Latest news with #Oura
WIRED
5 hours ago
- WIRED
The Samsung Galaxy Watch8 Is Both a Square and a Circle. A Squircle!
Julian says the bigger Watch8 Classic got close to two full days on one charge. That's with a few auto-tracked activities per day, too. Naturally, expect the 44-mm Watch8 to sit somewhere in the middle, likely a day and then a few hours extra. (You could extend that battery life a bit if you also purchased a Galaxy Ring, as the ring and the watch share health-monitoring tasks when used together.) In addition to brighter screens, there's also the by-now standard dual-frequency location tracking, which helps with fitness tracking, and the new Running Coach feature, which copies what Google introduced last year on the Pixel Watch 3. Google Assistant has also been replaced with Gemini, but I mostly used it as I would Siri, for simple verbal commands like turning on the flashlight or starting a timer. It's also worth noting here that Samsung recently switched to a new Dynamic Lug system. Instead of using a tiny pin to swap bands, you just slide and click to swap proprietary bands in and out. I first failed to notice this because this is how you swap the bands on last year's Samsung Watch Ultra, as well as the Apple Watches. Personally, I like this system a lot because I find using the tiny pins to be horrible and annoying, and they break my nails. But I'm sorry for everyone who was expecting to be able to use your old round watch bands on the new squircle watch. Samsung offers four new bands with Dynamic Lugs, but that's not many if you've been building your collection for a while now. Eat Your Veggies Courtesy of Adrienne So I compared basics like my step count, sleep tracking, and heart rate to my Oura ring and was shocked by how closely the two matched. On one day, the Watch8 tracked me as having walked 14,100 steps; the Oura, 14,099 (thanks, dual-frequency GPS!). Sleep counts and heart rates were tallied mostly, too. Automatic activity tracking worked well, as it usually does with Samsung watches. Dog walks got picked up within a minute or two, as did runs and pool swims.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Venus Williams, older athletes are defying age. What's the secret?
Venus Williams is set to play at the Citi Open in Washington D.C. on Thursday, July 24, with a chance to continue an astonishing story of which she is co-author. Playing in her first singles match in more than a year, Williams, the 45-year-old tennis great who is currently unranked, thrilled fans when she beat Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday July 22. Stearns is 23 and ranked 35th in the world. That same day, 45-year-old pitcher Rich Hill became the oldest player in Kansas City Royals history when he started against the Cubs. He allowed just one earned run in five innings during his first game since September 2024. Three days earlier, 46-year-old boxer Manny Pacquiao returned to the ring for the first time in almost four years. Pacquiao electrified the crowd when he fought 30-year-old Mario Barrios, the reigning WBC world welterweight champion, to a majority draw. 'I think in general, athletes at that level are just a different sort of type of human being to begin with,'' said Miho Tanaka, an orthopedic surgeon and Director of the Women's Sports Medicine Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. 'But I do think that longevity really requires that perfect amount of preparedness and support.'' She cited 'optimizing kinematics,' and other experts who talked to USA TODAY cited 'recovery methodologies,'' 'wet float and dry float therapy'' and 'genetics.'' In interviews with USA TODAY Sports, they offered their insight as the feats of Williams, Hill and Pacquaio put a spotlight on a broader phenomenon in sports Older athletes playing at an elite level. Sophistication a key factor William Kraemer, a former coach of multiple sports who became a prolific researcher of sports science, is now watching something relatively new. Not just the likes of Venus Williams, Rich Hill and Manny Pacquiao, but other athletes thriving despite their comparatively advanced age. That list includes LeBron James, who will turn 41 during the NBA's upcoming season; Alex Ovechkin, who will turn 40 during the NHL's next season; and Lionel Messi, who is a comparative youngster at 38. 'What they're doing now is much more sophisticated in their training, recovery and testing,'' said Kraemer, Senior Advisor for Sports Performance and Sports Sciences at Ohio State. 'It's just so much more knowledge going into athletic training.'' That includes improved individualization and sequencing of workout, said Kraemer, who also cited technology such as the Oura ring, worn to monitor health and fitness metrics; dry float therapy, floating on a water-filled membrane without getting wet, and wet float therapy, floating in a tank with salt water and getting wet; and, for sleep, hyperbaric chambers that can cost as much as $90,000. 'It is growing to be the norm just because you got such high-level athletes working and all the money involved,'' Kraemer said. The price tag for such technology is likely no barrier for wealthy older athletes. Maverick Carter, the longtime friend and business partner of James, told GQ in 2018 that James spends more than $1 million a year to keep his body in the best condition possible. 'I have no idea where the amount of money came from, but I do invest in my body for sure,'' James said earlier this year on The Pat McAfee Show. 