I started wearing an Oura Ring smart ring regularly in the summer of 2021. It’s the most persistent product I’ve ever used, and I’ve tried a lot of them.
Lately, however, I’ve begun to wonder how its future will pan out. My thoughts on how to explain its continued presence on my finger aren’t particularly encouraging.
Why I love the Oura Ring
First, I’d want to explain why I still use the Oura Ring. To begin with, it has a very attractive design that I appreciate greatly. In comparison to the glossy black version of the third-generation ring I wore before, the silver one I now wear is far more comfortable. My finger makes it less obvious, but it still sparkles in the sunlight. It’s so soft and lightweight that I can wear it around the clock without any discomfort. Unlike some other smartwatches, this one really has some redeeming qualities. Some scratches and scuffs have been accrued, though, and they are more visible than on the gloss black version and less so on the Stealth design I first tried.
The Oura Ring also has a great track record of dependability, which is another reason why I adore it. It syncs without a hitch, has never failed to log an activity or night’s sleep, and presents its data in an easily digestible format via the companion app. My expectations for a wearable device aimed at improving health have been met. To top it all off, the battery life has left me satisfied; after six months of using the silver third-generation model, I still get around five days of use out of it. But I’m not sure how long the battery can keep up this performance. Christine Chan, the Mobile Staff Writer at Digital Trends, also wears an Oura Ring, and after a year, the battery barely lasts for around two days.
I enjoy that even if I am wearing a more classic timepiece, I can still monitor my vitals and exercise data, and that it doesn’t draw attention to itself by appearing too high tech. It’s subtle, but it also gets a lot of attention; people frequently ask whether it’s the Oura Ring and if I like it. Up until lately, my responses have always been overwhelmingly positive; I’d talk about how long I’ve been wearing it, how the sleep data is fascinating and informative, and how much I value the lengthy battery life. The only drawback I ever mentioned was the subscription, which remains a major issue for me. However, I’m having second thoughts about suggesting the Oura Ring because of several other concerns that have recently arisen.
Oura’s Got New (and limited) Tricks
We need to discuss the characteristics of the Oura Ring for you to comprehend the shift in my opinion. Both the blood oxygen (Sp02) monitoring and exercise heart rate tracking capabilities that were announced at the end of 2021 have finally arrived since my previous article on using the Oura Ring was published in May of 2022.
Throughout the night, the app keeps track of your Sp02 levels and displays the usual blood oxygen percentage statistic alongside a summary of how any variations may have affected your breathing. It’s helpful since the app rates the severity of any disruptions it detects, but it’s not clear what you should do about the results. It’s a shame there isn’t any way to keep it going all day, even at a reduced fee.
As with this year’s May release, you can monitor your heart rate while you’re working out. This feature, which extends to other aerobic activities like cycling and running, displays your maximum, minimum, and average heart rate. It shows your workout path on a map and provides feedback on your effort level. It’s an easy-to-use (if rudimentary) fitness tracker that, when combined with sleep data, can shed light on how well prepared you are for the day ahead.
Using the Oura Ring app, you may get a daily snapshot of your health status. Heart rate data, including daily averages, resting time, and comprehensive information about it when sleeping, are all available as drill-down options. Data on heart rate variability (HRV) is also available, but it’s more difficult to make sense of than basic heart rate readings because there are no universally applicable baselines for HRV. The changes in my HRV are clear to me, but I have no idea if they are beneficial or detrimental, or what to do about them if they are. The Oura Ring isn’t alone in receiving criticism for being too complicated to use effectively, since this is a common gripe with health and fitness trackers in general.
Oura’s track record of slow feature releases has not changed, as other previously announced features are still not ready. While I am pleased to see Sp02 and workout heart rate tracking arrive, they have been a long time coming. Whenever this occurs, my opinion of the product drops and my worries about its future grow.
More Features Still to Come — at Some Point
Oura promised further training features in the future months when it first introduced heart rate monitoring during exercise. However, after six months, nobody else has shown up. Since many individuals, including myself, engage in workouts that don’t include walking, running, or cycling but would still benefit from tracking them, it would be nice if the Oura app allowed for the addition of these activities with minimal effort.
Because it’s not practical to acquire two wearables when one can and should do the work, they aren’t answers.
To get around this, you may use a wristwatch that’s compatible with the Oura app, such an Apple Watch or a Google Fit-enabled device, to keep tabs on your exercises outside of the Oura ecosystem. Even though the Oura Ring can sync with Strava, which helps fill in some blanks, the latter is still primarily a platform for runners, swimmers, and cyclists, and it requires still another wearable to fully function. These aren’t solutions in the truest sense, as it’s not practical to buy two wearables when one can (and should) do the job.
The similarly promised improved sleep stage algorithm is still not available for my Oura Ring, even though a blog entry regarding its expected availability was published in November. The new sleep phases algorithm was announced in an email addressed to Oura Ring owners, and it will be available as a beta feature in the app with an on/off toggle. It’s disappointing that, after all the buildup and inclusion in the third-generation ring’s marketing materials over a year ago, there still doesn’t appear to be an anticipated complete, public launch date for the enhanced sleep stage monitoring.
Unfortunately, Oura’s update rate remains frustratingly sluggish. It’s a pricey product with a subscription plan, and I don’t anticipate or want to have to wait a long time for new features, especially because I have so little information about when they will really appear. However, a more serious issue is also brought to light. I haven’t heard anything about what’s coming at Oura, and I’m still waiting for things that were mentioned last year to appear. That’s a completely new set of difficulties, though.
Timelines — and the Nearest Future
It is expected that a new smartphone would have hardware modifications that enable new functions and hence urge an update, but there is a limit to how far Oura can go with the design of a ring and how many additional sensors it can fit within. Oura’s selling point is what it can accomplish with those sensors and the surrounding software. When you want to keep using the Oura app to view your data, you have to pay a monthly membership fee. This means the company needs to have a plan in place for adding new features and improving the software so that users have plenty of reasons to keep paying.
But I wouldn’t put much stock in any of the timetables if there were one, and there isn’t. The response is becoming less optimistic, and the longer I wait to get previously promised features on my Oura Ring, the less likely I am to trust any claimed timelines for their arrival. We’re a year into the third-generation device, and there’s still no solid explanation for why someone would want to spend $10 per month for the Oura Ring given the lack of functionality and transparency around the company’s plans.
There is less allure in shelling out money every month for the Oura Ring now that they know less about what they would get in return.
The Oura Ring irritates me because of the monthly cost required to use it, while superior health and fitness devices like the Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra do not require a subscription and receive regular, useful updates. The technology is great, and the software and data are still useful, but Oura is dragging its feet, and the lack of information about future plans is making me nervous.
As time goes on with the Oura Ring, I become more and more convinced that smart bands have great promise in health and fitness tracking, but I’m starting to wonder if my fascination with smart rings is more conceptual than actual. If the Oura Ring doesn’t meet my current and future demands, I may remove it from my finger. This is a major issue since there is a strong likelihood that the wearable gadget will not be replaced if it is removed.
