Oura is giving its popular ring and smart app a significant makeover. The company just announced the $349 Oura Ring 4, which will have a slimmer design, improved accuracy and more size. Starting today, the Oura app will also receive a complete redesign to better organize the range of new features introduced over the past few months.
At a glance, the Oura 4 ring doesn’t look too different from the Gen 3. However, the new ring will be made entirely of titanium. (The previous ring had an epoxy interior.) All rings will also be completely round, like the current Horizon models, with no flat edges. Perhaps most importantly, the sensors no longer have prominent dome-shaped covers. Instead, they’re recessed for a flatter, more comfortable profile.
The biggest update, however, comes from the software. Oura says its new algorithm helps solve a major problem with smart rings — the fact that everyone’s fingers are different, and smart rings can move out of alignment during the day. This can mean that the sensors are not pulling data from the optimal location, leading to gaps in the data. To solve this, the new algorithm increases the number of signal paths from eight to 18. Apparently, this allows it to choose which signal is the best at a given time.
Citing an outside study, Oura says the new algorithm results in a 120 percent increase in signal quality and a 30 percent bump in accuracy for blood oxygen tracking. It also claims the new algorithm reduces gaps in daytime and nighttime heart rate readings by 7 and 31 percent, respectively. On top of better accuracy, the company says the new algorithm also improves battery life by up to eight days, depending on ring size. (With smart rings, larger sizes tend to have better battery life.) Of course, these are claims from controlled studies and test scenarios. We’ll have to see how they translate into real-life use.
Notably, Oura is also expanding its size range. You’ll now be able to buy the ring in sizes 4 to 15. Previously, the smart ring was limited to sizes 6 to 13. Part of that is because Oura says its demographic has shifted to mostly female, with women in their 20s as the fastest growing segment. In general, expanding its size range is a good thing.
As for the app, Oura users may have noticed that it’s become increasingly cluttered over the past few months as the company added new features for stress tracking, reproductive health, heart health, and an experimental Labs beta program. To address this, the redesigned app will now have three sections: Today, Vitals and My Health. The Today tab is a dynamic summary of your biometrics, depending on time and the user’s health goals. Vitals will allow members to dive deeper into metrics and scores, while the My Health tab will focus on long-term trends.
In addition to the redesign, Oura is also rolling out a revamped daily stress metric. It also adds automatic activity detection for 40 different activity types. For reproductive health, Oura is also adding fertile window predictions for people trying to conceive. He underlined that the feature is NO intended to be used as a contraceptive and noted its partnership with Natural Cycles for people who want it. Finally, Oura says it’s finally bringing its Labs program to Android.
The Oura Ring 4 will start at $349, is HSA and FSA eligible, and will ship starting October 15th. People may be upset to hear that there is a $50 increase in the introductory price, but Oura Ring Gen 3 units will still be available while supplies last. Oura also confirmed that its $6 monthly / $70 annual subscription will not increase.