'Whatever I can do to continue playing at this level, man, I'm going to continue to do while I'm playing.'' Working wiser not harder Dedication appears to be a unifying aspect of older athletes thriving. After winning her first-round match this week, Williams said, 'You guys don't know how much work goes into this, like it's 9-to-5 except you're running the whole time. Lifting weights and just like dying and then you repeat it the next day.'' But athletes at the top of their game and defying age aren't necessarily working harder, said Mike Boyle, a former strength and conditioning coach who worked for the Boston Bruins and Boston Red Sox. 'I think there used to be much more emphasis on how heavy you lift and how tired you get kind of thing,'' he said. 'And I think people are starting to realize that those probably aren't really the best metrics.'' Take Pacquiao. Justin Fortune, Pacquiao's strength and conditioning coach, said the boxer has accepted the need for more rest since suffering a shocking defeat in 2017 to Jeff Horn by unanimous decision. 'He burned himself out about two weeks before the fight,'' Fortune said. Miho Tanaka, an orthopedic surgeon and Director of the Women's Sports Medicine Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, suggested wisdom is also at work in handling injuries. James has dealt with an assortment of injuries in recent years, as has Messi since joining Inter Miami in 2003. 'I think as athletes age in their careers, they can become a little bit wiser in terms of how they approach injuries and how they come back from them as well,'' she said. 'They know when to not push too far.'' Nutrition plans, blood work, supplements James, the NBA's all-time leading scorer, and Williams, the seven-time Grand Slam winner, both have touted the benefits of personal chefs. But Hill, in his 21st season in the majors, would need to incur little extra expense for meals and supplements, said Marie Spano, a registered dietitian who works for the Washington Nationals. 'Baseball has changed dramatically, going from back in the day they were handed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich made by a clubby,'' said Spano, who also has worked for the Atlanta Braves. 'Even when I started in 2013 in baseball, it's changed dramatically since then because of the collective bargaining agreement. Players expect more and teams have to give more. 'They spend an astronomical amount on food and supplements. Every team has a registered dietician there and advanced teams are doing blood work. They're doing more measures on body composition, muscle bone and utilizing that data to drive interventions.'' It's the older players who make best use of the resources, according to Spano. 'As I always say to every rookie, every older athlete I've worked with has everything dialed in,'' she said. 'They're the ones that are asking for detailed nutrition plans, they want the blood work done, they want their supplements dialed in, they're regularly checking in with you.'' The secret pill Kraemer said there will always be the presence of ergogenics – or, more colloquially, banned performance enhancing drugs. But he said suspicion stemming from the success of older athletes 'is a reverse prejudice of highly fit athletes.'' 'Poor Joe Namath and Dick Butkus would've played many more years successfully, but they had lousy orthopedic surgeons back in the day,'' Kraemer said. 'So you look at how surgical interventions and sports medicine, athletic training, physical therapy also has elevated. So that's a whole 'nother thing. We know so much more about sports medicine.'' Boyle, the strength and conditioning coach, said, 'Maybe it's my naivety, but I think there's less of that stuff going on. But just the general nutritional knowledge has really increased. 'I think there's less people looking for, say, the secret pill and more people who are just consistently eating better and consistently taking better care of themselves.'' Rust or rest? Eric Cressey, who runs high-performance facilities and works with major leaguers, cites the importance of load management. That has become a controversial issue in the NBA with fans complaining after buying game tickets only to discover star players are on the bench. But James, for one, has embraced the need for more rest and recovery. Then there is extended rest. Pacquiao said his four-year layoff left his body fresh during his return. Williams looked fresh despite not having played a singles match since March 2024. Instead of rust, fans may have seen the benefits of rest. The value of rest may be eclipsing the fear of rest. 'When you see these aging athletes, the number one thing that kind of comes down to is volume management,'' Cressy said, referring to limiting the stress put on an athlete's body. Then, during a recent three-day span, Williams, Hill and Pacquiao seemingly turned back the clock. 'I don't think these things surprise me, just because you do see players doing it at the really high level,'' Cressey said, 'and there's just going to be more and more of them." If Father Time is undefeated, as James likes to say, you might as well push it to the limit. See if you can't extend Father Time to extra innings, overtime, another round, or in the case of Venus Williams, one more set. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Venus Williams joins athletes defying age. What's the secret?
