Oura Ring 3 vs Oura Ring 4: which smart ring should you buy in the Black Friday sales?

The Oura Ring Gen 3 has now been replaced by the Oura Ring 4. But for a limited time, the Oura Ring 3 has crashed to its lowest price during Black Friday sales. So, should you upgrade to the 4 or save up to $129 on the 3?

Right now, the Oura Ring 3 is just $249 at Amazon depending on the model and color you choose. I’ve worn the Oura Ring 3 since its release in 2021, and it is my favorite way to track my female cycle, sleep and overall well-being. It’s not where I turn for fitness stats, mind, but it certainly is one of the best smart rings, if not the best, for monitoring your health and long-term self-care.

But the newer Oura Ring 4 features an all-titanium redesign and longer battery life, and its recessed sensors provide a more comfortable and accurate experience of the ring. Once Oura Ring 3 stock goes, it will unlikely be restocked as the 4 takes its place.

Here’s how to shop the best Oura Ring Black Friday deals and how to choose which Oura Ring is best for you.

Best Oura Ring Black Friday deals

Oura Ring 4 replaced Oura Ring 3 as of October 3, 2024, with customers no longer able to purchase an Oura Ring 3 directly from Oura.

That said, the Ring 3 still works with the latest release and re-design of the Oura app, and retailers are selling out their existing stock. The most affordable Oura Ring 4 starts at $349, $50 more than the Oura Ring 3 original Heritage style, but Amazon is going to town on the discounts right now, and you can pick up $100 discounts depending on the size, color and model you choose.

So what are the main changes Oura made?

Firstly, the Oura Ring 4’s sensors are recessed to make the ring more comfortable, and the sensors are now more accurate. Plus, the ring is made entirely of titanium, whereas the Oura Ring 3 has a titanium exterior and an epoxy interior layer.

It makes the 4 marginally more lightweight but should also improve durability. Given that I’ve worn the Oura Ring 3 for roughly three years, mine is scratched to bits, so any improvements to durability are welcome.

The Oura Ring 4 comes in sizes 4 through 15, providing 4 more size options, too. There’s also a new system called “Smart Sensing” which allows the ring’s sensors to create 18 sensing paths to read through your finger (up from 8 on Oura Ring 3). This means Oura Ring 4 should be able to collect data more accurately and limit any data gaps.

In many ways, the features and data points are the same, and Gen 3 and Ring 4 users can benefit from Oura’s wealth of health metrics and integrations, including sleep and activity tracking, automatic workout detection, heart rate readings, readiness scores, stress data, female cycle integrations, resilience estimates and long-term health trends. The membership for either ring is $5.99/month regardless.

Battery life is a big one to consider. Three years deep with the Gen 3, and I’m charging my ring every day. It starts with up to 7 days but more realistically lasts 4-5. Oura says the Ring 4 can last up to 8 days, but we’ll have to see as we’re still testing, and the battery life, naturally, declines with time.

Oura Ring 3 vs Oura Ring 4: should you upgrade?

The app experience and included features are almost entirely the same, but if you currently don’t own an Oura Ring, it could be worth upgrading. I think you can purchase the 4 safely knowing it won’t be replaced for several years.

It’s worth considering budget versus hardware here. The biggest changes are in the actual ring design and sensor accuracy while the app and in-app metric tracking features remain largely unchanged.

But don’t think the Gen 3 is unreliable just because the ring has seen a hardware upgrade. It helped me detect a potential sleep apnea disorder and detected that our fitness editor was pregnant before she did. I also depend on my ring to send body temperature readings to the partner Natural Cycles app daily, and I’ve been using it as a female contraceptive and fertility method for years. Collectively, the two apps know more about me than I do.

Plus, my colleague Nick Harris-Fry used the Oura Ring 3 to help judge workload during marathon training, and it remains the best sleep tracker I’ve used. It even proactively spots the signs of illness before symptoms develop.

The Oura Ring 4 hasn’t gone on sale yet, which is unsurprising. So saving over $100 on the older model makes it the better value pick if you’re deciding between Oura Ring 3 vs Oura Ring 4. I recommend learning more about the Oura app big update if you’re still on the fence, as it could help you decide what you want and need day-to-day.