Perhaps it’s superficial, but I need my wearable tech to actually look nice. You won’t catch me wearing Apple Vision Pro goggles at my wedding.
I’ve worn an Apple Watch on and off for the past decade to track my steps and workouts, but it always comes off when I’m dressing up. I often thought, would there ever be a wearable that can truly go with anything, no matter the dress code?
Oura has been answering that call for a few years now with its smart rings. I’ve tried two variations of the Oura Ring 4, and they’ve been good. I had one complaint that kept me from wearing them after I stopped testing them — they’re too big.
Well, the Oura Ring 5 is here and finally answering to the chunky accusations. It’s 40 percent smaller than previous Oura rings, and wow, it really makes a difference. The Oura Ring 5 is the health tracker and smart ring I’ve been waiting for.
The Oura Ring 5 at a glance
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
The Oura Ring 5 is the brand’s thinnest ring yet. The thin profile makes it incredibly comfortable for 24-hour wear, and even though the battery was redesigned to fit the smaller package, it still delivers seven days of power.
What does the Oura Ring track?
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The data provided by the Oura Ring 5 isn’t actually exclusive to that model. The Oura Ring 4 also tracks all of this data, too, but it’s still worth mentioning just how Oura Rings work and what data is collected.
Smart Sensing technology was launched in the Oura Ring 4 and continues in the 5. The technology provides better accuracy as the LED sensors account for fidgeting, tattoos, and skin tone.
Oura monitors and collects data through one of the digital arteries in your index, middle, or ring finger, which the company claims is a stronger single than wrist monitoring. It detects body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, breathing disturbances, and blood oxygen levels. All of these factors contribute to your Readiness Score, informing what type of activity you should take on. It tracks sleep and menstrual cycles, too.
Additionally, Oura launched its Health Radar, which focuses on both short-term patterns, such as symptom radar, and long-term patterns, such as nighttime breathing and blood pressure.
The thinner design makes it supremely comfortable
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
The headline on the Oura Ring 5 is that it’s 40 percent smaller than previous rings. “Built to blend in,” says the marketing copy. But frankly, I’ll be the judge of that because, having used the Oura Ring 4, I often found it too thick and uncomfortable to wear.
Well, that 40 percent makes all the difference. It measures 2.28mm thick and 6.09mm wide. For me, that’s about as thick as most of my regular rings and a little bit wider than a classic wedding band. The thinner dimensions also meant Oura had to redesign the battery. That didn’t mean sacrificing power, though, as the Oura Ring 5 has an impressive one-week battery life. When I was traveling for five days, I didn’t have to think twice about bringing a charger (although Oura has launched a new travel charging case alongside the Oura Ring 5).
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
Since putting on the Oura Ring 5, I often forget I’m even wearing it. It’s as comfortable as any other piece of daily jewelry, like my engagement ring and wedding band. When you look at it from the side, it’s so thin you can barely tell it’s hiding tech and not just a regular gold band.
With other smart rings, I’ve struggled with tightness and discomfort, especially if my fingers swell in heat or at night. Now that I’ve worn my Oura Ring 5 for a month, I haven’t had any discomfort or issues with swelling.
While I suspect Oura will keep going smaller and smaller, they’ve already reached something exceptional.
It’s more scratch-resistant and actually looks like jewelry
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
Between generations, Oura must have toughened up the exterior of its rings because mine is nearly scratch-free.
While Oura Rings come in gold and silver finishes, they aren’t actually real gold or silver; they’re titanium finishes. The Oura Ring 5 comes in a new shade of gold that looks lighter, brassier, and like real gold.
While testing the Oura Ring 4, I quickly noticed the exterior getting scratched up. I use my hands a lot, whether that be testing products, cleaning around the house, or weightlifting at the gym, and that wear showed up quickly on the Oura Ring 4, cheapening the look of it.
This hasn’t been an issue with the Oura Ring 5, which seems particularly durable despite heavy use. I’ve even used it while weight training, and the exterior still has no major scratches. However, no matter what type of ring you’re wearing, activities like weightlifting can cause scratches. And actually, you may want to avoid wearing rings at all during weight training, as they can cause a degloving injury.
Now that I’m a month into wearing the ring, there are some minor signs of wear, but you’d really need to look close.
No need to live track activity when it’s so good at detecting it
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As an Apple Watch user, I’m so used to tapping my watch to start a workout. I could do that within the Oura app, but after a few days, I stopped. Partially because I didn’t like having to pull out my phone, but mostly because Oura is so good at detecting activity.
After I spend 45 minutes at the gym, either on the elliptical or doing strength training, I’ll open the Oura app and see a box asking whether I was doing one of those activities during that time frame. I’d never used the Oura Ring while swimming before, but when I went to the beach, after 30 minutes of swimming, I opened the app, and it had detected my swim.
For runners (or walkers), these activity suggestions also include maps of your route. So after my daily walk with my dog, a map of our path also appears with the activity.
A well-designed app makes sense of your data for you
I’m in and out of a lot of health tracking apps, but Oura’s is my favorite. It’s the least finicky. Data always loads quickly, updating sleep and activity data, then quickly adjusting its prompts for the day. Where to find your data is straightforward, separated into three tabs: Today, Vitals, and My Health.
Today provides an overview of your sleep and activity, sending supportive messages to help you embrace your readiness. Vitals is exactly that, a snapshot of your vital signs, very plainly laid out. My Health focuses on the long-term health patterns and how all of your data cumulates into one picture.
Yes, it still requires a monthly subscription. But here’s why it’s worth it.
Most people’s biggest hang-up with the Oura Ring is its subscription cost. The Oura Ring 5 starts at $399, and on top of that, you must pay $5.99 per month or $69.99 per year. Let’s be honest, that’s an expense many of us don’t want, especially on top of an already expensive device.
Oura has said that the membership fee allows the company to operate without a system that sells your data. In a blog post, Oura also said, “Oura Member data is not for sale, and we will never sell or rent your health data, including to the government. Oura will also oppose any request to provide legal authorities with access to user data if it will be used for individual surveillance or prosecution purposes in violation of our users’ privacy.”
While this is a nice comfort, it should be noted that, in Oura’s privacy policy, the company states: “Oura is generally not a Covered Entity under HIPAA for our direct-to-consumer Services.”
Is the Oura Ring 5 worth it?
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
Yes, the Oura Ring 5 is worth it. If you’ve long been concerned about the size or look of a smart ring, Oura has made a ring that really looks like a piece of jewelry. The new design is more comfortable, without sacrificing battery life or power.
