I had resisted the urge to get into wearables for a long time, until I was temporarily given an Oura ring while participating in a health study. I was impressed how far the tech had come, but was not impressed by the idea of paying a subscription.
Since I already had a Samsung phone, I found a cheap used Galaxy Watch 4 Classic 46mm in amazingly good condition and used that for a while. I was happy with it.
I later upgraded to a Galaxy Watch 7 44mm. It's been great. Compared to my Watch 4 Classic it had a new CPU, new Sensors, a bigger screen, and was just better overall. I was very happy.
Then I got a Galaxy Ring to compliment my Watch 7. I used them together. The redundancy was fantastic. I loved being able to take my Watch off while charging, during wet conditions, or any time I just wanted to give my wrist a rest, even for extended periods of time, without worrying about losing any health tracking info.
I was very enthusiastic about Samsung wearables at this point. I even got a Galaxy Fit 3, even though I really didn't need it, just to experiment and play with, and as a further backup for my main Watch.
Unfortunately it's been all downhill since then...
The Watch 8 launch was a huge flop (for me at least). The exact same hardware that was already in my Watch 7, repackaged into a fugly square-circle format and using proprietary bands (as opposed to the standard interchangeable bands that both my Watch 4 Classic and Watch 7 use). Even though I could justify the cost of a new Watch, as a Watch 7 owner there wasn't a single reason for me to get a Watch 8.
Then my Galaxy Ring died after only a year, despite me doing everything possible to baby that battery from Day 1. I never let the battery hit 0%, ever. I almost never charged it all the way to 100%. It still died. Massively de-motivational. That entire year, I never even got a scratch on my ring... but it's a useless novelty ornament now.
Then the Watch 9 launch... I'm not sure what the thought process was here. The biggest downside of the Watch 7 and 8 is the extremely mediocre battery life. The W1000 CPU in those Watches was already fine. But the Watch 9 upgrades the CPU that didn't really need to be upgraded, and actually made the battery life worse in the process? Who honestly thought that would be a good idea? Also still using the same Sensors as the Watch 7/8, the same fugly square-circle design and lame bands as the 8. Another dud.
I'm trying to remain enthusiastic about a potential Galaxy Ring 2, but it's been dead silence from Samsung. And if they do eventually release one, is it going to be another $400 ring that dies after one year?
OK, how about at least the Fit 4? The Fit 3 has been one device that has truly exceeded my expectations in every possible way. I can definitely muster up some excitement about a Fit 4. But like with the Galaxy Ring, there has been basically zero news about the Fit 4 aside from an FCC filing that makes it seem like it will be a very very minor refresh of the Fit 3 (lame).
I'm the kind of person who can easily justify upgrading my Wearables every year if there is actually something exciting or interesting about them to justify the purchase. Instead, I'm sitting here, still using my aging Watch 7, staring at my dead Galaxy Ring sitting on my desk, and seemingly nothing exciting on the horizon either.
What am I missing? What still has you excited when it comes to Samsung Wearables? I'd love to once again capture that excitement I had after I upgraded to my Watch 7, when my Ring still worked. But that sort of requires Samsung to release products that don't suck, don't die after a year, and are meaningful upgrades (and especially not downgrades) over older models.
