When Oura debuted its first ring in 2015, it was a first-of-its-kind wearable, breaking the mould of the standard wrist watch into something more wearable: a ring.
And since then, the Finnish company has spent the ensuing decade slowly refining and improving every Oura Ring that follows.
Beloved by nearly six million users around the world, Oura is now a household name.
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This year, Oura launches the Oura Ring 5 — a ring that promises the smallest and lightest ring yet.
I managed to get my hands on it ahead of its global release and have been wearing the ring for the past month.
As an Oura Ring 4 devotee, I wondered how it would compete with a tracker that I already loved to use for my sleep, my cycle, my workouts and my steps.
Here’s how I got on.
The Oura Ring 5 tech specs
The first thing that has to be said about the Oura Ring 5 ($799) has nothing to do with what it does, but how it looks.
Namely, it’s really stylish.
An impressive 40 per cent smaller in volume than its predecessor, the Oura Ring 5 takes wearables right into the remit of a standard chunky gold ring or wedding band.
When you put it on your finger, you completely forget it’s there, it’s that lightweight and streamlined.
Oura has reduced the width to just over 6mm, the thickness to 2.23mm and weight to 2g for the Ring 5.
This is a difference that makes the ring so much easier to live with.
While the Oura Ring 4 used to sit bulkily on my index finger and occasionally catch on jumpers and jackets, the Oura Ring 5 is so slim and lightweight it sits alongside my other rings and you’d never suspect it’s a wearable.
As in my Oura Ring 4, I opted for the Gold finish and re-sized accordingly, following Oura’s guidance that the sizing has changed somewhat for this revolutionary new technology.
Crafted from lightweight, non-allergenic titanium with a smooth curvature, the ring has been desinged to be worn like jewellery.
But that’s about as far as its similarity with jewellery goes.
With it on your finger, you can track 50+ health metrics with research-grade accuracy for a clearer view of your holistic health and wellbeing.
Looking to keep an eye on your sleep patterns? Oura Ring 5 can do it. Want to track your heart health, women’s health and stress levels? No problems.
Even better, the new ring has improved battery life compared to the Oura Ring 4.
With a rebuilt battery and tuned firmware, you can expect 6-9 days of battery life every time you put it on — so no more running out of charge just before the weekend.
How did I find it?
I started wearing this ring towards the end of June and have recently taken it on a trip to the UK while on holiday.
As previously mentioned, one of the first — and best — things about this ring is its size.
It’s frankly incredible that Oura have managed to pack so many technologically-advanced insights into one tiny piece of jewellery.
But when you get past how small and light it is, it still has all of the features you know and love.
First thing in the morning, the first thing I do is open up the Oura Ring app and check my daily ‘Readiness Score’, which gauges your body’s ability to work out and perform well.
The readiness scores range from Optimal (85—100), to Good (70—84), Fair (60—69) and Pay Attention (0—59).
I am ashamed to say that a ‘Pay attention’ notification has more impact on my day than I would like — something that popped up a couple of times for the first time while travelling across time zones.
As with the Oura Ring 4, I have a few favourite sections of the app and technology.
I love the cycle tracking and find it uncannily accurate.
I also find the sleep tracking the best of any device I’ve ever worn, and the Symptom Radar is the single best predictor of when I’m getting sick that I’ve ever come across (there is nothing that can ruin a day faster than the news of ‘Minor signs of strain’).
One of the things that has really impressed me with the Oura Ring 5 is its improved battery life.
While the 4 promised between 5 and 8 days of battery life, you can really feel the difference with the 5’s 6-9 days of battery life.
I find my other wearable tech often needs charging almost every other day, so this is a real standout feature that means you’re never not tracking your data.
Those who like clear data and insights that don’t overwhelm will love the Oura Ring’s home screen on the app, which shows you everything from your readiness to your sleep score, recent activity and your resilience.
You can delve deeper into your health in the ‘Vitals’ section of the app, which will tell you more about your body clock and whether you’re sleeping right for your chronotype.
As a devotee of eight hours sleep and early nights, I also love the Sleep Regularity feature and Sleep Debt insight — which both go to show just how important sleep is for overall readiness and health.
I also find the Cardiovascular Age section interesting, as it gives an insight into how well you really are and how you could be improving.
Any cons?
As with the Oura Ring 4, there are very few cons to the Oura Ring 5.
The only real standout one I can think of is that Oura still operates off a subscription model, meaning you’ll have to fork out $9.99 a month or $109.99 a year in order to enjoy its top features.
Because I’m training for a marathon, I still wear my Garmin Forerunner when I want to track my runs, kilometre reps and glean all of that data.
It would be fantastic to get an Oura Ring with that level of tracking in the future.
The verdict
As before, I am still a huge fan of Oura and think the Oura Ring 5 is well worth the upgrade if you’re a fan of the business.
Its size alone is reason to add one to your arsenal, and Oura promise there are a whole raft of new features still to be rolled out in the app over the course of this year.
Yes, it’s expensive at $799, but it’s a piece of stylish wearable tech that really integrates into your life.
Oura have really taken the world of wearables a step further by creating something that’s small enough that you don’t even notice it, but powerful enough to log all of your vitals.
For more information and to shop the Oura Ring 5 for yourself, head here now.
