Comprehensive Review: Is the Oura Ring Really Worth It?

Why Is Oura Ring Gaining Popularity?

We believe that the Oura Ring is setting the standard for modern wearables in some way. 

Competing smart rings, from the Ultrahuman Ring Air to the Circular Ring Slim, haven’t come close. 

Part of what makes Oura such an easy recommendation is its simplicity. The app is fast, slick, and makes data easy to understand, while the charging plinth makes sure the battery time never becomes an issue.

Our software development company has been recently working on developing an app for displaying data from lung ventilators. The main challenge our customer faced was building the application that would simplify the way medical professionals interpret and utilize complex ventilator data in real-time. 

Healthcare apps display and interpret a lot of very sophisticated data but for users UX it must be understandable and simple. It’s one of the biggest challenges and mistakes healthcare companies make. And here Oura stands out.

Oura also keeps rolling out new app features, making the subscription fee feel worth it. Compared to the clunky, less intuitive apps that come with other smart rings, Oura’s is one of the best, right up there with Apple’s Ring system for motivation and Fitbit’s clean, user-friendly layout. 

But how long will Oura stay on top? With the Galaxy Ring entering the game, competition is heating up. 

For now, though, it’s still the smart ring to beat.

The Technology Behind the Oura Ring

The Oura Ring may look simple, but under its exterior is a real powerhouse of advanced technology designed to track health.

Sensors and Hardware Technology

The ring is packed with sensors to continuously measure heart rate, body temperature, and movement without bulky screens or straps. Despite its compact size, it delivers lab-grade accuracy, making it one of the most advanced wearable devices on the market.

How Does Oura Ring Measure Sleep and Activity?

Using a combination of motion sensors and heart rate variability tracking, the Oura Ring detects not just when you sleep, but how well you sleep. It captures key sleep stages: light, deep, and REM, giving you a full picture of your nightly recovery. During the day, it tracks movement, step count, and exertion levels to help balance activity and rest.

The Role of Infrared Light in Sleep Tracking

Unlike traditional wearables that rely on green LED lights, Oura uses infrared sensors to measure heart rate directly from the tiny arteries in your finger. This method provides more consistent readings, even during sleep, without the distraction of flashing lights.

Advanced Algorithms: How Oura Interprets Data

With the help of machine learning and personalized baselines, the ring’s algorithms analyze trends over time, detecting patterns in sleep, stress level, blood oxygen levels, and recovery. This allows the app to deliver meaningful insights rather than just numbers, helping users make informed decisions about their health.

Main Technologies in Oura Ring

What does Oura ring track? And how does Oura Ring work?

Sleep Tracking Technology

Each morning, the app provides a Sleep Score from 0 to 100, along with easy-to-read graphs that break down sleep stages and disturbances. It tracks how habits like supplements, meal timing, and relaxation techniques affect sleep, giving clear, actionable insights. Plus, a quick power nap can boost your Sleep Score, making it easy to see how small adjustments can improve rest.

Activity and Fitness Tracking Technology

Oura ring features accurate step counting which, by the way, captures a higher step count than smartphone health apps. This data is used to adjust daily activity goals based on daily movement trends. The ring also offers calorie tracking for those interested in monitoring energy expenditure.

As a fitness tracker, Oura automatically detects activity and suggests a category for tagging. While manual adjustments may be needed for accuracy, the system provides insights into movement patterns. 

However, the ring is less effective at estimating calorie burn for non-cardio activities like weightlifting, and it is recommended to remove it when lifting heavy weights to prevent damage.

Data Security and Privacy Technology

Oura takes data security and privacy seriously, with robust encryption and secure cloud storage to protect personal information. User data, including biometric and sleep details, is kept private and can be managed directly within the app so users have full control over what’s shared and stored. 

Oura follows strict compliance with privacy laws to ensure all data is handled securely and transparently which is a must for healthcare software.

Battery Technology and Power Management

The Oura Ring uses advanced battery technology, designed for long-lasting performance. With efficient power management, the ring offers up to seven days of battery life on a single charge. Quick charging ensures minimal downtime, and the battery status is easy to monitor in the app, so users can stay on top of their ring’s charge with ease.

Technology Behind Cycle and Pregnancy Tracking

To understand the body's natural rhythms, users require more than just a calendar. 

Oura uses advanced sensor technology to track subtle biometric changes like body temperature, heart rate, and variability to provide accurate insights into menstrual cycles and pregnancy.

How Oura Tracks Menstrual Cycles

Oura’s Cycle Insights feature analyzes bio metrics like rise in body temperature, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability to detect shifts between the follicular and luteal phases so it can provide a more accurate five-day period forecast. 

