The Oura Ring is the top smart ring available, but there are other alternatives to consider.
Read our full review of the Oura Ring 4.
If you seek a holistic view of your health that encompasses daily metrics alongside long-term analysis of stress resilience, chronotype, and cardiovascular health, the Oura Ring 4 provides it all. It features the slimmest, most comfortable fit of all the rings we tested, allowing you to forget you’re wearing it day and night. Its companion app is well-designed and organized for easy navigation, providing quick access to your data. AI algorithms synthesize this information into quick yet thorough summaries, ensuring you know your readiness for the day. Although it is the most expensive ring we tested and requires a subscription fee of $5.99 monthly or $69.99 annually, it represents a long-term investment in your health.
Oura has established itself as a leader in the smart ring market. Despite the entry of other competitors since its 2015 Kickstarter campaign, Oura remains the most popular choice, and rightfully so. The Oura Ring 4, the latest iteration from the brand, is the most comfortable, accurate, and well-designed smart ring we’ve evaluated. The ring incorporates a red and infrared LED, a green and infrared LED, a movement-tracking accelerometer, and digital temperature monitors, all working together to calculate your biometrics, which are displayed in the app. With its slim fit and rounded edges, it resembles a classic band that integrates seamlessly into any wardrobe while remaining comfortable without pinching your finger. However, Oura does charge extra for certain finishes (you’ll pay $150 more for gold compared to silver). After several weeks of use, my Oura ring has accumulated a few scratches from daily wear.
All sensors provide accurate data. I wore it alongside an Apple Watch, and its step count and heart rate were consistently aligned. The ring connects easily with the Apple Watch, but tracking activity directly in the Oura app requires pulling out your smartphone; nonetheless, when paired with the Apple Watch, I could start my workout on the watch, and it would automatically sync with the Oura app. If I ever forgot to begin a workout, Oura would suggest adding activity time to my log. While Oura excels at providing a quick snapshot of your data in the ‘Today’ tab of the app—such as a readiness score calculated from sleep, heart rate, and the previous day’s activities—it is also focused on long-term health data. Under the ‘My Health’ tab, it computes stress resilience, cardiovascular age and capacity, and chronotype for deeper insights into your overall health.
In addition to compatibility with Apple Watch, it also works with other applications, such as Clue and Natural Cycles, to enhance insights into cycle tracking. The main drawback of the Oura Ring is its required subscription. While you can use it without one, this will limit the data accessible to you. Without a subscription, you will only see your Readiness score, sleep score, and activity data, without access to the additional health insights.
