Oura Ring 2 Teardown
Background Information
The Oura Ring is a sleep and activity tracker that uses two infrared sensors, two temperature sensors, an accelerometer, and a gyroscope to gather data about your body and give you three daily scores: Sleep, Activity, and Readiness. It claims to be the most comprehensible and reliable fitness tracker on the market, but all of this comes at a steep price of $299.
The Oura Ring was released in 2018 by the Finnish company Oura Health. However, the ring didn’t gain much publicity until 2020 when the NBA supplied an Oura ring to each athlete with the goal of detecting early signs of COVID-19.
The Oura Ring does a few things differently than other activity trackers. Firstly, and most obviously, it is a ring instead of a wristband. This allegedly allows the Oura Ring to get a more accurate heart-rate reading than devices located on the wrist. Additionally, a ring activity tracker is generally more comfortable for users to wear at night, providing sleep tracking that is more convenient than a bulky smartwatch. The Oura Ring also includes body temperature sensors, which other activity tracking wearables don’t employ. This means the Oura Ring can, in theory, detect early symptoms of sickness.
As for the Oura Ring’s ability to detect COVID-19, it is thought to be a helpful device in providing information but, of course, this doesn’t replace a diagnostic test or give any insight if the wearer is COVID-19 positive but asymptomatic.
It is also worth noting that the Oura Ring can provide healthcare providers with an abundance of numerical data about the wearer, which could be useful for all kinds of things. Additionally, some users say their Oura Ring showed an indication of change in their well-being a few days before they got sick, providing anecdotal evidence that the Oura Ring could really be raising the bar for activity and health trackers.
Specifications
- Width: 7.9 mm
- Thickness: 2.5 mm
- Weight: 4-6 grams
- Water Resistance: Up to 100 meters
- Battery Life: Up to 1 week
- Sensors:
- Infrared optical pulse measurement
- 3D accelerometer
- Gyroscope
- Body temperature sensor