He talked about the upcoming device at MWC 2024 in an interview with by the CNBC server Honor boss George Zhao. He did not wait for an official announcement or a press conference, as is customary for similar large companies, but instead confirmed to journalists that work is already in full swing.
“We have such a solution that we are now working on internally. So in the future, you will be able to purchase a ring from Honor,” Zhao stated without elaborating. So he did not reveal anything about when the new product could go on sale or how much it would cost. A question mark also hangs over the offered functions and skills of the ring.
Smart rings are a billion-dollar business
According to the most recent report by DataHorizzon Research, the entire smart ring market will reach USD 147.1 million in 2022, which is equivalent to 3.4 billion crowns. This number may not seem very interesting if we do not realize that the only players in the market are now small and not very well-known companies – so the market is very limited.
However, the arrival of technological giants, such as Honor, could change that. Other big players can be expected to follow. Analysts from DataHorizzon Research have therefore predicted that by 2032 the entire market for smart rings should increase to 1,405.1 million USD (32.9 billion crowns). They expect the market value to increase by more than 25% every year.
What smart rings can do
Smart rings can usually monitor basic health functions as well as sports activities, similar to smart watches. But they are more compact and easier to carry. While most of us don’t wear smart watches all the time, the situation is different in the case of rings – just because they can last for a whole week on a single charge, people wear them all the time.
One of the biggest players on the market is currently the Finnish company Oura, its Oura Ring Heritage model is offered for USD 299 (CZK 7010). However, potential applicants must take into account the fact that they cannot do without a subscription to cloud services. Without them, they will not have access to the measured data, it will cost six dollars (140 CZK) every month.
The RingConn Smart Ring, which is offered for USD 279 (CZK 6,540), is trying to change this old concept. RingConn does not charge anything extra. We tested this ring last month at CES 2024 in Las Vegas, USA.
RingConn Smart Ring at CES 2024Video: manufacturer archive
Photo: archive of the manufacturer
Oura Ring Heritage
New from Samsung
However, it is evident that the Honor boss in the interview was directly responding to Samsung, which showed its smart ring for the first time this week at MWC 2024. In one breath, however, it is appropriate to add that the Galaxy Ring is still under development. So we couldn’t put the novelty on our finger at the exhibition center, the South Korean electronics giant only showed it behind a glass display case.
According to the company’s representatives, the ring should stand out for its long life, very accurate sensors and top sensors. These will be able to monitor heart rate and sleep phases. The ring will communicate with the phone wirelessly via the Bluetooth standard.
However, Samsung representatives at the exhibition did not want to comment more specifically on the hardware parameters. The reason is simple – since it is still a pre-production sample, the parameters of the device may change. This of course applies to the capacity of the built-in battery and the sensors used.
However, representatives of the South Korean electronics giant emphasized that the aim of the ring is not to replace the functions of a smart watch, but rather to complement them.
The question mark remains as to when exactly the Galaxy Ring will go on sale and how much it will cost. It can be expected that the full-fledged premiere could take place this summer, when the next generation of folding mobile phones with a flexible display Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip should also be revealed. However, representatives of the South Korean electronic giant have not yet confirmed this.
Photo: Miloslav Fišer, Novinky
Samsung Galaxy Ring on a large press in San José, USA
MWC 2024: Galaxy Ring live, Samsung aims for a billion dollar business
2024-02-28 09:11:37
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