What you need to know
- Samsung was spotted publishing a new patent that involves a Galaxy Ring charging method that mirrors the S Pen.
- The patent’s illustrations shows the idea of the a circular slot on the back of a Galaxy phone for the Galaxy Ring.
- Patents don’t inherently mean a company will do it; however, another patent was discovered, showing a Galaxy Ring with a “resizable” internal structure.
Samsung was spotted publishing a patent for its smart ring that involves quite a unique charging method.
A post by SamMobile highlights this new patent in WIPO, which explains the idea of charging your Galaxy Ring with your Galaxy phone. The patent in question explores the possibility of slotting the device into a circular opening on the back of a Galaxy phone. Samsung’s title for the patent is “Electronic Device Comprising Seating Structure.”
The Korean OEM provided a quick sketch of the theorized product, which shows a Galaxy Ring around a circular peg, similar to the device’s current charging method in its case. The sketch doesn’t explain if the Ring would be flush to the phone’s back or if it would stick out a little while it’s charging.
The illustration previews what the internal components would look like, which hold the pins for the electrical charge.
The publication spotted a few more details in the full abstract, such as Samsung’s idea of bringing this method to foldables, as well as “certain cases.” Elsewhere, it noticed the company mention the possibility for the Galaxy Ring to upload “health and fitness data” when slotted for charging.
It’s probably no surprise that the existence of a patent means nothing without official company statements. There’s a chance we might never see this idea, especially when you consider Samsung’s recent trend of thin phones. It’s even been rumored to remove the S Pen digitizer from its next Galaxy Z Fold for the sake of making it thinner — and the stylus was able to charge from within, too.
We’ve seen unique (and cool) Galaxy Ring patents before, like one from October that showed elastic internals that could alter its size to fit your finger. Samsung published that new patent last fall in South Korea with illustrations of a smart ring with a “resizing structure.” The company also described it as “transformable,” depending on the person. The patent explained three resizing structures for its rings with three, four, and eight internal segments.
Those segments would enable more or less “resizing” for your finger.
It’s a neat idea, but there’s nothing actionable to make this feel real amid rising interests in the Galaxy Ring 2. There were rumors that the Korean OEM could reveal this next device “earlier” with an increased battery life and a thinner build. Additionally, a more recent report from South Korea claims Samsung is looking to implement “dream batteries,” more commonly known as “all-solid-state batteries,” in the Ring 2, which could give it a battery capacity boost.