00:00I see you.
00:04Ring down.
00:05Oura Ring 4.
00:06A lot of people were excited in the rumors leading up to this,
00:09so I was surprised to see some not-so-excited comments on Oura's announcement video.
00:13The one that stood out to me said that this should have been called the Oura Ring 3.5 instead of 4
00:19because there aren't enough changes compared to the Oura Ring 3.
00:22So, let's talk about it.
00:23Is this really the best thing we could get while we're supposed to be in the middle of a smart ring revolution?
00:27Or, is the revolution over?
00:30I think it's important to start by looking at the Oura Ring 4 next to the Oura Ring 3.
00:37The design now has an all-titanium frame that's basically completely leveled on the inside
00:42thanks to new recessed health tracking sensors.
00:45You can very clearly see bumps, no bumps, bumps, no bumps.
00:50The titanium design is also meant to make the Oura Ring 4 more accurate
00:53because the epoxy layer right here, it can cause a little bit of diffraction for the infrared
00:58and other sensor lights that are reading your finger.
01:01I actually did a video a little while back testing the Oura Ring 3 against heart rate and SpO2 equipment
01:06at a sports lab, and I found that it was already, like, very, very accurate.
01:10But the Oura Ring 4 has what Oura is calling smart sensing,
01:13where there are 18 up from just 8 sensing paths before that go across your finger,
01:17and in real time, the ring determines which path is the most accurate, most unimpeded,
01:22and then uses that measurement to inform all your data.
01:25Smart sensing should also help limit the number of data gaps.
01:29I definitely used to get more gaps in my sleep and stress data
01:32just from the Oura Ring 3 twisting or whatever.
01:34I just haven't seen that as much since using the newer ring.
01:38But honestly, for me, looking at the design change overall
01:41comes down to the Oura Ring 4 feeling more comfortable to wear 24-7, including during sleep.
01:47That's huge.
01:48I also just love how it looks.
01:49This is rose gold, if you couldn't tell, but I really like how it feels super discreet.
01:54I even forget I have it on.
01:55And thinking not just about me, the fact that the size range is now 4 through 15,
02:00before it was 6 through 13, I believe, that means the Oura Ring 4 is more inclusive.
02:05Samsung's Galaxy Ring had an edge for, like, maybe just six months, less than six months,
02:10with the one extra size than the Gen 3.
02:12But this feels a little bit like Oura reminding Samsung that
02:15they're the ones that made smart rings mainstream.
02:18Now, question.
02:19I've also seen some people on TikTok talking about the Ultra Human Ring.
02:23I haven't personally tried it, but I know that it only comes in sizes 6 through 12.
02:27Let me know if you've also been seeing more buzz lately about the Ultra Human Ring
02:31and if I should try it out for a future video.
02:33Now, back to the Oura Ring.
02:35The other half of the hardware upgrades that you should know applies to battery life.
02:39The Oura Ring 4 can apparently get up to 8 days of battery life.
02:43Now, I'll tell you, that has not been my experience.
02:46But my experience actually has been better than it was on the Oura Ring 3.
02:50On a full charge, I've gone six days before wanting to charge it before bed,
02:54just so that I wouldn't die overnight.
02:56I was barely making five days on my Oura Ring 3, so that is definitely an improvement.
03:02The batteries in these rings do seem to deteriorate over time, so I will be paying attention.
03:08But for now, I'm really content to not have to worry about charging for several days at a time.
03:13It's a very different experience than using, say, an Apple Watch.
03:17That's how I feel.
03:18You tell me how long you would need a smart ring to last.
03:21For me, I would be absolutely blown away if a smart ring lasted any longer at this point, honestly.
03:26Just think about how tiny the batteries are in something like this.
03:29I wouldn't want the ring to be any thicker just to have more batteries.
03:33So, in terms of design, check from me.
03:36And now, battery life.
03:37Another check.
03:38That's before even mentioning that the charging base is now square and silver,
03:42which, thank God, because I was always losing the Oura Ring 3 base.
03:47Wait, I have it right here.
03:51The Oura Ring 4 base is at home on my nightstand, but here's the Oura Ring 3 base.
03:54It would just fall to the bottom of bags, never to be seen again,
03:58and replacing it is, like, 50 bucks, so it was just bad.
04:01That said, I do wish that Oura maybe copied Samsung.
04:05I love, love, love this little ring box.
04:09I could, like, propose to someone with this.
04:12What are our thoughts on using smart rings as, like, wedding rings?
04:14I feel like I'm not opposed.
04:16Is that, like, crazy to say?
04:18Let's cut the hardware conversation and move over to software.
04:22Because, as of October 2024, the Oura app has undergone its biggest refresh in years.
04:28I'll try to break it down as simple as possible.
04:31It's reorganized into three new tabs.
04:34Today, Vitals, and My Health.
04:36Today is effectively the homepage, with changing information based on what might be relevant
04:41to the user at any given point at the day.
04:44My favorite part are these little shortcut tiles up here for viewing metrics,
04:47and then we see a list of spotlight cards that rotate throughout the times of the day.
04:52And then something I also really like is this new timeline feature, if you scroll down,
04:56that lets you see all of the factors that are impacting your health throughout the day.