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
How on earth did Venus Williams win at age 45? She's not alone.
Venus Williams is set to play at the Citi Open in Washington D.C. on Thursday, July 24, with a chance to continue an astonishing story of which she is co-author. Playing in her first singles match in more than a year, Williams, the 45-year-old tennis great who is currently unranked, thrilled fans when she beat Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday July 22. Stearns is 23 and ranked 35th in the world. That same day, 45-year-old pitcher Rich Hill became the oldest player in Kansas City Royals history when he started against the Cubs. He allowed just one earned run in five innings during his first game since September 2024. Three days earlier, 46-year-old boxer Manny Pacquiao returned to the ring for the first time in almost four years. Pacquiao electrified the crowd when he fought 30-year-old Mario Barrios, the reigning WBC world welterweight champion, to a majority draw. 'I think in general, athletes at that level are just a different sort of type of human being to begin with,'' said Miho Tanaka, an orthopedic surgeon and Director of the Women's Sports Medicine Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. 'But I do think that longevity really requires that perfect amount of preparedness and support.'' She cited 'optimizing kinematics,' and other experts who talked to USA TODAY cited 'recovery methodologies,'' 'wet float and dry float therapy'' and 'genetics.'' In interviews with USA TODAY Sports, they offered their insight as the feats of Williams, Hill and Pacquaio put a spotlight on a broader phenomenon in sports Older athletes playing at an elite level. Sophistication a key factor William Kraemer, a former coach of multiple sports who became a prolific researcher of sports science, is now watching something relatively new. Not just the likes of Venus Williams, Rich Hill and Manny Pacquiao, but other athletes thriving despite their comparatively advanced age. That list includes LeBron James, who will turn 41 during the NBA's upcoming season; Alex Ovechkin, who will turn 40 during the NHL's next season; and Lionel Messi, who is a comparative youngster at 38. 'What they're doing now is much more sophisticated in their training, recovery and testing,'' said Kraemer, Senior Advisor for Sports Performance and Sports Sciences at Ohio State. 'It's just so much more knowledge going into athletic training.'' That includes improved individualization and sequencing of workout, said Kraemer, who also cited technology such as the Oura ring, worn to monitor health and fitness metrics; dry float therapy, floating on a water-filled membrane without getting wet, and wet float therapy, floating in a tank with salt water and getting wet; and, for sleep, hyperbaric chambers that can cost as much as $90,000. 'It is growing to be the norm just because you got such high-level athletes working and all the money involved,'' Kraemer said. The price tag for such technology is likely no barrier for wealthy older athletes. Maverick Carter, the longtime friend and business partner of James, told GQ in 2018 that James spends more than $1 million a year to keep his body in the best condition possible. 'I have no idea where the amount of money came from, but I do invest in my body for sure,'' James said earlier this year on The Pat McAfee Show. 'Whatever I can do to continue playing at this level, man, I'm going to continue to do while I'm playing.'' Working wiser not harder Dedication appears to be a unifying aspect of older athletes thriving. After winning her first-round match this week, Williams said, 'You guys don't know how much work goes into this, like it's 9-to-5 except you're running the whole time. Lifting weights and just like dying and then you repeat it the next day.'' But athletes at the top of their game and defying age aren't necessarily working harder, said Mike Boyle, a former strength and conditioning coach who worked for the Boston Bruins and Boston Red Sox. 'I think there used to be much more emphasis on how heavy you lift and how tired you get kind of thing,'' he said. 'And I think people are starting to realize that those probably aren't really the best metrics.'' Take Pacquiao. Justin Fortune, Pacquiao's strength and conditioning coach, said the boxer has accepted the need for more rest since suffering a shocking defeat in 2017 to Jeff Horn by unanimous decision. 