MOLLY-MAE Hague is the latest celeb seen sporting the Oura Ring and she has revealed on social media just how much she loves it.
Posting on her Instagram account yesterday the influencer wrote: “Me and this Oura ring are in a relationship. Quite frankly I’m OBSESSED.”
Molly-Mae joins a growing list of famous names who have been spotted wearing the smart fitness device, including Jennifer Aniston, Prince Harry and Kim Kardashian.
The ring measures a host of health data, including the wearer’s heart rate, blook oxygen levels, body temperature, daily movement, stress levels and sleep quality.
All in all it reads more than 20 biometrics yet looks just like a piece of jewellery.
It’s sleek and simple, not bulky like some other health devices.
As Molly-Mae puts it: “It actually looks cute. How much more gorgeous than an Apple Watch or Whoop?!”
We reviewed the Oura 3, wearing the smart ring for over a year so we could report back on all of its functions.
Read on for our thoughts on this bestselling fitness tracker.
Pros
- Very lightweight
- Easy sleep tracking
- Precise step counter
- Compatible with birth control app Natural Cycles
- Stylish
Cons
- Chunky
- Expensive
- Some colourways can get tarnished
- Not just a one-time purchase: you’ll need to pay a monthly subscription
Rating: 5/5
Oura Ring review UK: how we tested
Three Sun Shopping writers have been wearing the Oura Ring for more than a year to give it a comprehensive review.
We tested its ability to track sleep, stress and activity, as well as how well it works with the Natural Cycles app for contraception.
Oura Ring Quickfire Q&A
How much is the Oura Ring? The Oura 3 currently starts from £299 but the newest version, the Oura 4 costs from £349.
Who’s it best for? People who are looking for health and fitness tracking in a subtle wearable.
What we loved: That it gives so much information, yet is so small and comfortable to wear.
What we didn’t: It’s a an extra £5.99 per month for access to full health data, otherwise you have receive sleep, readiness and activity scores only.
First impressions
The Oura Ring is available in eight sizes so Oura sends a sizing kit to make sure you order the correct fit.
The brand recommends wearing the Oura Ring on your index, middle or ring finger, but avoiding fingers where the base is narrower than the knuckle.
It should be tight enough to stay in place, but not so tight it’s uncomfortable.
Oura Ring Gen3, from £299
After placing the order, the Oura Ring arrived within two business days (impressive, considering it was sent from The Netherlands).
Set up was simple too. After downloading the Oura app and pairing with our phones we were ready to go. The process took no more than 10 mintues.
Oura Ring Gen3, from £299
The app confirmed basic info, such as height and weight; it also asked permission to share Apple Health data.
After that it took around 10 seconds to pull in data from a walk earlier that day.
The Oura is available in two designs – Heritage and Horizon – each available in a variety of finishes.
Though the ring looks chunky, it’s actually remarkably comfortable to wear and coordinates well with other jewellery.
Oura Ring Gen3, from £299
Performance:
Sleep tracking
Sleep tracking is one of the features that most excited us about the Oura Ring. It’s also less bulky and so more comfortable to wear in bed, than a smart watch.
It measures both the length of your sleep and the amount of time you spend in various stages of rest, including time spent awake, in REM sleep, deep sleep and light sleep.
Oura gives you a sleep score out of 100, which is particularly useful on those days when you lack ‘oomph’.
The app also lets you know when it’s time to start winding down for the evening and offers evening meditations to help you set the mood, which we found very beneficial in helping us drift off.
Stress and heart rate tracking
One of the newer functions of the Oura Ring is stress tracking.
Every fifteen minutes, the app captures your temperature and heart rate and provides you with a stress reading (once it’s figured out your baseline biometrics for the day).
There are four different readings: Stressed, Engaged, Relaxed, and Restored.
However, we’re not too impressed with this function as it indicates we’re mostly in a state of stress or ‘engaged’ – even when we’re relaxing or doing calming activities such as yoga.
We’ve also noticed that it tends to spike during exercise, hot showers and after eating – again, moments we wouldn’t equate with stress.
Oura recently released a Stress Resilience metric, which analyses how your body deals with and recovers from the stressors of the previous day, so it’s clearly a feature that’s being worked on.
Oura Ring Gen3, from £299
Oura Ring and Natural Cycles
The Oura Ring records temperature, which means you can use it in conjunction with the Natural Cycles app as a method of hormone-free birth control and for tracking your daily fertility status.
Oura Ring Gen3, from £299
Once the Natural Cycles app has synced with the data from the Oura Ring each morning, it asks you a few questions before advising whether it’s a green or red day.
On green days, your temperature indicates you aren’t ovulating and don’t need to use protection, while on red days, you’ll need to use extra protection.
