{"id":1066963,"date":"2026-07-04T00:40:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T00:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1066963\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T00:40:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T00:40:47","slug":"oura-ring-5-in-depth-review-smaller-yes-but-still-worth-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1066963\/","title":{"rendered":"Oura Ring 5 In-Depth Review: Smaller yes, but still worth it?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" data-perfmatters-preload=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783125556_943_hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Youtube video\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\" nopin=\"nopin\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The new Oura Ring 5 is a genuinely and significantly smaller ring than the previous Oura Ring 4 that was on my finger. That part isn\u2019t really debatable. And the real-world battery life seems to be a *slight* improvement over the past, though most of the time Oura rings seem to slowly and quickly lose their battery life, so this could just be a case of new unit vs well-worn unit. And finally, indeed, there are some new features \u2013 but those too are available to all recent Oura ring owners, and aren\u2019t specific to the Oura Ring 5.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, I\u2019ve been putting it through its paces over the last near-month across everything from swimming to cycling to running to strength workouts, and of course, simply sleeping and daily life. After all, that\u2019s frankly what the Oura Ring is best at: Things other than sports. In fact, to be really clear upfront, I\u2019d argue that even with some minor new features in the sports realm, the Oura Ring 5 is now woefully behind even the most basic wearables when it comes to sports tracking. So much so that as I tried to do accuracy comparisons, I\u2019d forgotten just how far behind they are in this realm (and that\u2019s aside from the accuracy itself).<\/p>\n<p>Still, there are reasons you want a ring (from any company), which is most simply summed up: You don\u2019t want to wear a watch\/smart band. If you already have one of those watch\/band devices, there\u2019s literally no reason to get an Oura Ring in 2026, everyone else is too good \u2013 even the budget ones.<\/p>\n<p>With that, let\u2019s dive into the details. Note that I purchased this unit myself, along with the previous few versions, and I pay for my own subscription to the Oura Ring service.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Oura Ring 5 vs Ring 4:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img data-perfmatters-preload=\"\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168664\" title=\"IMG_9470.jpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9470.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"719\" height=\"479\" border=\"0\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>So, what\u2019s different? Size, this is almost entirely about size \u2013 and size related things (though surprisingly, not reduced battery life). Here\u2019s the core differences:<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Reduced width: From 7.9mm down to 6.1mm<br \/>\u2013 Reduced thickness: From 2.8mm down to 2.28mm<br \/>\u2013 Reduced weight: From 3.3-5.2g down to 2g<br \/>\u2013 Reduced size options: From size 4-15 to size 6-13<br \/>\u2013 Increased battery life claim: From 5-8 days to 6-9 days<br \/>\u2013 The Sensors: They\u2019ve decreased from 18 to 12 light paths, but 4x\u2019d the strength of the lights, otherwise<br \/>\u2013 Pricing: Increased by $50 from $349 to $399 (base price, other options)<br \/>\u2013 Subscription: Still remains the same at $5.99\/month<\/p>\n<p>With the sensor changes, the company says that despite reducing the number of light pathways from 18 to 12, it\u2019s increased the light brightness by 4x, which in turn has resulted in a 12% increase in nighttime HRV accuracy, and up to a 19% increase in workout accuracy.<\/p>\n<p>As for the size, the company claims it\u2019s up to 40% smaller than the previous edition, and likely that depends on precisely which model they\u2019re talking about. Here\u2019s my Oura 3 vs 4 vs 5 (all size 10):<\/p>\n<p><img data-perfmatters-preload=\"\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168663\" title=\"IMG_9469.jpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9469.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"719\" height=\"479\" border=\"0\"   fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p>For the model types, here\u2019s the full range of colors:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168659 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"OuraRingLineup.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/OuraRingLineup.jpg\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>And the pricing is:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Base models \u2013 $399\/429EUR:<\/strong> Silver, and Black (mine is the base silver one)<br \/><strong>Premium models \u2013 $499\/529EUR:<\/strong> Gold, Stealth, Brushed Silver, and Deep Rose<\/p>\n<p>Ok, got all that? Let\u2019s dive into the box.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In the Box(es):<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168660 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"OuraRingBoxes.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/OuraRingBoxes.jpg\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>One thing to remember is that before you get \u2018The Box\u2019, you get \u2018Another Box\u2019. Specifically, when you order an Oura ring, you first get a sizing kit box. That box is a package of fake Oura rings, simply sizing rings for each size. They recommend you wear the ring for 24 hours prior to ordering your actual ring. They also note that their ring sizes might not match other ring sizes, hence the sizing kit.