Updated on October 24, 2024: Details regarding the Oura Ring 4, which went on sale in early October 2024, have been added.
I’m a huge fan of myfitness trackers, but not everyone likes wearing a big, heavy watch. I frequently wear different watches to work as a tech reporter, and my coworkers nearly always think they’re excessively huge or unattractive. The majority of trackers aren’t subtle, I understand.
One exception is the Oura Ring, a health tracker that looks like a metal ring. After the firm sent me a sample for testing, I wore it for more than four months and believe it’s a fantastic substitute for anyone who despises bulky timepieces. However, it isn’t a multipurpose wearable and won’t take the place of your smartwatch. To find out what you should know before purchasing one, continue reading.
Is the Oura Ring on sale for Black Friday? | How did I try the Oura Ring? | What is the best person to buy the Oura Ring for? | Why should I trust NBC Select?
What is the
Oura Ring
?
Oura Ring
- Sleek, minimal design
- Accurate sleep tracking
- Up to 7 day battery life
- Requires a subscription
- Not enough workout data
There are two designs available for the Oura Ring ($299): Horizon, which is a normal, uniform circular (and costs $50 more), and Heritage, which has flat accents. Both have an exterior titanium construction and an interior plastic finish. Six finishes are available, two of which are unique to the Horizon design.
Numerous health indicators, including heart rate, blood oxygen levels, skin temperature, and daily walks, are tracked by the ring. Additionally, it has the ability to automatically recognize and record exercises like cycling, strength training, jogging, and training. All of your data is saved by the app, allowing you to view patterns and changes over the course of days, weeks, and months.
According to the brand, the ring technically doesn’t require a subscription, but if you don’t, you only get daily scores for readiness, activity, and sleep. You can get a lot more information with a subscription, which costs $5.99 per month or $69.99 per year. This includes weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual reports, stress insights, resilience ratings, blood oxygen sensing, extensive sleep analysis, and dynamic activity goals. (I was given a 12-month subscription to Oura to utilize while I was testing.)
Water resistance: Yes, up to 100 meters (up to 12 hours); display: N/A; weight: 4-6 grams; battery life: Up to 7 days; built-in GPS: N/A; sleep tracking: Yes, including naps; heart-rate monitor: Yes, with EKG; The Oura app (iPhone or Android) is the finest option.
Is the Oura Ring on sale for Black Friday?
It’s true that the Oura Ring is on sale for Black Friday right now. Right now, you can save 23% on the Gen3 Heritage ring and 22% on the Gen3 Horizon ring. This is a temporary holiday offer that will probably expire on Cyber Monday or earlier.
Related
I wore the newest Fitbit for 3 weeks straight and I loved that it didn t give me too much info.
How I tried the Oura Ring
I needed to determine my ring size before I could test the Oura Ring. Before your tracker ships, customers who buy rings receive a complimentary sizing kit. After determining the most comfortable fit for my right ring finger using the sizing kit, I modified my order. For best results, Oura advises wearing the ring on your index finger so that the sensor bumps press on the bottom of your finger. The brand claims that ring and middle fingers are also functional.
I spent almost four months testing Oura Ring. I wore it constantly for the first three months, including when I was bicycling, running, and working out at the gym (except from when I was doing weights). I only wore it at night for the fourth month in order to track my sleep.
In order to compare the outcomes of the sleep test, I wore the Oura Ring together with another sleep tracking device, such as the Apple Watch Series 9 ($399), Apple Watch SE ($249), and Withings Scanwatch Light ($249).
My experience with the Oura Ring
The Ultrahuman Ring Air ($349), RingConn Smart Ring ($279), and Evie Ring ($269) are some of the competitors of the Oura Ring, which belongs to a small but expanding category of ring-shaped health trackers.
After four months of wearing it, I’ve decided it’s not for me because I don’t find rings particularly comfortable, but it might work well for you. With precise statistics, trend data, and a largely hands-off experience, this very accurate health and sleep tracker is significantly smaller than devices like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 ($299) or Apple Watch Series 9.
I go into greater detail about my experience and what to look for before purchasing one below.
What I like
Monitoring sleep
When it came to tracking sleep, the Oura Ring outperformed the other wearables I was using at the same time. For instance, the Oura Ring would accurately record a brief time of wakefulness when I woke up in the middle of the night. The Oura Ring would also accurately record my awake time if I woke up at 5:45 a.m. but remained in bed until 6:30 a.m., reading through my phone. This isn’t always the case with other wearables I’ve tried.
After wearing it for a few months, I discovered that the sleep trends tool was one particularly helpful aspect. Sleep Trends allows me to track changes in data points that I have more control over than statistics like deep sleep and restfulness, such as my bedtime, time in bed, and wake-up time. I want to be asleep by 10:30 p.m. and try to be into bed by 10:15 p.m. Using sleep trends, I discovered that, in March, I went to bed at 10:34 p.m. on average, but in May, that time changed to 11:14 p.m. (yikes).
Monitoring health
General health metrics like body temperature, resting heart rate, and daily steps are also accurately tracked by the Oura Ring. While trying the ring, I contracted a cold, but I was pleased with how it handled it.
