Oura Ring Review
Breaking down my thoughts on the Oura Ring, its appearance as well as its fit, and its sleep, period, and activity tracking!
I just received my 3 year anniversary notification in the Oura App and during these last few years, I have had SO many questions about how I like it and what I use it for. In case you don’t know, the Oura Smart Ring is a wearable sleep and fitness tracker. I do have and wear an apple watch daily, but due the limited battery life I found myself trying other devices like the Whoop band, for example., which was too bulky and I found myself taking it off because it didn’t look good with what I was wearing or my arm party for the day – only to disrupt the data which then defeated the purpose. When I saw the Oura Ring, I loved the design and hoped that it would be a good replacement. Let’s dive in:
Appearance and Fit:
I have the silver “heritage” style and I wear it on my pointer finger for best accuracy. It’s a little bulky, but for a fitness ring, I think it looks pretty nice. It can scratch a little bit when working out, so you can wear a protective cover around it but I usually just don’t do anything. The scratches on the silver style aren’t really noticeable unless you look carefully. I wish it was a little slimmer, but for a wearable fitness device, it’s probably the best looking thing on the market. And since I am a jewelry lover, I stack rings above it and on my other fingers so it doesn’t stand out at all.
Sleep & Period Tracking:
The main reason that I wanted to try the Oura ring was for its sleep and cycle tracking. This data is SUPER interesting and helpful for me and I think it is very accurate. Every morning, I check the app and I have a “Readiness Score” for the day. This is based off of sleep data, resting HR, HRV, and other factors but it basically tells you how recovered you are for the day ahead and if you should need to take it easy and give your body a rest. The “Sleep Score” is what I anticipate checking first thing every day when I wake up, because we all know how important sleep and sleep quality is, so by following tips and notifications from the Oura app, I aim to improve my overall health by sleeping better and better. I also like the cycle tracking which is super helpful to know. This is very similar to the apple watch which will send start and fertility date predictions. Another benefit to the sleep tracking is body temperature. The ring will alert you if your temperature is elevated and possibly coming down with something so that you can act accordingly.
Activity Tracking:
When I purchased the Oura ring, I had heard the activity tracking wasn’t the best and that would be my biggest complaint. Thankfully, I knew that going into it, so it wasn’t a shock, but it still is a bummer for such an expensive device. The step counter is way off (much higher) compared to my Apple Watch and pedometer, and I don’t think the exercise tracking is super accurate. It does offer 24/7 heart rate information and activity scores and levels, but it’s still not as in depth as the watch – so hopefully this will be finetuned in the future so that you can ditch the watch if you want.
MY THOUGHTS:
Overall, I think you have to know what you’re purchasing the Oura ring for. If you’re looking for a fitness and step counting device, I wouldn’t recommend it. I personally like it for accountability with my sleep and understanding how to take care of myself in the long run with sleep guidance and tips for unwinding and unplugging. I’m sure the science will get better as time goes on. Hope this review has been informative and that my honest thoughts are helpful!
