The Oura Ring I Never Take Off Discounted $100 Right Now for Amazon Prime Day

The Oura Ring is one of the top wearables that athletes and fitness enthusiasts use to track their health and sleep. Olympian speed skaters Brittany Bowe and Maame Biney, as well as three-time Olympic medalist Hilary Knight, all use it to track their sleep and recovery. But you don’t have to be an athlete to try the Oura Ring—I’m certainly not.

When the Oura Gen 3 was first released, I was very excited to test the updated features and dive deeper into learning about my sleep and activity. I’ll admit, my first thought was: My iPhone and Apple Watch already track my fitness goals, heart health, and sleep, so what more can Oura offer? But I realized that my Apple Watch doesn’t compare to the tracking and metrics that the ring can deliver, especially when it comes to sleep. Below, I’ll dive deeper into why, but know this upfront: The Oura Ring has become a complete game-changer for my sleep and overall health.

What is the Oura Ring Gen 3?

The ring is Oura’s third-generation wearable device made from a titanium band that tracks your sleep, activity, and readiness using three types of sensors (tiny bumps on the inside of the ring). Infrared photoplethysmography sensors (referred to as PPG—basically technology that uses optics to detect blood volume changes) track your heart rate and respiration, a negative temperature coefficient (NTC materials that are sensitive to temperature changes) sensor detects your body temperature, and a 3D accelerometer follows your movement. Over time, the ring uses the information these sensors collect to provide you with detailed trends and insights into your health.

Heritage vs. Horizon

The Oura Ring Gen 3 comes in two styles: the Heritage and the Horizon. Both have the same technology and tracking capabilities—the only major difference is their silhouette. The Heritage has an angular design that nestles between your fingers, while the Horizon has a more traditional, smooth surface. Both are available in a range of finishes, including gold, silver, black, rose gold, brushed titanium, and black (a.k.a. Stealth).

I tested the Heritage model. However, it’s worth noting that the Horizon is on major sale for Amazon Prime Day. Right now, you can save 15% on this high-tech, jewelry-like wearable—but hurry, because this deal won’t last long.

How I tested

I spent seven weeks with the Oura Ring and never took it off (other than to charge it). I specifically used it to improve my health, a goal option that you can choose when you set up your ring and later update in your profile settings. The ring lets you choose from six different goal options (pictured above). However, you can only select one at a time.

At first, I found this annoying (there were so many options I wanted to choose from!), but I learned that it made sense to focus on one health goal at a time. I used SELF’s expert-recommended fitness and tracker criteria to test for ease of use, accuracy, battery life, comfort, water resistance, and more.

Unboxing and first impressions

The Oura Ring comes in a small box with the ring itself, the charger, and a user’s manual. When I tried on the ring, it not only fit perfectly (thanks to the free sizing kit that you can choose to order beforehand), but it was also barely noticeable on my finger.

Comfort was a serious concern for me because when I did a trial run with the sizing kit ring, as is suggested, it was so uncomfortable that I ended up taking it off in the middle of the night. Luckily, the real one fit perfectly. I wore my size-seven ring on my index finger, as is also suggested—and while it’s definitely on the bulkier side compared to regular rings, my first impression was that it was a sleek, minimalistic band that’s easy to wear.

The manual stated that the ring typically takes 20 to 80 minutes to charge. The first time I wore it, I charged it for about 30 minutes, and that lasted me three days. Note that the second full charge lasted me seven days. After downloading the Oura app and verifying my email to set up my account, I signed in and began pairing my ring.

Pro tip: It needs to be connected to the charger when pairing. I had some Bluetooth connection issues in the beginning, but, all in all, setting up my Oura Ring was quick and easy.

Reliability and ease of use

The ring provides 24/7 health tracking and summarizes your results in the form of daily “scores” (ranging from 0 to 100) for readiness, sleep, and activity. If your score lands anywhere below 70, it’ll remind you to “pay attention”; 70-84 is “good,” and above 85 is “optimal.” You can find these scorecards on the app’s homepage and tap them to find more detailed information on each.

The readiness card lets you know how prepared you are for the day based on your previous sleep balance, heart rate variability (HRV), and activity levels. The sleep card tells you how well you slept the previous night, and the activity card scores you based on your movements throughout the day, such as calories burned and steps taken.

