Oura Ring 4 review: still on top — for now

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

Oura has been the apical canine successful astute 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 oregon launching a 2nd version. This is the fourth Oura Ring. Oura has spent years collaborating with researchers and conducting its ain studies. It’s the astir readily disposable astatine third-party retail 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 effect to accrued competition, Oura has launched fractional a twelve caller features successful the past 12 months. And now, Oura is closing retired 2024 with respective hardware and bundle refinements.

The Oura Ring 4 extends the company’s pb implicit the competition. The question is however agelong Oura tin support it erstwhile its rivals outgo 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 with domed sensor bumps. The fourth-gen ringing is made wholly of titanium, and the wrong is flatter, with recessed sensors. It mightiness not look similar it, but this is awesome engineering for a instrumentality truthful small. Compared to titanium, the resin successful older rings diffused airy from the sensors successful a little precise way. Since rings people rotate during the day, it’s besides casual for those sensors to determination retired of due alignment. That’s partially wherefore the erstwhile Oura Rings had raised sensor bumps — they ensured bully tegument interaction to mitigate those factors. 

This clip around, Oura’s introduced a caller Smart Sensing algorithm that increases the fig of sensor awesome pathways from 8 to 18. The sensors are placed asymmetrically to let for a assortment of distances and measurements. Basically, it present matters little if your ringing rotates and amended accounts for the information that everyone’s fingers are different. This besides means 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 means 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 lone 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 instrumentality the ringing off. It was a alleviation to not person that occupation this clip around. 

Design-wise, this all-titanium ringing is bully but not dramatically antithetic from different premium options similar the Samsung Galaxy Ring oregon the Ultrahuman Ring Air. You’ll announcement much of a quality if you’re coming from older Oura models with level oregon angled tops. All of the fourth-gen rings are afloat round. This isn’t caller — Oura introduced afloat circular 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 present 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 oregon 13, you whitethorn find 1 of the newer sizes fits you better.

Another improvement: artillery life. You tin present get up to 7 oregon 8 days connected a azygous charge. I’ve been capable to get astir 6.5 days, adjacent with the power-guzzling humor oxygen sensing diagnostic enabled. With a Gen 3, I got 3 to 4 days. Again, your mileage volition alteration depending connected ringing size. (Larger size, larger battery.) This is simply a important bump, though I did get longer with the first-gen RingConn and from the Samsung Galaxy Ring erstwhile it was paired with 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 privation Oura had opted for a much convenient charging lawsuit similar 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 signifier is much comfortable, and its charging lawsuit much convenient. The Evie Ring’s open-gap plan is besides fetching and clever for those of america prone to bloating. But wherever Oura trounces everyone other is bundle and its committedness to science, some successful conducting and communicating it.

Let’s commencement with 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. 

The Today tab contains shortcuts to circumstantial metrics, a timeline of each your regular activity, and cards that item antithetic 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 instrumentality a blistery 2nd to set to, but overall, I’ve recovered this to beryllium a adjuvant reorganization.

Another needed improvement: automatic enactment detection has been expanded to 40 activities. (Oura lists astir 30 of them here.) This makes the ringing a overmuch amended standalone enactment tracker, particularly since enabling determination permissions volition besides make automatic GPS way maps. It’s flexible 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 similar to grounds my runs and spot sessions with a smartwatch. For those instances, Oura prioritizes manually tracked oregon imported activities truthful I didn’t person to interest astir duplicate enactment 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. 

It’s intolerable for a azygous reviewer to definitively trial these claims. The wide statement is that consumer-grade wearable slumber tracking is broadly close astatine the basics but should beryllium taken with a dense atom of salt. All I tin archer you is what I experienced successful my ain testing. The Oura Ring 4’s slumber and aftermath times align with my ain manual investigating logs. I inactive saw occasional gaps successful nighttime bosom rate, though it’s hard to accidental aft lone 2 weeks whether determination were less oregon greater than before. My bosom complaint metrics, however, were each connected par with 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 astute ringing I’ve tested. What I tin accidental for Oura, however, is its measurements are accordant and its borderline of mistake is connected the smaller side. After years of investigating wearables, I spot the Oura Ring’s measurements for slumber and betterment tracking — successful fact, I usage it arsenic a power for evaluating the slumber tracking features of different devices. 

A large crushed 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 close than the Apple Watch and 10 percent much than Fitbit astatine detecting slumber stages. You should instrumentality each studies, including this one, with a steadfast dose of skepticism. Not each studies oregon meta reviews are created equal, and 1 of the researchers present is simply a subordinate of Oura’s aesculapian advisory board. That said, Oura has besides consistently made an effort to spouse with outside researchers to validate its results for years. It besides has a grounds of publishing these weeds-y findings, adjacent if the results are not the astir exciting. You spot this from large companies similar Apple, Samsung, and Google, but it’s overmuch rarer from smaller companies successful niche wearable spaces. 

All these things unneurotic springiness Oura the borderline among astute 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 diagnostic updates successful the past year. I’ve nary uncertainty Oura’s competitors volition 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 happening astir the Oura Ring 4 is it’s the champion astute ringing you tin get close now. I besides deliberation astir radical don’t request to upgrade.

The hardware acquisition isn’t drastically different. Oura besides won’t gatekeep immoderate of these caller bundle updates oregon the app redesign to the newest ring. That’s great! But it means there’s small inducement for folks with a Gen 3 to upgrade unless their artillery is toast, particularly since the starting terms has accrued to $350, and determination 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 oregon radical who antecedently couldn’t find a size that acceptable them.

For those folks, it’s a substance 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, oregon you won’t. If you’re the latter, just enough. My instrumentality is that the Oura Ring is worthy it if slumber tracking and betterment are your apical priorities. Otherwise, a smartwatch is simply a amended investment.

This is and volition proceed to beryllium Oura’s top obstacle. It’s got a important pb successful this space, but its rivals person made a constituent of eschewing subscriptions. Samsung, successful particular, has ample coffers and absorbing ideas astir however astute rings should interact with different gadgets similar phones and smartwatches. For instance, the Galaxy Ring has motion controls for the Galaxy phone’s camera and gets longer artillery beingness erstwhile utilized with a Galaxy Watch. If Apple comes retired with a astute ring, it’ll beryllium a acheronian time astatine Oura headquarters. Meanwhile, smaller rivals similar RingConn tin undercut Oura’s price, adjacent if the tracking is much basic.

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