05:00Here's where I can add tags.
05:02I'll add here, for example, that I had a coffee this morning.
05:07I also added that I had a flu shot this week.
05:10I add when I've had a little bit of alcohol.
05:13Done.
05:14So, tag entry added.
05:15Next, we have Vitals, which is more of a stable page with these expanding and collapsing cards
05:21that covers all of your daily metrics, such as your readiness, your sleep, activity goal,
05:26cycle day, even your daytime heart rate and daytime stress.
05:30Finally, we have My Health, which is more of a zoomed-out picture of your health,
05:35spanning things like resilience, your heart health, sleep chronotypes, cardiovascular age, and more.
05:40This section is where you can view your monthly and yearly reports if you're curious to see how your health is changing over time.
05:46Oura Ring is always adding new features.
05:50I think they've had something like 24 in just the last year alone.
05:53Most recently is better automatic activity detection with heart rate tracking and information on heart rate zones.
05:59It knows when I'm walking, doing a HIIT workout, even doing housework,
06:03because I think we can all agree that that is definitely a workout.
06:06Okay, this one's really cool.
06:07If I go back to today, there's a new daytime stress chart that lets users see an overview of their stress levels throughout the day,
06:15pitted against those lifestyle tags that I mentioned that might explain why you're having stress peaks.
06:20I think it's pretty clear that I've been very stressed lately,
06:24and it's one of those things where, like, I didn't think I was a stressed person.
06:27Just, like, a little tired or overworked lately, I'm not sure.
06:31But now, I'm thinking that I really need to prioritize some relaxation.
06:34I wouldn't have considered this honestly,
06:37and I think just being aware that you need to think about your mental health
06:40is the first step towards taking action, right?
06:43Now, that's all great, but there's another comment slash complaint that I wanted to address,
06:47and that's the fee for the Aura app membership.
06:50I think I saw more than one person say that if there wasn't the $5.99 a month membership fee,
06:55that they would buy the ring.
06:57And what I would say to that is, aren't features like the ones I've discussed worth paying for?
07:02In fact, there's dozens of other things, like third-party integrations I didn't mention,
07:06that I don't see the fee being a bad thing.
07:09Ask me again if the price were to go up,
07:12but for now, it's less than one Starbucks per month, GirlMath,
07:15and I'm willing to pay for an accurate health tool that's proven that it's consistently adopting new features.
07:22Yes, I know that the Galaxy Ring features are free,
07:25but there is a higher upfront cost, and many of the insights are great,
07:28but having used both, I can say that Aura's is better.
07:32Do I think Aura might be able to get some more people in the door with a non-paid tier?
07:37Maybe, but that hasn't stopped over 2.5 million people from already buying these rings.
07:43So what if you're one of those people?
07:45What about if you already have an Aura Ring 3 or Gen 3?
07:48Well, I have good news, I think,
07:50and it's that everything in the new Aura app is also available to you.
07:55You don't need to get an Aura Ring 4 to take advantage of all of these, frankly, great features.
08:01Then the conversation becomes about whether you should upgrade based on the hardware changes,
08:06but honestly, for most people, I don't see much reason to upgrade
08:10unless you've had your Aura Ring 3 for several years already,
08:14you're really enthusiastic about smart rings, which is sick, same here,
08:18and want what is going to be my top pick,
08:20and I'm guessing a lot of other reviewers' top smart ring pick.
08:24Just know that the Aura Ring 4's starting price is $50 more than the Aura Ring 3's starting price,
08:30and that was for the Heritage model that had that little ridge or plateau on it.
08:34That's no more for the Aura Ring 4, it only has the fully rounded model.
08:39Of course, the same as the Aura Ring 3,
08:41the price is going to depend, ultimately, on the material you choose.
08:45After looking at everything new, giving you my two cents on the differences,
08:49I'm again going to throw the question back to you.
08:52What would the Aura Ring need to have to go from feeling like a 3.5 or a half step up to a full next-gen?
09:00This is everything a smart ring should be.
09:02Stylish, comfortable, accommodating in terms of users and natural movements,
09:07several days of battery life,
09:09and capable of telling me things about my health that I didn't even consider.
09:12When I doubt the state of the smart ring revolution,
09:16it's that I think that this is peak.
09:18This is the smart ring that most people should get.
09:21Everything Samsung or Ultra Human have done recently have been to catch up to where Aura got to a few years ago.
09:27And this almost just like leapfrogged, I think that's the right term to use.
09:30If you ask me, the only thing that Aura has to be worried about is an Apple Ring,
09:34which honestly will probably be a lot of the same situation where it's a catch-up product in its first iteration.
09:40It's reached the point where I can see at least one Aura Ring every time I go out in public,
09:46and there's no reason to believe that that's going to change anytime soon.
09:49I have linked the Aura Ring 4 down in the description if you're interested,
09:53and I posted an unboxing on our TikTok that you should go check out.
09:57But more importantly, I want to know your impressions of the ring and where we stand with smart rings.
10:03Is there something, a feature holding you back from getting one?
10:06Are you kind of with me in that we've hit peak?
10:09Let me know what you guys think.
10:10Anyway, that's it for me.
10:11Thanks for watching.
10:12I'll catch you next time.
10:19Bye.
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