'He burned himself out about two weeks before the fight,'' Fortune said. Miho Tanaka, an orthopedic surgeon and Director of the Women's Sports Medicine Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, suggested wisdom is also at work in handling injuries. James has dealt with an assortment of injuries in recent years, as has Messi since joining Inter Miami in 2003. 'I think as athletes age in their careers, they can become a little bit wiser in terms of how they approach injuries and how they come back from them as well,'' she said. 'They know when to not push too far.'' Nutrition plans, blood work, supplements James, the NBA's all-time leading scorer, and Williams, the seven-time Grand Slam winner, both have touted the benefits of personal chefs. But Hill, in his 21st season in the majors, would need to incur little extra expense for meals and supplements, said Marie Spano, a registered dietitian who works for the Washington Nationals. 'Baseball has changed dramatically, going from back in the day they were handed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich made by a clubby,'' said Spano, who also has worked for the Atlanta Braves. 'Even when I started in 2013 in baseball, it's changed dramatically since then because of the collective bargaining agreement. Players expect more and teams have to give more. 'They spend an astronomical amount on food and supplements. Every team has a registered dietician there and advanced teams are doing blood work. They're doing more measures on body composition, muscle bone and utilizing that data to drive interventions.'' It's the older players who make best use of the resources, according to Spano. 'As I always say to every rookie, every older athlete I've worked with has everything dialed in,'' she said. 'They're the ones that are asking for detailed nutrition plans, they want the blood work done, they want their supplements dialed in, they're regularly checking in with you.'' The secret pill Kraemer said there will always be the presence of ergogenics – or, more colloquially, banned performance enhancing drugs. But he said suspicion stemming from the success of older athletes 'is a reverse prejudice of highly fit athletes.'' 'Poor Joe Namath and Dick Butkus would've played many more years successfully, but they had lousy orthopedic surgeons back in the day,'' Kraemer said. 'So you look at how surgical interventions and sports medicine, athletic training, physical therapy also has elevated. So that's a whole 'nother thing. We know so much more about sports medicine.'' Boyle, the strength and conditioning coach, said, 'Maybe it's my naivety, but I think there's less of that stuff going on. But just the general nutritional knowledge has really increased. 'I think there's less people looking for, say, the secret pill and more people who are just consistently eating better and consistently taking better care of themselves.'' Rust or rest? Eric Cressey, who runs high-performance facilities and works with major leaguers, cites the importance of load management. That has become a controversial issue in the NBA with fans complaining after buying game tickets only to discover star players are on the bench. But James, for one, has embraced the need for more rest and recovery. Then there is extended rest. Pacquiao said his four-year layoff left his body fresh during his return. Williams looked fresh despite not having played a singles match since March 2024. Instead of rust, fans may have seen the benefits of rest. The value of rest may be eclipsing the fear of rest. 'When you see these aging athletes, the number one thing that kind of comes down to is volume management,'' Cressy said, referring to limiting the stress put on an athlete's body. Then, during a recent three-day span, Williams, Hill and Pacquiao seemingly turned back the clock. 'I don't think these things surprise me, just because you do see players doing it at the really high level,'' Cressey said, 'and there's just going to be more and more of them." If Father Time is undefeated, as James likes to say, you might as well push it to the limit. See if you can't extend Father Time to extra innings, overtime, another round, or in the case of Venus Williams, one more set.
Cosmopolitan
3 days ago
- Health
- Cosmopolitan
The Oura Ring 4 Fixed My Sleep. Here's My Honest Review in 2025.
