Oura
Late last year, when the Oura Ring Generation 3 was released (see our full review), I gave the ring an 8.3/10 rating with a few things listed in the cons section. With this latest update, three of the four issues have now been resolved and my rating should be upgraded to over a 9.
Sample image of someone with regular breathing and good blood oxygen levels
Image: Oura
This week’s update brings blood oxygen detection to the Oura Ring 3, and I see my evaluation ring has already received the update, so I’ll be sleeping with it tonight.
At the end of May, we saw training heart rate support appear on the Ring 3, and I’m currently testing it out while training for a couple of events. Two weeks ago, Oura and Strava announced a partnership. While the Oura Ring 3 wasn’t a must-have late last year, these new features make it a very attractive laptop.
Also: Oura Ring 3 review: Discreet 24/7 health tracking, with more to come in 2022
Blood oxygen detection is present in many smartwatches and sports watches today, and Apple made it a main feature of last year’s Apple Watch 7. Blood oxygen levels (SpO2) refer to the percentage of oxygen in the blood. If your levels drop or your breathing becomes irregular, it could be a sign of illness, a change in altitude (an important measure for high-altitude athletes), or some other condition affecting your health. Over the past two years, blood oxygen levels have been a key indicator of likely covid-19 infection throughout the global pandemic.
Oura Ring uses red and infrared LEDs inside the ring to measure blood oxygen levels while you sleep. Oura Ring then calculates and reveals an average blood oxygen level for the night, as well as breathing regularity levels. The regularity of breathing indicates the number of variations measured while you sleep. Four categories of respiratory regularity are displayed: optimal, good, fair and pay attention. The Oura smartphone app will not display a timeline of breathing regularity if the ring measures an optimal level.
Your Ring 3 battery will be affected by blood oxygen measurements, so choose wisely
Matthew Miller/ZDNet
The company stated that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects approximately 20% of American adults, and up to 90% go undiagnosed. After a fishing trip with my brother, it became clear that he was suffering from sleep apnea and he didn’t know that he stopped breathing throughout the night. The Oura Ring 3 is not a medical device, but it can measure and report trends to you so you can visit your doctor for further evaluation and analysis.
The Oura Ring 3 lives up to its potential and with these extra features it has become an essential wearable for me. I love that it replaces my wedding ring so it doesn’t require another wrist or a bulky watch to track key health data 24/7 with no effort on my part mine