Oura Ring 4 has officially arrived, bringing the Samsung Galaxy Ring into the spotlight
After three long years and many new challengers arriving in the smart ring, Oura is now introducing the next generation. Goodbye Gen 3, and hello Gen 4… to be precise, Oura Ring 4.
It’s not a radical redesign, at least on the outside, but Oura’s goal with Ring 4 is to double the heart rate accuracy and provide a more comfortable fit, to improve tracking regardless of the orientation of the ring. It comes with a fresh, redesigned application for iOS and Android.
All of that comes from a redesigned internal sensor array that gets rid of the three dimples protruding from the inside (a common occurrence on the best smart rings yet) and more than doubles the amount of signal paths that can relay data about your heart. use to reach the sensors. Oura calls this ‘Smart Sensing’ because it works with software to figure out what’s best for a good, accurate reading.
Perhaps most importantly, there is no price increase, at least not for the classic colors. Oura Ring 4 is now available for pre-order in sizes 4 to 15, starting at $349 / £349. It comes in silver, brushed silver, stealth, black, rose gold and gold, but prices vary depending on the color and will ship from October 15, 2024. You’ll still need to be a member for $5.99 / £5.99 per month or $69.99 / £69.99 per year to get the most out of the smart ring, but a one-month trial period comes with purchase.
Wear the Oura Ring however you want
In our Oura Ring Gen 3 review, we noted that it provided a “more accurate picture of your overall well-being,” and that was thanks to a new heart rate sensor and SpO2 sensor at the time, as well as significant upgrades to sleep tracking. That all remains the same with Oura Ring 4, but the company acknowledges that there were sometimes gaps in coverage, mainly due to ring rotation.
The Oura Ring Gen 3 has three dimples of three main sensors that should ideally sit on the bottom of your finger, marked by a slight dip at the bottom, which is meant to help you keep the ring rotated properly. The problem is that fingers can vary in shape, and even with a smart ring of the right size, the Oura ring still spins.
Of course, a ring naturally rotates, but Oura has found a solution and calls it Smart Sensing. These three main sensors are now recessed on the Oura Ring 4 and the number of signal paths has more than doubled to 18. The new and redesigned hardware on Ring 4 works with an algorithm to enable accurate measurement no matter how the ring is placed sit. your finger.
This is largely due to the abundance of pathways that allow a clear reading of one of the most important sensors for heart rate, blood oxygen or even nighttime sleep tracking. It takes into account things like the shape of your finger, skin color and what you do.
Oura promises that Ring 4 is the most accurate smart ring yet, based on a sleep study conducted in August 2024 where 60 people wore both a Gen 3 ring and Ring 4 at night. The results showed that there were 31% fewer gaps in heart rate at night and 7% fewer during the day. For SpO2 detection, there was a 120% improvement in finding a signal and a 30% increase in the accuracy of this measurement at night. Those are some pretty big leaps, and we’re eager to put all of this to the test.
It’s a significant improvement over Gen 3, without losing any functionality. It now uses a different algorithm with the same precise sensors and additional paths to better track all kinds of metrics, regardless of how the ring sits on your finger. And like Gen 3, Oura Ring 4 tracks things like daily activity, heart rate and heart rate variability, SpO2, skin temperature, workouts, and robust sleep tracking.
If you also keep your membership, Oura finally delivers automatic training detection for more than 40 species – it’s no longer just a handful. As it’s called, Automatic Activity Detection recognizes the workout as it happens and tracks heart rate zones. For example, during one of our exclusive briefings with the Oura team, we were told that the ring correctly identified that the user was doing a workout on a rowing machine, based on the increased heart rate and the rowing motion detected.
The only other hardware change with Oura Ring 4 is longer battery life: up to eight days, an extra day over Gen 3. Naturally, runtime will vary by ring size, with the largest at size 15 likely to last the longest, based on of how you use the functionality. Oura has updated the charger slightly to a more rounded square design that feels more premium because it’s made of aluminum.
There is one change to the color offering: the Oura Ring 4 in black now has a glossy finish made from a tungsten PVD coating, which promises to increase durability and maintain color over time. Ring 4 will also be available in silver, stealth, gold, rose gold and brushed silver.
A redesigned app with an emphasis on easier access to data
In addition to Oura Ring 4, but launching immediately, there is a redesigned interface for the Oura app. Plus you don’t have to upgrade to the Ring 4 to get this, so if you’ve decided to stick with Oura Ring Gen 3 – you might be waiting for our review, or waiting for the Gen 3 price to drop now 4 has arrived – you get the redesigned application on Android or iOS.
Instead of five sections at the bottom – Home, Readiness, Sleep, Activity and Readiness – and a hamburger menu at the top left, Oura pares things down to three. Today, Vitals and My Health all live at the bottom and aim to streamline access to data and not leave you indecisive while trying to decide what to dive into first.
Today might be my favorite where you can simply swipe to see how you’re sleeping or how active you’ve been without having to scroll down a whole page. Historically, the cards on Home ran during the day. Readiness, Sleep, Activity, Daytime Heart Rate, Cycle Day, Stress and others are at the top and easily accessible. Those larger cards act as spotlights under that new top bar, so when you first wake up, you’ll see how you slept. If you open your app in the middle of the day, you will see your readiness.
Vitals take the place of the former Readiness, Sleep, and Activity tabs to some extent by providing a more data-filled look at each of the scores. My Health is a more robust version of Resilience that aims to give you a more macro look at trends over time.
This experience is now rolling out on Android and iOS to all users, regardless of Oura Ring generation or whether you are a paid member. For the latter, however, Oura wants to increase the value and probably get more people to subscribe. First, beta features like Symptom Radar, housed under Oura Labs, are no longer exclusive to iOS. Oura Labs arrives – finally – on Android for members with the latest update. You also get access to Oura Advisor, essentially an AI chatbot personalized based on your data that can help you make more accurate recommendations based on how you’re feeling.
Outside of Oura Labs, Women’s Health features like Pregnancy and Cycle Insights, as well as a general report alongside Cycle Tracking, are still present. Fertile Window is new and provides an estimate of fertile days in addition to a detected ovulation day and the chance of fertilization. It is not intended to prevent pregnancy, but rather as an aid in conceiving a pregnancy. Oura also notes that the fastest-growing subscription segment is women in their 20s, thanks to this robust feature set.
You must be a member to review the automatic activity detection, and Daytime Stress and Stress Tracking are also for members.