I love my Oura ring. Ask any of my friends and they'll tell you that it's become one of my main personality traits over the past year and a half, that if I had a cartoon character, she would have a gold ring on her pointer finger. I'm never seen without it (if I am, get ready to hear a panicked 'Wait… did I lose my Oura ring?' in three… two… one…) and the minimal weight slips below the level of consciousness so it's basically a part of me. In the time since I last updated my 2023 review of the Gen 3 Oura ring, the company released a brand new iteration, the Oura 4. Checks out, as they've historically released a new version every three years. And because of the aforementioned making-it-my-whole-personality thing, I knew I had to do a full test of the new version. After wearing it for six months, I'm ready to give you my full, in-depth, scientifically-proven (okay, I'm not a scientist, but there's lots of ~health data~) review—it's broken down into sections that are easy to scroll through in case you're looking for something specific, with tons of pics and anecdotes about what I loved and didn't love. Note: If you want a more in-depth walkthrough of how I picked out my ring and set it up, you can read the full breakdown in our Oura 3 review here. The fit metrics and process of ordering a size kit are both still the same, just make sure you're specifically ordering the Oura 4 size kit—either on their website or on Amazon! So, the Oura Ring is a health tracker. But what does it actually track? 'The Oura Ring boasts temperature sensors, a suite of LED lights to measure heart rate and blood oxygen, and an activity accelerometer to provide you with accurate insights to support your overall health,' says Jason Russell, Oura's Senior Director of Product. Once data is collected via the sensors, you're given three scores each day to help you interpret your stats at a glance: your Sleep Score, your Readiness Score, and your Activity Score. It's a number out of 100 that grades your sleep, your movement, and how prepared your body is to take on the day based on tons of data points from REM and deep sleep to heart rate variability and your body temperature while you're asleep. You also get a stress rating and resilience rating, and you can opt into Cycle Tracking as well. While the basic concept and experience you know and love is still the same, there are a handful of useful new features that the Oura team rolled out with the fourth-generation ring. And pssst: While the new hardware features are unique to the 4, the software and app updates will be available for anyone with any version of the Oura Ring! First up: Major redesign! The app used to have a fixed design but now, you'll see different stats and scores highlighted depending on what time of day you open up your app. Whatever is most helpful or notable will float up to the top throughout the day, whether it's an exceptional sleep score or an elevated body temperature. Huge news for anyone who doesn't want to get into the weeds of HRV charts and just wants to be given the most important highlights! Visually, the bumpy domes on the inside of the Gen 3 have been removed and replaced with flat sensors for a more comfortable wearing experience. This new ring also has smart sensing and increased accuracy, which didn't pick up on any life changing new data so it wasn't a huge, measurable impact on my life, but someone who tracks their heart rate or body temperature more closely will appreciate this. I also find that the battery lasts a lot longer, allowing me to go several days without charging rather than having to juice it up every other day. I was a perfect size 6 in the Gen 3, so I ordered the size 6 in the Gen 4, but that ended up being so loose that I was experiencing gaps in my data. I exchanged it for a size 5, which I wore on a smaller finger. A word to the wise: Because the Oura 4 has flat sensors on the inside instead of the Oura 3's raised sensors, it's going to be slightly looser even if you get the same size you had before. Don't assume you'll be the same size in the newer Gen 4! To avoid this, order a sizing kit beforehand. And if you have an older Oura ring that you're upgrading, transferring your data over is incredibly easy—just click on the battery signal in the top right corner of your app, hit 'Set up a new ring,' and follow the tutorial (it took me 30 seconds…max). The Oura Ring 4 will cost $349 for Silver or Black, $399 or Brushed Silver or Stealth, or $499 for Gold or Rose Gold. In addition to that, there's a $5.99 monthly subscription cost to use the app that displays and interprets all of your data. Would I say that's cheap? No. But the monthly subscription cost barely makes a dent compared to other health apps (WHOOP costs hundreds per year) so you're really just making a one time investment that you'll be able to wear for a couple years. I'm not proud of it, but I used to check Instagram and TikTok first thing in the morning. Like, as soon as I opened my eyes. I can't say I've fully kicked the phone habit, but I'm no longer going straight to brain rot the second I'm awake, because now I check my Oura app as soon as I wake up to get the full download on my sleep. When you wear the ring overnight, it collects data on when you fell asleep, what sleep stages you were in throughout the night, how your breathing, heart rate, and temperature changed through each phase, and how long you slept for. That's insanely valuable data, people, considering the fact that it's hard to monitor your own sleep while you're, well, asleep. Once you check your app in the morning, you'll receive a sleep score from 0-100 based on your numbers as well as whether your stats were higher, lower, or about on par with the usual. I found that I tended to average in the 80s, but it really depends on how stressed I am! Oh, and your Oura Ring will track naps, too. Whether it's an accidental 30 minute couch snooze or your attempt at falling asleep in your dinky economy seat that only lasts 15 minutes, your ring will pick up on that and adjust your daily sleep score accordingly. Ah, the elusive Readiness score. What does it actually mean to be ready? What is 75 points ready vs. 90 points ready? Do I have to cancel all of my plans if I wake up with a 56 as my readiness score?! All good questions. To put it simply, it's a rating of how ready your body is to take on the day based on how well you've been sleeping and how