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Smartwatches and fitness trackers have been the primary wearables in the market for a while now. But it seems that smart rings are slowly creeping into the picture. Especially with companies as big as Samsung stepping in with the Galaxy Ring. Obviously Samsung isn’t the first to the market with such a device, but the question is how do they fare against the competition? Today we’ll be taking a look at the Samsung Galaxy Ring versus the RingConn Gen 2.
Design
Both the Samsung Galaxy Ring and RingConn Gen 2 don’t look too different from each other. We’re not saying they’re similar, but they both have been designed not to look too obvious. That’s a good thing because it makes it easier to match with your outfits without looking too obvious or gaudy.
There are some differences in design that aren’t too obvious from the jump. The Galaxy Ring looks more circular in design, while the RingConn Gen 2 has a slightly boxy shape, although this is largely due to the placement of the sensors.
In terms of weight and overall size, the RingConn Gen 2 measures 6.8mm wide, and 2mm thin, while weighing about 2-3 grams depending on the size. The Samsung Galaxy Ring, on the other hand, measures 7mm wide, 2.6mm thick, and is roughly 2.3-3 grams in weight, which once again depends on the size.
Speaking of size, the Galaxy Ring does seem to cater towards smaller fingers. The smallest size it offers is 5 and goes up to 13. The RingConn Gen 2 starts at size 6 while going up to a size 14. We reckon this isn’t a big issue for most people. If you happen to have particularly small fingers, then maybe the Galaxy Ring will be a better fit. The opposite is true for the RingConn Gen 2 which could be ideal for people with larger fingers.
Both the Galaxy Ring and RingConn Gen 2 also come with an IP68 rating for both water and dust resistance, so you should have no issues swimming with it.
Health and fitness features
There are many reasons why someone might want to own a wearable. It could be just to receive notifications from their phones. Some use it for fitness tracking to check things like heart rate zones, calories burned, and so on. There are also those who use it for health, like to monitor their heart rate, track their sleep, and more.
In that regard, we think that the RingConn Gen 2 has something that the Samsung Galaxy Ring does not, and that is the ability to monitor for sleep apnea.
For those unfamiliar, sleep apnea is a medical condition where during the night while you’re sleeping, you stop breathing on and off. Long term this could lead to serious health complications, and in the short term, it can result in issues like feeling tired even though you think you had a full night’s sleep.
The RingConn Gen 2 has the ability to monitor for sleep apnea, so if you find yourself waking up more tired than usual, then using the ring to check for potential sleep apnea could be a way to diagnose yourself and seek out medical help if necessary. One thing we should point out is that the feature isn’t FDA approved just yet. This means that the data gathered from the smart ring should be taken with a grain of salt.
This doesn’t mean that it’s completely useless, but rather you should view it with a bit more caution and maybe seek professional medical advice if you want further confirmation.
Other than that, the RingConn Gen 2 comes with a host of other health and fitness related tracking features that aren’t too dissimilar to the Samsung Galaxy Ring. If you don’t have very specific needs, then either smart ring will get the job done.
Battery life
One of the main criticisms of the Samsung Galaxy Ring is its battery life. Based on the real world reviews, it seems to last about 6-7 days when used together with the portable charging case. To be fair, a week’s worth of usage isn’t too bad. Could it be better? Sure, but then again, this is Samsung’s first attempt at a smart ring. Perhaps future versions could last longer.
But if you’re not a fan of having to charge it often and want something you can wear and forget about, then this is an area that the RingConn Gen 2 shines. The RingConn Gen 2 is rated for 10-12 days on a single charge. That’s a single charge, we’re not talking about combined charging time with the carrying case.
If you were to use the portable charging case, it is expected that it will last for as long as 150 days, which is honestly pretty insane! In the real world maybe you won’t get that long, but 10-12 days is already almost double what Samsung is offering.
Pricing
When it comes to price, the RingConn Gen 2 is the clear winner here. The RingConn Gen 2 is priced at $299, which considering all of its health and fitness features and battery life is quite good value for money – especially when you compare it against the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Ring, which for $400 might be a hard sell for some.
Sure, Samsung has a reputation for being a premium Android handset maker, but when it comes to smart rings, we’ll have to give it to the folks at RingConn for now.
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