The readiness score is the best snapshot into your health and advises you on how to best take on the day. Depending on your score, it will tell you things like “Take it slow,” “Prioritize recovery,” or “Go get ’em!” I’ve even gotten a “Was it something you ate?” because my heart rate lowered the previous night and the app suggested it could have been my digestive system in overdrive.

During the seven weeks that I tested the ring, my lowest readiness score was 67 and my highest readiness score was 96. My average readiness score was 78. This info is easily available under the trends section, where you can check daily, weekly, and monthly trends. It might seem like a lot of numbers at first, but as someone who loves working with data, I had fun checking it every morning when I woke up.

My low readiness scores also made sense, considering what I did the previous day. On March 25 (readiness score: 69), I stayed up late and had to wake up super early for an appointment the next day. On April 2 (score: 68), I dropped off my friends at the Philly airport and got back home close to 2 a.m.—and on April 7 (score: 67), I stayed up way past midnight because I wanted to be the first person to wish my boyfriend a happy birthday.

But the Ring's most noteworthy feature is its sleep-tracking capabilities. Your sleep quality is so important for your overall health and wellness. With the Oura Ring, you can track habits like time spent in bed, bedtime and wake-up time, total sleep, and even naps.

One of my main goals with the Ring was to help improve my health through better sleep and rest. I don’t have a regular bedtime, and I often have trouble sleeping. When I do fall asleep, I tend to wake up several times through the night. Frequently, I wake up still feeling tired because of how hard it is to fall and stay asleep.

At the start of testing, I was going to bed between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. and getting around six hours of sleep—hence my readiness scores in the low 70s. But over the next couple of weeks, the Oura Ring sent me push notifications and reminders from the app that encouraged me to have an earlier bedtime and get more sleep. I also tracked my data, which showed my readiness score increasing as my bedtime hour grew earlier, and used the tagging feature to keep track of factors that might have affected my sleep.

Soon, I found myself going to bed at around 11:30 p.m.—meaning this app got me to go to sleep nearly three hours earlier—a huge improvement. Now, I start my wind down around 10:30 p.m. (as the app suggests), and I usually get a full eight hours of rest, meaning that most mornings I wake up feeling much more well-rested. You can see my most recent sleep score above.

Here is where I think the Oura Ring can improve. The Oura app isn’t able to detect if you’re working out unless you manually add your workout. During my commute to work, it’ll detect “Maybe: walking” as a workout and I’ll have to confirm each time on the app—that’s the extent of its automatic tracking capabilities.

Accuracy

When testing steps, distance, and heart rate on the Oura app, I found that it was usually slightly off. Ultimately, I think anyone who is very interested in the activity and athletic performance aspect of a wearable device should stick with a smartwatch or fitness tracker. The Oura Ring comes close, but the fitness and activity data won’t be the best replacement for your usual fitness or workout app.

I tested the steps by counting one corner of my office workspace to the kitchen area and back. The count was off by eight to ten steps, and I also found that I had to refresh the app several times to get the updated numbers.

To check how the Ring senses distance, I tracked my commute and went on a two-mile run with it. It was accurate both times, but you do have to take your phone with you and leave the app open, since it uses location services to gather data. I made the mistake on going on a run without the app open and collected no distance, duration, or average pace information.

Checking your heart rate on the Oura app is very easy—simply click on the heart under the activity card. I tested my heart rate by checking my pulse on both my wrist and neck and it was very close to the ring’s BPM, usually only a few beats off.

Battery life

One of the best features of the Oura ring is that it only needs to be charged every seven days. It usually takes close to four days to lose 50% battery. For a wearable, it’s important to have a long-lasting battery if it’s going to keep long track of your health and sleep. My Apple Watch would constantly need to be charged, and it felt uncomfortable on my wrist when I slept. Often, I would remove my Apple Watch, forget about it, and leave it off for several days—but this never happened with my ring.

Comfort

I definitely recommend opting for a sizing kit before to ensure the best fit. Since I received the Oura Ring, I’ve been wearing it all day every day, except when it’s charging—or sometimes when I shower because it can get slippery. It’s comfortable to sleep with at night, and most of the time, I barely notice it on my finger. As with most rings, though, it can be uncomfortable to wear while lifting weights.

Style

It might seem low on the list, but style is key, especially for something like smart jewelry. I like the Heritage Black color of the Oura Ring that I chose because it can be worn with either silver or gold jewelry. Unlike smartwatches and fitness trackers, once you’ve chosen the ring band you can’t customize it—so choosing the color can be a big decision.

