Smart Oura Ring Gen 3 for Sleep Tracking

Smart Oura Ring Gen 3 for Sleep Tracking

Smart Oura Ring Gen 3 for Sleep Tracking

 

 As you know, many modern sport watches and fitness trackers and even sleep tracking rings offer sleep monitoring functionality.

This can be either a simple recording of the total sleep duration, or a more detailed analysis

The general functions of smart sleep devices are the following 

  • Record the total time – from the moment you fell asleep to waking up
  • Show the real time that you spent in a dream
  • Counting how long you haven’t slept during the night
  • Assess the continuity of your sleep
  • You can give a subjective assessment of your sleep yourself – this will help you more accurately track the effect of the duration and continuity of sleep, as well as other parameters, on your state in the morning
    you can set the desired length of sleep – this will have a positive effect on your discipline and time planning.

Some devices now also have a “smart alarm” – then the clock wakes you up in the “correct phase” of sleep, as a result you feel more alert and easier to get up.

These seemingly simple features can help you improve your sleep quality. This happens, firstly, because such simple techniques discipline and force you to approach sleep planning more consciously.

Second, monitoring sleep parameters in the long term helps to analyze the causes and consequences of sleep deprivation, as well as its impact on the training process.

Amid the pandemic, demand for the device has grown: temperature surges may indicate early stages of Covid-19. According to TechCrunch, as of May 2022, more than 500 thousand rings have been sold, the devices are used by athletes from NBA, WNBA, UFC and NASCAR. In March 2022, 150 thousand devices were sold

Finally, the novelty Oura ring Gen 3 came to us, and after testing it for a week, we can share our impressions of the smart ring.

Please note that Oura Ring is not in our top recommended list, for our #1 product please check Wellue O2Ring Vs Lookee Ring

                                                              Oura Ring Gen 3 for Sleep Tracking

Smart Oura Ring Gen 3 for Sleep Tracking

 Today, Oura Ring Gen 3 for Sleep Tracking, in my subjective opinion, is one of the smartest ring worthy of attention for monitoring the user’s health.

The developer managed to place in a compact case many modern health monitoring sensors and indicators that are present in advanced smartwatches. And that led to the Oura smart ring gen 3 becoming iconic.

The uniqueness of the gadget is in focus on sleep, rest and recovery of a person. Obviously, a relatively massive smart ring will not suit everyone, but the manufacturer managed to squeeze out competitors from Motiv and Amazon from the market. And Oura Gen 3 offers even more heart rate measurement options…

What is Oura Ring Gen 3 ?

 

The Oura Ring Gen3 is a feat of engineering. The ring contains a set of new sensors that occupy less than one centimeter in the device.

The gadget is equipped with seven temperature sensors that track the temperature every minute, providing highly accurate measurements. Thanks to this, even before the onset of symptoms, the user can understand whether he is getting sick.

The OURA Health medical platform has released the third generation of its Oura Ring Generation 3. The device provides 24/7 health tracking with daily heart rate monitoring, an improved temperature system, as well as predicting the onset of menstruation.

In the same way, the gadget will detect the onset of menstruation and warn the woman 6 days before it starts. A few days before the onset of the menstrual cycle, the woman’s body temperature changes slightly, which is recorded by the gadget.

The novelty is superior in capabilities to the previous version. And this is even if we do not take into account the fact that some of the functions have not yet been released for free access (cycle tracking on the beta version, the measurement of oxygen in the blood will appear later in 2022). But, of course, the difference in price lets you know about it.

Although at the start of sales, the price of Oura Ring 2 was the same as the price of the third generation now. The manufacturer did not raise the price of a new device at all, only now it takes money for a subscription to a branded application.

And then you can get it for free if you already had the Oura ring before and you decided to upgrade to the third version.

Smart Ring Oura Ring Gen 3 for Sleep Tracking Specifications

The Oura ring has three sensors – a body temperature sensor, a heart rate sensor and an accelerometer.

These sensors collect data, which is then converted into heart rate variability (HRV), sleep quality, and movement. You can see this data in the Oura app.

Main functions :

Sensor data is transmitted via Bluetooth to a paired smartphone in a special application.

Like the previous generation device, the Oura Ring 3 has a gyroscope, a three-axis accelerometer, a temperature sensor and an infrared sensor.

This allows the gadget to perform the following functions:

  • Determination of heart rate and rhythm variability. Produced with an infrared optical sensor.
    Body temperature measurement.
    Calculation of activity with the calculation of the body’s readiness to increase it. Accelerometer and gyroscope data are used.

Compared to the previous generation model, Oura Ring Gen 3 has undergone a number of changes, of which the following can be distinguished:

  • Determination of indicators of blood oxygenation. It is produced using an optical sensor of the red spectrum.
  • More accurate daytime heart rate measurement during exercise. It is carried out thanks to the use of an optical sensor of the green spectrum.
  • Heart rate measurement at night. An infrared sensor is used.
  • Determination of the monthly cycle in women. An advanced calibrated temperature sensor is used.
  • Improved activity detection. The ring is capable of recognizing at least 30 different movements. Using the application, you can draw up route maps during training (you need to allow the application to access the location), determine the distance traveled, measure the time while jogging, etc. The user of the gadget has the opportunity to use training videos and slideshows.