your resting heart rate has been trending recently. If you've been clocking under six hours a night with a heart rate that won't calm down (a symptom that usually correlates with drinking, by the way!) your readiness score might be lower than usual. This, paired with your Resilience level (which basically measures your current stress levels and how you're recovering from it), is a great indicator of how much your body is able to take on. But you don't have to be tied to it. Sometimes getting a great sweat in on a lower Readiness day helps me bounce back from it, whereas other times it's permission to skip that workout class and cancel your nighttime plans in order to get better recovery sleep. The Oura Ring is meant to make your life better—so think of a high Readiness score as an encouragement to try going the extra mile, and a low Readiness score as a reminder to be kind to yourself if things feel harder than usual. When I reviewed the Oura 3, the weakest point was probably the fact that the old software would think that certain activities (walking, emptying the dishwasher, going up the stairs) were other activities (boxing, swimming, sports). But I can confidently say that the activity tracking on the new ring and new software has improved. It correctly picked up on the fact that I was boxing, skiing, and kayaking without me needing to manually tag each activity, and it's nice to be able to see my route and cardio zones via the Oura app when I (very occasionally) go on a run through Central Park. In addition to activity detection and running features, the Oura Ring also tracks your steps and caloric expenditure, if you're into that kind of thing. I don't do a ton of cardio and I'm aware that as a New York City resident I clock plenty of steps per day, but it was nice to see the correlation between heavy activity days and how quickly I was able to fall asleep the following night. The Oura Ring may not be the most comprehensive training tracker on the market. It doesn't claim to be! It is, however, hands down the best middle-of-the-road option out there. It's chic, non-intimidating and accessible, it looks pretty on your hand, and it gives you comprehensive activity data with zero pressure to close activity rings (you know what I'm talking about) or stand up every 30 minutes. It's perfect for someone like me, who wants to remain active and have a general awareness of it—but not at the cost of my sanity or how cute my accessories are. I was confused about a lot of things during my teenage years, including my period, which was pretty high up on the blind-navigation list. Basically, it would come every 25-40 days, and it was a complete shock every time. But after learning how to track my cycle via body temperature over the past couple of years, I've gone from being like, 'My period is here AGAIN?!' to being like, 'Yeah I know I'm getting my period at some point today because my temperature dropped.' Confused? Basically, your body temperature typically sits below baseline during the follicular phase (the first part of the menstrual cycle), spikes right around ovulation, and then sits above baseline during the luteal phase (the part of the menstrual cycle right before you bleed) until the day of your period when your temperature drops noticeably. The Oura Ring 4 takes your temperature every day and charts it so you can keep track of where you're at in your monthly cycle, which is, uh, SO much better than going into it blindly and then being stuck without a tampon in a public restroom while wearing white jeans. Just me? This temperature data can also be used to estimate fertile days if you're trying to conceive or trying to avoid getting pregnant without being on hormonal birth control. I didn't find Oura's in-app ovulation and period prediction dates to be super accurate, if I'm being honest, but you can sign up for the Natural Cycles app (an FDA-cleared form of non-hormonal birth control) which integrates seamlessly with the Oura app. I found the Natural Cycles predictions to be much more accurate and consistent, and it's $119.99 per year, which comes out to just $9.99 a month. The most important part of the entire review, if you ask me. I've tried so many different stacks, some out of necessity (because my ring is a little loose on certain fingers) and some for style purposes. My favorite compliment is 'Omg I didn't even notice you were wearing a health tracker, it blends right in with the rest of your jewelry!'. Here are some of the stacking rings I've invested in… The complimentary rings I reach for the most often are these two Pavoi bands that went semi-viral on TikTok for being under $20 each. Tons of people started wearing these bands above and below their Oura ring for a shockingly luxe look—and yes, I can confirm that it's a totally seamless stack. Alternatively, I love wearing my Oura ring with a solitaire crystal ring—my go-to is from Uno de 50 and currently sold out, but below are some alternatives as well as rings I tend to wear on other fingers! And lastly, I've found it really helpful to wear a thin chain around my neck for periods where I need to take my ring off but want to make sure I don't lose it, like when I'm getting a manicure or when I'm lifting weights and don't want the bar to scratch up the metal. Okay, that was a lot of information! After testing out the Oura Ring 4 for six months I can confidently say that I'm a huge fan and love the product even more than I did before, but if you're still trying to digest all of that before making your decision, let's break it down into a simple pros and cons list... Hannah Oh is a self-proclaimed nerd for biometrics and sleep optimization. Along with writing about the best sales and deals to spend your hard-earned money on, she has tested a variety of sleep-tracking devices and wearables on her quest to create the perfect bedroom sanctuary in the middle of noisy New York City. She is never seen without her Oura ring and has been known to tell strangers on the street why they should buy one, too. Hannah is the Shopping Editor at Cosmopolitan, covering all things from chic home decor to trendy fashion finds, TikTok products that are actually worth your $$$, and the perfect gift to buy for your boyfriend's mom. She previously wrote for Seventeen and CR Fashion Book. Follow her on Instagram for hot takes on red carpet fashion and pictures of her office outfits that nobody asked for.
