review
Oura Ring Gen 4 — 3 Months Later, Here's the Truth
8 min readPublished 2026-04-11Updated 2026-04-11
After 90 days of daily wear, sleep tracking, and activity monitoring, the Oura Ring Gen 4 has become either my most valuable tech purchase or an overpriced mood ring. Here's the verdict.
Why I Bought It
I was tired of wearing a smartwatch to bed. The Apple Watch charging dance — wear it during the day, charge it before bed, put it on for sleep, charge it in the morning — was absurd. I wanted something that tracked sleep without feeling like wearing a computer on my wrist.
The Oura Ring promised exactly that: invisible health tracking. A titanium ring with sensors inside that tracks sleep, heart rate, HRV, blood oxygen, skin temperature, and activity — without a screen, notifications, or the compulsion to check it every 5 minutes.
Three months in, here's what I've found.
The Oura Ring promised exactly that: invisible health tracking. A titanium ring with sensors inside that tracks sleep, heart rate, HRV, blood oxygen, skin temperature, and activity — without a screen, notifications, or the compulsion to check it every 5 minutes.
Three months in, here's what I've found.
Sleep Tracking: The Star Feature
This is why you buy an Oura Ring, and it delivers. The sleep tracking is the most comprehensive and accurate I've used in any consumer wearable. It tracks:
- Sleep stages (deep, REM, light, awake) with accuracy that correlates closely with clinical polysomnography studies - Sleep efficiency — percentage of time in bed actually sleeping - Resting heart rate during sleep — a reliable indicator of recovery - HRV (Heart Rate Variability) — the single best biomarker for recovery and stress - Skin temperature deviation — useful for detecting illness before symptoms
After 90 days, the patterns are genuinely useful. I learned that alcohol (even one glass of wine) drops my deep sleep by 30-40%. I learned that eating within 3 hours of bedtime ruins my HRV. I learned that my optimal sleep window is 10:30 PM - 6:30 AM. These aren't revolutionary insights, but having data that proves them changed my behavior.
- Sleep stages (deep, REM, light, awake) with accuracy that correlates closely with clinical polysomnography studies - Sleep efficiency — percentage of time in bed actually sleeping - Resting heart rate during sleep — a reliable indicator of recovery - HRV (Heart Rate Variability) — the single best biomarker for recovery and stress - Skin temperature deviation — useful for detecting illness before symptoms
After 90 days, the patterns are genuinely useful. I learned that alcohol (even one glass of wine) drops my deep sleep by 30-40%. I learned that eating within 3 hours of bedtime ruins my HRV. I learned that my optimal sleep window is 10:30 PM - 6:30 AM. These aren't revolutionary insights, but having data that proves them changed my behavior.
The Readiness Score
Every morning, Oura gives you a "Readiness Score" from 0-100 based on your sleep, HRV, resting heart rate, and recovery metrics. In theory, this tells you whether to push hard or take it easy.
In practice: I found it directionally useful but not life-changing. Days when I scored below 70, I did feel sluggish. Days above 85, I did have better workouts. But the score confirmed what my body was already telling me — it rarely surprised me with new information.
Where it's genuinely useful: tracking trends over weeks. A gradually declining Readiness Score over 7-10 days reliably predicts incoming illness or burnout. I caught a cold early because my scores dropped for 5 consecutive days with no obvious explanation.
In practice: I found it directionally useful but not life-changing. Days when I scored below 70, I did feel sluggish. Days above 85, I did have better workouts. But the score confirmed what my body was already telling me — it rarely surprised me with new information.
Where it's genuinely useful: tracking trends over weeks. A gradually declining Readiness Score over 7-10 days reliably predicts incoming illness or burnout. I caught a cold early because my scores dropped for 5 consecutive days with no obvious explanation.
Activity Tracking: The Weakness
If you're buying an Oura Ring as a fitness tracker, stop. The activity tracking is basic:
- Step counting is reasonably accurate (within 5-10% of a dedicated tracker) - Active calorie estimation is rough - No GPS, no running metrics, no workout profiles - Heart rate during exercise is less accurate than a wrist-based sensor
This is by design. Oura positions itself as a recovery and sleep tracker, not a fitness tracker. If you want detailed workout metrics, you need a Garmin, Apple Watch, or Whoop alongside the Oura. Many serious athletes wear both — Oura for sleep/recovery, Garmin for training.
- Step counting is reasonably accurate (within 5-10% of a dedicated tracker) - Active calorie estimation is rough - No GPS, no running metrics, no workout profiles - Heart rate during exercise is less accurate than a wrist-based sensor
This is by design. Oura positions itself as a recovery and sleep tracker, not a fitness tracker. If you want detailed workout metrics, you need a Garmin, Apple Watch, or Whoop alongside the Oura. Many serious athletes wear both — Oura for sleep/recovery, Garmin for training.
The Subscription Problem
This is the Oura Ring's biggest drawback. The ring costs €349, then you pay €6/month for the membership that unlocks all features. Without the membership, you get basic sleep and readiness scores but lose detailed trends, insights, guided content, and health reports.
Over 3 years: €349 + (€6 × 36) = €565 total cost. That's significant. For comparison, an Apple Watch SE tracks sleep and fitness with no subscription. A Garmin Venu has no subscription.
Is it worth it? If you genuinely use the sleep data to improve your habits, yes. If you just glance at your score and move on, the subscription will feel like a waste.
Over 3 years: €349 + (€6 × 36) = €565 total cost. That's significant. For comparison, an Apple Watch SE tracks sleep and fitness with no subscription. A Garmin Venu has no subscription.
Is it worth it? If you genuinely use the sleep data to improve your habits, yes. If you just glance at your score and move on, the subscription will feel like a waste.
The Verdict After 90 Days
The Oura Ring Gen 4 has earned a permanent place on my finger. The sleep tracking is genuinely the best in consumer wearables, the form factor is invisible, and the 7-day battery means I rarely think about charging.
Buy it if: Sleep quality is a priority, you hate wearing watches to bed, you want passive health monitoring without screen distractions, or you're an athlete who wants recovery data alongside a dedicated sports watch.
Skip it if: You want a fitness tracker (get a Garmin), you're not willing to pay the €6/month subscription, you want real-time heart rate display during workouts, or you're already sleeping well and don't need optimization.
The honest truth: The Oura Ring didn't revolutionize my health. But it made me 10-15% more intentional about sleep — and compounded over months, that's meaningful.
Buy it if: Sleep quality is a priority, you hate wearing watches to bed, you want passive health monitoring without screen distractions, or you're an athlete who wants recovery data alongside a dedicated sports watch.
Skip it if: You want a fitness tracker (get a Garmin), you're not willing to pay the €6/month subscription, you want real-time heart rate display during workouts, or you're already sleeping well and don't need optimization.
The honest truth: The Oura Ring didn't revolutionize my health. But it made me 10-15% more intentional about sleep — and compounded over months, that's meaningful.
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💍€349 + €6/month membership
Oura Ring Gen 4
€349 + €6/month membership★★★★☆4.4/5
Pros
+Most accurate sleep tracking available in a consumer wearable
+Truly invisible — looks like a normal ring, no screen to distract
+7-day battery life — charge it once a week
+SpO2, heart rate, HRV, temperature, and activity tracking
Cons
-€6/month subscription required for full features — adds up fast
-No real-time heart rate display (no screen)
-Activity tracking is basic compared to Garmin/Apple Watch
-Sizing can be tricky — wrong size means uncomfortable or inaccurate
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Oura Ring subscription worth it?▾
Can the Oura Ring replace an Apple Watch?▾
How accurate is the Oura Ring for sleep tracking?▾
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