Oura Ring 4 review: still on top — for now

Oct 15, 2024 05:00 PM - 3 months ago 144820

For the greater portion of this past summer, I wore six smart rings astatine once. I wanted to spot which was best, and the Oura Ring Gen 3 was the clear winner. Well, it’s been astir 2 weeks since my research ended, and there’s now a caller winner: the Oura Ring 4.

Oura has been the apical canine successful smart rings for the past decade. Sure, there’s been a smart ringing renaissance this year, but its rivals are mostly either conscionable getting into the crippled aliases launching a 2nd version. This is the fourth Oura Ring. Oura has spent years collaborating pinch researchers and conducting its ain studies. It’s the astir readily disposable astatine third-party unit stores successful the US; it’s the 1 wellness influencers support flaunting successful TikToks; and it’s seen connected the fingers of A-list celebrities. In consequence to accrued competition, Oura has launched half a twelve caller features successful the past 12 months. And now, Oura is closing retired 2024 pinch respective hardware and package refinements.

The Oura Ring 4 extends the company’s lead complete the competition. The mobility is really agelong Oura tin support it erstwhile its rivals costs less, eschew subscriptions, and person started innovating successful caller directions.

Slightly amended successful each way

Wearing the Oura Ring 4 is amended than the Gen 3. Just not by much.

The Oura Gen 2 and Gen 3 rings had resin interiors pinch domed sensor bumps. The fourth-gen ringing is made wholly of titanium, and the wrong is flatter, pinch recessed sensors. It mightiness not look for illustration it, but this is awesome engineering for a instrumentality truthful small. Compared to titanium, the resin successful older rings diffused ray from the sensors successful a little precise way. Since rings people rotate during the day, it’s besides easy for those sensors to move retired of due alignment. That’s partially why the erstwhile Oura Rings had raised sensor bumps — they ensured bully tegument interaction to mitigate those factors. 

Top-down look of the Oura Rings 2, 3, and 4

The Oura Ring 4 (bottom left) doesn’t person sensor bumps compared to the Gen 3 (top) and Gen 2 (right).

This clip around, Oura’s introduced a caller Smart Sensing algorithm that increases the number of sensor awesome pathways from 8 to 18. The sensors are placed asymmetrically to let for a assortment of distances and measurements. Basically, it now matters little if your ringing rotates and amended accounts for the truth that everyone’s fingers are different. This besides intends you don’t request those sensor bumps anymore. 

My encephalon appreciates each the engineering sweat and tears that went into making this possible. Technologically speaking, Oura is flexing connected its rivals. But practically speaking, it intends adjacent to diddly squat for the mean wearer. Ninety-nine percent of the time, wearing the Oura Ring 4 felt the aforesaid arsenic the Oura Ring Gen 3 and the Gen 2 earlier that. The only clip I noticed a quality was erstwhile I felt bloated. I person knobby knuckles, and the sensor bumps connected older Oura Rings could beryllium achy erstwhile trying to return the ringing off. It was a alleviation to not person that problem this clip around. 

Design-wise, this all-titanium ringing is bully but not dramatically different from different premium options for illustration the Samsung Galaxy Ring aliases the Ultrahuman Ring Air. You’ll announcement much of a quality if you’re coming from older Oura models pinch level aliases angled tops. All of the fourth-gen rings are afloat round. This isn’t caller — Oura introduced afloat information versions of the Gen 3 successful 2022 — but I’ve recovered it to beryllium much comfortable. If you are mulling an upgrade, I highly urge trying the caller sizing kit first. I was a size 8 successful the aged rings, and now I’m a size 9. Plus, Oura’s size scope has 4 caller options, spanning sizes 4 to 15. If you were antecedently a size 6 aliases 13, you whitethorn find 1 of the newer sizes fits you better.

Close up of Oura Ring charging dock

The charging dock is nicer, but I would’ve preferred a case.

Another improvement: artillery life. You tin now get up to 7 aliases 8 days connected a azygous charge. I’ve been capable to get astir 6.5 days, moreover pinch the power-guzzling humor oxygen sensing characteristic enabled. With a Gen 3, I sewage 3 to 4 days. Again, your mileage will alteration depending connected ringing size. (Larger size, larger battery.) This is simply a important bump, though I did get longer pinch the first-gen RingConn and from the Samsung Galaxy Ring erstwhile it was paired pinch a smartwatch. 

Speaking of battery, Oura’s updated the charging dock. It’s larger, metal, and looks sleeker than erstwhile docks. Unfortunately, my hangry feline had nary problems knocking it disconnected my nightstand. I wish Oura had opted for a much convenient charging lawsuit for illustration galore of its rivals, but alas. Maybe adjacent time.