Over time, the ring refines its predictions, offering deeper insights into cycle patterns and overall health. Through a partnership with Natural Cycles, a hormone-free fertility tracking app, Oura Ring data can also be used for pregnancy planning or prevention.

Pregnancy Insights: What Data Oura Provides

In March 2024, Oura Ring launched a Pregnancy Insights feature.

This new addition helps track pregnancy in a way that goes beyond the usual “lemon or avocado” comparisons. Users can now monitor their gestational age, get weekly updates on what to expect each week, and track changes like increased body temp or a higher heart rate during different stages of pregnancy. 

The longer you use the Oura Ring, the better you’ll be at noticing these shifts in your stats, even before a test confirms your pregnancy. Pretty wild, right?

Pros and Cons of the Oura Ring

Like with any existing technology, there are Oura ring pros and cons.

We’ve tried to analyze users’ feedback to highlight the main drawbacks and benefits of Oura ring.

The Pros: What Users Love About It

1. Stylish Design: Available in several colors, it’s a sleek, elegant piece of jewelry that complements any outfit, from casual to formal.
2. User-friendly App: The app’s charts are easy to understand, with clear explanations of unfamiliar terms like HRV balance and training volume, offering in-depth insights into data.
3. Helpful Trends: The app tracks trends over time, such as daily stress and activity, helping to spot patterns and improve overall health management.
4. Personalized Bed Time Reminders and Workout Suggestions: The app offers tailored advice, like optimal wake-up time and ideal bedtime windows and workout timing, helping to find longer periods of time for rest and reduce guilt about missed workouts.
5. Generous Battery Life: One of the benefits of Oura Ring is that it lasts up to a week on a single charge, significantly outlasting the Apple Watch and charging quickly when needed.
6. Reduces Smartphone Dependency: By not sending constant notifications, the Oura Ring helps users to reduce screen time hours.
7. Gentle Reminders: The app provides calm, compassionate suggestions for rest and wellness without feeling intrusive, helping manage stress and prioritize self-care.
8. Rest Mode: A thoughtful feature for recovery, the rest mode disables activity goals, allowing tracking without the pressure of achieving activity score when rest is needed.

The Cons: Limitations and Things to Consider

1. Workout Tracking Inconsistencies: Subway rides are often recorded as "moderate intensity" walking, and runs sometimes show incorrect routes, like running through buildings.
2. Limited Workout Edits: Once a workout is confirmed or deleted in the app, no further changes can be made to the entry.
3. No GPS Tracking: If you take the ring off and lose it, there’s no way to track its location, unlike devices with "Find My" features.
4. High Cost: The Oura ring starts at $299, with up to $549 for some models, plus a $6/month subscription fee to access full data and analysis.
5. Limited Functionality Without Subscription: Without the subscription, you only get basic scores (readiness, sleep, activity) and no in-depth analysis ( heart rate, detailed sleep tracking details).

Oura Ring Gen 4 vs Gen 3: Technological Improvements

The Oura Ring Gen 4 was presented in October 2024 and offers some significant improvements over its predecessor, the Generation 3 Ring.

First of all, it now comes in more sizes, ranging from 4 to 12, so it fits a wider range of fingers and is available in six stylish colors and a new black finish that’s been updated with a glossy PVD coating. This coating enhances durability, so now it’s even more resistant to scratches and wear.

Beyond the look and feel, the Gen 4 brings a major leap in tech. It’s equipped with Smart Sensing technology, which means it has more sensors that are better at finding the best signal path. This translates into more accurate data, especially for things like sleep tracking and activity monitoring. The enhanced sensors also improve class battery life, so you can go longer between charges.

Oura Ring Integration with Other Devices and Apps

The Oura Ring integrates with popular health platforms like Apple Health, Google Fit, and Natural Cycles so users can sync their data across devices. Its open API also allows developers to connect it with other wellness apps for deeper insights.

Using Technologies like Oura Ring for Other Healthcare Solutions

Beyond personal health tracking, Oura’s technology is being explored for broader healthcare applications, from early illness detection to stress monitoring in clinical settings. 

Its precision and ease of use make it a valuable tool for researchers, medical professionals, and wellness-focused organizations.

Final Verdict: Is the Oura Ring Worth It from a Tech Perspective?

Finally, is Oura ring worth it? For, definitely, yes. While new competitors are entering the smart ring space, Oura remains the leader in accuracy, usability, and overall health insights.

We hope you find our Oura ring review useful and informative.