Hi friend,
I get asked about my Oura ring so much that I felt like it was finally time to officially share a more detailed review.
At coffee shops, hair salons, work… one of the first questions is always “is that an Oura ring?” followed by “is it worth it?” So those are the two main questions I want to base this on.
And honestly, sometimes it makes me laugh because it also makes me wonder is it really that subtle if people can instantly tell I have one on? Or has it just become such a recognizable piece of tech that people know it when they see it?
What most people don’t realize is that it’s not just wellness tech. Oura is the official health wearable partner of the New York Knicks, with Jalen Brunson as a brand ambassador. So when I say this is about recovery, It’s cool to think that it also means the same kind that pro athletes are tracking.
For anyone who hasn’t heard of it, before I actually knew what the Oura ring was, I thought of it as a cute Apple Watch alternative. I wore an Apple Watch for years, especially for workouts, but I hit a point where I wanted something a little more low key. Slightly more “demure”. The apple watch aesthetics just weren’t doing it for me at the time, and the Oura ring immediately caught my attention.
But what actually pulled me in was sleep.
I wanted to get more serious about tracking my sleep and recovery, and wearing an apple watch to bed just wasn’t comfortable for me. The Oura ring felt like a better fit for that part of my routine.
At its core, the Oura ring is wearable tech that tracks your sleep, recovery, and overall readiness using a range of biometrics. You wear it all day and night, and because it sits on your finger, it’s able to collect really detailed data that translates into insights about how your body is actually doing.
It’s marketed toward people who want to understand their bodies better, especially when it comes to rest and recovery.
At the same time, while the aesthetics are definitely on point, it is still a pretty expensive piece of health tech ($300+), which is why I think so many people are curious, but hesitant to actually buy it.
And that’s before even getting into the fact that once you buy the ring, you’re also paying a monthly subscription for the full insights. It does add up, and I can definitely see how that turns people away.
But after wearing it consistently for two years, I wanted to share what’s actually been worth it, what hasn’t, and what I wish I knew before getting it.
sleep tracking
I love sleep. Like if it were a hobby, it would easily be my top one and this is where the Oura ring really stands out.
It breaks down how well you actually slept, not just how long you were in bed. Your readiness score, your sleep stages, how recovered your body feels going into the next day. It gives you a full picture.
It’s also just really comfortable to sleep in. Half the time I barely even notice it’s there, which was a big thing for me coming from the Apple Watch.
I would definitely recommend ordering the sizing kit first, because your hands can swell a bit, especially overnight, and you don’t want it to feel too tight when you wake up.
But sleep is the kind of insight that you’ll either love or something that might stress you out a little. Because now you know when you didn’t sleep well.
But for me, I actually think that awareness is important, especially when it comes to recovery.
health insights
There have been times where my Oura ring told me to slow down or shared that my body might be under intense strain, even when I didn’t fully realize it yet. It gives early signals when you might be getting sick, which is kind of crazy to me.
I don’t get sick too often, but the times I have, Oura actually picked up on it days beforehand.
It makes you a lot more aware of your body in a way that feels subtle but consistent.
It also tracks your daily stress levels, which is interesting because it can go both ways. It can either make you more aware of your stress, or make you more stressed lol. But it can also be a really helpful signal that you need to slow down or reset.
And reading into the many stories out there where Oura really stands out. People catching early signs of illness, even things like pregnancy before they realized it themselves. It just shows how powerful that kind of data can be when it’s actually used well.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Spoken from the Olympian himself, Oura can be lifesaving for athletes too.
And just to give you a real look into what the data actually looks like, here’s my sleep score and stress. And yes, I’m giving you my best days, because if you saw my worst, my score might drop just from me typing this lol.
for the girls
If you pair Oura with the Natural Cycles app, it becomes really helpful for cycle tracking. It just adds another layer of understanding your body in a way that feels easy and integrated into your daily routine.
Women’s health is so important, and this just feels like a simple way to be more in tune with your body without overcomplicating it.
workouts, and where it falls short
This is probably my biggest downside.
I really thought the Oura ring could replace my Apple Watch, especially for workouts, but it just can’t. The workout tracking isn’t great, and it’s definitely not something I rely on.
For example, I’d ideally want to track my [solidcore] workouts and other activities in a detailed way, and it just doesn’t fully deliver on that yet.
It can pick up on general activity and give you a sense of movement, but it’s not the same as having real time metrics or detailed workout breakdowns.
So if you’re someone who cares about that level of detail or likes actively tracking your workouts while you’re doing them, you’ll still want to keep your Apple Watch or another device for that.
so, would i recommend the oura ring?
Short answer:
yes, for the right person
it’s 100% worth it if you are someone who:
cares about sleep and recovery
wants to understand your body on a deeper level
prefers low effort, passive tracking
values aesthetic + lifestyle fit just as much as functionality
This is where the Oura ring really shines.
It’s not trying to be everything, but it’s trying to be really good at helping you understand your body.
It’s probably not worth it if you:
care a lot about workout tracking and performance metrics
are hesitant about paying for both the ring and the monthly subscription
Because in those cases, you can just get an Apple Watch or equivalent workout or health tracker.
So, If you were thinking about getting an Oura ring, I hope this helped.
And Oura, if you ever read this one day… hire me because regardless of the shortcomings, I do genuinely love you.
I appreciate the insight. I haven’t spent a great deal learning about the oura ring so this detailed experience really helps me understand that it may not be for me.
I’d love better sleeping data but not for the trade off of activities.