What our Oura Ring 4 review will tell us: how we'll analyze the new smart ring
We're ready to review the newly announced Oura Ring 4. Here's the criteria on which The Shortcut will judge the popular smart ring brand
💍 The Shortcut is working on an Oura Ring 4 review with new benchmarks
🧪 We’ll test Oura’s claim Ring Gen 4 is more accurate and comfortable
🆚 It’s Oura Ring 4 vs Samsung Galaxy Ring as we compare the top smart rings
💰 The $349 Oura Ring 4 is a contender for best smart ring on October 15
🫰 But its $6/per month ($70/yr) subscription is a big turn off for consumers
We’re already working on an Oura Ring 4 review at The Shortcut, drawing up new criteria to analyze the smart ring that was announced today. It’s a fairly new product category, so while I’ve reviewed smartphones for over a decade, smart rings require a fresh set of benchmarks before figuring our a final review score.
I can already tell you that the Oura Ring 4 will go head-to-head with the Samsung Galaxy Ring in our tests, and we’ll also compare it to the Oura Ring Gen 3. I’m sized up for Oura Ring 4 in size 11 and ready to go.
How we’ll test the Oura Ring 4
What matters most are the Finnish company’s claims that the fully titanium Ring 4 is more accurate when it comes to health metrics and more comfortable to wear long term. This is going to require more testing beyond October 15 to get accurate data from the ring. That’s something that we noticed in our Google Pixel Watch 3 review that required more than two weeks of data collection to get a readiness score.
The same goes for the bold claim of up to eight hours of battery life (depending on the size, of course, as the battery capacity will vary). It’ll require a lot more testing time, so stick with us. However, here’s what we see so far from the Oura Ring 4 specs.
Pros
✅ 💍 Oura’s smart ring has a more comfortable sleek design
✅ 📶 More accurate sensors are flush, offering a better 24/7 fit
✅ 📐 Comes in additional sizes, from size 4 to size 15
✅ 🔋 Up to 8 days of battery life (depending on the size)
✅ 📱 Works with both iOS and Android phones
✅ 🪨 Durable fully titanium design that’s fairly lightweight
Cons
❌ 💰 Oura’s $6/mo subscription remains a turn off for consumers
❌ 🪶 Oura Ring 4 weigh starts at 3.3g, more than Samsung Galaxy Ring
❌ 📳 No vibration motor for standing notifications or silent alarms
❌ 🧳 The charging cradle can’t match Samsung’s charging case
❌ 🎨 Six colors, but most of them cost $50 to $150 more
Our Oura Ring 4 review will require constant testing, from workings in the daytime to sleep tracking at night – charging it as quickly as possible to get back to collecting more data, which Oura says it has improved dramatically via advanced algorithms.
Oura Ring 4’s flush smart ring sensors offer a 120% improvement in signal quality for blood oxygen sensing and 30% increase in accuracy in average overnight SpO2 measurement, according to an external study cited by Oura. Just as important, Oura says that the Ring Gen 4 will offer 7% fewer gaps in its daytime heart rate graph and as much as 31% fewer gaps in the nighttime heart rate graph.
Oura Ring 4 price analysis
One area that remains a sticking point with the Oura Ring 4 is the price. It starts at just $349.99 and launches on October 15, but that won’t be the last time you have to pay. Oura tacks on a $6 per month or $70 per year membership for access to all metrics, data and personalized guidance. It’s pretty much required to to full use of the Ring 4.
Additionally, while the standard Silver and Black Oura Ring 4 colors cost $349, you’ll pay more for the four other rings color choices. Brushed Silver and Stealth cost $50 more and Gold and Rose Gold cost $150 more. Here’s the official price list:
Silver $349
Black $349
Brushed Silver $399
Stealth $399
Gold $499
Rose Gold $499
I’m not sure why it can cost $150 more for the Oura Ring 4 in gold and rose gold, but I noticed the same trend with the Oura Ring Gen 3 so this isn’t new. Of note, the Oura Ring 4 specs page that launched today does note that the Stealth color does have a different titanium coating, so that may be a factor on that version at least:
Titanium with physical vapor deposition (PVD) coating in Black, Silver, Brushed Silver, Gold, and Rose Gold
Titanium with Diamond-like Carbon (DLC) coating in Stealth
Oura Ring 4 battery
The promise of up to eight hours of battery life from the Oura Ring 4 is impressive, and that’s something I’ll be examining in my review. It’ll of course depend on the ring size, so the Oura Ring 4 size 15 will last longer than the Oura Ring size 4, for example.
The Oura Ring, even at a smaller size, weighs more than the Samsung Galaxy Ring (which starts at size 5). I’m hoping that this is because the battery capacity is a smidge larger, adding to the weight, but time will tell.
I’m a bit surprised that the Oura Ring 4 doesn’t come with a charging case and that the company instead stuck with a charging cradle. The Samsung Galaxy Ring has a charging case that encloses the ring, and it just feels safer for travel.
That said, with up to eight hours of battery life, you may be able to take this ring with you on trips and leave behind the charger entirely.
Oura Ring 4 review outlook
With notable improvements to the sensor design and the overall accuracy, the new Oura Ring seems like a promising update. The question is: can the Oura Ring 4 beat the Android-only Samsung Galaxy Ring and the crop of fresh smart ring competitors like Ultrahuman? We’ll know more on October 15 and beyond in our full review.