Business Insider
3 days ago
- Health
- Business Insider
I've tested dozens of fitness trackers and I think the Oura Ring 4 is the top smart ring for most people
Over the last five months, I tested four fitness rings head-to-head. Pretty much all are comfortable to wear and reliable at tracking your biometrics accurately (though some are better than others). But the Oura Ring 4 reigns supreme as the best smart ring for most people, thanks to its long battery life, highly accurate tracking, and intuitive and easy-to-understand app for reporting your health data. Why I've been wearing it for 4 months I am not a data-head and don't love the bulk of a wearable, but I do like to know I'm being as healthy and fit as possible. I aim to hit 10,000+ steps a day, like to know the cumulative load from my daily workouts, and prefer to have a read on how recovered or taxed my body is from stress, travel, fluctuating sleep quality, and activity. The Oura Ring 4 nails this: It tracks both basic and advanced health data more accurately than other smart rings, thanks to upgraded sensors and better signal stability. Most impressively, the Oura app delivers this data as clear, easy-to-digest insights — like "readiness" or body recovery, sleep quality, and daily activity goals — right up front, with deeper data just a tap away. The app's recent revamp makes it far more intuitive than other smart ring interfaces I tested. The Oura Ring 4 felt bulky at first, but within a week I barely noticed it. It stacks decently with other rings, stays secure during sweaty workouts, and doesn't interfere with grip — except during tight-grip lifts like deadlifts, where it can chafe. Oura Ring 3 vs. Oura Ring 4 If you're thinking of saving a few bucks and just getting a previous generation of the Oura Ring — don't. The Oura Ring 4 is a significant improvement over the Oura Ring 3, and each upgrade is worth every penny. Compared to the Oura Ring 3, the Oura Ring 4: Has a sleeker design Is more comfortable to wear Is now made entirely out of titanium on both the interior and exterior Has a new dynamic "smart sensing" technology that uses more sensors and pathways (18 vs. the previous 8) to drop the signal less, giving you more continuous tracking Has longer battery life at eight days vs. seven These features make Oura Ring 4, in my opinion, the best smart ring, and they're well worth the $50 price difference between a Gen 3 ring and a Gen 4 ring. The health metrics that matter In the smart ring category, each brand offers different data and insights. I tested smart rings alongside some of the best fitness trackers and was impressed to find the sleep quality, step count, and readiness insights to be highly accurate on the Oura 4. What's more, I found that Oura's app kept the metrics streamlined to the info I wanted most on a daily basis, most notably: Sleep accuracy and insights: Oura gives you an at-a-glance sleep score, with your total sleep time front and center. Click in and it offers more detailed insights, like sleep efficiency, total restfulness, and how long it took to fall asleep. Sleeping heart rate: The ring measures when your heart rate hits its lowest during the night, which can give insight into how recovered (or not) your body is. I found it very interesting to see how alcohol and staying up unusually late affected this. Skin temperature: Pretty standard on wearables these days. Changes in your skin temperature can signal you're about to get sick. There were a handful of days I woke up with an alert in elevated skin temperature, heeded the Oura advisor's advice to rest rather than push, and potentially avoided getting more sick over the next few days. Readiness: Arguably the most helpful metric for active people, this recovery score pulls from 20+ signals — skin temp, heart rate, sleep, and more — to tell you whether to push or rest. Sure, you could just listen to your body, but I found it genuinely helpful to get a concrete reflection that rest was smarter. More than once, I woke at 6:30 a.m. for my morning workout, only to see my skin temp was up or sleep was off — and Oura told me to take it easy instead. Women's health: One of Oura's standout features for women is how it combines its advanced skin temperature tracking with its AI module to learn your menstrual cycle and offer detailed insights into your phases, variability, and when to expect your period. It functions pretty much like a basal body temp tracker (though not "officially") and can even pinpoint your ovulation period and fertile window. If you're pregnant, it tracks your progress, highlights key physiological changes, and shares helpful educational content along the way. Biohacking insights: More recently, Oura has started tracking longer-term measurements to predict things like your cardiovascular age and your cardio capacity (VO2 max). This is meant to give you insight into longevity, as well as your overall "resilience," which is essentially how efficiently your body is bouncing back from stress time