WearablesOur favourite

Galaxy Ring gets sleep apnea detection, our favourite wearable

  • 2 min read
  • 2 sources

A quiet week for wearables, with two announcements. Samsung’s improved sleep apnea feature, which reached the Galaxy Ring last week, is the one we favour. Garmin’s tie-up with Waze, announced on Tuesday, comes second.

We favour

Sleep apnea detection reaches the Galaxy Ring

Samsung says its improved Sleep Apnea feature is now available on the Galaxy Watch and, for the first time, on a smart ring, the Galaxy Ring. The updated algorithm analyses vital signs during sleep more deeply and now also indicates how severe the detected breathing interruptions are. Samsung says the US FDA cleared the improved version in July 2026 and the Korean MFDS has now approved it too, which clears the way for a rollout in every country where the Galaxy Ring is sold. Samsung gave no European date or pricing in this release. On the watch side, the feature is supported on the Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, and Samsung’s footnote names the Galaxy Watch 9 with Wear OS 7.0 or later; support for the Galaxy Watch 7 and 8 is to follow in software updates.

We covered the launch and its conditions last week. Samsung’s footnotes carry the conditions: it is a software-only app for users aged 18 and over, valid data from two nights within ten days is needed, and it is not meant for people already diagnosed with sleep apnea or as a replacement for a doctor’s diagnosis.

Source: Samsung

Why we favour it: Samsung describes it as the first time these sleep apnea signals are available through a smart ring, it needs valid data from two nights within ten days, and it has US and Korean approvals. With no European date and Samsung’s own caveats on diagnosis, this is a feature to watch rather than a reason to buy a ring.

Garmin cyclists can show up in Waze

Garmin and Waze now let cyclists with a compatible Edge bike computer or Garmin smartwatch share their LiveTrack location, which appears as a real-time alert for drivers using Waze. As we reported on Tuesday, sharing is opt-in through Garmin Connect, temporary and session-based, and Garmin says the cyclist’s personal information is not shown in Waze. The press release gives no regional availability. For a free feature on hardware people already own, it is a sensible safety idea, though it only helps where drivers use Waze.

Source: Garmin

Sources

Written with AI from the makers' announcements and checked against the sources below. We did not test these devices.

Spotted a mistake? Let us know

This piece is based on the following public sources.