After Two Years of Testing, Is the Oura Ring Really Worth It?

A health tracker like the Oura Ring Gen3 can be a life-changing investment for goal-setters and wellness enthusiasts. Traditional, more popular wrist wearables (like Fitbits) offer a convenient way to track your daily activity and other helpful data. But have you ever seen a wearable that delivers those same motivating metrics, all in a sleek, stylish package?

The Oura Ring Gen3 is a smart ring that uses tiny sensors to deliver sleep, readiness, and activity insights from your finger to your phone in minutes. Over time, the ring uses your daily scores to provide more detailed trends and insights into your overall health. 

Designed to replace your clunky Apple Watch, the Oura Ring Gen3 is a stylish statement piece that can help you better understand your body and what it needs. Since its debut, the ring has gained celebrity followers, like Gwyneth Paltrow and Kim Kardashian, and even converted some athletes, including Lindsey Vonn and Chris Paul. But is the Oura Ring Gen3 actually worth it? 

As a fitness editor, I test and review health and fitness products for a living. And as a certified group fitness instructor and holistic health coach, I’ve always been curious about wearable wellness. After hearing conflicting claims about the Oura Ring, I knew I had to find out for myself if this device is truly worth it. For over two years, I wore my Oura Ring almost every day. (On days I didn’t wear it, the ring left a blank space in my statistics.) As I slept, walked, and worked out, the ring did its thing—tracking my sleep, daily steps, and more. After over two years of in-depth testing, here are my honest thoughts on the device.

Who It’s For

If you’re interested in your overall health and wellness (and have the budget to splurge), then the Oura Ring might be for you. It has powerhouse sleep-tracking capabilities and provides a daily readiness score that helps you make informed decisions about your performance and productivity every morning. But if you’re not willing to put in the time to understand your scores, you won’t get much out of it. 

I will continue wearing the ring for its informative readiness and sleep scores, as well as its accurate menstrual cycle predictor. However, I would not recommend the ring if tracking physical activity is your main goal. I found that it was slightly inaccurate and limited in its ability to track different types of workouts and activities.

First Impressions: Quick setup and intuitive use (4.8/5)

My Oura Ring arrived in a compact package along with a size-specific charger, a USB-C cable, an instruction guide, and safety warnings. The first size I received didn’t fit—but after using Oura’s sizing kit, I was able to exchange my ring for a size 7. Oura’s sizes are different from standard U.S. sizes, so I recommend using the sizing kit before purchasing your ring.

After receiving the correct size, I placed my ring on its charger, downloaded the Oura App on my iPhone, and quickly paired the two together. An Oura Membership, which offers in-depth data and tracking, is $5.99 monthly (after your first month, which is free). You can opt to use the ring without a membership, but you’ll only get numerical sleep, readiness, and activity scores that don’t tell you much without the other insights.

Once I activated my free month and created an account on the app, I answered a few questions about my goals, sleep patterns, and activities to personalize my experience. After that, I explored the app to familiarize myself with the readiness, sleep, and activity tabs that would eventually add up to produce my daily scores. Finally, I put the ring on, started my day, and let it get to work.

Wearability and Design: Functional and stylish (4.9/5)

I’ve never worn a health or fitness tracker before—mainly because I don’t like the clunky look of most watches and bands, which don’t fit in with my personal style. But one of my favorite things about the Oura Ring is how great it looks on my hand. During the second week of wear, my friend complimented my new piece of jewelry without even realizing that it was actually a health tracker. 

Some reviewers complain that the ring is bulky, which I did notice with my small hand and narrow fingers. Personally, I love a chunky, gold statement piece, so the ring fits right in with the rest of my jewelry. But if that style isn’t for you, you might find the Gen3 too bold and clunky. 

I’d also caution that if you’re the type of person who likes to remove all of your jewelry before getting in bed, the Oura Ring may take some getting used to since you need to keep it on at night to receive insights about your sleep patterns. But I never found it uncomfortable or annoying to wear.

Tracking and Scoring: Accurate sleep insights, limited activity tracking (4.5/5)

The Oura Ring provides constant health tracking and daily scores (ranging from 0 to 100) for readiness, sleep, and activity. Each score comprises several contributors (more on that below), which you can find under the readiness, sleep, and activity tabs for each day. A score above 85 is labeled “optimal,” between 70-84 is “good,” and for scores below 70, your ring will caution you to “pay attention.” 

On mornings after an active day and restful sleep, I woke up with optimal readiness and sleep scores—ready to take on the day. But when I was inactive the day before or had interrupted sleep, Oura reminded me to rest and recover. Here’s a more in-depth look at each score provided by my Oura ring:

Readiness

Readiness scores offer insights on how prepared you are to take on the day. Contributors include the previous day’s activity, sleep from the night before, your resting heart rate, and more. Each morning, the Oura app provides a blurb on how to best tackle the day. I liked this feature because not only did my scores accurately reflect how I felt, but they also helped me understand why I felt that way.

When I had a high readiness score, I knew I would have a higher threshold to take advantage of the day: I’d smash out a workout, have high productivity levels at work, and schedule to meet up with friends. But when one or more readiness contributors brought my score down, I knew it was time to take it easy.

After an exciting Christmas Eve last year, it took me just four minutes to fall asleep at 12:39 am. But having spent my day eating sugar, gluten, and drinking alcohol (which I usually don’t do), I woke up at 3:40 a.m. with a grueling stomachache. A low recovery index—likely due to my alcohol intake—and only three hours of sleep led to a low readiness score of 67. Thanks to Oura, I was reminded to take it slow and relax on Christmas Day.

