If I had a pound for every time someone asked me whether they need a smart ring and a smartwatch, I’d be so rich I wouldn’t need to write about them. But alas, here we are. The truth is, it very much depends on who you are and what you are looking to track as to whether one is better than the other. Or, like me, you might appreciate the insights of both.
I’ve worn both an Apple Watch and an Oura Ring for the past two years. Currently, I have the Apple Watch Series 11 and the Oura Ring 5 on, but I’ve worn earlier generations too, including the Watch Series 10 and Oura Ring 4. The only time either of these wearables leaves my wrist or finger is when it needs charging (it will likely come as no surprise that one therefore leaves more than the other).
If you’re choosing between the two, or wondering whether you need a smart ring or a smartwatch when you already have the other, here’s how the Oura Ring 5 compares with the Apple Watch Series 11 and what each tracks.
Price and release date
Let’s start with cost, as most of us have a budget when buying these things. The Apple Watch Series 11 starts at £369, though it can often be found for under £300 now. Keep in mind that its successor is rumoured to launch in September, so you may be better off waiting until it does, not least because the Series 11 should then go down in price.
It comes in two sizes – 42mm and 44mm – and two finishes: aluminium or titanium. The aluminium has four colour options, while the titanium has three. Opt for titanium, and you’re looking at a starting price of £649, which is considerably more expensive.
The Oura Ring 5, meanwhile, starts at £349, though you’ll need to pay £5.99 a month on top for the insights it provides. The Ring 5 comes in six colour options, with a couple of the more popular ones costing £499. There are eight ring sizes, ranging from 6 to 13, and a sizing kit is available to help you work out which is the right fit.
Design and build
When it comes to comparing the design of the Apple Watch Series 11 and the Oura Ring 5, we’re talking about entirely different devices. I might as well be comparing apples and oranges, yet I’m asked all the time which is better, so clearly it’s a valid comparison. I find both equally wearable, but the Oura Ring 5 is much more subtle and less disruptive when sleeping, while the Apple Watch Series 11 is more useful as a standalone device. Both offer premium build quality, but for the avoidance of all doubt, the Apple Watch Series 11 has a screen and a strap and is worn on the wrist, while the Oura Ring 5 is worn on the finger and is screen-free.
I wear the Rose Gold 42mm aluminium Apple Watch Series 11 and the Gold Oura Ring 5 in size 9, though as I mentioned above, you have choices in both. The Apple Watch Series 11 weighs 34.6g and is 9.7mm thick off the wrist. The Oura Ring 5 weighs 2g and is 2.28mm thick, so if you’re looking for a small, lightweight wearable, there’s a clear winner.
Both are water resistant, but the Apple Watch Series 11 is water resistant up to 50 metres and has IP6X dust resistance, while the Oura Ring 5 is waterproof up to 100 metres and is IP68 rated for water and dust.
Features
The Apple Watch Series 11 is packed with features, as is the Oura Ring 5, but in many cases they are quite different. The Watch Series 11 offers smartphone notifications for your iPhone, silent alarms, the ability to start a workout and view live metrics on its screen, as well as sleep and activity tracking and health features such as sleep apnoea detection and hypertension notifications.
You can also do things like take calls on your wrist (goodness knows why you’d want to), ping your iPhone if you can’t find where you left it (a regular occurrence for me), and pay with Apple Pay. It’s a superb companion device for an iPhone user and a great wearable for tracking workouts, whether that’s an outdoor run or an indoor cycling session.
The Apple Watch Series 11 sleep scores are higher than those of other sleep trackers, including the Oura Ring 5. There’s no readiness or energy score in the daily metrics, and it doesn’t track stress. However, it does have the Vitals app, which monitors five key metrics and alerts you if one or more falls outside your typical range.
The Oura Ring 5, meanwhile, doesn’t alert you when your phone is ringing, allow you to pay with your finger, or display live metrics during a workout without the Oura app open on your phone. However, it does offer plenty of other insights. It tracks sleep, stress, blood oxygen, heart rate variability, resting heart rate, women’s health and much more.
It automatically detects activity (it gives me a lot of housework recognition), and you get daily readiness, sleep and activity scores. It also monitors your resilience by calculating how well your body recovers from day-to-day physiological stress. For women, it also has a menopause tracker, and it will predict fertile windows and menstrual cycle timelines based on your temperature – though the Apple Watch Series 11 can do this too.
Battery life
The Apple Watch Series 11 has a longer battery life than the Watch Series 10, but we are still talking about daily charging for the most part. I end the day at around 30 per cent, but I will typically charge the Watch Series 11 as I get ready for bed, as that’s the habit I got into with the Series 10.
The Oura Ring 5’s battery life is about seven days for me, though I expect it to reduce over time, as it did with the Oura Ring 4. Still, at the beginning of its life, you can get away with going on a weekend away with a fully charged Ring 5 and not worry about bringing the charging puck, which you can’t do with the Apple Watch Series 11. For a week-long holiday, I pop the puck in my bag just in case, as I don’t like gaps in data, but you might live on the edge more than I do.
Apple Watch Series 11 vs Oura Ring 5: which should you buy?
As I said, I wear both an Apple Watch Series 11 and an Oura Ring 5, so I am an advocate for investing in both if your budget allows. Why? Because I think they bring different things to the table, even if there is some overlap in areas like sleep and activity tracking.
I love my Apple Watch Series 11 for keeping me up to date with what’s happening on my phone without having to have it in my hand all the time. It’s also a great device for tracking my Peloton workouts and outdoor walks in real time without my phone, helping me find my iPhone when I lose it in the house, and paying when I am out and about. I love the Oura Ring 5 for stress tracking, cycle insights, and its daily scores, from sleep to readiness. It’s also brilliant for monitoring trends you might otherwise miss, from a rise in resting heart rate to the people or situations your body finds stressful.
If both isn’t an option (which is fair enough, as they aren’t cheap), then here’s the lowdown: For passively monitoring day-to-day health and wellness, from trends in your resting heart rate to your response to stress, the Oura Ring 5 is the one to choose. For workout tracking, with the added benefits of being able to pay from your wrist, locate a misplaced iPhone, or see important notifications without picking up your phone, choose the Apple Watch Series 11.
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