Each new ring owner automatically acquires a membership in the Oura community, which is free for the first 6 months.

 

Benefits:

  • More accurate measurement of the state of the body through the use of more specialized sensors.
  • During measurements, the new ring independently determines the time of day and takes it into account when choosing a set of sensors.
  • The ability to determine the level of blood oxygen saturation.

Disadvantages:

  • The ring is designed in only one style.
  • The ring is very thick
  • The ring is made of titanium and has a decorative coating.

The sleeping tracking feature of the ring

 

The main focus for Oura has always been sleep and its effect on the body’s alertness and readiness for training.

And here the new generation also takes a step forward. An SpO2 sensor has appeared in the body, which, together with an infrared heart rate sensor, is used to obtain sleep tracking data.

According to the manufacturer, the algorithm for determining the stages of sleep has also been redesigned, which should provide even more accurate tracking of changes in the phases of deep, light and REM sleep.

 

However, both of these sleep monitoring updates will only be released with an update in 2022, according to a company spokesperson.

Paid Subscription Options

 

Like Fitbit, Apple, and most modern platforms, Oura Ring Gen 3 has also added paid subscription options. By paying a certain amount, users will have access to sessions of meditation, sleep and breathing, based on scientific evidence.

Obviously, the popularity and justification of the payment directly depends on the quality of the content, but given that the developer is clearly focused only on certain types of data, it is nice to see that some functionality expansion is proposed.

The subscription will cost $ 5.99 per month. However, any existing Oura user who updates their gadget to the new third generation will receive the app for free for the entire period, as well as a discount on the device itself.

Smart Oura Ring Gen 3 for Sleep Tracking

Smart Oura Ring Gen 3 for Sleep Tracking

Design of Oura Ring 3 

 

Oura Ring 3 is very minimalistic and looks like a regular ring on the hand. But, as I said above, it is quite wide and even though I never wear rings on fingers other than the ring finger, it was uncomfortable with a sample of my size.

Therefore, I advise you to choose a ring for your thumb or index finger, otherwise there is a risk that you will experience discomfort while wearing because the ring is designed in only one style.

The form is usual, one-piece. Of course, I would like to be able to add some stones, engraving – perhaps in the future the manufacturer will take into account our wishes. In all other respects, this is just an ordinary ring that does not distract you with some design elements and fits into any look.

The ring comes with a USB-C wireless docking station. This means that you can use any cable: from Mac, iPad, Android. The station itself is very compact and does not take up much space on the desktop.

The battery time 

The Oura Ring Gen 3 also surprised us with its battery life. The charge keeps quietly for five to seven days, and considering that it takes 20 to 80 minutes to fully charge (depending on the power of the power adapter), this is generally ideal. True, I would like to have a separate widget on iOS, which would show the charge of the ring. Although, if necessary, it is in the application.

My experience of Oura Ring Gen 3

 

This device came as a pleasant surprise for me. I spent a week with it and realized that it is much more convenient than a smart watch, although in some scenarios the ring loses in functionality to a wrist device.

Firstly, I liked the fact that the smart ring is invisible on the hand and does not distract. When you have a watch, you always want to see the time, go in to review some notifications, play with the dials, there is a temptation to look through photos, use other functions. With a ring, there is no such temptation and therefore you are more focused on work or training.

Secondly, very cool tracking of all indicators. For starters, this is about sleep indicators. As for me, sleep tracking here is at the level of medical devices, because you can clearly see: when you went to bed, when you woke up at night, the distribution of sleep phases.

In fact, sleep tracking, it would seem, is not an important feature for everyone, but when you really start tracking it, your well-being, productivity and desire to do anything improve.

The heart rate is very nice as well. You can watch it on the chart by day, in real time. Women’s health tracking metrics are in beta, and blood oxygen measurements will only appear in early 2022, so I’m not picking on these features yet.

Well, I would also like the ring to become a little thinner. Then one could wear it on the ring finger or even use it as an engagement ring.

Final Words

 

The tracker detects blood oxygenation and measures the level of activity more accurately compared to the previous model through the use of an updated set of sensors.

The smart ring Oura Ring Gen 3 will benefit everyone who wants to more closely monitor the state of their body, and especially those who are trying to increase physical activity without harming their health.

Oura Ring is far from being in our Top list. For Best Performance ring check out Wellue O2Ring Vs Lookee Ring.

The smart ring format is not for everyone. Some bloggers said that, on the contrary, it was inconvenient for them to train with him, someone lacked the opportunity to listen to music and answer calls.

Indeed, it is not a smartwatch that has evolved into a mini-computer on the wrist over time, so comparing the two is a bit unfair. Still, the price tag of the Oura Ring Gen 3 +/- matches the Apple Watch 7 (when comparing the gold version and the aluminum Apple Watch 7 with a 41mm display).

And if I were told to choose between these two devices for myself, most likely I would choose a smart ring. But this is me and my experience of using. It may be completely different for you. I love that

Oura is evolving very quickly, that they immediately let us know what features they are adding, right up to when they do. As for me, the future belongs to smart rings. Not for nothing that even Apple thought about releasing their iRing and published patents for some smart ring technologies.