Oura Ring ($249-$549 depending on color and model)
Fitness trackers are not new, but the Oura makes it feel new with a ring design rather than a wrist wearable like the Apple Watch, Fitbit, and Whoop. While I own and love my Apple Watch, I wanted to have a more comfortable fitness tracker to wear at night. I have now had the Oura Ring for exactly two months and I’ve got a lot of thoughts.
My first impression of the ring was not great. The ring feels like a plastic child’s play ring and while I know that makes it lightweight, it does make it look cheap when wearing other rings. I also hated the notch on the top. They now make a completely circular ring, but unfortunately it launched TWO days after my return window closed 😭 After two months of wear I do have some small scratches and my finger does have a pretty significant crease from where the ring sits all day, similar to how the Apple Watch leaves a circle impression on the top of the wrist.
Sleep improvement was my main desire and while I enjoy the information it gives every night I can’t say my sleep has improved. I assumed the app would recommend things to do to improve my sleep, but all it really says is what my estimated bedtime should be every night. The app allows you to add tags to your day like “medication, CBD, hot shower, etc” so I assumed the app would be able to tell me “this “tag” may have helped you sleep better/worse,” but unfortunately it’s not that personalized.
For the activity tracking, I like that it can give a more accurate look at your HR and give you your BMR and total calories burned throughout the day. It also tells you how many calories it believes you can burn each day based on your readiness score. Some days it has recommended 350 and on others it has been as high as 650. One place it needs work on is steps. The finger placement means it counts any small finger movement as a step, for instance when using the computer for about an hour it said I walked over a mile 😂 When it comes to step tracking I still rely on my Apple Watch.
For workouts, the ring right now can only record your HR continuously for cardio workouts. I’m not sure why it’s so limited, but I’m hoping they add to the capability soon so I can wear my Apple Watch less.
Oura is marketed as a personal health coach and while the information it gives is thorough I can’t say it has helped me become less stressed (the goal I chose during set up). The daily prompts it gives me are always the same: “You rested well last night. Try and do something fun and relaxing today.” That’s great, but can you give me an actual suggestion? Im shocked something this expensive and with so much science backing it, hasn’t yet made a platform that can be more personalized to each individual based on their tags, activity, sleep, and readiness scores.
Overall, I still like the ring and the data it gives, but if you love your Apple Watch you don’t need to run out and get the Oura just yet.
Original Review: October 26, 2022