Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority

TL;DR

  • Samsung announced at Galaxy Unpacked that the Galaxy Ring will get FDA-cleared sleep apnea risk monitoring this fall.
  • It’ll be the first smart ring to be cleared by the FDA for this purpose, Samsung says.
  • Other smart rings offer SpO2 monitoring features, but without the specific FDA clearance to evaluate sleep apnea risk.

Samsung made a bunch of big announcements in London today. At Galaxy Unpacked, we finally got official reveals for the Galaxy Z Flip 8, Z Fold 8, and Z Fold 8 Ultra, as well as a new Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2. But in among the headline news, Samsung quickly teased another interesting new development: the Galaxy Ring will soon offer to monitor for signs of sleep apnea.

In an Unpacked segment about Galaxy Watch 9 and Samsung Health’s new, FDA-cleared sleep apnea monitoring, Samsung digital health lead Sharanya Desai dropped that starting this year, “Galaxy Ring will be the first and only FDA-cleared over-the-counter ring device for sleep apnea risk detection.” That’s all the info Samsung’s shared about it so far.

It’s important to note here that while Samsung’s Galaxy Ring may be the first wearable of its kind to offer FDA-cleared sleep apnea monitoring, other wearables do offer similar features. Oura monitors SpO2 levels and other factors to detect “breathing disturbances” in your sleep, while RingConn offers a manually activated sleep apnea testing feature. Unlike Samsung’s implementation, though, neither of those features are explicitly cleared by the FDA as ways of monitoring sleep apnea risk.

As with all smart wearable health monitoring features, the Galaxy Ring won’t actually be able to diagnose sleep apnea, instead looking for signals in the metrics it tracks that could indicate a user is at risk of experiencing sleep apnea (e.g., nighttime drops in SpO2 levels). If your Samsung wearable detects you’re at risk, you’ll still need to go to a doctor to confirm.

Desai said at Unpacked that new FDA-cleared sleep apnea monitoring features are coming to Galaxy Watch wearables this summer, with Galaxy Ring support coming later, in the fall.

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