Oura can definitely take credit for putting its smart ring on the map: the Oura Ring Gen 3, launched in 2021, has been worn on 25 million fingers, according to this health tech company

But to alert the growing number of smart ring newcomers, Oura has just revealed two substantial responses: a redesigned Oura Ring 4 and an updated Oura app experience

The Oura Ring 4 (not the Oura Ring Gen 4 brand name) is shaping up to be the most discreet, comfortable, and accurate smart ring to date; launching on October 15 starting at $349, the ring's all-titanium frame features a new embedded health tracking and Thanks to a new embedded health-tracking sensor, it is perfectly level on the inside

According to Aura, with more than twice as many signal paths (up from eight to 18), the ring can determine the optimal sensing path through the finger on the fly Therefore, the ring is also more tolerant of data misalignment when the ring rotates and shifts position In addition, the Oura Ring 4 has improved the accuracy of blood oxygenation measurements by 120%

What surprised me most is that this new smart sensing technology does not affect the battery life of the Oura Ring 4 In fact, the battery life of this ring is up to 8 days, a day longer than the best estimates for the Oura Ring Gen 3 and Samsung Galaxy Ring

In my experience with the Gen 3, with all features enabled and frequent exercise tracking, the battery only lasted about 4-5 days

Other aspects of the design worth mentioning are the size and color options: the Oura Ring 4 is available in sizes 4 through 15, four more sizes than before Galaxy Rings range from size 5 to 13 Color options include rose gold, gold, silver, brushed silver, black, and stealth

However, if you are already wearing a Gen 3 and want to upgrade, you will need to double check your size with the new sizing kit The older rings had a slightly raised sensor, which affected sizing, but Ring 4 has a flatter interior, so the fit has changed

Concurrent with the Ring 4, Oura will roll out a companion app overhaul starting October 3 The new layout and features will be available to both Oura Ring 4 adopters and existing Gen 3 users, with the $599 monthly membership fee remaining the same

The app has been reorganized with three new tabs: “Today,” “Vitals,” and “My Health”; “Today” is effectively the home page, with information changing based on what is likely to be relevant to the user at any given point in the day

The “Today” tab also has shortcut buttons for viewing metrics, a list of spotlight cards that pop up intelligently, and a new timeline where you can see all the factors that affect your health throughout the day

'Vitals' is a more stable page with expanded and collapsed cards that cover all your recent metrics, including your sleep score, daily preparation, activity progress and menstrual cycle status

And 'My Health' is a magnified picture of your health, spanning things like resilience, heart health, sleep chronotype, cardiovascular age, and more In this section, you can see monthly and yearly reports if you want to see how your health is changing over time

Especially new is better automatic activity detection with heart rate tracking and heart rate zone information A new intraday stress chart allows users to see an overview of their stress levels throughout the day, cross-referenced with lifestyle tags that may explain stress peaks

Finally, Cycle Insights, coming in a few months, will add a Fertile Window feature that will help estimate peak fertility for users hoping to conceive

Nearly three years after the previous generation, Oura Ring was, in my opinion, due for some major changes Especially in the past year, I have seen its growing popularity on social media and elsewhere The ability to track your health without having a smartwatch or other device buzzing and standing you up every 10 minutes is a big draw

Unfortunately for Samsung, the Oura Ring 4 already makes Samsung's Galaxy Ring, which was just released a few months ago, look a bit dated The embedded sensor and smooth internals are a big upgrade in terms of comfort As for accuracy and other improvements, you'll have to try it out for yourself