When Samsung fully unveils its newest wearable, the Samsung Galaxy Ring, one of the most keenly awaited details will be the price. And just before the reveal—set for Wednesday, July 10— a new report suggests that the Galaxy Ring could be a lot more expensive than many rivals.
Samsung Galaxy Ring in gold finish.
The Galaxy Ring will go on sale for 449€, according to Dealabs, which is around $486. That’s a lot more than had been expected. The report is for the price in France, so it may be that the U.S. sticker won’t be an exact translation. Even so, something around $450 is still punchy.
It could be less. The Galaxy Watch6 Classic has the same 449€ price in France, but is $429 in the U.S., as pointed out by 9to5Google.
That’s still more than the chief rival in the smart ring space, Öura. That costs $299 for the Heritage Ring in silver finish, rising to $449 for the gold finish. The more recent Horizon Ring costs $349 in silver, with prices topping out at $549 for rose gold.
In other words, if the report is correct, Samsung is much pricier compared to the more affordable colors, and only works out at good value compared to the most expensive options.
Samsung does not want to release a product that’s offputtingly expensive, though it also doesn’t want to be seen to undercut rivals as though the Galaxy Ring is less valuable.
But there’s another factor to be considered here: The Öura Ring comes with a $5.99 a month subscription (with the first month free), if you want to make full use of the extensive health features and metrics it is capable of.
Samsung does not routinely opt for monthly payments and I’d be surprised if it chose that route for the Ring. In which case, the purchase price becomes more competitive when there’s no further cost.
We’ll know everything soon enough but my guess is that Samsung will aim for the higher end of the Öura price but with no monthly costs, somewhere between $400 and $450. Though that’s still a lot more than the Öura Heritage ring, please note.
Of course, we also need to know exactly what the Ring will do. Öura has just added extra features to its Rings, including cardiovascular age, for instance. Will Samsung have all the capabilities its rival offers? Or could it even go further and have blood pressure monitoring, for instance? Check back for answers to these questions tomorrow, please.
