After Four Years With Oura, This Is the Ring I'd Actually Buy

Ihave worn Oura rings nearly every day since September 2022 to help me track everything from my sleep to my cycle. As a product tester for the Good Housekeeping Institute, I’ve also been fortunate enough to test out most generations of the popular wearable, including the highly anticipated Oura Ring 5. Though I expected this latest upgrade to be incremental like in previous years, the new ring exceeded my expectations.

While the Oura Ring’s software or app experience hasn’t dramatically changed, the hardware absolutely has, making the Oura Ring 5 the one wearable I’ll never leave the house without. Whether you’re new to smart rings or you’re thinking about an upgrade, here’s everything you need to know about the new Oura Ring 5 and whether it’s worth it for you.

Oura Ring 5

Oura Ring 5

$499Oura Ring

Pros

• Noticeably slimmer and lighter than previous generations
• Excellent sleep and recovery tracking
• Improved sensors and new health features
• Beautiful jewelry-like design
• Long battery life

Cons

• Ring 4 owners may not need to upgrade

What's new about the Oura Ring 5

Oura Ring 4 (left) vs. Oura Ring 5 (right)

What I love about the Oura Ring 5 is that it’s still the Oura Ring you know and love, but thinner, lighter, and smaller. The difference is striking, and it’s a significant improvement over the Oura Ring 4. On top of being sleeker and slimmer, the redesigned “low-profile sensor domes” sit more flush against your skin, making the ring more comfortable to wear. According to the brand, this also allows for “better skin contact and clearer, more consistent readings.”

In addition to the revamped design, two new colors were introduced: An updated gold finish and a brand new shade called deep rose, which resembles a rich copper. Oura’s other colors, including silver, stealth (matte black), brushed silver, and black, remain the same.

But that’s not all that the Oura Ring 5 has going for it. Oura also made one long-anticipated improvement and increased the new ring’s battery life, which the brand claims now lasts 6 to 9 days on a single charge (versus 5 to 8 days for the Gen 4). In my experience testing it over the past several weeks, I found that the ring’s battery lasted exactly 7 days, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Charging-wise, it takes anywhere from 20 to 80 minutes for the Oura 5 to reach a full charge, but it’s easy to top up the battery for the day with a quick 10-minute charge if you notice it’s low.

Price-wise, things haven’t changed much. The new Oura Ring 5 starts at $399 and goes up to $499 for select finishes. The Oura Ring 4, on the other hand, starts at $349 and goes up to $449. Subscription prices remain the same at $5.99/month.

The biggest difference is one you notice every single day

The Oura Ring 5 is the first Oura Ring that actually feels like a real piece of jewelry. Thanks to the introduction of a redesigned gold finish, which is lighter and closer to true gold, my ring now blends in with all my other gold jewelry flawlessly. The slimmer size, which is 40 percent smaller than the Oura Ring 4, further helps it look more like an actual ring I would choose to wear and not just a bulky health and fitness tracker. Another advantage of being thinner? The ring is more comfortable to wear 24/7 and even less noticeable when you sleep.

Has the tracking actually improved?

Starting live activity tracking via the Oura app

Oura Ring 4 (left) vs. Oura Ring 5 (right)

The Oura Ring 5 continues to track everything from your heart rate to your HRV, body temperature, steps, sleep, and so much more. While I haven’t noticed a huge difference when it comes to tracking health metrics, Oura did improve its automatic activity detection feature so it can detect up to at least 40 types of activities for you.

Also exciting is that Oura now offers live activity tracking to all ring wearers Gen3 and above. When you’re ready to head out on a run or a swim, you can start the workout directly in the Oura app, and it will record your key metrics in real time, which can include pace, distance, and heart rate. Though I’d still opt for a dedicated fitness tracker if I were training for a marathon or serious about tracking all my workouts, I do appreciate that Oura made these improvements.

One other new feature that’s worth mentioning is Health Radar. It builds on top of Symptom Radar, which aims to identify potential strain on your body, like illness. Similarly, Health Radar tracks patterns in your cardiovascular and respiratory data that could indicate an issue worth checking in on. According to Oura, Health Radar looks for “shifts in blood pressure signals that may indicate cardiovascular strain or more frequent breathing disturbances during sleep” so you can be proactive about addressing any potential issues with healthcare providers.

Is it worth upgrading?

The Oura Ring 5 is worth upgrading to for its slimmer, lighter design alone. After wearing Oura rings for nearly four years, this is the first model that truly feels like everyday jewelry instead of another piece of clunky tech.

There’s no urgent reason to swap if you already own one of the more recent generations and you're happy with its look, feel, and battery life. But if you're shopping for your first smart ring, I'd 100 percent skip any older models and go straight for the Oura Ring 5.