When I sold my Apple Watch earlier this year to buy a ‘dumb’ watch, I started to miss the health tracking features of Apple’s smartwatch. Fast forward a few months and I’ve been using the Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon and it has opened my eyes to the world of smart rings. Combined with a regular watch, the Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon gives me some of the Apple Watch’s best benefits without wearing an intrusive display on my wrist. After three weeks on my finger, I love the execution and the benefits of the product, but does that outweigh the massive elephant in the room: A monthly subscription fee?
Oura Ring Gen 3: Price and availability
The Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon starts at $349 for the Silver or Black models and is available from Amazon and Oura’s website. Other color options include Stealth, Brushed Titanium, Rose Gold, and Gold (the version I have for review).
On top of the initial cost, Oura Rings require a membership that is free for the first month, then costs $5.99/month.
Oura Ring Gen 3: What's good?
We’ve covered most of Oura’s benefits in our review of the Oura Ring Gen 3, but this Horizon model brings a timeless look that oozes class. From the moment you try on the Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon, you’ll notice just how nice it is to wear on your finger: It’s light, stylish, feels expensive, and most importantly doesn’t scream smart ring.
In this review, I wanted to focus on incorporating a smart ring into my daily life and as someone who has actively tried to detach from technology more and more, it seems to tick all the right boxes. With a seven-day battery life, I’ve found myself only needing to take the Oura off once every week to charge before bedtime. I’ve worn the ring in the shower, while exercising, and sleeping — for someone who has forgotten to wear their Apple Watch in the past, it’s a very welcome change.
Oura Ring Gen 3 tracks my heart rate, sleep, determines if I’m ready to tackle the day, and even tells me when I’m stressed — it’s been refreshing to have so much data at my fingertips all built-in to Oura’s excellent app. I worried that the ring would feel cumbersome and get in my way, but if anything I forget I’m wearing it completely until I glance down at my hand and see the shiny gold band.
Oura Ring Gen 3: What's not so good?
If you want to use a smart ring for weight training, I’d advise against it as the ring can feel uncomfortable in the gym. If you need to take off a ring to even do an exercise comfortably, at that point you’re probably best looking elsewhere.
Weight training aside, the biggest issue I have with the Oura Gen 3 Horizon is the company’s decision to charge $5.99/month to use the ring in the first place. While the information in the app is incredibly vast, charging a monthly fee to use a product that is expensive to begin with doesn’t sit well with me. The Oura Gen 3 Horizon I’ve been wearing costs a whopping $499 and on top of that it’s around $70 a year to use. Add the fact that paying the monthly subscription doesn’t give you an extended warranty or any perks in that sense, and it feels like Oura is really asking for too much here.
I love the Oura ring but I can’t recommend a product that has an internal battery that is likely to fail after a few years and a monthly subscription model that demands your hard-earned cash. Other smart rings exist without the monthly subscription cost and while they may not be as good (I have yet to try competitors), they don’t feel like an endless money pit.
Oura Ring Gen 3: Competition
Oura offers another Heritage model which is at a slightly more affordable starting at $299. Elsewhere smart rings like the Ultrahuman Ring Air have a one-time upfront cost and no subscription model.
If you’re looking for the best way to track your fitness on the best iPhones, you could also opt for an Apple Watch Series 9, although at that point it’s a smartwatch and not a smart ring.
Oura Ring Gen 3: Should you buy it?
You should buy this if ...
- You want a gorgeous smart ring
- You don’t mind paying a monthly fee
- You don’t plan to do weight training
You shouldn't buy this if...
- You want a screen
- You don’t like paying monthly
- You plan to use it in the gym lifting weights
The Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon is a gorgeous piece of tech that can be mistaken for high-end jewelry. It tracks all of the vital health information you want to know at a glance and packages it all up in a very nicely designed app. Oura, however, charges a monthly subscription fee and unfortunately, the added cost leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, especially when you’ve forked out anywhere between $349 and $549 to begin with.
