I wish the Samsung Galaxy Ring had an alarm function

When rumors of a Samsung-backed smart ring first hit screens, I was skeptical. Then eons passed, and the longer I sported an Oura Ring on my finger, the more I longed for one from an established ecosystem. On July 10, 2024, the Samsung Galaxy Ring officially landed and made my dreams come true. Now, it regularly tracks my dreams (well, sleep), and there is one feature I wish it had on board: a way to wake me up.

First draft notes

Overall, I’ve been pleased with Samsung’s newest form factor and generally happy with the Galaxy Ring as a first-generation device. Naturally, though, I also have notes. The device is largely touted as a supplemental device for Galaxy Watch owners. Its data automatically syncs with that collected by its wrist-based siblings for an integrated experience you won’t find elsewhere. Meanwhile, its smaller, sleeker, and much more comfortable for wearing to bed (especially compared to the oversized Galaxy Watch Ultra). It also allows users to charge their smartwatches overnight without missing any key metrics.

For these reasons, the Galaxy Ring has become a consistent bedmate this month. Like a responsible adult, I migrate from my couch around midnight, brush my teeth, drop my watch, slip on my ring and an embarrassing retainer, and hit the pillow, knowing I have a suboptimal Sleep Score to look forward to in just a few hours. The earth literally speeds up, and before I know it, I’m violently waking up to the same alarm ringtone I’ve been using for a decade despite its grating tune. Next to me, my partner fluidly turns away while pulling a pillow over his head.

But this doesn’t have to be the case. This past March, I tested the Circular Ring Slim, another first-generation device with a unique feature: haptics for use in alarms. The ring had its flaws for sure, but I loved its ability to silently wake me up, peacefully initiating the transition to morning without disrupting my partner or assaulting my ear drums. This silent alarm feature has been a mainstay of Fitbits and other fitness trackers for more than a decade, and it’s one of the smoothest alarm experiences — if there ever is such a thing. I would absolutely love to see Samsung add haptics to its Galaxy Ring, too, given how useful it is as a sleep companion.

In my personal experience, waking back up is the most important requisite of going to sleep. I prefer to leave my phone out of my bedroom completely (mostly for the sake of distraction-free wind-downs), but I can only do so if my wearable offers an alarm.

Vibrations beyond the bedroom

Vibration haptics could also be highly useful outside of users’ morning routines. Without colorful displays or even LCD ones, smart rings are limited in what they can communicate to the user in real time. If Samsung adopted haptics, the Galaxy Ring could give me on-finger alerts, such as low-battery or automatic workout detection starting. I could also initiate a timer on my phone, for example, and be notified by haptics when it is up. Samsung might even be able to assign extended vibration alerts to things like incoming calls. For me, the alarm clock alone is enough to justify adding haptics to the Ring, but it’s easy to imagine a range of use cases beyond the bed.

The biggest hurdle I foresee in adding this potential feature is how it would affect the battery life of the device. The Circular Ring Slim mentioned above only offers two days of use between charges, a dismal spec for a smart ring. I don’t imagine Galaxy Ring users would be willing to sacrifice the convenience of nearly week-long battery life for haptics, especially when the Galaxy Ring is meant to alleviate smartwatch battery shortcomings. With that said, the ring is fresh to the market, meaning Samsung has plenty of time to troubleshoot. If the company is listening, I hope it finds a way to bring better wake-ups to users’ fingers without compromising on battery.