Software and science

Oura’s hardware isn’t that overmuch amended than the competition. I support the Galaxy Ring’s concave style is much comfortable, and its charging lawsuit much convenient. The Evie Ring’s open-gap creation is besides fetching and clever for those of america prone to bloating. But wherever Oura trounces everyone other is package and its committedness to science, some successful conducting and communicating it.

Let’s commencement pinch software. The app has had a much-needed redesign. Oura released respective caller features and metrics successful the past year, turning the dashboard into a cluttered mess. Now everything’s been streamlined into 3 tabs: Today, Vitals, and My Health. 

New Oura features

Oura’s introduced a bunch of caller wellness features since I last reviewed the Gen 3. They aren’t circumstantial to the caller Oura Ring 4, but here’s what you request to cognize aft respective months of testing:

  • Daytime accent tracking: Relatively meticulous for physiological stress, but doesn’t ever accurately bespeak my intelligence state. The redesigned app besides lets you return a deeper dive into the factors that play into your stress.
  • Resilience: Estimates really good you equilibrium accent pinch recovery. It takes a agelong clip to calibrate — astir 14 days. Probably won’t show you thing you don’t already know.
  • Cardiovascular age: Long-term metric measuring your vascular property versus your chronological one. Another measurement of gauging your fittingness progress.
  • Cardiovascular capacity: Oura’s measurement of approximating VO2 Max via a six-minute locomotion test. I’ve had respective tests randomly fail, and it underestimates my VO2 Max compared to different devices.
  • Oura Labs is simply a beta programme for things for illustration Symptom Radar — which flags imaginable unwellness — and Oura Advisor, an AI chatbot. I’ve ne'er triggered the former, and I’m still testing the latter. So acold it’s mildly helpful. Labs are besides now disposable connected Android!

The Today tab contains shortcuts to circumstantial metrics, a timeline of each your regular activity, and cards that item different things (e.g., slumber score, readiness, etc) depending connected the clip of day. Vitals is wherever you’ll find each your metrics, albeit successful a much digestible format. My Health is wherever you’ll find longer-term wellness trends and reports. All redesigns return a basking 2nd to set to, but overall, I’ve recovered this to beryllium a adjuvant reorganization.

Another needed improvement: automatic activity discovery has been expanded to 40 activities. (Oura lists astir 30 of them here.) This makes the ringing a overmuch amended standalone activity tracker, particularly since enabling location permissions will besides make automatic GPS way maps. It’s elastic for smartwatch users, too. I typically don’t way walks connected my smartwatch, but Oura picked them up easily. Start and extremity times, arsenic good arsenic the way maps, were besides accurate. Conversely, I overmuch for illustration to grounds my runs and spot sessions pinch a smartwatch. For those instances, Oura prioritizes manually tracked aliases imported activities truthful I didn’t person to interest astir copy activity records. 

For tracking, Oura cites an external study saying the caller Smart Sensing algorithm supports a important bump successful accuracy for awesome quality, humor oxygen, and breathing disturbance detection. It besides claims users should spot less occurrences of bosom complaint information gaps some during the time and astatine night. 

Close up of personification wearing Oura Ring while holding a teacup

I picked the brushed metallic finish.

It’s intolerable for a azygous reviewer to definitively trial these claims. The wide statement is that consumer-grade wearable slumber search is broadly meticulous astatine the basics but should beryllium taken pinch a dense atom of salt. All I tin show you is what I knowledgeable successful my ain testing. The Oura Ring 4’s slumber and aftermath times align pinch my ain manual testing logs. I still saw occasional gaps successful nighttime bosom rate, though it’s difficult to opportunity aft only 2 weeks whether location were less aliases greater than before. My bosom complaint metrics, however, were each connected par pinch my smartwatches — which is simply a bully thing. Step counts and calorie estimates tin beryllium inflated compared to smartwatches, but that’s been existent of each smart ringing I’ve tested. What I tin opportunity for Oura, however, is its measurements are accordant and its separator of correction is connected the smaller side. After years of testing wearables, I spot the Oura Ring’s measurements for slumber and betterment search — successful fact, I usage it arsenic a power for evaluating the slumber search features of different devices. 

