Why I'd Choose the Oura Ring 5 Over the Cheaper Ultrahuman Pro
And why it may not be more expensive, depending on the options you choose.
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Ultrahuman’s Ring Pro is now officially on sale in the U.S., which makes this the perfect time to consider how this new device compares to the reigning champ in the smart ring market, the Oura Ring 5. Here's the short answer: While there’s a lot to like in the Ultrahuman Ring Pro, ultimately I think the Oura Ring 5 is just better at doing its job.
I’ve spent plenty of time with both rings, and admittedly, many of the differences between the two will come down to personal preference—for example, do you like the biohacking concept and the “next best actions” suggestions in the Ultrahuman app, or do you favor the soothing vibes of the Oura app? But when it comes to the devices themselves, there are big differences between them in terms of size, cost, and overall ease of use. Here’s my take on each, and why Oura is still my top choice.
The Oura Ring is more comfortable to wear
The Oura Ring 5 is impressively small, and when you have to wear something on your finger, size matters a lot—and generally, smaller is better. The Oura Ring 5 is the smallest and most comfortable smart ring I’ve ever worn. I have a ton of photos here comparing it in size to other smart rings (including RingConn, older Oura rings, and an older Ultrahuman); suffice it to say, the Oura Ring 5 wins this category easily.
When it comes to the interior fit, both rings are similar: mostly smooth on the inside, without any intrusive bumps. But considering the overall shape and feel, the Oura Ring 5 is just more comfortable to wear throughout an entire day.
The Oura Ring's charging experience is better—if you pay for the case
The Oura Ring 5 comes with a plug-in charger, which isn’t very convenient, but will get the job done. You can buy a slim, rounded charging case that easily fits in your pocket for $99. You need to match the size of the case to the size of your ring, and the charging case is not compatible with earlier versions of the device. It’s good for 30 days of charge, according to Oura.
The Ultrahuman Ring Pro comes with a charging case that is heavy and bulky with prominent corners, but good for an extra 45 days of battery life. The case fits any size of Ultrahuman Ring Pro, but is not compatible with previous versions. You can have the case play sounds if you’ve misplaced it.
The Ultrahuman ring lasts slightly longer on a charge: eight to 10 days, according to the company, versus six to nine for the Oura Ring 5. The Ultrahuman ring also has several different battery modes, with “chill mode” lasting me about two weeks.
To sum up: the Ultrahuman ring lasts longer on a charge and has more capacity in its charging case. You also get the charging case for free. But the Oura Ring 5’s charging case is smaller and much easier to carry around. Once again, we’re looking at two decent options: The Oura case is more expensive for what you get, but it’s also nicer to use.
Though the Oura requires a subscription, pricing is complicated
Oura is the most expensive smart ring out there, and it requires a subscription. That makes it the priciest option, giving Ultrahuman an opening to beat it simply by virtue of being cheaper. But this one is closer to a wash, depending on the choices you make. If you’re looking for the cheapest possible smart ring, well, you’d probably end up with something else entirely, like a RingConn Air. But between the Oura Ring 5 and the Ultrahuman Ring Pro, the latter is cheaper than the Oura Ring 5...but only if you’re saying no to all the extras. Let me break it down.
The annual cost of an Oura Ring
The Oura Ring 5 costs $399 for the shiny black and silver models, and $499 for gold, rose, and the matte versions of the black and silver. The subscription costs $5.99/month (or $69.99/year, which is only a $2 savings), and the Oura is basically useless without the subscription.
Here's how the cost works out on an annual basis:
Oura Ring 5 in black or silver: $399 + $5.99/month subscription = $470.88 for one year, $542.76 for two years
Oura Ring 5 in other colors: $499 + $5.99/month subscription = $570.88 for one year, $642.76 for two years.
