Oura Ring 5 vs Oura Ring 3: Is the upgrade worth it?

As the Oura Ring 5 has just launched, we’re keen to see how the smart ring compares to the 2021 Oura Ring 3.

If you’re still rocking the nearly five year old smart ring, is now the time to upgrade? Or is the Oura Ring 3 still a perfectly solid device for tracking your health and fitness metrics?

Ahead of our official Oura Ring 5 review, we’ve compared its specs to the Oura Ring 3 and highlighted the key differences and upgrades between the two. We’ve also put together a comparison between the Oura Ring 5 vs Oura Ring 4, so you can see how the newest model measures up to the brand’s recent flagship. 

Alternatively, visit our Oura Ring 4 vs Oura Ring 3 guide to see how the two compare. For a broader look at ways to track your health and fitness, we’d recommend visiting our best smart rings and best fitness trackers guides instead.

Specs Comparison Table

Price and Availability

At the time of writing, the Oura Ring 5 is available for pre-order and will launch officially from June 4th. The smart ring comes in a choice of six colours, with the exact price depending on the finish you choose. For example, the Silver and Black Oura Ring 5s will set you back £399 while the inStealth, Brushed Silver, Gold and Deep Rose options start at £499.

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The Oura Ring 3 is no longer available to buy directly from Oura, however it can still be found on third-party sites such as Amazon and John Lewis. While its price can vary, generally you should expect to spend around £249 for the ring.

Oura Ring 3 comes with a choice between two designs

Although both the Ring 3 and Ring 5 come with various colour options, the Ring 5 is only available as a fully rounded ring. Instead, the Ring 3 can be found in either the Horizon or Heritage versions, with the former being a typical rounded ring and the latter sporting a flat-top edge.

Regardless of whether you opt for Heritage or Horizon, both iterations are made from titanium and sport a PVD coating that promises scratch resistance. Similarly, the Oura Ring 5 is made from titanium.

Oura Ring 5 is thinner and smaller

While the Oura Ring 4 and Oura Ring 3 look pretty much similar, Oura has switched things up with the Oura Ring 5. If you found the Oura Ring 4 or 3 too large and bulky, then this change will likely appeal to you. 

Depending on whether you opt for Horizon or Heritage, the Ring 3 weighs from 4 to 6g and is 2.5mm thick. In comparison, the Ring 5 starts from just 2g and is 2.28mm thick. While that certainly sounds a lot smaller than its alternative, we should disclaim that we never found the Ring 3 to feel thick or heavy.

Even so, the fact the Ring 5 is considerably lighter and thinner should mean it will feel more natural during wear – and you’ll likely not even notice you’re wearing a ring.

Oura Ring 5 promises better scratch resistance

Although it was fitted with PVD, we found that the Ring 3 was annoyingly susceptible to scratches. Sure, scratches are a natural result of daily wear and tear and they don’t necessarily ruin the look of the ring, it’s still a shame that they appear quite so easily. However, in our experience we found that the scratches don’t harm the Ring 3, and the device remains durable and can withstand submersion in water up to 100m too.

Oura promises that the Ring 5 is the brand’s “most scratch resistant ring yet” thanks to a new “extra-strong” PVD coating. We’re hopeful, but we’ll have to wait until we get our hands on the ring to see how scratch resistant it really is.

Oura Ring 5 promises to be more accurate

Oura explains that the Ring 5 is fitted with new signal architecture that combines “precison-engineered low-profile sensor domes for better skin contact”, more powerful LEDs for “clearer, more consistent readings” and a total of twelve stronger signal pathways for greater accuracy across more finger types and skin tones.

Perhaps most notably, Oura promises that the new signal architecture provides “more accurate activity detection” than previous generations, which is a promising update considering we sometimes struggled with recording workouts accurately with the Ring 3. 

We’ll have to wait and see how accurate the Ring 5 is, but considering the Ring 3 reliably tracked the likes of our heart rate, skin temperature and the like, it’s fair to say we have high expectations.

Both require a subscription to unlock more features

Make sure you keep in mind that both the Ring 5 and Ring 3 require an Oura membership to unlock all the features. This membership will set you back £5.99/$5.99 and gives you access to the iOS and Android smartphone app.

From the app, you’ll have access to all your data from your Sleep, Readiness and Activity scores, plus heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen sensing, stress levels and the ability to set personalised activity goals too. In addition, there’s a plethora of women’s health tools including cycle insights and predictions too. Plus, the Oura Ring 5 supports Natural Cycles, an FDA-cleared birth control app that allows you to track your fertile windows and monitor pregnancy too. Garmin has also recently introduced its own Natural Cycles integration too.

Early Verdict

The Oura Ring 5 seems like a promising upgrade over the Oura Ring 3, thanks to its upgraded signal architecture that claims more accurate tracking, stronger scratch resistance and a promise of up to a week’s worth of battery on a single charge. Plus, as it’s thinner and lighter, it seems like a great choice for those who aren’t used to wearing rings.

Having said that, the Oura Ring 3 still offers many of the same tracking features as the Ring 5 – so if you’re already sporting the older model then there’s perhaps less of a need to upgrade.

We’ll be sure to update this versus once we review the Oura Ring 5.