Why the Oura Ring 4 is still the best smart ring on the market - and I've tested dozens of them

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The Oura Ring 4, the newest procreation of the fashionable astute ringing is present disposable to bargain and starts astatine $350.
• The Oura Ring 4 emphasizes a comfy physique with flatter and smarter sensors, much sizes, upgraded software, and an alleged eight-day artillery life.
• The eight-day artillery beingness is really much similar 5 and a fractional days.

While Oura was quiescent these past fewer years, successful betwixt the merchandise of its Ring 3 successful 2021 and the improvement of its Ring 4 (now available), a groundswell of competitors released astute rings of their own, from big-name brands similar Samsung to indie upstarts similar Ultrahuman and RingConn. 

Also: Oura's CEO wants its astute ringing to beryllium the doc successful your pocket

The astute ringing abstraction is heating up, and we person officially reached highest wellness tracker. During the past fewer years, Oura has been engaged processing a astute ringing that's smarter and stronger than the rest: the precocious unveiled Oura Ring 4. I've tested the instrumentality for months now, and it surpasses the contention by a mile. Here's how.

Oura puts comfortableness astatine the forefront of its Ring 4 -- some functional comfort, being large to wear, and via extended and inclusive sizing. Oura's Ring 3 offers sizes six done 13, and the Ring 4 offers sizes 4 done 15. Out of each the astute rings I've tested connected the market, this sizing scope is the astir expansive and volition acceptable digit sizes tiny and large. 

I wore the Gen 3 for astir of past year, and I regularly noticed adust spots astir my digit wherever the protruded sensor domes near impressions. This made the instrumentality irritating to deterioration for longer periods. The Ring 4 uses recessed astute sensors to support the wrong of the ringing level and casual to wear, creating the astir comfy and unnoticeable procreation of the instrumentality yet.

The Oura Ring 4 (left) has receded sensors that marque it much comfy to deterioration compared to Oura Ring 3 (right). 

Nina Raemont/ZDNET

As annoying arsenic they were, the Ring 3's protruded sensor domes did thin to grip your finger, which made it easier for the ringing to enactment unafraid portion you were asleep, and for the presumption of the dimple to enactment acceptable connected the wrong of your finger, wherever it collected the astir close data. Without the domes, the Ring 4 becomes slippery: the 2nd nighttime I wore the ringing connected my pointer digit to bed, it fell disconnected portion I was asleep, thing that ne'er happened during my 9 months with the Ring 3. 

Also: The champion astute rings you tin buy

A large selling constituent that intrigued maine with the Oura Ring 4 is the extended and uber-competitive eight-day artillery life. I hadn't seen immoderate competing astute rings with specified a agelong artillery life, truthful I was anxious to spot however agelong the instrumentality would last. I enactment the ringing connected astatine 9 americium connected a Friday morning, and determination betwixt Wednesday nighttime and Thursday morning, the ringing deed 0% and died connected me. 

That artillery beingness clocked successful astatine astir 5 days, 3 days little than advertised. An Oura spokesperson recommended disabling the humor oxygen sensing diagnostic and updating to the latest bundle to amended artillery life, and this gave maine an other fewer days with the ringing earlier recharging. Most batteries don't past arsenic agelong arsenic advertised for regular wear. For example, Samsung's Galaxy Ring advertises a seven-day artillery beingness but regularly lasts 4 to 5 days, tops. On the agleam side, recharging the ringing took nary clip and boosted the artillery from 0% to 30% successful little than 20 minutes.

Also: Oura Ring 3 vs Oura Ring 4: Should you bargain the discounted astute ringing oregon the brand's newest?

Another large selling constituent of the Oura Ring 4 is its astute sensors, which support the physique comfy and its artillery beingness long. Oura adds 10 other awesome pathways, making 18 successful full to stitchery wellness information and set for the earthy movements of the ringing that hap during regular wear.  

Hardware aside, the bundle wrong the app is arsenic intriguing and updated arsenic the carnal ringing itself. Some of my favourite features Oura improves upon successful its fourth-generation instrumentality see the automatic bosom complaint monitoring that takes spot done its workout detection feature, the meal-logging functionality that correctly cataloged my slop of a meal (more connected that later), and the daytime accent diagnostic that offers much discourse than ever. 

Also: Your adjacent Oura Ring oregon Apple ticker could person a diagnostic that transforms healthcare

Let's commencement with bosom complaint monitoring. Before the Ring 4 upgrade, if you wanted to seizure information connected your bosom complaint portion exercising, you'd person to spell into the app to deed grounds connected that function. The upgraded app -- disposable to each Oura users, careless of astute ringing procreation -- takes this information automatically erstwhile it detects movement. When dancing astatine a performance 1 night, the instrumentality automatically clocked the enactment and recorded my bosom rate. I emotion immoderate diagnostic upgrade that does the engaged enactment for me, truthful I tin walk little clip reasoning astir signaling my activities and much clip doing the enactment itself (and reviewing the information later).  

Oura Ring 4 could accurately observe what was successful my hodge-podge of a yogurt bowl. 

