An Oura Ring: I Want One!

By: Natalie Hickey

Whether you have heard of her or not, the Oura ring is the new It Girl.

While I have not yet caved to purchase one, I know many individuals who have– and all of them seem to love it. So naturally, I went ahead and researched this new and innovative ring for both you and me.

First things first, what is it?

The Oura Ring self-identifies as the “most trusted smart ring,” with “health tracking wrapped around your finger.”

But what does that really mean?

From what I’ve gathered, in one sentence, the Oura Ring is pretty much a more advanced and aesthetically pleasing Apple Watch with great sleep-tracking ability.

The Oura Ring uses sensors along its inside to collect biometric data, including the blood pulse volume in your finger, from which it calculates your respiratory and heart rates and your heart rate variability. It also collects your body temperature and your movement.

From those measures, it tells you your sleep quality (quantity and information about your stages of sleep, i.e. REM), your activity, and your readiness. To summarize, it provides information about how well you sleep, how active you are, and your resting heart rate/other health-based information. All of this information is then transmitted to Oura Membership, an app that seamlessly downloads your data.

Now, this is where it gets cool– the app gives you a score in each of those three categories – sleep, activity, and readiness – and breaks down each category into ways in which you can increase your score in these areas if you wish to. For example, it gives you a sleep score (0-100), telling you information regarding time asleep, time awake, hours of REM, deep, and light sleep. Moreover, once the ring gets to know you and your body a bit better, it will start giving you recommendations, such as “optimal bedtime.” Another personal favorite is how the ring will advise you when to “get more rest” if it thinks you might be getting sick.

I could keep going with more information on what this ring can supply you with, but at the end of the day, why does it stand out against its competition and from the well-known Apple watch?

I think it depends on the person. I think the top reasons I am intrigued by the Oura Ring are its subtle appearance, overall low maintenance, and sleep-tracking patterns. Most importantly, I believe that its best feature is its lack of a screen. With an Apple Watch, you are constantly tied to your phone. With society today, I just don’t think it's necessary. If I have a mini iPhone on my wrist, I’ll look at it… I don’t have the self-restraint not to! The Oura Ring takes that “media attachment” out of the question, with all the same, if not far more, advantages.

I’d say the Oura Ring is not only the new IT girl but, more specifically, the new wellness IT girl. And personally, I’m headed over to the Oura Ring website to get mine….