The Oura Ring 4 is sleek and easy to wear but scratches easily. Here's what it's like

After two weeks of wearing the Oura Ring 4, the smart ring gave me a better understanding of how my sleep, stress and exercise influence how I feel in my day-to-day life. 

The Oura Ring 4 began shipping to customers and became available in retail stores on Tuesday, and it's an impressive option for those looking for a sleek and comfortable way to learn more about their bodies and make healthier choices. 

The smart ring offers more accurate sensors, a more comfortable design and longer battery life than its predecessor. The gadget is available in 12 sizes and six colors, including a new black finish, and it costs $349, although users have to pay a $5.99 a month, or $69.99 a year, subscription to use all of the accompanying app's features. 

On the whole, the Oura Ring 4 is comfortable to wear and its app is easy to navigate. The ring was a bit more clunky and scratched more easily than I'd prefer, but after two weeks of testing it, the Oura Ring 4 did provide me useful information about my health. 

Getting set up

I had never worn an Oura Ring before, so the entire experience was new to me. 

The first order of business was choosing a color and determining my ring size, which I did by using the company's sizing kit. Oura recommends customers new and old should get sized since the fit can change from one generation to the next. The kits are available online, and in-store sizing is available at retailers such as Target and Best Buy, the company said.

Silver jewelry has always been my preferred style, so I picked the silver Oura Ring 4 to match my accessories. 

Getting sized proved more difficult. I did my sizing in person with the Oura team, but I misjudged it slightly. The ring I've been wearing is a little big, so there are sometimes gaps between my finger and the hardware. I never felt like my ring was going to fall off, but I would size down if I were to do it again.

The ring was delivered to my apartment in a small box that included a charger and some basic instructions about how to clean and wear it. 

I charged the ring as I downloaded the Oura app and filled it out with biographical information such as my birthday, height and weight. Pairing the hoop with my iPhone was incredibly easy, and once the battery was topped off, it was time to slip the ring on. 

What's good

As someone who has never liked the look of smartwatches, I was excited to try out the Oura Ring 4 and use it to track my sleep. The wearable was so comfortable, I often forgot I had it on.

That's at least in part due to the device's new sensors, which are significantly smaller than those of its predecessor. The third-generation Oura has sensors that are raised and feel like little bumps, while those on the Ring 4 are basically flat, giving it a smooth interior like any other ring. 

I purposely wore the ring on my right index finger. I still write a lot of my stories by hand (old school, I know), so I wanted to see if it would bother me while holding a pen or pencil. It didn't. The ring is also designed to be worn 24/7 and is water resistant, and it didn't give me any trouble when I washed my hands or showered with it.

Another highlight was the Oura app. The company began rolling out a redesign of the app to all its users earlier this month, and I thought the layout of the app was very intuitive. Data from the smart rings is presented in three tabs called Today, Vitals and My Health. 

The Today tab highlights information based on the time of day, and it includes shortcuts where I could quickly view the latest readings for things such as my sleep, activity, heart rate, stress or my readiness for the day. These at-a-glance metrics are easy to digest and helpful to look at when I had a quick minute throughout the day.   

I also enjoyed looking at my reading at a more granular level in the Vitals tab. There's a lot to learn and decipher. Oura shows you nearly 20 different data points about your sleep alone. Even so, the company does a nice job breaking down all of these concepts in simple language. I wasn't familiar with the term latency, for example, but the app taught me that it's the amount of time it takes to fall asleep. 

The My Health tab gives users access to longer-term insights such as heart health, sleep health and resilience, a metric that measures your ability to recover from stress over time. These metrics are calibrated once Oura has recorded several weeks' worth of data, so I was unable to explore this feature in depth for this review. 

Before the review, I was concerned about whether Oura's metrics would negatively affect my mood. For instance, if Oura tells me that I slept poorly, would I feel less prepared to take on my day?

I was pleasantly surprised by how the company approached this framing. I never felt like I was being reprimanded for getting a bad night's sleep, feeling stressed or missing a workout. Instead, Oura gave me tips about small changes I could make to feel better throughout the day, such as taking a few minutes for a break or meditation. 

I also liked that the exercise goal in the app varied based on my readings. If there was a day where I was particularly tired or stressed, Oura lowered my activity goal. This helped me feel a sense of accomplishment even when I wasn't at my very best. 

After just two weeks of wear, my ring is scratched. It's not noticeable from far away, but I can definitely tell. 

On its website, Oura says users can prevent scratches by wearing the ring on their nondominant hand, keeping it separated from other rings and taking it off in high-friction scenarios such as weight lifting.

Despite this warning, I was surprised by how quickly the Ring 4 showed signs of wear, especially given its price tag. And no, scratches are not covered by Oura's warranty policy.  

Another let down was the ring's battery life. It didn't last as long as Oura said it would. 

The company touts eight days of battery life, but I was usually prompted to charge my ring after about five or six days. The company said battery life depends on users' ring size, feature configuration, app settings, usage and other factors, so it varies from person to person. 

Five to six days is still better than an Apple Watch, which usually needs daily charging, but I definitely wasn't getting the eight days I was expecting.   

My last gripe was purely aesthetic. I have small hands, so I thought the Ring 4 looked a little clunky in comparison to the jewelry I normally wear. My friends said they didn't notice this, but the Ring 4 is not a style I would typically reach for, though admittedly, I've gotten more used to it with time.

It's worth noting that getting access to Oura's full slate of features doesn't come cheap. 

You don't have to pay for the company's monthly subscription if you don't want to, but without it, you'll only be able to access your daily sleep, readiness and activity scores, according to Oura's website. I really enjoyed being able to track my stress levels, so for that feature alone, I would get the membership. If you want that kind of information, be prepared to make a monthly $5 commitment before getting hitched to an Oura Ring 4.  

Overall, the new Oura smart ring is easy to wear and use, and it's a great option if you're looking for a low-maintenance way to track your health. I've been recommending it to family and friends, and I wouldn't be surprised if I do end up purchasing one for myself someday.