Syncing

The Oura Ring syncs well with the app, but it does take some time to update in the morning. Once it notes you’re awake, you can see a thin blue bar loading at the top as the app creates your readiness and sleep scores. It makes sense that it takes a while to load, but it is something to note if you’re someone that likes to see data immediately.

The app can also sync with various other platforms to share statistics like your sleep, weight, height, heart rate, menstrual cycle, and active energy. These include Apple Health, Google Health Connect, Natural Cycles, Flo, Strava, and more.

Water resistance

The brand claims that the Ring is water-resistant up to 100 meters. During testing, I showered and washed dishes with the Oura Ring and found that it still worked well, with no issues. Note that I did not test the Oura Ring while swimming or doing water sports.

Features

Tagging can help you identify triggers and factors that affect your health. Adding a tag is easy—just use the plus sign (+) at the bottom right corner of the app and choose from a wide range of options describing how you felt or what you did differently that day. You can use this feature to track small changes, like new cooling sheets, taking a hot or cold shower before bed, alcohol consumption, new diets, supplements, and more.

I’ve been using it to tag my emotions and symptoms right before my period. There are options for things like bloating, cramps, and even medication. I also appreciate that when I happen to take a nap, the nap tag automatically pops up to be added to my day. The idea is that all of these factors can influence how you sleep and, therefore, your health scores. Essentially, it doubles as my personal virtual health journal, since it can be difficult to always keep track of everything I do day to day.

I do feel that while there are a lot of options already available, there should be an option to manually add tags. For example, there’s a sad tag, but I would like to add a crying tag—because sometimes I cry right before my period, but that doesn't necessarily mean I’m sad. Other examples of these discrepancies include having a menstrual headache tag versus just a headache tag. I think these little things might make a big difference for people with vaginas.

The explore section of the app gives you full access to meditation sessions, breathing techniques, and sleep exercises. While I haven’t used a ton of these, the few that I did were useful and easy to follow.

This is a new feature in the Gen 3. The Apple Health app syncs your menstrual cycle, and the Oura app uses this to notify you when your period is approaching. You can log your period with the tag feature and check your previous and future cycle start dates.

The drawback is that you can’t see the complete days of your cycle (you can only use tags), so you have to go by the start dates. As someone who uses period apps, both the Apple Health app and the Oura app fall flat—I wish it was easier to log symptoms and check on past and future cycles.

I loved using the Oura app sharing feature to download and share how I slept the night before or how I did on my run. Unfortunately, this feature doesn’t let you share all the information that the app collects, so I don’t think it’s the best.

What users are saying

Amazon reviewers rave about the Oura Ring: “It’s beautiful and so functional,” one wrote. “It is so accurate too! I thought I was getting a bit sick one day and it told me to take it easy, so it picked up on the changes within my body.” Someone else added, “I do not feel I am very technical and I find it very easy to use.”

Shoppers are also huge fans of the app's detailed tracking capabilities. “I am a very data driven person (in my personal and professional life), so I really like that Oura gives you specific data about different areas of sleep, activity, readiness and resilience," a customer wrote. “I’ve learned so much more about my own personal health and wellness.”

Bottom line

The Oura Ring is very adaptable to your lifestyle, which is why I think it stands out from other wearables. Its daily recommendations focus less on burning calories and more on finding a balance in your life. The app provides you with insightful trends into your health and empowers you to make decisions. And it makes the information digestible (with charts and videos) instead of just raw data. I personally found it helpful when I talked to my psychiatrist about my sleep patterns.

Unlike the Apple Watch, which really only provides a summary of your sleep hours, the Oura Ring goes above and beyond by presenting you with the different stages of your sleep. And if you’re not familiar with or feel overwhelmed by the information, it breaks it down into short blurbs or clips to help you learn more. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll probably find yourself constantly wanting to dive deep into your statistics (I did).

Should you buy it?

Compared to other wearables, the Gen 3’s $449 to $499 price tag places it on the higher end. (FYI: You can get it for 15% off today only, thanks to Amazon Prime Day.) On top of that, there’s a $5.99/monthly membership subscription fee you pay after the six-month free trial.

But after using the Oura Ring for almost two months consistently, I found that it’s worth it. Any wearable device that you actually use is worth the investment—especially if you feel like it can benefit your health. I recommend using the tags to really optimize your ring to the best of its ability. I would argue that if the Oura Ring were to upgrade its activity tracking and tweak some of the features mentioned above, it could be considered one of the best wearables on the market.

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