Oura-funded research shows Oura Ring is best when it comes to sleep tracking

Researchers working with Oura have tried to prove that its ring is the most precise sleep tracker among other wearables. While this may smell fishy at first, they’re not totally wrong.

Wearable tech fans are always curious to know whether a smartwatch or smart ring can provide the most accurate data about their well-being.

To help answer this question, Brigham and Women's Hospital researchers recently conducted a study that tested and compared the accuracy of the Oura Ring Gen3, Apple Watch Series 8, and Fitbit Sense 2.

There’s a reason why these specific models were chosen for the study. When it comes to sleep monitoring, the Apple Watch Series 8 and Fitbit Sense 2 are known to be the most “commonly” used trackers with the Oura Ring Gen3 being the most “popular” in the smart ring market.

The three wearables were used on 35 participants to see which device was the most precise for measuring sleep compared to polysomnography (PSG), the gold-standard sleep assessment.

The research revealed that the most accurate device for sleep measurement was the Oura Ring Gen3. “The Oura ring was not different from PSG in terms of wake, light sleep, deep sleep, or REM sleep estimation,” states the study.

Results showed that the Oura Ring is five percent more precise than the Apple Watch Series 8 and ten percent more accurate than the Fitbit Sense 2.

The smart ring was more sensitive when detecting sleep and wake stages, with the Fitbit Sense 2 coming second and Apple’s smartwatch in last place.

The study concluded that while Oura ring results didn’t differ much from PSG in terms of wake, light sleep, deep sleep, or REM sleep estimation, Apple underestimated the duration of deep sleep by 43 minutes and overestimated light sleep by 45 minutes.

However, despite the provided results, it’s worth noting that the study was led by Dr. Rebecca Robbins, a medical advisor at Oura, and the research was funded by the same smart ring company.

However, despite the provided results, it’s worth noting that the study was led by Dr. Rebecca Robbins, a medical advisor at Oura, and the research was funded by the same smart ring company.

While this may seem like a marketing ploy at first, comparable studies show similar results. A more extensive study, published in the peer-reviewed journal JMIR mHealth and uHealth, compared 11 different devices, including the previously mentioned trio.

Researchers concluded that when it comes to sleep tracking, the most accurate of the three remains the Oura Ring Gen3, following Fitbit Sense 2, which provides a more precise sleep stage detection.

Oura's additional features, such as body temperature and circadian rhythm tracking, allow it to provide better results in sleep stage detection.

Despite the smart ring excelling in sleep tracking compared with the other two wearables, it's important to emphasize that the Fitbit and Apple Watch are used not only for health monitoring but also for fitness tracking, while Oura focuses on the former.

This suggests that while Oura Ring remains a leader in sleep tracking, other wearables focus on providing users with a wider variety of other features.

Oura is among the leading companies in the smart ring industry, with more than 2.5 million rings sold. The company recently released its latest device, Oura Ring 4, its “most personal smart ring ever.”