When I first feel ill, I have trouble sleeping. One morning, the Oura app asked me how I was feeling after detecting that my body temperature had gone up. After responding to a few questions, I was told to switch to rest mode. My daily health and exercise objectives (including alerts) were put on hold while I was in rest mode.
I value Oura’s automated rest mode and recovery focus because I’ve received numerous reminders from other fitness trackers to get up, take a walk, or reach my fitness goals while I’m ill.
Automatic identification of workouts
When you begin working out, the Oura Ring recognizes it instantly. It doesn’t buzz or ring right now, but it will ask you to confirm all the workouts it identified when you access the app later. It’s a terrific way to record a workout for minimalists who don’t want to start and stop a walk, but it still records the essential metrics like heart rate, calorie burn, and exercise time.
But it’s not the most accurate or practical fitness tracker. See down for more details.
Drawbacks to keep in mind
No half-sizing
The Oura Ring did not change the fact that I am not a ring person. My wedding band, which is less than half as thick and tall as the Oura Ring, is the only item I wear on my fingers.
The fact that the Oura Ring is only offered in full sizes doesn’t help. The fact that there are currently no smart rings available in half sizes is not exclusive to Oura.
I wear a size 7.5 on my right ring finger. I discovered that size 8 was the most comfortable using Oura’s ring sizing kit. However, this resulted in the ring spinning on my finger; I frequently had to manually position the sensors. Every time I washed my hands, water would get trapped beneath the ring because it fits my finger a little loosely. I had to remove the band in order to feel completely dry.
No real-time fitness data
I m an avid runner and acyclist. I like to track my heart rate, pace and mileage in real time as I exercise. The Oura Ring doesn t have a screen, so it can t show me the same on-wrist data as something like an Apple Watch or Garmin. The Oura app doesn t have live tracking either.
Inconsistent GPS data
I do almost all of my runs outside, and like to look at my pace, mileage and route afterwards, especially if I am running in a new place. On multiple occasions, I noticed inconsistent map data on the Oura app after my runs. For example: The Oura app would show that I only ran halfway around a nearby park instead of all the way around.
I asked representatives from Oura about the inconsistent map data, and they recommended I turn the location tracking in my settings to always on to assure accuracy when recording workouts. After reading some support articles online via their site, I also began starting and stopping my runs manually via the app instead of relying on automatic detection through the record workout HR function.
To be clear: Oura srunningmetrics were accurate before I changed these settings things like duration, distance, pace and heart rate were similar to my Apple Watch SE s data, which I wore to compare against. It was itsmapdisplay and settings that were giving me some issues. Despite manually recording my workouts via the app, as well as implementing Oura s recommendation for always keeping my location services on, I didn t see an improvement in the app data.
I don t find this surprising given that the Oura Ring relies on your phone s GPS while many of the best fitness trackers have their own GPS built in. Something like theGarmin Forerunner 165($249) might be a better choice if you value consistent map and route data for outdoor fitness.
Subscription price
The Oura Ring all but requires a subscription to be worthwhile. Without a subscription, you can only see daily scores for sleep, activity and readiness,according to the brand. With it, you get full data history, detailed sleep analysis, advanced temperature monitoring, blood oxygen sensing and resilience data (complete list of membership benefitshere). It costs $5.99 a month or $69.99 a year this is on top of $299 for the ring. That s pretty steep, especially considering smartwatches like theApple Watch Series 9andSamsung Galaxy Watch 6track similar data and don t require a subscription.
Who is the Oura Ring best for?
The Oura Ring is best for anyone who doesn t want to wear something bulky on their wrist, but still wants to track some health and fitness habits. It delivers very accurate sleep and health data, and doesn t require much input from the wearer. It has enough battery life to last about a week, and charges relatively painlessly with the included slim dock.
It s not a good fit for anyone who relies on live exercise stats like runners or cyclists. It s also a bit pricey, especially considering the subscription though it does pass as jewelry, and $300 for a ring that salsoa health tracker doesn t sound as bad. And if you re like me and just don t find rings comfortable, this one won t change your mind.
Oura Ring 4
Oura Ring 4
Oura has released an updated product called the Oura Ring 4, which has a slimmer design, all-new finishes and a redesigned app. Prices range from $349 to $499, which includes the gold and rose gold color options at the higher-end price point. The Ring 4 has up to 8 days of battery life, according to the brand, a serious improvement over the three to four days from the Oura Ring 3. The latest iteration of the Oura ring has fewer sensor bumps along the interior of the ring, which should make it more comfortable to wear. It can still measure your blood oxygen levels, heart rate and temperature variations, and the accelerometer tracks movement throughout the day, according to the brand. These are all worthwhile upgrades but you still have to shell out for the $6 monthly or a $70 annual subscription, which you will need to access all of the ring s best features.
Why trust NBC Select?
I m areporter at NBC Selectwho covers technology and fitness including guides to fitness trackers,running shoesandworkout earbuds. I tried the Oura Ring over four months after the brand sent me a model to try out. I tracked my everyday stats, sleep and exercise using the ring, and compared it to other wearables at similar price points.
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