My Honest Oura Ring Review :: A Year Later
When I first decided to try the Oura Ring 4, my main motivation was comfort. I wanted something I could wear long-term without feeling like I had something strapped to my wrist 24/7. I loved the health insights from my Apple Watch, but I didn’t love sleeping with a bulky device, watch location without it hitting my wrist bones or needing to charge it daily. The Oura Ring promised comfort, and about five days of battery life and daily habit tracking — and after wearing it for over a year, I can say that promise mostly held up.
Why I Switched to the Oura Ring
The main appeal for me was it’s general comfort (though make no mistakes, it is a bulkier ring than the standard wedding ring) and long battery life. I can go five days, sometimes more, without charging, which feels freeing compared to the daily plug-in routine of my Apple Watch. The app does remind me as it approaches empty and takes just over an hour to fully charge. It’s easy to forget it’s even on my finger, which is exactly what I wanted for something I could wear day and night. I wear it on my index finger due to the thickness of the band, and that is also the finger they recommend. I purchased the ring through my HSA card.
Another big draw was its basal body temperature tracking, which I use for natural family planning. It tracks subtle temperature shifts through the night and provides helpful trends over time. The app also gives alerts if my temperature, heart rate, or sleep quality are off — which is surprisingly insightful. There have been mornings where it told me I slept poorly or had an increased nighttime heart rate, and sure enough, I’d feel groggier than usual or realize I was coming down with something. This also held true for the occasional drinks I consumed, and while I might have had a hunch beforehand, the data from the ring was interesting to see and helped me decrease any alcohol consumption to nearly zero.
READ: Making the Case for Natural Family Planning (NFP)
What I Like
I appreciate that it automatically detects some activities, like walking to the bus stop, cleaning the house, or chasing after my kids — all those “non-workout” moments that still count as movement. It’s not perfect, but it picks up enough to give me a sense of daily activity without needing to log everything manually.
Another underrated feature: the food photo logging. You can snap a picture of your meal, and Oura provides a nutritional estimate. It’s not exact, of course, but it’s helpful for staying accountable on days when I want to track my eating habits.
I also paired the ring for a while with the Stelo continuous glucose monitor, which was interesting. Seeing my glucose data alongside Oura’s temperature and readiness insights made me much more aware of how stress, sleep, and meals connect.
What Could Be Better
After a year, my biggest question mark is still stress tracking. The ring measures stress responses based on heart rate variability and temperature shifts, but honestly, I’m not always sure what to do with that information. Oura recently announced some new stress monitoring under the Cumulative Stress section, which might make it more actionable, but I haven’t had enough time with those features yet to see how useful they are. Likewise, there is a new Blood Pressure Profile to alert you to hypertension (though not currently a concern of mine). 
Another small wish: I’d love for the heart rate tracking to be a bit more continuous. Right now, it records in 30-minute intervals, and while that’s fine for sleep and resting data, it misses the peaks during more active moments. On a recent hike, I’m certain my heart rate was higher than the data suggested. For workouts or high-intensity exercise, the Apple Watch definitely wins in accuracy and real-time tracking. The watch face also makes it easier to see what the current heart rate number is compared to opening the app paired with Oura.
I’d also love a few tweaks in the cycle tracking features — specifically the ability to label spotting days. I currently mark this under my daily tags if necessary, though it would be nice to see all my cycle tracking information in one location. It’s a small thing, but it would make the data more compact and helpful.
My Verdict
Even with its quirks, I still prefer the Oura Ring for everyday wear over the Apple Watch. It’s comfortable, discreet, and gives me valuable insights without demanding my attention. For workouts, I still reach for my Apple Watch, but for sleep, recovery, and long-term health tracking, OURA fits my lifestyle better.
It keeps me mindful — whether it’s noticing when my sleep quality dips, tracking subtle temperature changes, or holding me accountable with meals. A year later, it’s still my favorite quiet health companion, and I’m genuinely curious to see how the next Oura updates continue to refine stress and heart tracking.
