The new Oura Ring is sleeker, rounder, and finally wearable through the night. Here’s what it’s like to wear the best smart ring… even if mine is technically broken.
For the last few weeks, I’ve been wearing the new Oura Ring Gen 4.
Technically, it’s a hand-me-down from my father, just like my old Gen 2 was. (Thanks, Dad.)
Also, technically, it’s broken. The battery barely holds a day, and I have to top it up twice daily to keep it alive. This is why my dad gave me this one (Thanks, Dad?)
Oura sent him a new one under warranty, but let him keep this broken one, which I decided to test and ended up keeping (as battery life is the only thing that is not working properly, but otherwise it's a fully functioning ring).
So, I can’t tell you much about typical battery life personally. (But my father, who has a working one, reports getting around 6 to 7 days, which matches what other reviewers are saying. In other words: if you get a non-janky unit, you’ll be fine.)
Anyway, that's not what matters most. The real story here is that this is finally an Oura Ring that feels comfortable enough for me to wear at night.
Fit and Finish
I primarily care about wearing a smart ring at night. Fixing my sleep is why I wear these things, but more about that soon.
Oura redesigned the Gen 4, in my eyes, dramatically. The Gen 4 has a flush interior instead of those old sensor bumps from the Gen 2 and Gen 3. That's why you also need to get the new sizing kit if you have an older Oura ring. They are not comparable anymore.
The old Oura ring (left) has these little sensor bumbs, while the new one (right) is flush.
The old Gen 2 used to become uncomfortable whenever my fingers swelled a bit during the night, which happens more often than you'd think, especially if you lift weights or just exist as a human with circulation.
And even though my Gen 2 was a little loose, I regularly woke up and had to rip it off because it hurt.
But the Gen 4? It's much better. I can wear it overnight without noticing it at all. And I sleep with my right hand (where I wear the ring) under the pillow.
They also made the design fully round and a little more minimalistic. I got the matte black version again (obviously!), and it just looks slicker.
There’s a small notch inside to help you align it properly, but honestly, I keep fidgeting and spinning it around. Compared to the non-round predecessors, it's a bit harder to align correctly, but I don't think it's a big problem. It's just less obvious.
Battery Life (sort of)
Again, my particular ring’s battery is toast, but the normal experience sounds solid.
Oura says you can get about a week of battery, and that’s been confirmed by my dad and by other outlets.
Charging is (still) pretty easy. You drop it on the little dock (which is redesigned compared to the predecessors because of the flush inside), but for me, it takes forever (maybe because the battery is damaged?).
Your mileage, with a working ring, will probably be much better.
Software: Getting Better
When I wore the Gen 2, I always felt a little lost staring at all the collected data. (Same problem with something like the Apple Watch Ultra I'm also wearing.)
Oura’s redesigned app dashboard actually helps now. It’s organised into three sections — Today, Vitals, and My Health — and it doesn’t feel like drowning anymore.
For me, the most useful realisation has been about sleep timing. Not sleep duration, I sleep about eight hours per night already. But when I sleep.
My big health project is trying to figure out why I'm tired even though I sleep on average 8 hours, have my nutrition on point, and like a certain professor turned podcaster keeps telling us, get sunlight in as soon as I wake up. Heck, I even wear these stupid-looking glasses every evening to cut off blue light (they do actually help, "review" soon).
The ring kept nudging me to go to bed earlier, and after some (painful) experiments, I’ve realised that it’s right. If I go to bed around midnight instead of 1 AM (when I normally go), I genuinely feel better in the morning, even if I get the same number of hours.
As a natural night owl living in a world designed for morning larks, it’s an ongoing project, but it’s the first time I’ve had data backing what my body was vaguely complaining about.
The Oura Ring says I'm an early evening type, and I initially disagreed. I thought (still think?) I'm a hardcore night owl, but if I listen to the ring, I'm less tired. I hate that it's right!
Another software win: The Symptom Radar feature randomly flagged that something seemed wrong one day. And 24 hours later, I was half-dying from a stomach bug.
Still Not Perfect
Let’s be real: The Oura Ring isn’t cheap. The ring itself costs around $350 (399€ in Europe), and on top of that, there’s a $6/month subscription if you want full access to all the data and features. An Apple Watch starts at the same price, and does more (but is also super uncomfortable to wear to bed).
That’s a lot.
Especially now that Samsung has entered the smart ring game, and Apple is rumored to be working on one too.
But Oura still makes the best smart ring you can buy right now. And quality has a price. But the pressure is building.
So I'm wondering how long they can keep the price as high when a company like Samsung or Apple can just subsidise it in other ways.
Final Thoughts
Despite everything—the busted battery, the price, the weird subscription model—I genuinely prefer wearing the Oura Ring over any smartwatch.
I still have to take it off for weight training (I’m not risking scratches or crushed fingers under a barbell), and for that, I grudgingly use the Apple Watch.
But honestly, I’ve turned off all notifications on the Watch anyway because it just makes me anxious. A silent, invisible, minimalist ring that tracks my sleep and basic recovery is way more my speed.
The Gen 4 fixes the biggest issues I had with the older Oura Rings. It’s comfortable enough to forget you're wearing it, and that alone makes it worth considering if you're into tracking your health without strapping a screen to your body.
Matte black forever.