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168661 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"OuraRing-Sizer.jpg\" alt=\"OuraRing Sizer.\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/OuraRing-Sizer.jpg\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>In my case, I\u2019ve consistently had a Size 10 Oura ring since many versions ago. Also, in my case I wear it on my ring finger. Oura has noted over the years that you can technically wear it on any finger you want, as long as it doesn\u2019t rotate\/move around by itself (mine doesn\u2019t). Their general suggestion is the index finger; however, but I personally don\u2019t like the look of the ring on that finger for myself. To each their own.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, once you validate the size you want, you go onto their site and simply choose the ring size, and it\u2019ll ship out the actual ring to you in the final ring box. Below are the bits inside:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168662 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"OuraRingUnboxexTopDown.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/OuraRingUnboxexTopDown.jpg\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>In short, you\u2019ve got:<\/p>\n<p>1) The Oura 5 ring itself<br \/>2) The Oura 5 charging dock with USB-C port (note: this dock is different than the Oura 4 charging dock)<br \/>3) USB-C to USB-C cable<br \/>4) Some paper stuff you probably won\u2019t read<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s all pretty straightforward.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daily Life Tracking:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168669 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_9259.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9259.jpg\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>The thing Oura does best is quietly and discreetly tracking your daily activity, without having to wear a connected watch or band on your wrist. And given the even smaller size of the Oura Ring 5, it arguably does this better than ever. Of course, since there\u2019s no external lights, vibration motor, or other display on the ring, everything it collects ends up in the Oura app.<\/p>\n<p>The Oura app has been redesigned over the past year, and for the most part you\u2019re either gonna love it or hate it. The app design essentially splits your information into two pieces: A row of scores along the top (readiness, sleep, activity, etc\u2026), and then a never-ending scroll of larger display information down below it. Personally, I find it dilutes the information too much, and doesn\u2019t really make your actual data very clear, but hey, that\u2019s where we are today.<\/p>\n<p>Starting with the top row you\u2019ve got a lightly customizable row of scores including: Readiness Score, Sleep Score, Activity Score, Heart Rate (Current), Stress (minutes), and then the ability to add Resilience (or, to remove the others):<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168609 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8375.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8375.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168628 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8376.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8376.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168613 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_9172.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9172.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>Tapping on any of those individual scores brings you to more details about that particular metric\/score. For example, if we tap on the \u2018Readiness\u2019 Score, it\u2019ll bring us to a timeline showing readiness over the past week, plus the contributors to today\u2019s score:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168610 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8394.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8394.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168611 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8395.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8395.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168612 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8396.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8396.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>Generally speaking for wearables, including Oura, the Readiness Score attempts to bring in all the factors that define how ready you are for the day (including workouts or other demanding tasks). This includes looking at trends like resting heart rate, HRV (heart rate variability), Sleep, and Activity. These trends are specific to you and your historical data, not the overall population (especially for things like HRV). For example, in the case of HRV within Oura, it\u2019s trending that over a 3-month period, and comparing the last two weeks to that value. That\u2019s a bit high compared to most wearables that trend the last 7 days versus the 3-month (90-day) period, but I don\u2019t have any real issues there (you can debate both sides of that coin).<\/p>\n<p>However, this is why most wearables, again including Oura, really require at a minimum 2-3 weeks of data to be useful for these types of scores, and realistically require 2-3 months to have a solid baseline to work from. After each, each of the 9 different metrics that make-up the Readiness score have differing trending lengths.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, heading onwards there\u2019s sleep tracking. You can simply tap the \u2018Sleep\u2019 score at the top of the main dashboard to access it. This is an area that Oura really developed its name on, back at its beginnings in the 2015-2018 era. It did a lot of work to be a leader in sleep data during that time, especially as other early sleep tracking wearables struggled to get accurate data. However, fast forwarding a decade, and frankly, there\u2019s no meaningful difference between Oura and other wearables for core sleep stats. It\u2019s an advantage that has largely faded way, as others have gotten really good as well.