Oura ring gen 4 review: Is it the best smart ring on the market?

Oura ring 4 designBeginning your journey with the Oura ring gen 4 doesn’t differ much from experiences with previous iterations of the wearable. If you know your ring size, you can order directly and choose from a range of colours and finishes. If you don’t, the brand sends you a free sizing kit. The ring should fit snugly so that the sensors can make contact with your skin, but it shouldn’t be too tight. I wondered whether I should opt for a size up, knowing that the gen 3 had pressed into my skin and often felt a little tight and uncomfortable. This isn’t an issue with the gen 4 — there are no raised sensors inside the band, and it sits comfortably against your skin, so there’s no need to size up. The unboxing process is simple with no faff. Inside the box, you’ll find a charging stand, cable, and the ring itself. The brand recommends wearing it on your index finger for best results. Once on, it can start tracking variables like temperature and HRV immediately. The only drawback is that the ring can sometimes get in the way (Emilie Lavinia/The Independent)The only drawback of wearing a smart ring is that it gets in the way. The ring is totally waterproof, so I showered and swam with it with no issues, and it was comfortable to wear all day and night. However, I had to take it off to hang from a bar to practice pull-ups and while lifting weights. Partially because I was worried about scratching it, but also because it interfered with my grip. This meant I wasn’t able to see full data for the workouts I wasn’t wearing it for because it was in my pocket instead of on my finger.It is, however, far slimmer, sleeker, lighter, and more comfortable than the gen 3. The new colours and finishes also look far more luxe and likely to blend in with existing jewelry. I opted for a brushed gold version, and the difference between the shiny, very yellow look of the gen 3 was night and day — a definite improvement. If style is important to you, this will no doubt be your pick of the bunch when it comes to smart rings. In comparison to the older version, the battery life is better. However, it’s not as good as some other wearables. The Whoop 5 and MG, for example, will last for up to two weeks, while the Oura still only manages a few days before it has to be charged. Charging time is fast, though. Oura ring 4 dataOura tracks various biofeedback types using sensors inside the band, and the app displays scores along the top of its homepage for sleep, readiness, activity, stress, heart rate, and your cycle, if applicable. It’s then up to you to work with the data that is being tracked to create a fuller picture of your day. Each day, you’ll need to confirm any activities the app thinks you’re doing, adding tags that identify whether you’ve had coffee, had a hangover, or slept in a dark room, for example. The Oura ring tracks biofeedback types using the sensors inside the band, the app then displays the data (Emilie Lavinia/The Independent)The tags are varied, and you can add your own too. They range from “full moon” and “Braxton Hicks contractions” to “blood donation” and “GLP-1 medication,” so that the app can work on building a comprehensive picture of your health. Once it’s been able to do this, it can start offering suggestions and advice, if you want it to. The ring’s smart sensors inside the band provide stress, sleep, and movement scores based on skin temperature, movement, respiration, blood oxygen, and heart rate variability. As with any other technology of this kind, it can’t tell you how you’re feeling, but it can provide a pretty clear indication of what your body’s health status is at any given time. The Oura ring gen 4 provides more in-depth analyses of your biometric data than its predecessor (Emilie Lavinia/The Independent)It’s worth noting that you can choose to connect with apps like Apple Health and period tracking apps like Natural Cycles. However, Oura says it does not sell or rent your personal data and that data is encrypted and shared with third-party apps like Apple Health under “strict conditions”. You can also opt out of data sharing in settings. Oura ring 4 AI coachI was quite taken with the addition of the AI coach. I maintain that we really don’t need AI to help us with most things and that it’s a powerful tool that’s usually misused. In this case, it seemed like a brilliant addition to the app. Fitness trackers, after all, can give us all the information, but so few of us really know what to do with all this data about our bodies — the AI coach fills that gap. After a few weeks, it was able to offer me useful advice about my habits that could boost my readiness score and help with sleep and recovery. It created a nighttime routine for me, told me about my chronotype, and explained when I should prioritise rest. Of course, I knew I was feeling run down and tired, but it does usually help me to be encouraged to actually rest instead of pushing through fatigue, and to be told when is the best time to push through. We can sometimes be our own worst enemies in feeling as though we have to exercise more or work longer hours for various reasons, and the Oura ring does an excellent job of helping me to stay healthy during the very busy summer months. The ring blends in with my existing jewelry (Emilie Lavinia/The Independent)Of course, like all fitness trackers, it also elicited feelings of guilt after any alcohol or late nights. These wearables want you to stick to your routine, maintain a streak, and not deviate from the plan. But to err is human, and it’s worth remembering that you’re allowed to have a night off from being the picture of health once in a while — especially during festival and wedding season. Oura ring 4 priceThe price might also deter some. No wearable is cheap, and if it is, it probably lacks the standard of technology that would make it worth buying in the first place. Oura offers a vastly comprehensive view of what your body is doing at any given time, and isn’t just for athletes. It’s geared towards people who genuinely want to improve their health, manage conditions, and age well. That much is clear from the diversity of the tags, the in-depth hormone tracking features, and improved features like an eight-day battery life. Starting at $349 with the most expensive version priced at $449, plus a subscription to the app, it’s an investment. Personally, I would rather pay this and know I’m doing the best for my health that I can possibly do than spend the same amount of money on clothes or nights out over the space of a year, but my priorities may be different from yours.



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