For optimal functionality, the sleep and fitness tracking Oura ring has until now relied on a design with a raised plateau that makes it obvious to users how it should be positioned on a finger. For those wanting something sleeker, the company today introduced a new version of its Oura Gen3 smart ring called the Horizon. It’s the first Oura ring to be perfectly round.
Fitness trackers have been popular for well over a decade now, but in recent years their functionality has found its way onto more capable smart watches that have slowly evolved into health trackers through the use of sophisticated sensors that can measure heart rates, body temperatures, and even blood oxygen levels. These wearables have also been useful tools for tracking the quality of a user’s sleep, but the transition from simpler wrist bands to complex smartwatches have made these devices less comfortable to wear all night long, and quite often they need that slumber time to recharge.
Oura Health managed to cram fitness and health tracking smarts into a wearable that’s not much thicker than a regular ring, so it’s easy to wear while sleeping. The most recent version, the Oura Ring Generation 3, announced last October, boasts up to seven days of battery life, so daily overnight charges aren’t a necessity. With improved sensors, it promised everything from more comprehensive health and sleep quality tracking to period predictions based on constant body temperature readings.
The Oura Ring Gen3 was the same size and weight of its predecessor, thanks to the use of strong but lightweight Titanium, but it also featured the same plateau design on top, which made it stand out as more a fashion accessory than a health tracker. To make the Gen3 even more invisible when worn, the new Oura Gen3 Horizon is the first to skip that approach and instead feature a perfectly round design that looks more like a simple wedding band, but without sacrificing any features or functionality.
The Oura Gen3 Horizon is available today through the company’s website in silver, black, stealth, gold, and — for those who aren’t ashamed to be basic — rose gold colour options. But the upgrade comes with a price bump from $US299 ($415) for last year’s Oura Ring Gen3 to $US349 ($484) for the new Horizon. The new version also carries forward the subscription fee of the Gen3, with the first six months being free, but the price jumping to $US7 ($10)/month after that for those who want the full experience and access to all of the features available in the accompanying app.