<\/p>\n<p>As an example, here\u2019s how a few day time-slice of tracking compared:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168674 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"ComparisonChartSleepOura5.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"132\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ComparisonChartSleepOura5.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>The gist of things? Scores roughly trend, but how each one decides awake\/sleep time (especially during the middle of the night), is kinda all over the place.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, more challenging is the exact times I woke up each day. Let\u2019s look at this morning (Friday the 3rd):<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>Reality\/Actual<\/strong> Went to sleep at ~1:45AM, woke up at 7:50AM, and snoozed twice till ~8:09AM<br \/><strong>Oura Ring 5:<\/strong> Asleep at 1:48AM, woke up at 8:12AM<br \/><strong>Whoop 5.0\/MG:<\/strong> Asleep at 1:48AM, woke up at 7:59AM<br \/><strong>Amazfit Helio:<\/strong> Asleep at 2:11AM, woke up at 8:10AM<br \/><strong>Polar Loop:<\/strong> Asleep at 1:54AM, woke up at 8:12AM<br \/><strong>Fitbit Air:<\/strong> Asleep at 1:48AM, woke up at 8:07AM<br \/><strong>Garmin Fenix 8 Pro:<\/strong> Asleep at 1:37AM, woke up at 8:08AM<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In any case, here\u2019s what you\u2019ll see on Oura\u2019s page. Below you can see my sleep score, as well as its attempts to quantify sleep stages. Keeping in mind that most so-called gold-standard medical-grade sleep scoring only hit about 80% accuracy rates, and this is at best below that. So I wouldn\u2019t overthink sleep stage\/phase components\/accuracy.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168614 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8398.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8398.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168615 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8399.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8399.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>Instead, focus on total sleep, sleep debt, and the sleep consistency metrics (roughly what they refer to as \u2018Body Clock\u2019). These are ultimately what will matter. Simply put: If you\u2019re only getting 5 hours of sleep per night, no amount of supposed deep sleep phase\/stage data is going to be getting you out of that hole. You can see these key metrics down below:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168616 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8400.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8400.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168617 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8401.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8401.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>I actually really like Oura\u2019s Sleep Debt feature (even if I\u2019m probably constantly in debt), I think it\u2019s honestly a better way of showing sleep needs than what most of their competitors show. Whoop also has sleep debt, but most other wearables don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>Anyways, below that you\u2019ll find nighttime breathing, lowest heart rate values, and HRV trends. Generally speaking, I find HRV trending to be one of the best ways to predict upcoming sickness, especially 1-2 days out. My HRV values will drop considerably, just a night or two prior to visible symptoms of a cold. Keeping in mind however, that significant evening drinking (or a massive workout\/race) can also drive the same result, thus, it\u2019s somewhat important to know if those other factors occurred.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168618 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8402.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8402.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168619 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8403.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8403.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>In fact, you can even tag activities here, so you can see how they impact HRV. For example, I talked about alcohol and workouts, but even other factors like certain drugs (good or bad), can impact it. The same obviously goes for a red-eye flight, and many more factors. This helps you figure out those factors long term. The Sleep Health text you see above simply trends your sleep scores over time, which I\u2019ll cover in the next section around \u2018Vitals\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Now, if we just glance at the lower bar, you\u2019ll see it\u2019s broken out from the original home dashboard bar with three buttons (Today\/Vitals\/My Health), to four buttons (Readiness\/Sleep\/Activity\/Heart Rate + Stress). So, we\u2019ll go with activity next. Here, it shows us total \u2018activity\u2019, where activity is defined as basically movement, including steps, workouts (confusingly also called \u2018Activity\u2019), and movement. You\u2019ll also see training volume\/frequency\/recovery time, but as I\u2019ll cover in the next section\u2026umm\u2026just ignore those.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168624 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8404.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8404.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168625 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8405.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8405.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>As we scroll down, we can see activities pulled in from Strava. You can enable Strava sync (which is bidirectional, whether you like it or not), which in theory helps Oura classify activities (or, understand workouts you didn\u2019t do with the Oura ring).