Two minute review
The third-gen Oura Ring may look like its predecessor, but inside there are huge improvements that make it even better to keep up with and improve your daily habits.
First, a quick reminder: Oura is a sensor-powered smart ring that measures biometric data throughout the day and uses it to help you find the right balance between rest and activity. The fact that it is a ring means that you have to rely on its well-designed smartphone app when you want to check your stats, but it also means that the heart rate data is more accurate since the blood vessels in your fingers are much closer to the surface. than those of your wrist.
The newest Oura, released in late 2021, features an all-new optical heart rate sensor that now tracks data throughout the day, meaning you can check your pulse at any time and easily review changes as you go. get moving. It also means that the app has a lot more data to draw on to measure your recovery activity and habits, making its advice that much more specific and helpful.
There's also a new SpO2 sensor, which also benefits from being on your finger instead of your wrist, as well as seven temperature sensors to track changes in skin temperature.
The Oura app collects and analyzes all of this data, but never gives you numbers without context. No matter how much you explore the charts and tables, there is always a detailed explanation of how it was calculated, what it means, and what steps you can take to improve your rest / activity balance. Your heart rate variability is lower than usual, which means you may be stressed; perhaps consider a relaxation session. He went to bed on time, but got less REM sleep than he should have; consider cutting back on caffeine.
In addition to the latest ring, Oura has also introduced a subscription plan, which will give you access to additional tools and information for a monthly subscription. The ring comes with a six-month trial, and existing Oura users who decide to upgrade will get a free lifetime subscription.
Before placing your order, please note that some of the more exciting features of the ring have yet to be released. Automatic training tracking, for example, is not yet available to Android users, and the ability to track your heart rate while exercising is expected to arrive in early 2022. Most of Oura's functionality for members it is also in development.
Price and release date
- Launching in November 2021
- Same price as second generation Oura ring
- Optional subscription
The third-generation Oura was launched on November 16, 2021 and costs € 299 (about € 230 / AU € 420). It is the same as the starting price of the second generation ring, but this time there is no premium version set with diamonds. The ring can only be purchased directly from Oura, but worldwide shipping is available.
The price of the ring includes a six-month subscription to Oura. Once it expires, you will need to pay € 6.99 (approximately € 5 / AU € 10) per month to maintain your subscription if you want to keep access to the premium features. If you upgrade from a second generation Oura Ring, you will get a free lifetime membership.
For comparison, Apple Fitness Plus costs € 9.99 / € 9.99 / AU € 14.99 per month, and Fitbit Premium costs € 9.99 / € 7.99 / AU € 15.49. They both offer many more features than the Oura membership plan, but are also much more established; Oura's subscription service has just launched and is expected to receive many additional tools in the months and years to come.
Integrated
- Clean and simple appearance.
- Choice of four finishes
- Updated form
From the outside, the Oura looks like a mere bundle of metal, but take a closer look and you'll see that it's lined with sensors that rest against your finger.
Before ordering your ring, Oura will send you a set of plastic blanks so that you can find the most suitable size for your hand and get used to the feeling of wearing the device during daily activities. Oura informed us that unlike the second-gen model, the new ring's sensors work better when worn on a finger than on the thumb. Fortunately, it is soft and comfortable, which is important for a device that you will wear all day and night.
It comes in four colors (metallic silver, black or gold, and a matte black finish called 'stealth'), and is completely smooth except for a small flat section that sits on top of your finger and is reminiscent of a signet ring. . . This is a new feature for the third generation ring and it gives its designers a little extra space for its internal components. However, it is no heavier than its predecessor and still weighs between four and six grams.
Its charger is a simple black plastic holder that connects to a USB cable, with a white LED that lights up when the ring is connected.
Features
- Enhanced heart rate sensor
- Seven temperature sensors
- New SpO2 sensor
One of the main advantages of a smart ring over a watch is that the blood vessels in the fingers are closer to the skin than those in the wrist, which should allow for more accurate heart rate measurements. So it makes sense that the biggest update to the Oura 3 is a new optical heart rate sensor, which now measures your pulse 24 hours a day.
The second generation Oura was great at tracking your well-being while you sleep, but constantly measuring your heart rate during waking hours also means that the app has a lot more data to assess your activity, well-being, and recovery.
The new ring also has seven skin temperature sensors, which allow you to measure changes in your basal temperature that could be caused by exercise, stress, or your menstrual cycle to predict your period more accurately than a simple calendar. . The period prediction is currently in beta for iOS users and is expected to roll out for Android in the near future.
The latest addition to the ring is an SpO2 sensor, which tracks oxygen saturation in the blood at night. Like the heart rate sensor, it benefits from being against your finger due to the closer proximity of blood vessels to the surface of the skin, so your readings need to be more accurate than on a watch.
Performance
- Long-term use gives more accurate results
- Data clearly presented and explained
- Training tracking is a work in progress
First of all, it is important to note that you will need to wear the Oura ring for at least a few weeks to establish basic habits, and the more you wear it, the more accurate and useful your reports will be.
Like its predecessors, the third-generation Oura is designed to help you find the right balance between activity and rest, maintaining enough movement to maintain and improve your fitness, while getting enough sleep and enjoying quiet time to recharge the next day.
The ring connects to the Oura smartphone app (available for Android and iOS) and its biometric data is automatically synced throughout the day. All of your stats are clearly laid out on a well-designed dashboard, and you can search for a deeper analysis by tapping on three categories: preparation, sleep, and activity.
Each day, you will be given a readiness score based on how successfully you balanced activity and rest, and how much energy you have available for the next day. This is a feature Fitbit recently added to its own app, but only for Fitbit Premiums subscribers, and the Oura score takes more metrics into account.
Like most fitness trackers and smartwatches, Oura also gives you a sleep score when you wake up (presented as a percentage and a semicircle graph so you can quickly check it at a glance. Eye). This takes into account not only the time you spent asleep and the phases of sleep (light, deep and REM), but also factors such as your heart rate and bedtime.
Finally, the board will present you with an activity goal, which you should try to complete before the end of the day. You will be told how many calories to try to burn during activity based on your age, gender, and daily preparation, and the app will roughly calculate how long you need to spend walking to get there. More intense activities like running or biking will fill the activity progress bar faster.
During the first few days and weeks, Oura will establish a picture of your activity and sleep patterns, as well as benchmarks for your temperature and heart rate. The application can then identify and interpret any deviations from these standards.
Instead of simply presenting it as raw data, the Oura app processes it in various interesting ways that help you understand your daily habits. For example, exploring your heart rate data will allow you to see what's called "recovery time"—times during the day when your body and mind are recharging. This is calculated using not only your heart rate, but also the temperature of your hands; If your hands are relatively warm and your heart rate is low, you'll probably take some time to relax.
In our tests, we were particularly impressed by the ring's ability to differentiate between the time we spend in bed and the time we actually spend asleep; something many dedicated sleep trackers struggle with. We also liked its ability to detect naps. Many fitness trackers fail to differentiate between a few minutes of rest during the day and a full night's sleep, and give you a low score if you take a quick nap in the afternoon. Oura identifies naps, invites you to confirm them in the application and integrates them into its analysis of your sleep habits. Naps will also count toward your daily readiness score, and if you're not getting a good night's sleep, you may be advised to avoid them later in the day.
We found that activity detection seemed to be the weakest point in the Oura ring. The new all-day heart rate tracker seemed to accurately reflect changes in exercise intensity, but sometimes we'd get notifications that we'd hit our...