Sleep

Sleep scores are determined by several contributors, including total sleep, time spent in each sleep stage (REM, light, and deep), restfulness, and more. Under the sleep tab, you can also view your average oxygen saturation, breathing regularity, heart rate metrics, and even movement.

I also love that Oura provides a visual representation of sleep stages throughout the night, including any disturbances and time spent awake. I was shocked by how accurately the ring tracked my sleep. 

One night, I woke up at around 1:00 a.m. from a loud noise outside. Later that morning, I snoozed my alarm twice. The next day, I realized that the app had accurately recorded all three of these disturbances. Throughout testing, this happened several times—and each time, I was impressed by the ring’s precision.

Activity

Hours of inactivity, levels of activity, and recovery time all contribute to your daily activity scores. Under the activity tab, you can view these metrics, as well as how many miles you’ve walked, your step count, and more. You can also opt-in to see your calories burned through activity and total calories burned each day. 

My typical workout routine consists of long walks at an incline, Pilates, strength training, and teaching four to six group fitness classes weekly. When I first started using the ring, I didn’t manually input my activity because I wanted to see how well it could pick up on my activities on its own. 

The ring did pick up on my elevated heart rate after my morning 12-3-30 sessions, but it was inaccurate. It recorded a different time, distance, and calories almost every time—which is impossible since I did the same workout each session.

I was also disappointed that, unlike other fitness trackers like Fitbits and the Apple Watch, the ring did not pick up on my Pilates or strength training sessions. I had to manually input each walk, Pilates, or strength session on the app’s homepage. 

When adding a workout, Oura lets you select from so many different activities, like cycling, dance, archery, and more. But the only other details you can input are start time, duration, and intensity (easy, moderate, or hard). I found this to be limited and inaccurate, based on what I believe my true activity levels were.

Period Prediction: Precise and informative (5/5)

During each phase of the menstrual cycle, your body has different needs. I like to track my cycle to understand how and why I feel the way I do during each phase. Since using the Oura Ring, I have even started to sync my exercise routine according to my cycle.

The Oura Ring Gen3 monitors your body temperature trends, which rise and fall throughout the month, in order to predict your period. But first, you’ll need to wear it for a couple of months so Oura can learn your personal temperature trend patterns and accurately predict your period start date. 

When I first put the ring on and opted into using this feature, it immediately began recording my body temperature. In over two years of wear, Oura has accurately predicted over 20 period start dates and has taught me so much about my cycle and my body.

Battery Life and Durability: Long-lasting and reliable (5/5)

I was skeptical of Oura’s claim that one 20- to 80-minute charge could last up to seven days. But I was impressed when I found it to be true, even weeks after I started wearing the ring. 

Remembering to charge any device is a hassle. But Oura notifies me both when the battery is running low and when it’s fully charged a few minutes later. 

I was also wary about how well a thick, gold band would stand up to daily wear. But I’ve worn it in the shower, the sauna, infrared-heated Pilates classes, and more, and it still looks as good as new. I haven’t noticed any major deep scratches, dents, or other damage.

How I Tested the Oura Ring

I wore the Oura Ring Gen3 for over two years. When the ring first arrived, I evaluated how easy it was to set up based on the manufacturer’s instructions. I also examined all of the accessories it came with before sliding the ring onto my middle finger and assessing its comfort and appearance.

After wearing the ring for several days, I noted the ease of use, battery life, and any useful features. To test for accuracy, I completed over 200 workouts throughout testing. Then, I compared the statistics that Oura recorded to my usual and previous performance to determine how accurate it was.

Price

Ranging from $299 to $549, the Oura Ring Gen3 is undoubtedly expensive. But the ring is actually cheaper than many similar wearables of the same caliber. For its innovative capabilities, the Oura Ring is priced competitively compared to other health tracking devices. However, if you’re searching for a fitness tracker that goes in-depth in physical activity analytics, I would invest your money elsewhere.

The Competition

Health trackers have become increasingly popular in the tech-wearables space— and for good reason. They offer a convenient way to track your sleep, activity, and other important data to help you reach your health and fitness goals. However, with so many options on the market, it can be difficult to know which one to choose. Here are some of Oura’s top competitors and what sets them apart:

• Motiv Ring: The Motiv Ring offers a similar sleek look and tracks many of the same stats as the Oura Ring. It’s also about $150 cheaper (depending on Oura’s shape and finish). But it lacks trend reporting, doesn’t record body temperature, and has only half the battery life of the Oura Ring. 
• Circular Ring: Featuring a smart alarm clock, the Circular Ring can be set to wake you up with small vibrations for a more gentle morning—a feature that the Oura Ring doesn’t have. It also tracks similar statistics, like temperature, heart rate, sleep, and more. While the Oura Ring offers a more innovative and intuitive design, the Circular Ring might be a solid, budget-friendly option for some. 
• Apple Watch: Depending on the model, an Apple Watch can cost up to $800 or more—a steep price for a wearable. Many users are continuously impressed by its notable features and spot-on activity tracking. But the bulky watch lacks the sleek and stylish look of the Oura Ring and its period prediction capabilities.

Key Specs

• Product Name: Oura Ring Gen3 
• Product Brand: Oura 
• Price: $299-$549 
• Circular Ring 0.14-0.21 ounces (depending on ring size) 
• Size Range: 6-13 
• Warranty: One year from date of original purchase 
• Battery Life: Up to seven days 
• What’s Included: Oura Ring Gen3, size-specific charge, and USB-C cable