IS THE OURA RING WORTH IT? 4 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD BUY ONE
Oura ring provides tons of helpful data and health tips, but it's another gadget with a subscription
Lots of people use wrist-worn gadgets or smartphones to track their health and habits, but the Oura Ring packs a bunch of sensors into a small ring on your finger. People who love exercise or the quantified self may find the Oura Ring useful and intriguing, while those who are happy with their current tools may prefer other tools.
What Is an Oura Ring?
The Oura Ring is a smart ring, a gadget you wear on your finger that collects all sorts of data, including your exercise, sleep, heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and more. Like other connected health gadgets, it both gathers and analyzes data to make recommendations that help you improve your life. Think of the Oura Ring as an alternative to fitness trackers like the Fitbit or smartwatches like Apple Watch.
Who Should Get an Oura Ring?
An Oura Ring could be good for you if you:
- Are an ardent exerciser and want detailed health data
- Like to quantify your patterns and behaviors so you can identify and change them
- Need health data to help getting pregnant
- Are a gadget enthusiast
Who Shouldn't Get an Oura Ring?
Even the coolest gadget isn't right for everyone. You might not want to get an Oura Ring if you:
- Are happy with your smartwatch, fitness band, smartphone, or other health gadget
- Don't have the budget to spend $300-plus for the ring and another $72 per year on the subscription
- Don't care to collect and analyze health data
Why You Should Get an Oura Ring
Despite its small size, the Oura Ring works for many different uses and types of person. Exercisers, people who love to track their patterns and improve them, or people trying to get pregnant all may find things to like. Here are some reasons why you might want to get an Oura Ring.
You Track and Use Detailed Health Data
If you're a fan of the quantified self—using technology to measure your behavior and leverage that data to improve yourself—the Oura Ring delivers a wealth of data to geek out on.
The ring is packed with sensors that measure your heart rate, blood oxygen, exercise and movement, exercise recovery, sleep, skin temperature, and more. You'll need the Oura Ring app and paid membership to unlock this data, but if you're into this kind of thing, it'll probably be worth it.
You're a Dedicated Exerciser
Exercisers and athletes may love the sports features of the Oura Ring. Thanks to all of those sensors, Oura delivers thoughtful features tailored to athletes.
For example, it provides an exercise-readiness score that's based on activity and sleep patterns, which can help you avoid injury and optimize workouts. The app even lets you add rest days and suggests when you should take one. Oura has partnerships with health-tech platforms like Strava, Therabody, and Apple Health.
You're Battling Sleep Issues or Stress
People dealing with stress or sleep issues may find helpful features in the Oura Ring. The device's sleep tracking features can detect and report on breathing and heart rate, sleep disruptions, and sleep quality. It even tracks naps separately from overnight sleep.
The ring's sensors can detect your stress levels, how well you recover, and support you with meditation and other calming audio programs.
You're Trying to Get Pregnant
The Oura Ring's sensors can be useful if you're tracking your menstrual cycle and trying to get pregnant. The ring's skin temperature sensor, combined with a partnership with Natural Cycles, can help track your cycle and when you're most fertile.
When You Shouldn't Get an Oura Ring
On the other hand, some people will find the Oura Ring unnecessary. It's another gadget to keep track of, it could bust your budget, and it requires a subscription. They might also prefer getting similar features from other devices. For those people, here are some reasons you shouldn't get one.
You Don't Want Another Gadget or Its Cost
Some people just have enough gadgets. If that's you, or if your budget for gadgets is tight, you may want to skip the Oura Ring. The Oura Ring Gen 3 model in the Heritage style starts at $299, and costs can rise as high as $549 for the rose gold Horizon model.
Those aren't unreasonable costs for this kind of device, but any price may seem unreasonable if your wallet is begging for mercy.
You Don't Yet Need Another Subscription
If you're worn out from paying for subscriptions, the Oura Ring won't help. You need to pay $5.99/month to unlock the platform's most powerful features.
You may find that the Oura Ring isn't worth it without a subscription. Without it, all you get are sleep, exercise readiness, and activity scores. All of the analysis, recommendations, and nuanced data are only available with an Oura Ring membership.
You Don't Care About Personal Health Data
Not everyone is interested in all this health analysis—in fact, some people are not just uninterested, but are opposed to the idea.
If you're one of them, the Oura Ring won't have much to offer you. Its biggest attractions are the data and recommendations it can provide. If you want to live your life without measuring every last thing, there's no reason to buy one.
You're Happy with Your Smartwatch or Other Fitness Gadget
If you are into measuring your behavior and vitals, and you have a gadget that works well for you, you may not need an Oura Ring. Many of the Ring's features are available in smartwatches like the Apple Watch, fitness bands like the Fitbit, or even smartphones.
All of those devices have the advantage of having a screen to display information; all data and recommendations from the Oura Ring are in its smartphone app. The Oura Ring also doesn't have integration into a tech ecosystem, meaning it can't show notifications, send texts or emails, or control a smartphone.
Read the original article on Lifewire.
2024-05-01T02:19:22Z dg43tfdfdgfd