Man Hospitalized After Samsung Galaxy Smart Ring Swells On His Finger Before Flight

Most of us have worn a ring at some point in time. If the ring felt a little snug and struggled to pass the knuckle, we might have experienced that irrational fear that the ring might not ever come off again!

But for Twitter (X) user, Daniel, that became a valid concern while wearing his Samsung Galaxy Ring.

He was on his way home and had already flown for an equivalent of 47 hours across several flights, and he was excited to finally get home once he boarded this final flight. But his boarding was cut short when his Samsung Galaxy Ring began to feel uncomfortably tight.

He soon realized that the battery to the device was inexplicably swelling—and with nowhere else to go, it was digging into his skin, making it impossible to remove.

At this point, he was concerned and unsure of what to do but still hoped that he could fly:

"Ahh... This is… not good."

"My Samsung Galaxy Ring’s battery started swelling. While it’s on my finger. And while I’m about to board a flight."

"Now I cannot take it off, and this thing hurts."

The X user posted a comment, showing a close-up of how the ring was expanding against his finger.

The metal was visibly warping against his skin, which was turning bright red with irritation.

"Closeup. You can see the battery expanding. Not great for something that’s now stuck to my finger."

When he attempted to board, he was denied access because he needed medical attention, and because the reasons why the battery was expanding might not be safe to have aboard a flight.

Fortunately, after going to the hospital, the ring was removed and the interior metal casing appeared to be warping or even melting because of the battery expansion.

"I was denied boarding due to this (been travelling for ~47h straight, so this is really nice)."

"Need to pay for a hotel for the night now and get back home tomorrow."

"[I] was sent to the hospital, as an emergency; [and the] ring got removed."

"You can see the battery all swollen."

"Won’t be wearing a smart ring ever again."

Fortunately, in a final update, the X user shared that Samsung reached out to amend his experience with the Samsung Galaxy Ring, and he appeared to be in good health other than some minor skin irritation.

"Finally got home after way over 50 hours of flying/travelling."

"Samsung reached out to me: [they] refunded me for my overnight hotel, booked me a car to get me home this morning, and collected the ring from me for further investigation."

"My finger is also doing well, aside from some small marks that I'm sure will heal in a few days."

"Some extra things to mention: The battery of my ring has been acting very weird for many months (stopped lasting for more than one to one and a half days and at one point, didn't even power on after being charged for a full day, until I charged it for two days)."

"When this swelling incident happened, it wasn't even charged."

"Many other users have been experiencing similar battery life issues, and one user also reported battery swelling, a few months ago. Personally, I think there's something going on with the battery inside many (if not most) Galaxy Rings."

"According to these posts on Reddit, Samsung has been offering free replacements, but even these ended up having the same issue, later on. Samsung told me they'll inform me of the investigation findings, so I will keep you guys posted!"

"Hopefully, they diagnose the issue and permanently replace all the affected units."

Fellow Twitter (X) users were grateful for the update and to hear that Samsung was addressing the problem.

But some also called out their fellow X user for not using the opportunity to sue.

Though it was unfortunate that this happened at all, it was great to hear that the situation has been amended and that Samsung is supposedly doing what they can to figure out what the problem was so it hopefully won't happen again in the future.