Wherever I go, whatever I do, people point at my finger and ask, “Is that an Oura Ring?” Lots of people find they like the design, and they tell me why they’re thinking about switching to a smart ring from a smartwatch. But the people who scrunch up their noses? They usually say something along the lines of, “Hm. Maybe when it’s lighter or smaller.”
Good news. The newly announced $399 Oura Ring 5 is both. It’s 40 percent smaller than the Oura Ring 4, measuring 6.09mm wide (down from 7.9mm) and 2.29mm thick (down from 2.88mm). Depending on the size, it weighs from 2 to 2.69g. You’d think it might be hard to notice much a difference between the Oura Ring 4 and 5 — two very small wearables. But slipping the Oura Ring 5 off a ring stand and into my palm? It’s immediately noticeable. On my finger, it’s slimmer, too.
The design doesn’t look that different, though Oura told me in a press briefing that it was reengineered to include stronger LEDs and optimized battery life that can last for six to nine days. (Alas, petite-fingered friends: Larger rings always have longer battery life.) The ring itself is titanium and IP68 weather resistant, and the coating is reportedly less scratch-prone than previous models. (Though I will be the judge of that in testing. I will never forget how deeply I was burned by the rose gold Oura Ring Gen 3.) The optional charging case now also holds five full charges and works with wireless chargers. There’s also a new “deep rose” color, which is more of a coppery rose gold than pink.
There are a few disappointments. As with the Oura Ring 4, the company is recommending that people seeking to upgrade double-check their size with a new sizing kit. Because of the redesigned components, people can get stuck with an “in-between” ring size, which may require going larger or smaller to be more comfortable. Also, while the Oura Ring 4 was available in sizes 4 to 15, the Oura Ring 5 will only come in sizes 6 to 13. At my briefing, I was told that’s because the Oura Ring 4 isn’t that old yet (it launched at the end of 2024) and the company is still figuring out how much demand there is for the newer sizes. Another bummer: There’s no ceramic option yet.
Alongside the hardware, Oura is also announcing a ton of new software updates today. Building on Symptom Radar, which detects early health changes, the company is launching something called Health Radar. This suite of features includes nighttime blood pressure and nighttime breathing trends, the ability to import medical records, and a partnership with Council AI for a medical chatbot. (The latter two features require you to participate in the experimental Oura Labs beta testing feature.) The idea is that Health Radar will flag when a significant change happens in your health without having you look at each metric separately every day.
For folks interested in metabolic health, Oura is also adding GLP-1 insights and lab uploads. At my briefing, I was told the GLP-1 insights are meant to help users keep track of their dosages, monitor changes and side effects, and get a sense of what’s normal regarding how the medication may affect their metrics. For example, GLP-1s can cause a mild increase in resting heart rate. Lab uploads will allow Oura users to directly import test results into the app and chat with Oura’s AI chatbot about the findings. (As always, an obligatory reminder that most AI health features are capable of hallucinations and poor advice, so it’s a bad idea to think this can replace your doctor.)
Fitness-wise, live activity tracking is also improving in the Oura app. You’ll now be able to pair a third-party heart rate monitor to the Oura app, as well as view various real-time metrics. And similar to other big-name health tech companies, Oura is launching a new research study called the Brain Health Study. Users can opt in to share their data as Oura studies how metrics correlate to cognitive performance.
All of this is pretty sensitive information, and given Oura’s controversy last year over its Palantir partnership, the company says it’ll now give users expanded options for deleting their data. A new feature called Time-based Data Deletion will allow users to erase their information from a specific window of time should they wish.
The Oura Ring 5 is available for preorder today, starting at $399 for the black and silver colors and $499 for the rest of the colors. It’s expected to ship June 4th. The Brain Health Study is live starting today. The rest of the software updates will roll out in June.
Photography by Victoria Song / The Verge
Read the full article here
