Oura Ring 5 Shrinks 40% but Trails $99 Wearables on Sports Tracking
Updated
Updated · DC Rainmaker · Jul 3
Oura Ring 5 Shrinks 40% but Trails $99 Wearables on Sports Tracking
3 articles · Updated · DC Rainmaker · Jul 3
Summary
$399 Oura Ring 5 is markedly smaller than Ring 4—6.1mm wide, 2.28mm thick and as light as 2g—while delivering roughly 6-7 days of real-world battery life.
Oura says brighter sensors lift nighttime HRV accuracy 12% and workout accuracy up to 19%, but the review found the biggest practical gain is comfort, not new capability.
Sports tracking remains the weak point: live workouts show little more than pace, distance and time, heart-rate data is limited, and completed sessions sent to Strava can omit HR or fail to sync entirely.
Sleep, readiness and daily-life tracking are still the ring's strongest use case, though the reviewer said rivals now match Oura on core sleep metrics and some app sections feel repetitive.
For users who do not want a watch or band, the smaller ring still fills a niche; for anyone focused on fitness or already wearing another wearable, the review sees little reason to upgrade.