Oura on Thursday introduced the fifth generation of its popular smart ring, which starts at $399. The Ring 5, which Oura describes as the world’s smallest smart ring, comes just a year and a half after the company launched the Ring 4 and seven months after the Ring 4 Ceramic. The Ring 5 is 40% smaller than its predecessor and features a more precise feel and improved battery life.
The Ring 5 ships with new software updates that include blood pressure signals, live activity tracking, on-demand care, and other features that will also roll out to Oura Ring Gen3 and later.
The new smart ring is available for pre-order today and will begin shipping on June 4th. Available in sizes 6 to 13, it comes in six finishes, including a redesigned Gold with a truer gold tone, an updated Deep Rose with a copper-like look, as well as Silver, Brushed Silver, Black and Stealth. The Black and Silver retail for $399, while the rest cost $499. For comparison, the Ring 4 started at $349.
Maz Brumand, VP of Product at Oura, told TechCrunch that the company reduced the ring’s width by about two millimeters and its thickness by about 30 percent. Brumand noted that Oura members were asking the company to make a ring that was smaller and thinner, which led to the shift to a thinner design. Oura achieved the new size by redesigning the mechanical, electrical, optical, battery and sensor architectures, Brumand explained.
The new ring is designed to appeal to a wider audience, especially people who have found smart rings too bulky in the past. Oura says the latest model is designed to look and feel like any other ring.
While Oura was previously able to escape the bulkier design as the dominant player in the smart ring market, new products from non-subscription rivals like RingConn and Ultrahuman have increased the pressure for innovation. The increased competition also explains why Oura is launching a new ring just a year and a half after Ring 4, compared to the roughly three-year gap between Ring 3 and Ring 4. It’s also worth noting that Ring 5’s announcement arrives a day before RingConn’s Gen 3 mission is set to begin.
In terms of improved battery life, the Ring 5 can last six to nine days, compared to five to eight days on the Ring 4.
Oura also says it has redesigned its sensors for better skin contact and added more powerful LEDs in an effort to increase accuracy across a wider range of finger sizes and skin tones.
Software updates
In terms of software updates, Oura is launching “Health Radar,” which is designed to monitor basic biometric signals in the background for surface patterns that members should be aware of. Health Radar launches with two key features: Blood Pressure Signals and Night Breathing.
Oura says it will continuously detect shifts and patterns that may indicate cardiovascular strain, alerting members when their biometrics indicate signs of increased blood pressure. With blood pressure signals, Oura tracks blood pressure patterns during sleep, when the body’s cardiovascular patterns are most stable, as blood pressure should naturally drop during the night. When it doesn’t, it can signal potential cardiovascular risk that daily readings may miss, Oura notes.
Members will also be able to record actual blood pressure readings from the cuffs directly into the Oura app.
With Nighttime Breathing, Oura wants to give users a better understanding of how their sleep and breathing patterns can affect their health. Members will receive a 30-day rolling view of sleep-related breathing patterns and disorders, expanding on the breathing regularity information they already receive at night.
Oura also moves beyond knowledge to deliver real care. The company is partnering with Counsel Health, an on-demand platform that combines artificial intelligence with licensed physicians to bring care directly to the Oura app. Members will be able to ask health questions, receive personalized medical advice and connect with licensed doctors in the U.S. To access it, members will have to pay an additional fee on top of the standard $5.99 monthly fee, though Oura did not say how much the added service would cost.
Members in the US will also be able to enter diagnosed conditions, medications, lab results and allergies into the app to get a more complete picture of their health. While some may be understandably wary about uploading their health data to the app, the company promises it’s taking a privacy-on-record approach.
Additionally, Oura adds a new live activity tracking experience that allows members to start a workout and see key metrics in real time on their phone, such as pace and distance during activities like running and cycling. The company also updated “Auto Activity Detection” to be more accurate for low-motion activities like pilates. Members can also connect third-party heart rate monitors to see their heart rate in real time.
Oura is also adding GLP-1 information that will give members a snapshot of their medication journey over time and track weight and body changes in one place.
For the first time, Oura is also attempting to study brain health. Eligible members will be able to enroll in a brain health study that seeks to combine short in-app tasks with long-term physiological trends. Oura believes she will eventually be able to map how daily choices and recovery affect mental clarity and long-term brain health.
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