Kellen
Smart rings are a hot health tracking item at the moment and that’s mostly because Samsung has finally entered the arena. There are other players, though, one of which has been in the game for a number of years and has released multiple generations of its products. I’m talking about Oura, the smart ring maker that is without a doubt the leader of this relatively new movement in the smart tracker space.
Today, Oura announced the Oura Ring 4 with improvements across the board, from the size of sensors, new size options for all of our fingers, and improved algorithms for more accurate tracking. There are refined colors and finishes as well, making this the most impressive Oura to date.
They also announced a big redesign to the Oura app.
WHAT’S NEW IN OURA RING 4: You might not think that moving from a Gen 3 to a Gen 4 smart ring could bring meaningful improvements, but Oura is telling us they’ve done just that.
For one, there is an expanded size range to fit more fingers that starts at size 4 and goes up to size 15. For colors, we have Brushed Silver, Gold, Rose Gold, Silver, Stealth, and an improved Black finish that has a glossy, tungsten PVD coating for “improved durability and a deeper black look.”
For the ring itself, Oura has changed to recessed sensors, so you no longer have those little bulbs that stick up for tracking from your finger. If you’ve ever warn a smart ring, you know how obnoxious those little nubs can be, so this sounds like a potentially huge change. Oura is suggesting that a Smart Sensing technology has allowed this and also improved accuracy of everything it monitors. The sensors have more than doubled the number of available signal pathways from eight to 18. Oh, this change should lead to a more comfortable all-day wear too.
In terms of accuracy, here are the 4 items that Oura has highlighted over the Oura Ring Gen 3:
- 120% improvement in signal quality for blood oxygen sensing (SpO2), translating to a 30% increase in accuracy in average overnight SpO2 measurement
- 15% more accurate breathing disturbance index (BDI) thanks to the higher signal fidelity
- 7% fewer gaps in the daytime heart rate
- 31% fewer gaps in the nighttime heart rate
So to recap, the Oura Ring 4 is available in more sizes and has recessed sensors for more accurate tracking and a more comfortable wear.
Oura Ring Gen 4 is available for pre-order today and arrives October 15. It starts at $349 for Silver or Black finishes. The price then jumps to $399 for Brushed Silver and Stealth, followed by $499 for Gold and Rose Gold.
NOTE: Oura charges those prices for the ring itself, but to keep track of everything it offers, you need to also pay their monthly subscription price of $5.99. They’ll give you the first month free and then you start to pay. You can cancel that membership and continue using the ring, they just aren’t that clear about which benefits are included. To try and figure out all of the feature differences, check this Oura support page.
REDESIGNED OURA APP: As a part of today’s announcement for the new Ring 4, Oura is sharing an update that’s coming soon to the Oura app. Oura sayas this redesign “makes it simpler and faster for Oura Members to navigate the bigger picture of their health” and find details without as much work.
The new app is organized into 3 sections (Today, Vitals, and My Health), down from 5. That might seem like a downgrade in terms of available info, but Oura is placing a bunch of shortcuts at the top to things like Readiness, Sleep, Activity, etc. to make the info viewable at all times from the main page. You can then dive into the Vitals page to get even more info or over to the My Health tab for long-term highlights and insights.
The new app is available on Android and iOS and to all Oura Ring members, regardless of which ring generation you may own. It starts rolling out today, but could take weeks to arrive on all devices.
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