Tried & Tested
On trial: Oura Ring Gen3
Sleek, simple to use and the only thing that's legitimately helped fix my sleep health. I'm sold on this smart ring
Introducing the Oura Ring
After months of disrupted sleep and low energy (thanks to a mix of lifestyle factors including poor diet, decreased exercise and general ambivalence to try and do anything about it), I found myself searching all corners of the internet searching for 'sleep hacks', succumbing to bogus quick fix cures and ‘miracle’ supplements in the quest for better sleep.
Deciding it was time to take a more robust, data-led, approach to my sleep health, the Oura Ring was recommended to me by multiple friends who swore by the smart piece of wearable tech. Empowered by the real time information the Oura Ring was feeding them about their bodies (which stack up to build personalised weekly health reports found on the app), they were all able to make positive lifestyle fixes and were reaping the long-term benefits.
Thus, my love affair with a smart ring was born.
The Oura Ring at a glance
The world of wearable fitness trackers is vast: the tech moves quickly and vary widely in terms of comfort, accuracy and general performance. The Oura Ring is built differently, and is a disrupter in the market for a reason. Well, many reasons. Aesthetically speaking, it looks smart. In fact, it doesn't even look like a fitness tracker and unless you're-in-the-know (I now give Oura Ring wearers a special little nod that’s usually reserved for passing fellow dog walkers), my gold Heritage Gen3 Ring blends in seamlessly with my other jewellery. It's also comfortable, meaning you can wear it round the clock and is water-resistant (I keep mine on in the bath) and tough enough to withstand altitude, heat or cold.
Key features include:
- Built to last: The Oura Ring is made of titanium, making it super strong, non-allergenic and lighter than the average wedding band - I never take mine off.
- Long Battery Life: The Oura Ring can last a full week on a single charge. Your app will notify you when it's time to charge, then takes under two-hours to power the ring to full capacity.
- Early Illness Detection: The Oura Ring monitors your temperature trends and heart rate variability to identify potential signs of sickness so you can take extra precautions or take it easy for a day. It's especially interesting after a night out, something which has made me reassess my alcohol intake.
- Unrivalled Sleep Tracking: Get ready for best-in-class insights into your sleep quality, featuring personalised recommendations based on your sleep patterns including bedtime guidance and blood oxygen sensing.
- The Oura Ring's Research-grade Sensors Track It All: temperature-trends, heart rate, daily activity and recovery, sleep quality, menstrual cycles, even stress.
- 24/7 Heart Rate Monitoring: You’ll be able to see how your heart rate changes, day and night, plus learn how your body responds to daily habits, meals, stress, and environment.
Setting up the Oura Ring
The great thing about the Oura Ring is that you can delve into the health insights as much, or a little, as you like. I became quite obsessive about the data, spending ages on the app and blog monitoring my progress, as having access to such in-depth health insights felt incredibly exciting. However, whilst the algorithms, bespoke sleep tracking and recovery metrics are second to none, the set up process is refreshingly simple. It's literally plug and play.
The whole point is that the ring evolves with you. Over time (it takes around two weeks to gather your baseline data), the Oura Ring builds up a profile of you and your body which is reflected in the app and is why the weekly health reports are so insightful. Which means patience is your biggest friend. Wear it consistently 24/7, and you will start to reap the benefits of having so much personalised health knowledge at your fingertips.
How the Oura Ring tracks your sleep
After downloading the Oura App, I set my profile to focus on sleep health and staying energised. With these goals set, the app knows to tailor the data to fit my preferences for a bespoke experience. You can of course revise your focus area at any time, depending on your current wellness goal, be it managing stress levels, improving your athletic performance or increasing productivity.
The Oura Ring is one of the only wearables that directly measures your skin temperature, meaning it has the ability to detect how your body temperature naturally drops as you’re falling asleep and rises again just before you wake. Wear the ring to sleep, and you will wake up able to access an incredibly in-depth array of analytics. This can seem overwhelming at first, but again, it's up to you how granular you want to go with the insights.
The Oura Ring is one of the only wearables that directly measures your skin temperature, meaning it has the ability to detect how your body temperature naturally drops as you’re falling asleep and rises again just before you wake. Wear the ring to sleep, and you will wake up able to access an incredibly in-depth array of analytics. This can seem overwhelming at first, but again, it's up to you how granular you want to go with the insights.
For a more ‘at a glance’ approach, the app home screen gives you an overall sleep score out of 100. As a baseline, I now vary between 71-85 which is seen as 'good'. Watching how my menstrual cycle impacts things like sleep latency and restfulness, alongside seasonal changes, work stresses and the aforementioned 'big nights out', never gets boring.
The verdict: is it worth buying an Oura Ring?
The Oura Ring acts as an antidote to the sugary, quick-fix ways I found myself leaning on to plaster over my sleep and low energy issues. Plus, having a deeper understanding of what external factors contribute to my increased stress levels (which in turn can lead to a restless night’s sleep), has led to some transformational revelations. It may sound simple, but having detailed data to help inform when my perfect bedtime is, or how long I need to sleep each night, rather than a finger-in-the-air, one-size-fits-all approach, has truly benefited how I sleep, knowing this information is backed by science, based on my body.
Real-time data that leads to long-term health benefits? It's five stars from me.
★★★★★