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168626 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8406.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8406.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168627 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8407.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8407.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>Now, that\u2019s the end of the activity overview section there, but I\u2019ll cover workouts in the next major section. For now, let\u2019s wrap up with the \u2018Heart Rate &amp; Stress\u2019 section:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168620 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8408.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8408.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168621 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8409.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8409.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>This doesn\u2019t really show a lot of new information, but rather, just summarizes existing information we\u2019ve already seen at this point, and shows your heart rate values over the course of the day.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, looking at stress, it\u2019ll plot that over the course of the day. You\u2019ll notice how just after 18:00,it doesn\u2019t have any white dots, that\u2019s because during that timeframe I was doing a trail run. Oura puts these as high-stress events, rather than nullifying them like Garmin does. Yet concurrently, Oura doesn\u2019t include this time in the \u2018Stressed\u2019 category. It\u2019s kind of a weird halfsies decision. While from a medical standpoint, workouts are a \u2018stressor\u2019, they aren\u2019t typically what most people would align to being \u2018Stressed\u2019. Especially since most people will do a workout to reduce stress (and most medical folks would recommend the same). Ideally, they\u2019d just zero our that section of the chart, but I appreciate at least not plotting those points in the totals seen at the bottom.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168622 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8411.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8411.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168623 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8412.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8412.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>Oh, and in terms of battery life, as a data point, on June 9th at 6PM, I was at 100% battery, and then by June 16th at 9PM, I was down to 7% and needing to recharge. So basically, 7 days of battery life for the size 10 unit, with roughly 1-2 hours of workout time per day (on average). On a second battery charge, it started that June 16th at 11PM on a full charge, but by the morning of June 22nd, it was down to 8% again and needed to be charged, putting it at 6 days this time. Then further again, the next charge after that also lasted 6 days before it was down to 10% and needed a charge before bed.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>My Real World Battery Testing:<\/strong><br \/><strong>Week 1:<\/strong> 7 Days<br \/><strong>Week 2:<\/strong> 6 Days<br \/><strong>Week 3:<\/strong> 6 Days<br \/><strong>Week 4:<\/strong> On track for 6 days again<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>That\u2019s technically within the 6-9 day spec, but definitely not 9 days.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vitals &amp; My Health Sections:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168671 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_9200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9200.jpg\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>Next, we\u2019ve got two sections that essentially summarize all the other sections, and trend them a bit. Having a \u2018Vitals\u2019 section is the trendy thing to do the last few years, which basically looks at your stats in the other section and gives you a trend line. Here you can see this occurring for readiness, sleep, and others:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168629 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8383.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8383.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168630 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8384.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8384.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168631 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8385.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8385.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>And yet more tiles:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168632 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8386.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8386.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168633 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8387.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8387.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>Each of those tiles simply links back to one of the other previously discussed data points in the section prior. That said, I do need to draw your attention to that VO2Max score of 38, which is hilariously wrong\/low. Most devices have my VO2Max in the 56-58ish realm these days. I was tested last year around 58 again, where I tend to float. The kicker here being I was even taking the time\/effort to ensure all my multi-hour daily workouts were properly logged with Oura, and atop that, it has *YEARS* of my data to go on. Whatever they are doing here is just hard wrong.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, \u2018My Health\u2019, is again more of the same, but now with color-coded trending for each section:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168634 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8388.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8388.