Less is more with the Oura Ring 5

If you’re reading an Oura Ring 5 review at The Verge, you likely fall into one of two camps: newcomers looking for a smartwatch alternative, or Oura users pondering an upgrade. In the case of the former, this is a great casual health tracker and the best smart ring on the market — but not your best choice if you really sweat the fitness details. If you fall into the latter, you don’t need to upgrade.

I say this because the Oura Ring 4 came out less than two years ago. The ceramic version, of which I am a big fan, came out less than a year ago. These were major updates over the Oura Ring Gen 3, both in terms of software and in terms of sensors. Meanwhile, the Ring 5 is mostly an aesthetic update. You can think of this as a smaller and lighter Oura Ring 4. The sensors are the same, the battery life is roughly the same, and none of the software features are gatekept to the Ring 5. The smaller design is an engineering feat, but from a consumer perspective? It isn’t such a noticeable improvement that I’d advocate shelling out an extra $399 minimum if your current Oura Ring is working just fine. (And that’s on top of the $6 monthly subscription you’re already paying.)

Still not convinced? Here are more reasons why you don’t need to upgrade. Unless the bigger ring is uncomfortable to wear because your fingers are particularly petite, the difference isn’t that noticeable. If the finish on your ring is blasted to hell, I’d actually recommend the ceramic Oura Ring 4. While my Oura Ring 5 is much more durable than the non-ceramic Ring 4, it still got a few nicks in about a month and a half of wear. (Note: I’m rough on rings, so if you take greater care, this might not apply to you.) That said, should you have the funds in your FSA/HSA, or are blessed enough to not sweat the price, do what makes you happy. Now that the Oura app supports pairing multiple rings, I can confirm that you can easily swap between multiple rings, so your older Oura doesn’t have to become e-waste.

My main hardware gripe with the Oura Ring 5 is sizing. At my initial hands-on, Oura told me that the Ring 5 will have a narrower size range than its predecessor. Sizes 4, 5, 14, and 15 aren’t available. I was told this is because Oura is still assessing the demand, given the Oura Ring 4’s expanded range is still relatively new. That’s disappointing for accessibility reasons. However, in my mind, this is also further proof that functionally, there’s not much difference between the 4 and 5 for consumers. (Either that, or Oura found it particularly difficult on the smaller sizes to fit in all the components.) Likewise, I’m disappointed to see that there’s no ceramic option for the 5.

I’ll acknowledge that sizing is tough with smart rings. Fingers swell, and if you lose or gain weight, that can affect sizing as well. For that reason, you should still try out the latest sizing kit. Case in point, I’ve lost a good chunk of weight and while a size 9 fits me perfectly in the Ring 5, my size 9 Ring 4 fits more loosely.

My other quibble is Oura’s decision to make the charging case a $99 accessory instead of the default charger. Cases are just better than docks, especially if you have a naughty cat that likes to knock the dock off your nightstand. Also, it stinks that if you already bought a charging case for the Ring 4, you’ll have to buy another one for the Ring 5 because they’re not forward- or backward-compatible due to the sizing differences between generations.

But enough about hardware. Oura tends to bundle new rings with a bunch of new software updates, and there’s no exception here. This time around, Oura’s launched:

This isn’t gatekept to the Ring 5, and most of these are optional. And while I don’t object to the individual features, they had the overall effect of making the Oura app feel a lot more cluttered.

I first began long-term testing the Oura Ring in 2019. It used to be a relatively simple app experience where I could log in and check three main scores: activity, readiness, and sleep. Several app redesigns and feature launches later, the Oura app is verging on too much data. One new-ish metric, for instance, is nighttime breathing. While Oura has long measured your nighttime breathing disturbances, it now gives insight into your “prevailing pattern” over a 30-day period and associated factors like demographics, weight, activity levels, sleep regularity, and average sleep duration. It’ll tell you which of those factors has room for improvement, and which ones you’re doing well with. That sounds fine in a vacuum, but finding this metric is confusing and is buried in several other screens.

Health Radar mostly works in the background and only surfaces insights to your Today tab — which I appreciate. That said, I haven’t had any significant changes to my health in the last six weeks, so I can’t really say if it accurately detects anything yet.

The most useful update for me, personally, has been GLP-1 Insights, though it’ll be more useful if you’re newer to the medication. I get dose reminders every week, and I can specify where I’ve decided to inject (e.g., which arm, which leg, or which part of the abdomen). I can also tag symptoms and an AI summary will provide context as to whether what I’m experiencing is normal. My main gripe is that to get the best experience, you’ve got to track and tag symptoms daily. That’s not as helpful seven months into my journey. It’s also less useful if you have some more unusual side effects from the drug. (For example, Oura’s AI insights had no advice for my ear popping — which is not a direct side effect of a GLP-1 but one that many users experience.)

I’ve spilled a ton of ink on my feelings about AI chatbots in fitness tracking apps. My skepticism and less-than-impressed feelings haven’t changed. However, I appreciate that connecting to an actual doctor is a bit easier in the Oura app. (Note: The medical AI chatbot is included in your subscription, but any consultations or resulting prescriptions will cost you extra.) That said, I found this mostly appropriate for quick questions that didn’t warrant a doctor visit but need better reliability than Dr. Google. For more serious care, I still recommend finding a primary care physician you actually like.

Ultimately, I keep thinking “less is more” with Oura. This was already the best smart ring, and it still is. Especially in terms of hardware. But the main reason people flock to smart rings over smartwatches is they offer a simpler experience. Zero notifications, basic metrics, and a more streamlined health tracking approach. Many of the new features are optional, but the clutter isn’t. I can appreciate that Oura might be trying to deliver more value to its subscribers by loading the ring up with health tracking features. I simply question if that’s necessary. People flocked to Oura because it wasn’t a maximalist device. But as it stands right now? I’m starting to get data fatigue from the wearable I used to turn to feel less overwhelmed.