and time again. Auto activity detection: The Oura Ring is very good at detecting activity and movement. What's more, it has you verify what that mild spike in heart rate was at 11 a.m. (housework? walking?), and then learns from this to better identify your activities over time. This may sound basic, but other smart rings I've tested do not pick up on Zone 2 walks (I'd have to remember my start and finish time and then manually enter it), let alone the small calorie burners that count toward daily movement like housework. That said, if you live at altitude like I do, the Oura Ring does think every activity is skiing until you train it otherwise. Other features I love in the Oura Ring 4 The Oura Ring 4 has a few other features that make it a very worthy investment: The app interface is super streamlined. New in 2025, Oura revamped its app so it only has three tabs: Today, Vitals, and My Health. The data is well-organized and presented in a very clear and visually distinct format that I found to be easy to interpret at a glance. It was by far the most streamlined and intuitive app to read my health data among the four smart rings I tested. And considering this is a device that has no display itself, the app is half the product you're buying. I only have to charge it once a week. One of the biggest advantages of Oura over its competitors is the ring's eight-day battery life. I felt like every other model I tested needed to be charged every few days, but eight days of power really does feel like less of an inconvenience. It automatically adapts my goals when my biometrics indicate I need more rest and recovery. When my readiness score is 44/100, it adjusts my daily movement goal to be 4,500 steps instead of 12,000. And you have the ability to put the Oura app into "rest mode" if you're sick, wherein it turns off all targets and goals and just tracks your biometrics. I found these adjustments went a long way in helping me feel like I'm taking care of myself in a holistic way, resting when needed, rather than prompting me to get out for a walk when I was sick in bed with COVID like other smart rings did. Its AI insights are actually helpful. Oura leans heavily on predictive technology to give you insight on when your biomarkers are indicating that you might get sick or your fertility window. Earlier this year, the brand also launched Oura Advisor, an AI-powered guidance tool where you can ask it questions on your menstrual cycle, heart health, and other personalized data results (e.g., "I'm traveling for work and noticed my readiness score has gone down a lot. What can I do to get it back up?"). Where it falls short Insights could be more actionable. While the Oura Ring does a great job at tracking your data, it doesn't provide a ton of actionable fixes behind it. Days where my readiness was low, it would tell me, "To help recharge your energy levels, take it easy today!" without much specificity on what I could do to bring my numbers back up. Of course, I could then take another step and ask the Oura AI Advisor this question, but it'd be nice to have this already integrated. It requires a monthly subscription. In addition to the $350 to $500 ring itself (the price depends on which finish you choose), you do have to pay a $6 per month subscription fee to use the majority of the features of your Oura Ring. (Technically, you can use the app for free and get readings on basic metrics — readiness, sleep, and activity — but most people will want the upgrade.) It may not offer enough information for athletes. While the Oura Ring does cover most insights that a health and basic fitness tracker will give you — resting heart rate, daily calorie burn, sleep quality, recovery — it won't track your running mileage or pace, overall exertion during a strength session, or other, deeper training insights. Serious runners or athletes will still want a more robust fitness tracker. Final call: Who this ring is (and isn't) for In my opinion, the Oura Ring is the best smart ring for most people, whether you're looking to improve your basic health, stay more active throughout the day, or have one device that gives you insight into every aspect of your health, from heart to menstrual. It is highly accurate at tracking steps, activity, sleep quality, and overall physiological rest and recovery. When considering smart rings vs. a health or fitness watch, the advantage of a smart ring is that it offers deeper health insights in a much more discreet design, with no sounds or vibration notification prompts on your hand. If you're more of a biohacker health type, you'll probably prefer the Ultrahuman Ring AIR. And if you want one wearable that offers more comprehensive fitness tracking, you'll be happier with a fitness watch like one of our picks in our best Garmin guide. But compared to other smart rings I've tested, the Oura Ring 4 is the best value with its long battery life, copious number of sensors for continuous tracking, and streamlined presentation of your health data.