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168635 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8389.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8389.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168636 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_9175.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9175.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>There is however, a Sleep Chronotype at the bottom, though that was already displayed in the Sleep section:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168637 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_9176.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9176.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168638 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_9177.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9177.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168639 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_9178.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9178.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>Now, the challenge with Oura\u2019s sleep chronotype classification is that it\u2019s not actually detecting my chronotype, but rather, forcing it. In my case, it shows my \u2018Awake\u2019 time each day at 8:03AM, and then simply adding 8 hours earlier to make it midnight. But in my case, I\u2019m virtually never in bed by midnight (more like 1-2AM), and the 8:03AM? That\u2019s simply me setting an alarm each day for the 7:50AM kids morning school rush, snoozing it once before finally getting up. On the weekend, its much later, and if there\u2019s no school rush, it\u2019s definitely not 8:03AM.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168644 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8088 2.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8088-2.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168643 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8087.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8087.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>The point is, this is at best a useless categorization of your daily trends, but is definitely not your actual chronotype. Never mind the fact that since when did going to bed at 12AM classify as an \u201cearly evening type\u201d? I mean, jokingly I\u2019ll say midnight is \u2018early evening\u2019, but most rational people would classify an \u201cearly evening\u201d bedtime as probably 9-10PM.<\/p>\n<p>      <strong>Sports Tracking:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168672 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"GPTempDownload 20.jpg\" alt=\"GPTempDownload 20.\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GPTempDownload-20.jpg\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s be upfront about this: The Oura ring is not at all great for sports tracking. While the company did add some new features around activity tracking at the same time they announced the Oura Ring 5, they are pretty minimal in the grand scheme of things.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, new app updates now allow you to see *slightly* more data than in the past when you start a manual workout. However, that does not actually include the ability to see the ring\u2019s heart rate data during the workout itself, only afterwards in a highly smoothed manner. Further, they don\u2019t push that data to 3rd party platforms such as Strava.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, when it comes to sports tracking, you\u2019ve actually got three main options:<\/p>\n<p>1) Let the unit automatically detect the exercise, and you manually tweak the classification (sport type) if need be<br \/>2) Manually start a workout on the run to get that counted as a workout<br \/>3) Sync in the data from some other wearable\/device, to get it counted a workout<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s some solid irony in the fact that the best way to work out with an Oura ring\u2026is to wear another company\u2019s device. Technically speaking, there\u2019s also a third option:<\/p>\n<p>For the automatic exercise bits, it virtually never gets those right for me (except sometimes cycling), and that\u2019s with years of Oura ring experience. So instead, I\u2019d rely on the manual activity creation.<\/p>\n<p>To begin, you\u2019ll tap in the lower right to start a Live Activity, which opens up the menu to select the sport type as well as heart rate source.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168640 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_9179.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9179.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168641 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_9180.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9180.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll get to the sport type in a second. But as you can see above, there are two options for the heart rate. The first is \u2018Live Heart Rate Source\u2019, where you choose another brand\/unit to act as your heart rate sensors. In this scenario, you can pair to not just any Bluetooth HR sensor, but also anything through Apple Health (such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dcrainmaker.com\/2025\/09\/airpods-pro-3-in-depth-sports-fitness-review.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AirPod Pro 3<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dcrainmaker.com\/2025\/02\/apple-beats-powerbeats-2-pro-sports-fitness-heart-rate-in-depth-review.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">PowerBeats Pro 2<\/a>). It\u2019s important to note that if you don\u2019t have such a device, you can\u2019t see your heart rate data during the workout live.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168642 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_9191.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9191.