Samsung has rolled out enhanced sleep apnoea detection for its Galaxy Ring following approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July 2026. Using artificial intelligence, the upgraded feature measures the frequency of breathing interruptions per hour of sleep, potentially offering clues to users who wake feeling exhausted despite an apparently uninterrupted night.
To obtain results, users must record at least five hours of sleep on each of two nights within a ten-day period. Samsung's Health Monitor app can then indicate mild, occasional or frequent sleep apnoea. The company emphasises that only a physician can diagnose the condition, although the device's findings may inform conversations with healthcare professionals.
The enhancement builds on Samsung's February 2024 De Novo authorisation for sleep apnoea detection on Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Ring devices. That initial authorisation covered signs of moderate to severe sleep apnoea; the latest version retains that capability while adding hourly interruption counts.
The feature is also available on the Galaxy Watch 9 running Wear OS 7.0 or later. Samsung plans to extend it to the Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch 8 through software updates.
Neither Oura nor Superhuman, two major Galaxy Ring competitors, offers FDA-approved sleep apnoea detection, although both can track night-time disturbances that may indicate the condition. Separately, Samsung and Oura are involved in a smart-ring patent dispute, with a preliminary decision expected soon.