Natural Cycles takes into account what your fertility goals are, so if you’re trying to get pregnant, it will predict which days you are fertile.
Like all contraceptives, Natural Cycles is not 100% effective. According to the company’s own research, it’s 93% effective with typical use and 98% effective with perfect use, so take that into account when you’re weighing up your contraceptive options.
Natural Cycles membership – £9.99 a month or £69.99 for a yearly subscription
Oura Ring vs Apple Health
Both the Oura and Apple Health apps allow you to view information about your breathing patterns overnight, as well as your heart rate during sleep.
While Apple Watch does record sleep stages, Oura’s matches performance with the polysomnography test (the gold standard for helping diagnose sleep disorders), making it superior for sleep tracking.
Oura Ring Gen3, from £299
The battery on the Oura lasts around six days on one charge, compared to less than 24 hours with our Apple watches.
How much does an Oura Ring cost?
The latest Oura Ring Generation 4 starts from £349, going up in price depending on the finish.
The Oura 3 reviewed by our writers starts from £299 for both the Horizon and Heritage models.
There’s a £5.99 monthly subscription fee to pay on all models to access full health data.
Where to buy an Oura Ring in the UK
The most popular place to buy an Oura Ring is the company’s own website.
However, it’s also available from John Lewis and Amazon.
Oura Ring Gen3, from £299
Alternatives?
If you’re looking for an alternative to the Oura Ring, there are a number of options out there.
The Sun’s Tech team tested out for the Samsung Galaxy Ring.
Its AI-powered health insights feature advanced health-tracking capabilities, such as heart rate monitoring, sleep analysis, and fitness tracking – all fully integrated with Samsung’s ecosystem of devices and apps.
We have also reviewd the Ultrahuman Ring AIR.
Like the Oura, it tracks sleep, activity and heart rate but stands out with its emphasis on metabolic health. This makes it a better choice if you’re particularly focused on glucose monitoring and metabolic optimisation.
It’s available in five colourways and is priced at £329 – whereas the Oura Ring starts from £299 and goes up to £499.
If you’re open to other wearable smart tech, the Apple Watch Series 10 tracks sleep, heart rate and exercise along with body temperature and blood oxygen levels, while another smart ring alternative is the Circular Ring Slim, which declares itself ‘the world’s thinnest smart ring’.
Can you use the Oura Ring without a subscription?
You can use the Oura Ring without a membership, but you’ll be limited as to what you can do with it.
You’ll be able to see your sleep, activity and readiness scores without a subscription, but that’s about all.
The subscription costs £5.99 a month (first month free) and for that you get in-depth analysis and additional health insights, which can be particularly beneficial if you’re looking to optimise your health and wellness.
Can you shower with an Oura Ring?
Yes, the Oura Ring is water-resistant up to 100 meters so it’s completely safe to shower while wearing it, without the risk of it being damaged.
In fact, Oura says it’s fine to wear your smart ring not only in the shower but in saunas, hot tubs, ice baths and cryotherapy tanks.
Beware of extended exposure to extreme temperatures though, which could cause damage to the battery.
Does the Oura Ring track steps?
It does, but the Oura Ring focuses primarily on tracking sleep patterns, activity levels and other health metrics.
However, if you do want to keep note of your daily step count then it registers all your daily movements.
Which is better: a smart ring or smart watch?
Deciding between a smart ring and a smart watch comes down to personal preference.
Smart rings such as the Oura offer discreetness, as they resemble regular jewellery and are less intrusive in daily activities. They also excel in sleep tracking and subtle notifications.
In contrast, smart watches boast larger displays, so they’re ideal if you prioritise visual information when it comes to tracking your health.
In our Whoop review, our tester was impressed by the ‘seamless’ graphics that are used to present the data, adding that a nifty trick is to ‘flip your smartphone horizontally to see a full-screen graph of your day. Satisfying does not cut it – it’s glorious.’
Ultimately, both types of device offer benefits so it’s all down to which one speaks to you most. You’re sure to find the right wearable health tech for you.
The verdict
After more than a year of testing, we can confidently say the Oura Ring is a must-have bit of tech that’s helped improve our lives.
It’s comfortable and aesthetically, its minimal design can be seamlessly styled around our outfits without looking out of place.
We all found the sleep tracker to be its most useful function. This provided more in-depth information than similar fitness trackers we’ve used and so helped us understand why our sleep was poor.
The ring’s many other features, such as heart rate tracking and the functionality to pair it with Natural Cycles means it’s great for every day use.
Though it’s not the cheapest smart tracker out there, it’s an investment that we think pays off. The Oura has made us more aware of our personal health metrics and has bolstered our overall health.
We’re big fans of Oura’s uncomplicated approach to scoring. With one look at the app in the morning, you can easily see what your body needs for the day.
Oura Ring Gen3, from £299