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>I can see how Oura likely convinced themselves that by allowing pairing to a heart rate strap, it \u2018solved\u2019 their sports tracking problem. I can totally imagine how that conference room conversation went, but in reality, it just exposes the gap to other wearables even more. After all, Oura is basically saying you need <strong>another<\/strong> $60-$100 heart rate strap (plus your $400 ring) to do what the $99 Fitbit Air can do. And that still doesn\u2019t solve for the basics of not including heart rate data in the activity file to platforms like Strava and others, which is simply baffling (more on that in a second).<\/p>\n<p>In any case, we\u2019ll choose the ring itself for now, since this is a review of a ring, not devices you should buy instead of the ring. Likewise, we\u2019ll choose our sport. To Oura\u2019s credit, there are a gazillion sport profiles to choose. I never knew Finnish baseball was a thing, but\u2026umm\u2026here we are (Oura is a Finnish company).<\/p>\n<p>With all that settled, we\u2019ll start our run. At this point, this is the only data screen you\u2019ll see:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168645 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_7820.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_7820.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>It shows your pace (or speed, if cycling), as well as your distance and time. That\u2019s it. No map pages, no heart rate data, no heart rate zone pages, no training load, or anything else that virtually all of its competitors show. It\u2019s really, really, really basic.<\/p>\n<p>If you were to pair a heart rate strap with it, then you\u2019d see one additional data metric, your heart rate:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168665 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_9376.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9376.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168666 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_9225.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9225.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168667 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_9379.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9379.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>But there are so many inconsistencies here. If you do an indoor workout (with an external HR sensor), you\u2019ll see a nifty HR zone gauge with full page zone coloring behind it. But, if you do an outdoor workout, you don\u2019t get that gauge, you just get a value, and small text for the zone. Also, sometimes it\u2019ll just randomly lose GPS too (as seen above briefly). Oura, you have all the space in the world on that page, there\u2019s no need to skip the zone indicator\/gauge when outdoors.<\/p>\n<p>No matter with or without an HR sensor, once your workout is complete, you can see a summary of the workout, including the map page if you did track an outdoor GPS activity, such as my run.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168646 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_7823.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_7823.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168647 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_7824 2.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_7824-2.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168648 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_7825 2.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_7825-2.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>But here\u2019s where things get baffling: Despite Oura\u2019s long-standing integration with Strava, they don\u2019t send any heart rate data to Strava in the file. Mind you, apps that leverage the Oura API can access it, so this is just Oura being super-lazy with not putting that data in the completed workout file they send to Strava.<\/p>\n<p>Here, we can see this same run over on Strava, missing all heart rate data (the first screenshot shows from Oura, the second shows Oura as the device type, and the third shows missing HR data):<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168649 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_9207.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9207.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168650 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_9208.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9208.png\"  data-\/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168651 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_9209.PNG\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"511\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9209.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>How the heck is this even remotely possible in 2026? C\u2019mon Oura, wake up. You added this nifty feature, yet didn\u2019t add the one point of data that you actually collect from the ring: Heart rate.<\/p>\n<p>But wait \u2013 it gets worse! If you took the step of connecting a HR sensor to the Oura app to record your heart rate data live, then Oura won\u2019t even send the workout file to 3rd party apps (Strava or otherwise). Yes, you read that right, now only do you not get the HR data, but it won\u2019t send *anything* (the whole workout is missing) to 3rd party apps. It\u2019s baffling. I\u2019ve tried both indoor and outdoor workouts, the latest app update, multiple 3rd party apps, etc\u2026 How Oura, how?!?<\/p>\n<p>Sigh.<\/p>\n<p>All of which simply solidifies my earlier statement: If you want something to track your workouts, the Oura Ring definitely isn\u2019t it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Heart Rate Accuracy:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168668 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_8345.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_8345.jpg\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>Now, setting aside my lack of recommendation for using the Oura Ring 5 for workouts, I will go ahead and at least briefly look at accuracy during said workouts. In this case, I pulled the heart rate data using a 3rd party app (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.athalyze.