Remy
Administrator
Full disclosure, if my two codes are used, I will get the upgrade for free.
But I will give an honest review of the pros and cons anyway.
Oura ring website: https://blog.ouraring.com/blog/difference-between-first-and-new-oura-ring/
Ben Greenfield review: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/article/self-quantification-articles/oura-ring-review/
I bought the first gen Oura ring about a year ago and have used it pretty consistently since then which gives me quite a long history to report on.
Things I like: it's a ring, not a watch or chest strap. I like the aesthetics, even of the much bulkier first gen ring. They definitely made the design equally important as the functionality, which I appreciate.
It tracks stats that no other wearable does like HRV, temperature and respiration rate, both of which are useful for chronic health conditions. My respiration stats showed me that there is work to be done on breathing properly which I had not considered prior to using the ring.
It tracks all steps, even just one or two.
I like that it eliminates many other tools (thermometer, chest strap, HRV app) and consolidates it into one.
I like that I can see trends and can then correlate them to my journal. It helped me see that taking thyroid meds actually had been helpful because I was able to work out the change when my stats had dropped over a month or two. The visual graphs are really more useful than my notes.
Less Bluetooth, it can do everything in airplane mode and just has to connect to sync data every 2 weeks. I let mine sync nightly but it's not necessary as it can store data even when not connecting as long as it has charge.
Things I don't like: Their terminology of "readiness" score. You can imagine that with a chronic illness, it's hard to have an optimal readiness score. That can have a negative effect on my mood, especially since it is influenced by things out of my conscious control (like the natural variation in temp due to menstrual cycle which is not an issue for men).
The sleep data feels less accurate to me than the Fitbit. It's OK for seeing trends but it reads "something" as awake even though I KNOW I am not. The Fitbit often shows similar times of awakening but for less time so overall it feels more accurate.
I don't like that you can't see your HR on demand which is important for pacing (but I hear that HR and HRV on demand are both features of the new app upgrade and ring which is one of the reasons I want to upgrade).
All in all, I recommend the Oura ring though, especially if you want something easy and all in one, especially now that the HR on demand feature is coming which will make it more useful for pacing.
UPDATE: Codes have been used!
Here are my 40% off codes, I will hopefully be notified if/when they are used so I can remove them from this thread.
TFWMJAVXLKP
TFWMJAVXRE9
Oura ring website: https://blog.ouraring.com/blog/difference-between-first-and-new-oura-ring/
Ben Greenfield review: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/article/self-quantification-articles/oura-ring-review/
I bought the first gen Oura ring about a year ago and have used it pretty consistently since then which gives me quite a long history to report on.
Things I like: it's a ring, not a watch or chest strap. I like the aesthetics, even of the much bulkier first gen ring. They definitely made the design equally important as the functionality, which I appreciate.
It tracks stats that no other wearable does like HRV, temperature and respiration rate, both of which are useful for chronic health conditions. My respiration stats showed me that there is work to be done on breathing properly which I had not considered prior to using the ring.
It tracks all steps, even just one or two.
I like that it eliminates many other tools (thermometer, chest strap, HRV app) and consolidates it into one.
I like that I can see trends and can then correlate them to my journal. It helped me see that taking thyroid meds actually had been helpful because I was able to work out the change when my stats had dropped over a month or two. The visual graphs are really more useful than my notes.
Less Bluetooth, it can do everything in airplane mode and just has to connect to sync data every 2 weeks. I let mine sync nightly but it's not necessary as it can store data even when not connecting as long as it has charge.
Things I don't like: Their terminology of "readiness" score. You can imagine that with a chronic illness, it's hard to have an optimal readiness score. That can have a negative effect on my mood, especially since it is influenced by things out of my conscious control (like the natural variation in temp due to menstrual cycle which is not an issue for men).
The sleep data feels less accurate to me than the Fitbit. It's OK for seeing trends but it reads "something" as awake even though I KNOW I am not. The Fitbit often shows similar times of awakening but for less time so overall it feels more accurate.
I don't like that you can't see your HR on demand which is important for pacing (but I hear that HR and HRV on demand are both features of the new app upgrade and ring which is one of the reasons I want to upgrade).
All in all, I recommend the Oura ring though, especially if you want something easy and all in one, especially now that the HR on demand feature is coming which will make it more useful for pacing.
UPDATE: Codes have been used!
TFWMJAVXLKP
TFWMJAVXRE9
Last edited: