My Honest Review of the Oura Ring

I bought my Oura ring a little over a year ago. Back then, it felt like no one knew about them. Fast forward a year, and now it seems like everyone has one! But if you haven’t purchased one yet and you’re considering it, here’s my honest review after wearing it religiously for over a year.

What is the Oura Ring?

I assume you know the answer to this question since you’re researching them, but in case you don’t, the Oura ring is a smart ring designed to track sleep, physical activity, and other health metrics.

Unlike traditional fitness trackers, the Oura ring is small, lightweight, and designed to be worn 24/7 without discomfort. It uses advanced sensors to monitor body temperature, heart rate, and movement, providing detailed insights into your health and well-being.

As you can see in the picture, it is super sleek-looking and pairs nicely with all different kinds of jewelry. I have the 4th generation brushed silver ring, but there are a ton of different colors including gold, black, rose gold, and a dark gray.

What Information Does the Ring Monitor?

The Oura ring tracks a TON of health metrics, including:

• Sleep: It tracks your sleep stages, duration, and overall quality. I’ve found this aspect of tracking to be super accurate. It’s especially good at catching middle-of-the-night wake-ups and figuring out how much deep sleep you actually got.
• Physical activity: One downside to the ring is that it isn’t a super comprehensive activity tracker. For me, that’s not a deal breaker. I use my Apple watch to more accurately track workouts and then I sync all of my data with the ring. It does a great job of tracking steps and daily activity goals, it’s just not the most accurate for tracking calories burned in specific types of workouts.
• Heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV): The Oura ring continuously tracks your heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV), which are key indicators of stress and recovery. These numbers don’t mean much to me on their own, but when I look at my health reports, I can see how they are used to calculate my daily scores, which seem to be really accurate.
• Body temperature: This one is a game-changer! If you track your body temperature to predict ovulation and your menstrual cycle, you will 100% want to get the Oura ring. The ring has predicted my period day accurately for the entire year that I’ve worn it and I’ve never had regular periods so that’s super impressive to me! It has also been able to detect illness before I even had physical symptoms just based on my temperature trends.
• Readiness: This is my favorite part of the ring. This score is calculated based on biometric data and basically tells you how “ready” you are to tackle the day. I know when this score is low that I need to take it easy and when it’s high, I aim to crush my workouts and knock out lots of to-do list items.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of my scores on a day I felt terrible (I believe I had COVID and didn’t know it yet!) versus a day where I felt great.

Pros and Cons of the Oura Ring

PRos

• Comfortable enough to wear 24/7
• High level of accuracy
• Long battery life (4-7 days per charge)
• No distracting screen or notifications
• Water-resistant
• Comes with a free sizing kit to ensure the fit is right

cons

• Activity tracking is not super comprehensive
• Requires a monthly subscription ($5.99/month)
• Relatively expensive

Who Should Buy the Oura Ring?

If you’re looking for something to simply track your workouts, this probably isn’t the best option for you. The Oura ring is ideal for individuals who prioritize sleep and recovery tracking over traditional workout tracking. It’s a great option for those who prefer a minimalist wearable gadget without the bulk of a smartwatch. Truly, I think everyone could benefit from having this much health information at their fingertips. So, if detailed health metrics, sleek design, and long battery life are your priorities, the Oura ring is definitely worth considering!

Would you invest in an Oura ring? Let me know your thoughts!