture support? [Poll]

Health and fitness tracking is the primary pitch of the Apple Watch, but has the time now arrived for the option of a more compact device in the form of an Apple Ring?

Samsung yesterday unveiled its Galaxy Ring, which collects health data (including sleep tracking), in a device with a claimed battery life of seven days …

Samsung Galaxy Ring debuts

We’ll gloss over Samsung’s rather blatant clone of the Apple Watch Ultra – right down to the Ultra name and orange band – and ask instead whether Apple should in this case borrow an idea from its Korean rival.

The long-awaited Galaxy Ring launched yesterday, as covered by our sister site 9to5Google.

The Galaxy Ring connects seamlessly to Samsung Health, providing vital insight into sleep patterns, heart rate information, and even workouts […]

The Galaxy Ring is supposed to come with a battery life of seven full days, which would mean very little charging and much more living for a lot of users. It’ll also come with a quick charging case, though Samsung doesn’t mention any speeds.

The new Galaxy Ring will come in three colors – Titanium Black, Titanium Silver, and Titanium Gold – and will start at a price of $399.

The price has been causing a bit of sticker shock, especially as you could buy an Android phone or, indeed, an Apple Watch Series 9 for the same price.

However, unlike the Oura Ring which launched some time ahead of it, Samsung’s version doesn’t require a subscription to get access to all the data.

A ring form factor offers significant benefits for some

A smartwatch can, of course, do much more. You get a screen, multiple apps, notifications, Siri control, Apple Pay, and so on. If those features matter to you then you’ll be better off with an Apple Watch.

But if health monitoring is the draw for you, then the ring form-factor offers some significant advantages.

First, of course, it’s far less obtrusive. It also doesn’t occupy your wrist, so if you want to wear a conventional watch, you can.

Second, battery-life. While an Apple Watch typically needs to be charged every night, the Galaxy Ring claims to go a full week between charges. We’ll see whether it lives up to this promise, of course, but certainly the lack of a screen ought to make a big difference.

Third, at a time when a growing number of people are looking to reduce their screen time, a ring doesn’t offer the same potential for distraction as a Watch.

Samsung’s ring also offers gesture support

One interesting move Samsung has made is that the Galaxy Ring also supports some gestures, to control a Samsung smartphone. You can, for example, dismiss an alarm or remotely take a photo.

This is of course the type of ecosystem benefit Apple has long offered, so it’s not hard to see how additional functionality could be offered when using an Apple Ring with an iPhone or Mac.

Would you buy an Apple Ring?

When I shared that I’d recently stopped wearing an Apple Watch, some readers asked whether I wouldn’t miss the health-tracking features (“at your ancient age” was either explicitly included or strongly implied …).

My answer was: Not enough to prevent me from switching back to dumb watches. However, I might very well be in the market for an Apple Ring – in that way, I could get the best of both worlds.

What about you? Would you be interested in an Apple Ring? Please take our poll, and share your thoughts in the comments.

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Photo: Samsung