Galaxy Ring: Bloated battery forces smart ring wearers to the emergency room

The bloated battery of his Samsung Galaxy Ring prevents a man from flying and sends him to the emergency room instead. As Daniel Rotar, operator of the YouTube channel Zone of Tech, wrote on X, he was unable to remove his smart ring from his finger during the security check at the gate.

The swelling battery crushed the finger so badly that the man suffered pain and, according to his statement, was unable to get the ring off his finger even with soap and water. At the hospital, the finger was cooled and the ring removed using a medical cream. The ring did not have to be cut open for this.

As the ring itself is made of titanium, the battery could not expand outward and therefore pressed inward onto the finger. Rotar wrote that the battery was completely discharged at the time of the incident. He had been wearing the ring since January 2025. For some time now, however, a battery charge has only lasted 1.5 days, down from 7 days initially.

Samsung: Rarely

When asked about the incident, Engadget received a statement from Samsung: “The safety of our customers is our top priority, and we are in direct contact with this user to learn more about their concerns. Although such incidents are extremely rare, there are a few ways to remove a stuck ring, including soap and water—or dipping your hand in cold water. If these methods do not work, you can find more information on our Samsung support page.”

Users report similar cases

However, Rotar does not appear to be the only smart ring wearer with battery problems. Several wearers of the ring have reported similar incidents over the past few months. One user shared a similar experience with her Oura smart ring on X.

But apart from expanding batteries, the Galaxy Ring also seems to have issues with rapidly diminishing charging capacities. Samsung already had issues with defective batteries in the Galaxy Note 7 a few years ago, which even led to the smartphone being recalled. At that time, the company switched to a second supplier for the batteries.

(aki)