Oura Ring 5

The Oura Ring 5 is 40% thinner, lasts longer, and has a travel charging case

The ring got thinner, the battery got better, and travel just got easier 💍🔋

I’ve been wearing an Oura Ring on my finger almost every single day for years now. When the Oura 4 came out, I said it was the ultimate evolution of the ring I’d reviewed years before. I meant it. So I went into the Oura 5 a little skeptical. What’s left to improve?

It’s Noticeably Thinner

The headline number is that the Ring 5 is 40% thinner than the Ring 4. On paper that sounds like marketing. On your finger it’s real. It comes in at 6.09mm wide and 2.28mm thick, and depending on your size it weighs as little as 2 grams.

If you wear a ring on the same hand, or you type all day like I do, the lower profile matters more than you’d think. The old ring never bothered me, but I notice the new one less, and that’s the whole point of a wearable you’re supposed to forget about.

The biggest thing I notice is that it is much more comfortable to wear all day. My finger gets less sweaty due to less surface area under the ring, slides off less when washing hands and looks more like a regular ring vs an appliance.

The titanium construction now has a seamless interior, and it’s still waterproof to 100 meters, so you can swim, shower, and wash dishes without thinking about it.

The Sensors and the Data

Oura has always been best-in-class at sleep and recovery, and the Ring 5 keeps pushing accuracy. You get red and infrared LEDs for blood oxygen, green and infrared LEDs for 24/7 heart rate and HRV, a digital temperature sensor for trend tracking, and an accelerometer for movement.

The numbers Oura quotes are genuinely impressive: 99% heart rate accuracy versus ECG, and 95% sleep staging accuracy versus a clinical sleep lab. There are now 50+ metrics across sleep, activity, readiness, stress, and heart health.

A few things I find myself actually using:

• Readiness still anchors my morning. One number that tells me whether to push or back off, built from temperature, heart rate, and sleep.

• Cardiovascular age and VO2 Max give you a longer-term view of heart health, not just last night’s recovery.

• Automatic activity detection for 40+ activities means I don’t have to remember to start a workout for it to count.

• Daytime stress and resilience tracking, which has quietly made me better about taking breaks.

A Travel Charging Case

First introduced a few months ago for the Oura Ring 4, this is the accessory I’ve wanted since the beginning. The new Oura Ring 5 Charging Case is exactly what it sounds like: a little case that charges your ring on the go, no cable required.

It holds up to five full charges, which Oura says is over a month of use from a single case charge. Ten minutes in the case gets the ring enough power for a full day. For travel, that’s the dream. You drop the ring in while you shower, and you never think about a cable again.

It’s compact (56mm by 55mm by 17mm) and light at 60 grams, so it disappears into a dopp kit. It charges wirelessly via Qi (it’s MagSafe compatible, so it’ll sit on the same puck as your phone) or over USB-C. The battery is even replaceable, which I appreciate in a world of sealed-shut gadgets. LED indicators tell you the status: amber for low, pulsing white for charging, solid green when it’s full and ready.

It’s $99, it’s size-specific like the ring.

If you travel at all, get the case. It’s the single thing that makes living with the ring easier day to day.

Pricing and Finishes

The Ring 5 starts at $399 for Silver and Black. Gold, Deep Rose, Stealth, and Brushed Silver are $499 each. As always, there’s a subscription for the full app experience, which is worth it if you actually use the insights.

Remember if you have an Amex Platinum card you get $200 an Oura Ring each calendar year, so for me the upgrade was a no-brainer to get it for $299.

Should You Upgrade?

Yes.

If you’ve never tried an Oura, this is the easiest one to recommend yet. It’s lighter, it lasts longer, and it looks like jewelry, not a gadget.

One tip that hasn’t changed: get a sizing kit before you order. Oura suggests wearing it on the index finger of your non-dominant hand.

My size carried over from the 4, though the 5 runs a touch more snug at the same size thanks to the redesigned interior. Oura recommends re-sizing with the new kit, so if you’re between sizes, that’s worth doing.