Here’s How Small the Oura Ring 5 Really Is.
I’ve been wearing the Oura Ring 5 for a few days now. My full review will be out soon, but for now, I have one main conclusion: the Oura Ring 5 is impressively thin, as promised . It’s also the most comfortable smart ring I’ve ever worn.
The Oura Ring 5 is about the size of a regular ring without the smartwatch feature.
The photo above shows the size of the Oura Ring 5 (center, gold) next to the previous generation, the Oura Ring 4 (right, black). On the left, for comparison, are two regular jewelry rings. The latter rings are chunkier than many delicate wedding bands (what can I say, I’ve always appreciated the durability of titanium rings), but they always felt tiny next to the elegant ring. However, compared to the Oura Ring 5, the difference is much less noticeable than with any other elegant ring I’ve worn.
The Oura Ring 5 is by far the smallest smart ring I’ve ever seen.
Based on the specs, I knew this would be the smallest ring I’d ever tried, and here’s proof: in the photo above, the three rings on the right are different generations of Oura rings, with the Oura Ring 5 at the top. On the left are (from top to bottom): the Samsung Galaxy Ring , the Ultrahuman Ring Air , and the RingConn Gen 3 .
This photo shows a side-by-side comparison of the Oura Ring 5 and the RingConn Gen 3 , its closest competitor in size. The Oura Ring 5 is gold, while the RingConn 3 is silver.
Here’s how the Oura Ring 5 compares to previous generations of Oura Rings.
In the photo above, you can see the last three generations of the Oura Ring: 3, 4, and 5, from left to right. You can see that the 3rd generation had round sensor bumps inside, while the Oura Ring 4 has flattened them, creating a smooth inner surface. The Oura Ring 5 has returned to some low-profile bumps to improve skin contact.
Is the Oura Ring 5 worth upgrading?
The Oura Ring 5 definitely looks better and is more comfortable than previous generations, and according to Oura, the coating is more scratch-resistant. These are compelling reasons to choose the 5th model over the earlier one, all other things being equal. However, if you already have an Oura Ring 4, I’m not sure it’s worth upgrading. Oura rings have offered only minor design improvements from generation to generation. With each new version, they’ve gotten a little more comfortable and precise, but I’d be hard-pressed to convince anyone to give up their current ring, regardless of generation. You simply won’t get much benefit from keeping up with the times.
However, there’s one important caveat to my conclusion: battery life. My Oura rings fail after about two years, and judging by the feedback from other Oura users, this is a fairly common problem. This happened with my second-generation ring, then with the third-generation ring that replaced it, and the battery on my second third-generation ring also performed poorly before I replaced it with the Oura Ring 4 I received as a test unit last year. In recent weeks, I’ve noticed that my Oura Ring 4 now only holds a charge for about three days, compared to about a week when it was new.
I asked Oura if it was conducting any research into improving battery life or extending the lifespan of its rings, but the company didn’t provide any specifics. I understand that it’s difficult to create a long-lasting battery in such a small device, so I don’t blame Oura for the limitations of its technology. But given the limited battery life, Oura customers should be aware that these rings won’t last forever. Interestingly, battery life seems to roughly coincide with the release cycle of new device generations. This is ideal timing if you’re ready for an upgrade, and more than a little disappointing if you’re not.