The annual cost of an Ultrahuman Ring Pro
The Ultrahuman Ring Pro is $479 for all colors, and there is no subscription for basic use of the ring. But you can't necessarily stop there, because the Ultrahuman app includes “PowerPlugs” that will give you extra features or analysis screens. Some are totally free, including the caffeine window, smart alarms, a new parent mode, and a limited version of the cycle and ovulation tracker, but others carry a monthly fee. And if you consider all the optional subscription fees for different PowerPlugs, they can quickly add up:
Respiratory health: $3.99/month
Cardio adaptability: $2.90/month
Cycle & ovulation pro: $3.99/month
HealthEx, to connect medical records: $4.99/month
UltraSync for Tesla: $6.90/month
Most people probably wouldn't choose all of them, but even if you just wanted, say, respiratory health and cycle & ovulation pro, you’d quickly outstrip the price of an Oura Ring’s subscription. On the other hand, Ultrahuman also offers an Ultrahuman Max plan for $9.99/month or $99.99/year that includes all the PowerPlugs mentioned above, plus the Les Mills workouts that normally run $11.99/month. That's cheaper than subscribing to all of the options individually, but it will also make the Ultrahuman Ring Pro more expensive than the Oura Ring 5: $578.99 total for one year, or $678.98 for two years. In short, if you want everything that each ring has to offer, the Ultrahuman will cost you more.
Here's the big caveat: I wouldn't recommend bothering with most of the PowerPlugs. For example, "UltraSync for Tesla" recommends settings for your car based on how rested you are, which will be useless if you don't have a Tesla, and probably even if you do. "Cardio adaptability" measures a metric that Ultrahuman says is subtly different from HRV; Oura doesn't measure this adaptability metric, but it's not clear to me whether it's even worth measuring at all (I'd argue probably not).
As for the others:
Ultrahuman's respiratory health PowerPlug ($3.99/month) records sounds while you sleep, which Oura doesn't do; but Oura reports breathing disturbances based on the ring's data, which Ultrahuman doesn't do. Ultrahuman's feature is more expensive.
Ultrahuman offers a premium version of its cycle tracker for $3.99/month, while Oura has a partnership with Natural Cycles that cost $149.99/year. Either will provide more detailed (and, each company says, more accurate) cycle tracking than the basic tracking each app provides without the extras. Oura's option is more expensive.
Ultrahuman's HealthEx Powerplug ($4.99/month) displays information from your medical records throughout the app; Oura lets you import your medical records for free, but uses them mainly in the Advisor (chatbot) and dedicated areas of the app. Ultrahuman's option is more expensive.
Oura's app experience is better
Oura's app gives you scores for your readiness, sleep, and recent activity, and it tracks how stressed you seem to be throughout the day. A message at the top of the main screen gives you advice for what to do that day—for example, scaling back your workouts if you seem to be tired or stressed. Ultrahuman does pretty much the same thing, giving you a "next best action" that changes throughout the day, but tends to stick to predictable themes: get more activity if you've been sitting, and that sort of thing.
Both give detailed breakdowns of the factors that contribute to your scores, and both likely overstate how useful their scores are (you don't actually need to change your workout plans just because you had a less-than-perfect night of sleep). But the apps handle the basics pretty similarly: Both have partners and integrations, and you can book blood tests through either app, if you want to do that for some reason.
Ultrahuman gives you a bit more guidance on circadian rhythms, urging you to get in extra steps during certain times of day, and offering to micromanage your caffeine intake. It has a "longevity" tab that puts your long-term habits in terms of how many years they are supposedly subtracting from (or adding to) your lifespan, including measurable metrics like VO2max and a few things that are more inscrutable, like arterial stiffness.
Oura has a whole tab of "vitals" that it calculates from your day-to-day data, which I find more useful than Ultrahuman's data views. The items here include "resilience," which compares your stress to your recovery; a "symptom radar" that can sometimes flag when you're sick; and metrics of sleep regularity and how you're breathing. And, of course, you can check your "cardiovascular age" to see how much younger (or older) you should feel.
Overall, I prefer Oura's approach because the metrics make more sense, are easier to find, and are less likely to feel like they're going way out on a limb relative to the underlying science. Ultrahuman wants you to feel like a cutting-edge biohacker; Oura does a bit more to keep things down to earth. It is a bit funny to remember that both apps, and their wealth of data, are basically just pulling from heart rate readings throughout the day and night. Neither app gives you any truly important information the other doesn't, but Oura's makes more sense to me.