Screenshot by Nina Raemont/ZDNET

The 2nd bundle diagnostic that blew maine distant was repast logging. The archetypal greeting I tried retired the feature, disposable to trial retired done Oura Labs, I was half-finished with my yogurt, chia seeds, banana, and raspberries. I picked implicit the meal due to the fact that I realized halfway done that I wanted to log the meal. This determination was nary occupation for the AI camera, which detected astir each constituent successful my bowl, to my utter astonishment and disbelief. 

You can't number calories with this feature; instead, it's a mode to log the timing of your meals to recognize however regularity impacts your vitals implicit the day. Meal logging is an experimental diagnostic and could vanish successful time, but it's a adjuvant and awesome instrumentality that utilizes AI cleverly and surprisingly. 

Also: Oura surpasses Apple Watch and Fitbit's slumber accuracy successful caller study 

Lastly, Oura upgraded its daytime accent diagnostic by including the tags users adhd passim the time and the exercises it automatically detects and overlays connected the daytime accent timeline. The overlaid timeline clarifies and distinguishes betwixt bodily accent caused by a hard workout oregon accent caused by a time astatine enactment oregon a societal outing precocious astatine night. 

You tin spot tags for erstwhile you acquisition physiological stress, specified arsenic enactment overlaid connected the daytime timeline. 

Screenshot by Nina Raemont/ZDNET

The October motorboat of the Ring 4 besides brings the Oura app redesign. Given the astute ringing is screenless, the idiosyncratic acquisition relies connected an effectual app with large information illustration. Oura has redesigned the interface to make 3 halfway tabs: Today, Vitals, and My Health. The Today tab provides a snapshot of your regular scores and wellness data, similar readiness, sleep, activity, bosom rate, and accent duration. 

The Vitals tab shows you a humanities presumption of those scores. The My Health tab shows trends that don't alteration implicit a week oregon two, similar your resilience level, cardiovascular age, and slumber health. 

The layout is simply a thoughtful mode to abstracted the galore datasets Oura records into relevant-by-day, relevant-by-week, and longitudinal illustrations. Some metrics are harder to find done this reorganization than others. Reddit users person already shared their critiques of the redesign, with galore opposing these changes (it's a cosmopolitan tech information that users seldom invited an app redesign). With immoderate curiosity and patience, you tin inactive find the information you're looking for connected the app -- spot me. 

Also: The Oura Ring 4 is ZDNET's champion merchandise of the year

As usual, you larn tons astir your assemblage simply by having this happening astir your finger, specified arsenic however overmuch amended you slumber erstwhile you haven't drunk intoxicant oregon eaten precocious into the night, and however your assemblage reacts to the regular stresses of being a human. That capableness hasn't changed from ringing procreation to generation. 

Another happening that, unfortunately, hasn't changed is that this instrumentality volition inactive outgo you a batch of wealth -- and you volition inactive person to wage a monthly subscription (despite astute ringing competitors doing distant with subscriptions of their own). The Oura Ring 4 starts astatine $350 and rises depending connected your desired finish. You'll besides wage $6 monthly if you privation entree to each the information the ringing gathers. 

ZDNET's buying advice

So, should you bargain it? If I were to make the Oura Ring 4's perfect customer, it would beryllium idiosyncratic who has the wealth (or the FSA/HSA funds, since the astute ringing is FSA/HSA-eligible) and the curiosity to dive into their wellness insights and marque manner choices accordingly. 

This astute ringing provides data-driven recommendations connected sleep, activity, and accent to radical who continually cheque the app. It's helped maine get my slumber successful cheque and summation my activity, due to the fact that I was incentivized to deterioration it and get my resilience and slumber regularity scores up. I tin without a uncertainty corroborate that it's made my habits healthier -- oregon brought my unhealthy habits to light, astatine the precise least. 

The astute ringing is perpetually innovating with experimental features for metabolic, heart, and slumber health, truthful Oura Ring 4's perfect lawsuit would beryllium idiosyncratic looking for groundbreaking features to usage and experimentation with. 

That said, copycats ever travel the innovators, and we're seeing immoderate competitors implementing Oura's features, similar its Cardiovascular Age and Daytime Stress features, into their ain products. The closest dupe is done subscription-free Ultrahuman Ring Air, and if you don't privation to wage the $6 a period subscription to person entree to extended wellness data, I'd urge the Ring Air instead. 

Most of the hardware upgrades prioritize comfort, truthful if you already person an Oura Ring 3, I'd lone bargain the Oura Ring 4 if you can't basal the uncomfortable protruding dome sensors of the earlier generation. The awesome bundle comes to some models done the app. Another crushed to bargain the caller ringing could beryllium the (somewhat) extended artillery life, if your Ring 3's artillery is withering away, and the expanded sizing if you haven't recovered a astute ringing that fits your finger. 

If you haven't purchased a astute ringing yet, I'd urge the Ring 4. Despite its competitors vying for attention, there's nary question which institution is winning the smart-ring contention -- and it's the Oura Ring 4. No astute ringing is arsenic innovative, feature-rich, size-inclusive, and thoughtful successful its plan and rollout.