Man vows to never wear smart ring again after humiliating ordeal at airport leaves him stranded
A UK man has criticized a major tech company, calling out Samsung after an embarrassing incident involving one of its Galaxy Rings left him stranded overnight at an airport.
We all know the stress of the airport, getting there on time, making sure you've remembered your passport, and then the hassle of going through security while ensuring you’ve taken everything out of your pockets.
We've already reported on several embarrassing situations with airport scanners flagging women's crotches and the manhood of men, and while Daniel Rotar's story isn't as NSFW, it's still left him red-faced.
In a series of posts on X, Rotar explained how his Samsung Galaxy Ring led to him being stopped overnight at an airport, causing him inconvenience. Costing around $400 for the latest model, the AI-bundled piece of smart tech can monitor your heart rate, sleep activity, general health, and more. Unlike the sometimes cumbersome smartwatches, the Samsung Galaxy Ring fits easily on your finger...or so you'd think.
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Rotar said he'd been travelling back from a tech summit in Hawaii, with the arduous journey already including three flights and two long layovers. Things took a turn when the lithium-ion battery in his Galaxy Ring supposedly swelled and trapped his ring finger.
The saga was documented on his ZoneofTech X account, with Rotar writing: "Ahhh…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."
He tagged the company in hopes of getting a response, but before long, he was posting a follow-up picture to show how things were getting worse.
With recent fears about 'exploding' Samsung Galaxy Note 7 devices, Rotar seemingly wasn't allowed to board because he couldn't remove the wearable.
Rotar continued: "I was denied boarding due to this (been traveling for ~47h straight so this is really nice). Need to pay for a hotel for the night now and get back home tomorrow."
While some replies were filled with support, one person said: "This is what you get for not buying Apple. 😁."
Someone else wrote, "Wearing lithium around your finger sounds like a horrible idea," and a third alleged: "Isn't this their 3rd or 12th product with battery issues? I don't know that I'd EVER trust Samsung at this point with anything on my BODY - their stuff blows up."
Others made jokes about not buying Samsung rings for different parts of your anatomy, but at the time of writing, it's unclear what caused the battery to expand.
Elsewhere in the thread, Rotar said he'd previously had some battery issues with the ring seeming to run out of charge especially quickly, although he was unsure whether it was related to his airport incident.
Everything worked out in the end, and in an update, Rotar confirmed that it made it home after 50 hours of travelling. As well as Samsung refunding his overnight hotel and booking a car to take him home, the company has collected the ring and has launched an investigation.
Still, he points to similar stories where others claim they've had issues with their Samsung Galaxy Rings.