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Athalyze<\/a>), which receives the data from Oura\u2019s API. From there, I can compare it to other heart rate sensors that I wore during those workouts.<\/p>\n<p>Note that Oura doesn\u2019t offer any meaningful workout export feature otherwise. You can request to export your <a href=\"https:\/\/membership.ouraring.com\/data-export\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">overall Oura data here<\/a>, but that doesn\u2019t include the underlying heart rate data, rather, just a simple one-line-item summary of each workout in a CSV file. Again, I don\u2019t really understand how a company full of really smart data scientists has fallen so far behind in data basics here. Also, somehow this takes up to 10 business days for that export to be completed.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, let\u2019s look at a few workouts\u2026<\/p>\n<p>First up, an indoor trainer workout (cycling). This had basically five intervals in it, but wasn\u2019t super high-intensity. Here, you can see the Oura ring listed in hot NEON GREEN, and for the most part it was basically close enough to the chest strap and other sensors. But the second interval it did get lost for a bit, upwards of 24bpm offset (which is quite a bit):<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168653 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"OuraHR-June9thTrainer.png\" alt=\"OuraHR June9thTrainer.\" width=\"718\" height=\"165\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/OuraHR-June9thTrainer.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>If we look at another indoor trainer workout, you can see it\u2019s basically spot-on. Note here it\u2019s in ORANGE, though that doesn\u2019t matter much as it\u2019s nearly identical. There are only a few minor variations for a few seconds that are just a couple bpm away. Good stuff.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168655 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"OuraHR-June15thTrainer.png\" alt=\"OuraHR June15thTrainer.\" width=\"718\" height=\"175\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/OuraHR-June15thTrainer.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>Next, let\u2019s look at some runs. The first one is a road run, and the Oura is in BLUE. In this case, there\u2019s one brief moment it drops out, but otherwise it\u2019s very similar to the chest strap and other sensors, with only minor deviations. Good stuff again.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168654 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"OuraHR-June11thRun.png\" alt=\"OuraHR June11thRun.\" width=\"719\" height=\"162\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/OuraHR-June11thRun.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>Next, I head out for a trail run. This is where you start to see a few more variations as I descend. In this case, we\u2019re still in BLUE for the Oura ring, but you can see it struggles a bit as I descend down one section. And then likewise, it skips a hard effort back up a hill around the 30-minute marker, just totally missing it. But the rest of the run, it\u2019s pretty good.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168656 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"OuraHR-June16thShorTrailRunHR.png\" alt=\"OuraHR June16thShorTrailRunHR.\" width=\"720\" height=\"157\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/OuraHR-June16thShorTrailRunHR.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>Next, another trail run, this one quite a bit more challenging in terrain. It\u2019s basically 40 minutes of climbing at 10-20% gradient, and then a steep descent back down from there. The terrain is sometimes smooth, and sometimes super rocky requiring jumps\/leaps. The point being you can see that on that descent, the HR accuracy basically falls apart for the entire rest of the run:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168657 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"OuraHR-June17thTrailRun.png\" alt=\"OuraHR June17thTrailRun.\" width=\"717\" height=\"157\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/OuraHR-June17thTrailRun.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>For fun, here\u2019s that elevation graph, matched to the HR graph. Somewhat notable that the HR lock was \u2018good\u2019 again around the 1hr12m marker, when I had a slight ascent again, and then lost the plot promptly after that.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168658 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"OuraHR-June17thTrailRunElevation.png\" alt=\"OuraHR June17thTrailRunElevation.\" width=\"717\" height=\"160\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/OuraHR-June17thTrailRunElevation.png\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>I had also done some strength workouts, though with automatic exercise recognition, it won\u2019t send those off to 3rd party apps. And then equally, the one time I did a manual strength workout, it failed to save anything (appeared the app crashed). Sigh.<\/p>\n<p>Still, setting that aside, what\u2019s notable here is that the heart rate accuracy for workouts for me is largely pretty good actually. Really good in some cases. There are places where it struggles, such as descents while running (due to cadence lock likely, a common issue in watch optical HR sensors on the wrist). It\u2019s really too bad that despite reasonably good heart rate accuracy for workouts, Oura doesn\u2019t send this data to Strava, and then even worse being when you pair a HR sensor to it (to address these shortcomings), it doesn\u2019t send that workout data anywhere at all.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Wrap-Up:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-168670 perfmatters-lazy\" title=\"IMG_9201.