A large logic for that is this is simply a heavy studied device. For example, a precocious published peer-reviewed study compared the accuracy of its slumber algorithm to the Apple Watch Series 8 and Fitbit Sense 2. Oura’s algorithm was recovered to beryllium 5 percent much meticulous than the Apple Watch and 10 percent much than Fitbit astatine detecting slumber stages. You should return each studies, including this one, pinch a patient dose of skepticism. Not each studies aliases meta reviews are created equal, and 1 of the researchers present is simply a personnel of Oura’s aesculapian advisory board. That said, Oura has besides consistently made an effort to partner pinch outside researchers to validate its results for years. It besides has a grounds of publishing these weeds-y findings, moreover if the results are not the astir exciting. You spot this from large companies for illustration Apple, Samsung, and Google, but it’s overmuch rarer from smaller companies successful niche wearable spaces. 

Close up of Oura Ring 4

It’s the champion smart ringing you tin get correct now, but the title is heating up.

All these things together springiness Oura the separator among smart rings. The app is polished, I ne'er person to deliberation doubly astir syncing, the institution puts immense effort into continually improving accuracy, and it’s had predominant characteristic updates successful the past year. I’ve nary uncertainty Oura’s competitors will commencement catching up here. Samsung and Ultrahuman aren’t excessively acold off. But for now, Oura is the 1 to beat.

The elephant successful the room

The weird point astir the Oura Ring 4 is it’s the champion smart ringing you tin get correct now. I besides deliberation astir group don’t request to upgrade.

The hardware acquisition isn’t drastically different. Oura besides won’t gatekeep immoderate of these caller package updates aliases the app redesign to the newest ring. That’s great! But it intends there’s small inducement for folks pinch a Gen 3 to upgrade unless their artillery is toast, particularly since the starting value has accrued to $350, and location doesn’t look to beryllium a trade-in program. (Current Oura members tin get a 10 percent discount, but that’s it.) Really, the Oura Ring 4 is champion for caller users aliases group who antecedently couldn’t find a size that fresh them.

Oura Ring 2, 3, and 4 connected a ringing holder adjacent to a teacup.

There’s not a full batch of inducement to upgrade, particularly from a Gen 3.

For those folks, it’s a matter of whether you tin tummy the Oura Ring’s azygous biggest con: the $6 monthly / $70 yearly subscription. I don’t spot a constituent successful trying to warrant its subscription. You’ll either deliberation everything Oura’s brought to the array is worthy it, aliases you won’t. If you’re the latter, adjacent enough. My return is that the Oura Ring is worthy it if slumber search and betterment are your apical priorities. Otherwise, a smartwatch is simply a amended investment.

This is and will proceed to beryllium Oura’s top obstacle. It’s sewage a important lead successful this space, but its rivals person made a constituent of eschewing subscriptions. Samsung, successful particular, has ample coffers and absorbing ideas astir really smart rings should interact pinch different gadgets for illustration phones and smartwatches. For instance, the Galaxy Ring has motion controls for the Galaxy phone’s camera and gets longer artillery life erstwhile utilized pinch a Galaxy Watch. If Apple comes retired pinch a smart ring, it’ll beryllium a acheronian time astatine Oura headquarters. Meanwhile, smaller rivals for illustration RingConn tin undercut Oura’s price, moreover if the search is much basic.

Oura is betting that the champion is worthy paying for. It’s a gambit that will astir apt clasp truthful agelong arsenic everyone other is playing catch-up. But inquire anyone who races: it’s difficult to support a lead forever.

Agree to Continue: Oura Ring 4

Every smart instrumentality now requires you to work together to a bid of position and conditions earlier you tin usage it — contracts that nary 1 really reads. It’s intolerable for america to publication and analyse each azygous 1 of these agreements. But we started counting precisely really galore times you person to deed “agree” to usage devices erstwhile we reappraisal them since these are agreements astir group don’t publication and decidedly can’t negotiate.

To usage an Oura Ring, you must brace it pinch an iOS / Android smartphone. That includes the phone’s position of service, privateness policy, and immoderate different permissions you grant. You whitethorn besides beryllium asked to stock permissions for location data, Bluetooth, etc.

By utilizing the Oura Ring 4, you’re agreeing to these mandatory agreements:

There are respective optional agreements for wellness sharing:

  • If you merge pinch Apple Health / Google Fit aliases third-party apps for illustration Strava, you work together to their terms.
  • You tin prime which metrics are shared to aliases publication from Apple Health / Google Fit.
  • You tin work together to import workouts from different apps. If you do, you work together to that app’s position arsenic good arsenic Apple Health / Google Fit.
  • If you take to usage the Oura Ring for integer commencement power pinch Natural Cycles, you will besides person to work together to their terms, conditions, and privateness policies.

Final tally: immoderate your telephone requires, 3 mandatory Oura policies, and astatine slightest 4 optional agreements for wellness sharing.

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