2024-07-18 04:25:02
Look, I can admit when I was wrong. When I first wrote my review of the Oura Ring Gen3 (6/10, WIRED Review) in 2021, I found the company’s subscription model to be slightly appalling. It’s one thing to charge $10/month on a Fitbit Premium subscription when a Fitbit costs $100 and you can use it without the subscription. It’s quite another to charge a monthly subscription fee on top of an already expensive wearable—especially when Apple Watches and Garmins cost a comparable amount and don’t have any subscription fees at all.
However, even as smart rings have become more prevalent, the Oura ring is still in a class of its own. It’s the best ring fitness tracker and the best sleep tracker. It’s good-looking, comfortable to wear, and astoundingly accurate—it’s still the only fitness tracker I’ve tried that can reliably pinpoint when my body temperature drops each month and my period is about to begin (ahem). That’s why, if you’ve been considering getting an Oura, today is probably your lucky day.
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The Oura Ring Is on Sale
For a small package, the Oura packs a shocking number of sensors. It has three: infrared photoplethysmography sensors for heart rate and respiration, a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) sensor for body temperature, and a 3D accelerometer for movement. I don’t feel them at all when I wear it.
Since I first complained that Oura was going to charge you for features that weren’t even going to come out for a year, most of the membership features have become unlocked. The app in particular is one of the easiest to use—I check it every morning to see how I’ve slept and how that affects my Readiness scores. It also auto-detects naps and adds them to your Readiness score, which is very cool. The company also regularly rolls out new features like Resilience, to see how well you’re managing to balance stress and recovery.
Since writing this, several of my coworkers have bought their own rings with their own personal money. My colleague Simon Hill cautions you against the black finish, since he says his has started to lose its coating. However, I’ve worn mine, which also has the black finish, since 2021, and it is still fine.
More Smartwatch and Fitness Tracker Deals
We found a few more deals. You can read more about these devices in our Best Smartwatches and Best Fitness Trackers guides.
