Is The Oura Ring Worth It? A WH Editor's Honest Review Of The Popular Health Tracker
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If I had a nickel for every time someone commented on my Oura ring, I’d have, well, a lot of nickels. Half are inquiries about whether the health data capabilities live up to the buzz—while the others are expressions of shock that the pretty little accessory is a tracker at all.
The most recent make (the Gen 3) of the lightweight wearable monitors your heart rate, body temp, metabolic burn, and sleep 24/7. Based on all this data, you receive (via an app) daily “readiness,” activity, and sleep scores. The end game? To paint a picture of your daily workout intensity, your sleep situation (hopefully it’s sound, to help your muscles rejuvenate!), and more. The Oura’s ultimate goal is to assist you in creating the ideal harmony of activity and rest in your life.
This gadget does allll of this in a discreet, efficient way with the no-screen design—which actually helped me be less fixated on data so I could be more focused on the activity at hand. Here's my honest rundown of what I liked (and didn't!) about the gadget—and why you just might want to add it to your fitness arsenal too.
Design And Overview
As mentioned, the Oura Ring Gen 3 is a health wearable device. It's super lightweight; I barely notice I'm wearing mine and love the sleek, minimalist design. (No wearable eyesores here!) It’s also comfortable and scratch-resistant, even when worn overnight, in the shower, or while gripping dumbbells. After being an Oura devotee for months, I only notice minimal wear and tear (likely from strength training) on the bottom, non-visible part of the ring.
Unlike other watch-style trackers, the ring collects data from the finger instead of the wrist. The brand’s thinking is that your fingers, being positioned close to arteries, can deliver an accurate read. The Oura Ring tracks the following with this info:
Heart rate
Body temperature
Activity
Sleep
Readiness
So what does all this data mean for you as an Oura user? Let's say I’ve been on the go to the nth degree. I get a message like this: “Time to ease up. Your resting heart rate shows that you might not be fully recovered. To recharge your energy levels, take it easy today.” Then I know to adjust my sweat and self-care plans to bake in more rest.
Sleep Tracking
The ring utilizes changes in your heart rate and body temp to detect when you dose off and wake up during the night. It breaks down all the contributing factors to your sleep, providing the following info:
Total sleep (hours, minutes)
Total time in bed
Sleep efficiency (a percentage of how much time you spend awake versus asleep in bed)
Resting heart rate
Restfulness (this tracks your wake-ups, movement, getting up from bed)
How much time spent in different sleep stages (REM, light, deep)
Latency (how long it takes you to fall asleep)
Timing (when you fall asleep or take a nap)
As someone with insomnia issues, I honestly wasn't sure if having access to more sleep data with the Oura Ring would be a negative for me. I didn't want to fixate on information if it would cause me to spiral about my sleep quality and duration. But the total opposite happened: I now find myself excited to wake up and check out my sleep score, and I have even noticed that my sleep generally isn't as horrible as I make it out to be in my mind.
Overall, the sleep-tracking capabilities have helped me stop catastrophizing a poor night o sleep—and these features are by far the biggest draw of the Oura Ring for me.
Activity Tracking
Here's the area where I think the Oura Ring is lacking. The ring does track your daily calorie burn steps, walking distance, and whether you move every hour (you can find the info in the app). But it doesn't have the ability to, say, track your pace on your runs or track a specific type of workout (HIIT versus Pilates, for instance).
Overall, the activity tracking is pretty basic. That's fine for me, as I use the Oura Ring primarily for the sleep data and also wear a smartwatch that I use for more in-depth fitness tracking purposes. If you're solely looking for an activity tracker, you may want to explore other wearable options.
Readiness
I love tuning into my readiness score, which looks at factors like sleep and your recovery index (how long it takes your resting heart rate to stabilize during the night) to give you a "score" to help you decide whether to gear up physically and mentally or take it easier.
As someone who can get caught up in a go, go, go mentality, the Oura Ring has helped bring my attention to my recovery and workout balance. I now use the score to create a better mix of low-impact movement and higher-intensity days.
Price
While the Oura Ring cost is comparable to other wearables, it is definitely an investment. For $300, you can get the silver or black finish. Premium colors (a matte black and gold) cost $400, and Oura recently launched a ring in collaboration with Gucci that retails for $950.
There’s a separate $6 monthly membership fee for app features (daily workout advice, audio meditations, and more). You can also order a free sizing kit to ensure a perfect fit.
Battery Life
Another one of my favorite features! The Oura Ring battery lasts generally a week—far longer than the battery life of any smartwatches that I've tested. The app also sends you a push notification to your phone when you need to charge it again. It charges quickly—I can throw it on the charger while I'm in the shower, and it's good to go by the time I'm done.
Bottom line: The Oura Ring Gen 3 is worth the investment for anyone looking for better insight into sleep and recovery in particular, and I would recommend the gadget to a friend.
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