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Oura Ring 4 review: A fitness tracker you’ll actually want to wear
From sleep efficiency to readiness scores, Oura’s fourth-generation ring prioritises recovery and wellness, pushing you to do better
- PUBLISHED: Mon 26 Jan 2026, 8:39 PM
Fitness trackers have become something of a modern obsession. Everyone wants to measure their steps, their sleep, their stress — essentially their lives — and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Awareness is the first step towards better habits, and devices like the Oura Ring are built precisely for that purpose.
Now in its fourth generation, the Oura Ring 4 continues to stand out by doing something most wearables don’t: blending serious health tracking with genuinely stylish design.
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Let’s start with the obvious. The ring looks great. Unlike bulky smartwatches or fitness bands, Oura doesn’t advertise itself as a piece of tech. It sits on your finger like a premium accessory, seamlessly fitting into everyday life. The brand’s sizing kit, which requires a 24-hour trial period so you can lock in your size, ensures a near-perfect fit, something that’s essential when you’re wearing a device around the clock.
Design options are another win. From ceramic finishes to multiple colourways, the Oura Ring can be as understated or as fashionable as you want it to be. I went with the brushed silver look, but there’s enough variety here to suit both minimalists and those who like their tech to double as a statement piece.
Where the Oura Ring really earns its reputation, however, is in what it tracks, particularly sleep.
Sleep is arguably the most important health metric we overlook, and Oura places it front and centre. Checking the app in the morning, instead of instinctively opening TikTok, gives you a detailed breakdown of how well you slept, how long you spent in each sleep stage, and how efficiently your body recovered overnight. Over time, those insights can be surprisingly motivating. After all, who doesn’t enjoy scoring well, even when it comes to rest?
Here's an interesting fact: according to ŌURA’s recently released UAE: The State of Sleep report, residents in the country average just 6.85 hours of sleep per night, slightly below the global average. Yet despite shorter sleep duration, the UAE boasts some of the best sleep quality in the world, with an 85.7 per cent sleep efficiency, the time spent in bed actually sleeping.
The report also highlights the UAE as one of the world’s most night-owl nations, with an average sleep window from 12:06am to 7:57am and the highest share of late-evening chronotypes globally.
Complementing sleep tracking is Oura’s Readiness Score, which assesses how prepared your body is to take on the day. A higher score feels like a green light to push yourself further — go harder in the gym or squeeze more out of the day. A lower score, on the other hand, is a gentle reminder to slow down, recover, and prioritise rest. It’s simple, but effective, and over time it encourages more mindful decision-making.
Activity tracking is handled well too. In my case, that meant daily table tennis sessions of around an hour, and clocking in ten thousand steps. After manually selecting the activities I regularly take part in, the ring quickly adapted and began tracking them automatically. It’s refreshingly low-effort once you’re set up. And, there are plenty of features you can meddle with on an app waiting to give you useful insights.
That said, if you’ve never used a fitness tracker before, there is a learning curve. The app can feel slightly overwhelming at first, with plenty of data to digest. But like most tech, it’s simply a matter of spending some time with it. Once you get familiar with the interface, everything clicks into place.
You also don't need to worry about the ring's battery life. The upgraded battery on the fourth-generation ring delivers up to eight days of battery life on just a single charge, and fully charges in up to 120 minutes. It's also waterproof so you can take it with you for quick showers and swims.
Pricing-wise, the Oura Ring 4 is a one-time hardware purchase, depending on your choice of finish, but accessing its full range of insights requires a subscription. The monthly fee of Dh29.99 is lower than competitors like Whoop, which makes it easier to justify, though subscription fatigue is always a valid concern.
That said, even without obsessing over every metric, the ring remains a premium accessory, and not a bad one to wear daily. Starting from Dh1,399 (Dh1,999 for ceramic finishes), it's a good investment in understanding your body better without compromising on aesthetics and style.
