If you want to track your health, sleep, lifestyle, and fitness, there are two primary ways to do it. You can either choose a smartwatch or, as is becoming more common, a smart ring.
But which one is best for you? I’ve worn an Oura Ring for more than four years, have used smartwatches for more than a decade, and have a good idea of why one may suit you better than the other.
I’ll be using the Oura Ring 4 as the standard here, as it’s currently the best smart ring you can buy, and mostly the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 to compare, but my advice applies to most smartwatches.
Let’s get into why the Oura Ring 4 may be the better buy for you.
Related
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You aren’t very sporty
Housework over marathons
The Oura team has worked hard over the last few years to add more fitness and sports tracking to the Oura Ring, and there’s certainly more choice, but there’s a key difference between the smart ring and a smartwatch.
It’s the lack of visible, live fitness tracking because the Oura Ring 4 doesn’t have a screen. If you want to see your heart rate, zones, live calorie burn, and other data while you’re exercising, the Oura Ring can’t do that, and you’ll be better off with the Galaxy Watch 8 or other smartwatch.
If you’re more interested in general wellness, walking, casual running, or measuring your daily activity in a broader sense, then the Oura Ring 4 will be fine. For example, it counts housework as an activity, and is very effective at automatically tracking it.
The Oura Ring 4 will track running, walking, cycling, and yoga, but other sports must be manually added. Using a smartwatch is far more convenient if you are more sporty.
You want to wear non-smart watches
But don’t want to double-wrist
The Galaxy Watch 8 will take up space on one of your wrists and can also be used as a non-smart watch. You could use both your wrists and wear both, but not everyone will be comfortable going down that road.
A smart ring like the Oura Ring 4 lets you continue tracking activity, sleep, and health without taking up wrist space. It’s the perfect accompaniment to a non-smart watch or other jewelry that’s pushed aside by a smartwatch.
You don’t want interruptions
Or haptics
The Oura Ring 4’s lack of a screen impacts its use as a live fitness tracker, but it also means you won’t ever be bothered by notifications, alerts, or tempted to look down at it to check something.
There’s no motor inside, so there’s no haptic feedback either, making the Oura Ring 4 an interruption-free wearable. To learn anything, you have to open the Oura app on your phone.
It’s entirely possible to set up a smartwatch so it doesn’t receive notifications, and there are special modes that eliminate interruptions, but not only is the temptation always there, you’re also missing out on functionality you paid for.
You don’t want to think about charging
Days worth of use
The Oura Ring 4’s battery lasts on average between five and seven days for me, and I wear it almost 24 hours a day. It’s charged using a small plinth, which I keep by my bed. I charge it in a way so that I never have to worry about battery life.
When I don’t want to wear the smart ring, such as in the shower, I put it on the charging plinth. Just a 20-minute charge like this, every other day or so, keeps it topped up. I can’t remember the last time it had a low battery alert.
The Galaxy Watch 8’s battery lasts about a day with normal use, including sleep tracking and a single 30-minute exercise.
The OnePlus Watch 3, a battery superstar, lasts longer at around three to four days on a single charge, but it’s still less than the Oura Ring 4, and it’s often dependent on how you use the smartwatch.
The Google Pixel Watch 4’s helpful 15-minute fast charge for a day and night’s worth of tracking can alleviate the problem of knowing when to charge your smartwatch, but regardless of the model you choose, you’ll always visit the charger more often than with a smart ring.
A smartwatch has a lot more tech to power than a smart ring, so it’s not a surprise the battery doesn’t last as long on a single charge as the screen-less Oura Ring 4, which doesn’t need to be in constant communication with your phone.
You want an easy-to-understand companion app
With all the right data
Apps for smartwatches are a mixed bag. Samsung’s Health app is one of the better choices.
However, apps like Fitbit (with its Premium section locking features behind a paywall) and Apple’s Health and separate Fitness apps create confusion, which makes using an associated smartwatch more complicated than it needs to be.
The Oura Ring 4’s app is a masterclass in logic, clear design, and informative data. It’s sensibly laid out, doesn’t get bogged down with detail, and presents the data you will want to know on the main screen, ready to dig deeper into if you want.
It’s clear evidence that the Oura Ring 4 is a lifestyle product, rather than a strict fitness product.
I love how glanceable the data is. I can check the app in the morning and find my sleep data immediately. It takes just a few seconds, not just because of the app’s clarity, but because of how fast the Oura Ring 4 syncs its data with the app.
Smartwatches do more than an Oura Ring 4. Therefore, the apps are more complex, especially when tracking exercise sessions or managing notifications, power management, or individual tiles on the home screen.
If the thought of all this puts you off a wearable, the Oura Ring 4 is for you, as it requires very little in the way of setup or ongoing management.
Yet, it still provides the data you’re interested in quickly and simply. Interesting trend reports and more in-depth metrics, including stress, heart health, and historical data, are all there if you want them.
Device costs and subscriptions aren’t a concern
The Oura Ring 4 isn’t the cheap option
To get the Oura Ring 4 and its companion app, you’ll almost certainly spend more than you would to get the Galaxy Watch 8, OnePlus Watch 3, and the Pixel Watch 4.
The Oura Ring 4 starts at $349 for the titanium version, but we strongly recommend the much more durable Oura Ring 4 Ceramic, which is $499.
The app requires an ongoing subscription cost of $6 per month, and if you don’t pay, you miss out on everything except your basic daily scores.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 starts at $320, the OnePlus Watch 3 starts at $350, and the Pixel Watch 4 starts at $349.
It’s worth noting that some tracking features in the Fitbit app for the Pixel Watch 4 require the $10-per-month Fitbit Premium subscription, but it isn’t mandatory.
There’s no ongoing subscription with Samsung, OnePlus, or Apple’s smartwatches, meaning the Oura Ring 4 is almost certainly going to be more expensive to buy and more to use over time.
It may be an easy decision after all
Just be sure you know what you want
I find the Oura Ring 4 suits my lifestyle really well. I don’t need to track any intense sports very often, I wear a lot of non-smart watches, and I want an app that not only knows me well, but also makes it easy to see helpful daily scores quickly.
I pay most attention to sleep data, as it tends to give me an excellent idea of how my body reacts to everyday life and stress, and the Oura Ring 4 excels at tracking sleep.
I also appreciate Oura’s Symptom Radar feature as an early warning system for possible health issues.
8.5/10
Heart rate monitor
Yes
Notification support
No
Battery life
Up to 8 days
Sensors
Heart rate/HRV; blood oxygen; skin temperature; accelerometer
A smartwatch can’t always match this functionality, and instead focuses on keeping me informed and up to date when my phone is in my bag or out of sight.
I love how I don’t miss important calls, and how handy it is for walking navigation and music playback control.
Smartwatches and smart rings may, on the surface, do similar things, but both suit different kinds of people. Understanding the key differences and how they impact everyday life will help you make the best decision.
After all, both will only work when you wear them, and you’re unlikely to do so if they end up not suiting your lifestyle.
8.5/10
Case size
40mm/44mm
Display
1.3-inch/1.5-inch Super AMOLED
Display resolution
438 x 438
CPU
Exynos W1000