Oura Ring 4 tracks new signals to improve accuracy of metrics, including blood oxygen levels, breathing disturbance and heart rate monitoring.
Finnish wearables giant Oura has introduced its latest smart ring, the Oura Ring 4, a health tracking device that contains an array of sensors designed to track things like activity, recovery, sleep, heart health, stress and early detection of illness. The company claims its new ring offers significant improvements in accuracy and personalization over previous models.
The key innovation in the Oura Ring 4 is its so-called Smart Sensing platform, which uses an advanced algorithm in combination with “research-grade” sensors that adapt to the unique physiology of the wearer’s finger, ensuring continuous and precise data collection. This increases the number of signal pathways, resulting in enhanced accuracy for metrics such as blood oxygen levels, breathing disturbance and heart rate monitoring. A study conducted by Oura demonstrated improvements in data quality, including a 120% increase in signal quality for blood oxygen sensing and 31% fewer gaps in nighttime heart rate monitoring.
“Years in the making, Smart Sensing is the future of health sensing, setting a new accuracy standard,” said Oura’s chief product officer Holly Shelton. “We designed Oura Ring 4 to be life-proof – it’s easy to create technology that works under optimal conditions, but that doesn’t reflect real life. With Smart Sensing, Oura Ring 4 accounts for ring rotation that naturally occurs with daily activities, as well as differences in finger anatomy, shape, BMI, and skin tone.”
The accompanying Oura App has also been redesigned for improved ease of use. It now offers a more personalized view of both short-term behaviors and long-term health impacts. The app organizes data into three sections: Today, Vitals and My Health, making it easier for users to track daily metrics such as heart rate, sleep and activity, as well as long-term health indicators like cardiovascular age and stress resilience. Oura has expanded into several health categories, including stress, women’s health and heart health, and plans to incorporate metabolic health into future offerings.
“With this redesign, the Oura App connects the dots to help Oura Members understand how their habits and behaviors today – like aerobic activity and sleep hygiene – impact their health as they age, and also helps them understand how they can make changes that will pay off later in life,” said Shelton.
One notable new feature is the Oura Ring 4’s automatic activity detection, which tracks a wide range of movements and exercises without manual input, monitoring heart rate zones to help users optimize their fitness efforts. In addition, the ring’s stress-tracking features have been updated to help members understand how daily activities affect their physiological stress levels.
Women’s health is another area where Oura has focused its attention, offering features such as Cycle Insights and a new Fertile Window tool to support those trying to conceive. The company also offers members the option to access experimental features like symptom and meal tracking to explore how their lifestyle choices impact overall health.
Oura has also refined the physical design of its latest ring, with a thinner profile and recessed sensors to make it more comfortable for continuous wear. Available in twelve sizes and six colors, the Oura Ring 4 is available for pre-order at a starting price of $349, with shipping expected to begin later this month.
