Oura Ring 4, the fourth-generation Oura ring, on sale 15 October 2024

Oura Ring 4 is the fourth-generation Oura ring, on sale since 15 October 2024. It is a titanium ring with no screen that reads heart rate variability, temperature and movement from the finger and turns them into sleep, readiness and stress scores in the Oura app. It costs $349 to $499 by finish, and most of what it measures needs Oura Membership at $5.99 a month or $69.99 a year after a free first month. Oura lists battery life at 5 to 8 days.

We read seven editorial reviews of this exact ring, four of Oura's own pages, two reports of its IPO filing, one retailer page load showing 4.7 from 3,691 ratings and three owner threads, dated 15 October 2024 to 8 September 2026, all read on 29 September 2026. The launch reviews and the later ones agree more than the owners do.

Consensus

The editorial reviews agree on two things. The recessed sensors made the ring comfortable enough to wear overnight, and the sleep and recovery data is why reviewers keep wearing it after months or years. All seven describe the missing sensor bumps as the change that mattered, and five of the seven call its sleep tracking the most reliable they have used on a wrist or a finger.

The second year is where they part. Three long-term editorial reviews, at 365 days, at 17 months and since launch, still wear the ring daily and still list battery life as a strength. Oura's own IPO filing, reported by SiliconANGLE on 3 September 2026 and by Gadgets and Wearables on 4 September 2026, says battery performance issues in certain Ring 4 production cohorts helped drive an $84.4 million increase in warranty expense in fiscal 2025, with some affected rings replaced free after the one-year warranty had passed. Owner threads read as ordinary pages describe the same fall-off at about a year.

Confidence is strong on comfort and on the sleep data, and mixed on battery: the owner sample we could read without harvesting reviews is small, and Oura has published no rate for the affected cohorts.

Recurring strengths

Comfort, all seven editorial reviews. PCMag wore it ten days and stopped noticing it, WIRED says it feels more like jewellery than earlier generations, TechRadar and Tom's Guide both open on the missing nodules, The Independent credits the titanium build, and both long-term reviewers describe a ring they forget is on.

Sleep and recovery data, five of the seven. PCMag gives it Editors' Choice for smart rings, WIRED has relied on an Oura for years for cycle prediction, Tom's Guide calls this its best sleep tracker of the year, The Independent says the sleep tracking has more science behind it than any other wearable it has tried, and Prevention, after a year, keeps the ring for the data.

Battery while the ring is new, six of the seven. PCMag, WIRED, TechRadar, Tom's Guide and mindbodygreen each measured roughly the advertised week, and Prevention still lists battery life first after 365 days. The Independent is the exception, reporting six days with every feature on.

Recurring complaints

The complaint that follows this ring is the battery in its second year. Oura's filing names battery performance issues in certain production cohorts and confirms that some rings were replaced outside the one-year warranty. SiliconANGLE and Gadgets and Wearables both report the fiscal 2025 warranty increase. No rate has been published, and two owner threads do not add up to one, so how common it is stays unknown.

Missing data, two sources. Oura's own Known Issues page, updated 16 July 2026, lists data collection stopping temporarily on recent iOS app versions and missing sleep data on this ring, the second since fixed. The June 2026 owner thread describes a ring a year old that stops connecting after a walk and misses nights of sleep data.

The membership, three of the seven. PCMag notes that most app features sit behind it, TechRadar makes the subscription its whole value complaint, and The Independent lists it under what to note before buying.

Sizing, two of the seven. Tom's Guide and mindbodygreen both warn that the flush sensors changed the fit between generations, so a size from an older Oura is not a size on this one.

Where reviewers split

Battery over time. Prevention, mindbodygreen and The Independent report battery life holding up after a year or more of daily wear, while the June 2026 owner thread reports a ring of the same age that needs charging every evening. Oura's own filing names production cohorts with battery problems. Our read: both can be true of a ring made at scale, and nothing published says which cohort a given ring came from.

Health tracker against fitness tracker. Five comments in one owner thread describe wearing it alongside an Apple Watch or a Garmin, the ring for sleep and the watch for workouts, with one saying the gym would only damage it. PCMag and Tom's Guide make the same split, sending a reader who wants detailed exercise data to a wrist tracker.

The finish. The Independent reports no scratch after months of use including weight training, while Oura's own product page states that minor scratches from regular wear are normal. Our read: a finish argument rather than a fault, and the product page has already conceded it.

What the ring logs. One owner in that thread reports the ring logging sleep while they were awake on a phone; the editorial reviews treat its sleep staging as the strongest part of the product. One owner's account against a theme, labelled as one.

Who it suits

You want to know how you slept without wearing a watch to bed. Five of the seven editorial reviews make sleep and recovery the reason to buy it.

You already wear a sports watch and want the overnight half. Five owners in one r/ouraring thread describe wearing both together.

You will keep one ring on day and night for years. Prevention after 365 days and mindbodygreen after 17 months both still wear theirs.

You would rather read scores than raw graphs. PCMag and Tom's Guide both credit the app for making the data usable.

Who should pass

You want real training metrics. PCMag and Tom's Guide both send that reader to a wrist tracker, and owners in one thread say the same.

You will not pay a subscription on top of the hardware. Three of the seven editorial reviews make the membership their complaint; the terms were last updated on 8 September 2026.

You lift heavy weights with the ring on. PCMag found it could catch on a dumbbell, and one owner says the gym is where the ring gets damaged.

You are buying this expecting the current model. Oura shipped the Ring 5 in June 2026.

This is a reading of published reviews, not medical, financial or legal advice. For a decision about your health, your money or your rights, a qualified professional is the right next step, and not a review.

One verdict a week: the most useful Master Review we finished, the complaint that kept appearing, and who should skip it.

Sources

• PCMag, Oura Ring 4 review, tier 2 editorial, updated 31 October 2025.
• WIRED, Oura Ring 4 review, tier 2 editorial, 15 October 2024.
• TechRadar, Oura Ring 4 review, tier 2 editorial, 17 October 2024.
• Tom's Guide, Oura Ring 4 review, tier 2 editorial, read 29 September 2026.
• The Independent, Oura ring 4 review, tier 2 editorial, 16 October 2024.
• Prevention, 365 days of tracking, tier 2 editorial, 17 May 2026.
• mindbodygreen, 17 months with the Oura 4, tier 2 editorial, 6 June 2026.
• Oura, Ring 4 product page, tier 1 official, read 29 September 2026.
• Oura Member Care, Oura Membership, tier 1 official, updated 8 September 2026.
• Oura Member Care, Oura Ring 4 Battery Life, tier 1 official, updated 14 July 2026.
• Oura Member Care, Known Issues, tier 1 official, updated 16 July 2026.
• SiliconANGLE, Oura files for IPO, tier 2 news, 3 September 2026.
• Gadgets and Wearables, Oura's Ring 4 battery problems, tier 6 other, 4 September 2026.
• Best Buy, Oura Ring 4 page, tier 3 buyers, one page load on 29 September 2026, 4.7 from 3,691 ratings.
• r/ouraring, issues after a year, tier 4 forum, 8 June 2026.
• r/ouraring, beware the support, tier 4 forum, 19 May 2025.
• r/ouraring, is the Gen 4 still worth it, tier 4 forum, read 29 September 2026.

This review reads seven editorial reviews, four Oura pages, two reports of its IPO filing, one retailer page load and three owner threads, dated 15 October 2024 to 8 September 2026 and read on 29 September 2026, synthesised with AI and nothing tested.