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9201.jpg\"  data-\/><\/p>\n<p>In a quirky way, I wonder if the Oura Ring 5 is \u2018peak Oura\u2019? Which is to say that it\u2019s clearly the best Oura to date (in terms of size, and also some small accuracy gains according to Oura). But equally, if you\u2019ve already got an existing Oura ring, the only tangible gains you\u2019re likely to notice is the size. It\u2019s very difficult to notice a 12% increase in HRV accuracy, and the claimed 19% increase in workout HR accuracy isn\u2019t super functional given how limited the sports\/workout features are (not even passable for 2008 phone workout apps).<\/p>\n<p>In fact, I\u2019d argue that Oura\u2019s failure to figure move the product forward from a workout standpoint actually helps to solidify its core reason for existing in life: General life\/sleep tracking in a super discreet form factor. Meaning, Oura really got its start with sleep tracking, in an era when other wearables struggled. But fast forward a decade, and as I showed above, and have shown repeatedly over the last few years, the major brands are all mostly a wash for sleep tracking. They\u2019re all getting the sleep times and HRV scores correct, and with roughly consistent sleep scores. But again, Oura does this in a tiny ring, with no other watch or band required. If you don\u2019t want to wear a watch or band, this becomes a solved problem for you. And being smaller is certainly nice \u2013 I\u2019ve got no complaints there.<\/p>\n<p>That said, I feel like 80% of the app is basically just recycled trending charts of other parts of the apps. I couldn\u2019t even begin to count the number of times they re-display readiness, sleep score, or activity score trend lines on different sections of the app. It all begins to feel rather circular. Certainly, other companies re-display attributes in other areas (including Garmin &amp; Whoop), but those companies have vastly more unique metrics than they do duplicated metrics. It feels like they\u2019ve kinda given up on innovating with actual new features, and just instead keep creating new charts of the same data they\u2019ve had for nearly a decade. Yes, they\u2019ve added new integrations to a variety of 3rd party platforms (with more planned), but the things within their own house haven\u2019t really changed (if you don\u2019t believe me, go back and look at my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dcrainmaker.com\/2021\/11\/oura-depth-review.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Oura Ring 3 review from 5 years ago<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>To wrap up, I think the Oura Ring 5 has value for folks that want some of the core sleep\/activity metrics in a simplified way, but don\u2019t want to wear a watch\/band. It\u2019s quite good at doing that, really good. However, if you\u2019re already wearing a watch\/band (or care about fitness\/sports tracking), the Oura Ring probably isn\u2019t what you\u2019re after.<\/p>\n<p>With that, thanks for reading!<\/p>\n<p>Found This Post Useful? Support The Site!<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully you found this review\/post useful.  At the end of the day, I\u2019m an athlete just like you looking for the most detail possible on a new purchase \u2013 so my review is written from the standpoint of how I used the device.  The reviews generally take a lot of hours to put together, so it\u2019s a fair bit of work (and labor of love).  As you probably noticed by looking below, I also take time to answer all the questions posted in the comments \u2013 and there\u2019s quite a bit of detail in there as well.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re shopping for the Oura Ring 5 or any other accessory items, please consider using the affiliate links below! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn\u2019t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Oura-Ring-Smallest-Activity-Compatible\/dp\/B0GRJZZ885?SubscriptionId=AKIAIIWZVTXZYIZVROWA&amp;tag=dcr07-20\" data-amz-localizations=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"720\" class=\"fv-product-ad-thumb wp-post-image perfmatters-lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/OuraRing5-Background-Removed-720x720.png\"  data-\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And of course \u2013 you can always <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dcrainmaker.com\/support\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">sign-up to be a DCR Supporter<\/a>!  That gets you an ad-free DCR, access to the DCR Shed Talkin&#8217; video series packed with behind the scenes tidbits&#8230;and it also makes you awesome. And being awesome is what it\u2019s all about!<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for reading! And as always, feel free to post comments or questions in the comments section below, I\u2019ll be happy to try and answer them as quickly as possible. And lastly, if you felt this review was useful \u2013 I always appreciate feedback in the comments below. Thanks!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The new Oura Ring 5 is a genuinely and significantly smaller ring than the previous Oura Ring 4&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1066964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7],"tags":[29197,27358,27362,53,16,15],"class_list":["post-1066963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-oura","tag-oura-ring","tag-smart-rings","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116858933097207128","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1066963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1066963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1066963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1066964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1066963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1066963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1066963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}