Oura Ring 5 Review I Didn’t Expect This…

Welcome to my review of the Aura Ring 5. Now, every time I talk about Aura Ring, people jump at me in the comments saying it's not worth it, there are cheaper alternatives, and the subscription, why isn't it worth it? And look, yes, cheaper smart rings exist. I've tested them, but none of them, especially right now, feel as complete as the Aura Ring 5. Let's talk about the design up front because Aura managed to make this ring 40% smaller than the Aura Ring 4 I have here. I'll throw a spec comparison up on the screen. Part of me still can't believe how much this looks and feels like my normal jewelry. To that effect, Aura even made some of the colors this time around more jewelry-like. Gold is a brighter, more modern look to match normal jewelry, and they even replaced the old rose gold with a stunning, more coppery deep rose. But you can see I went with silver because not only is it one of the two colors that cost $400 instead of $500, but I just also like silver jewelry. Aura Ring 5 is also more scratch-resistant thanks to the upgraded physical vapor deposition coating. Believe me, I was skeptical, especially coming from the Aura Ring 4 ceramic after my rose gold Aura Ring 4 got beyond beat up. But I've been wearing this for, let's say, like two weeks at this point. I travel, I wear a ton of other rings right next to it, and I haven't gotten one single scratch. That's pretty amazing. So scratch resistance and sizing are probably the two biggest questions I've been getting. I use the Gen 5 sizing kit, and in my experience, sizing is basically the same as the Gen 4. I was a 9 in the 4, and I'm still a 9 in the 5. The good news is Aura includes a sizing kit when you buy direct, or you could even try one in person at Best Buy. Amazon also sells it for about $10, which gets credited back towards your Aura Ring purchase. Long story short, don't overthink it. Just use the sizing kit. Moving away from hardware, what's always set Aura apart for me is the software. The app is incredibly thorough, yet also so easy to understand. At a glance, you get your key metrics, but if you want to go deep, the insights are there. Sleep tracking is still best in class, stress tracking is the most useful I've seen on any wearable, and symptom radar is genuinely impressive. Like, it can flag when your body is off before you even feel it. Now, full disclosure, I still wear an Apple Watch, especially for workouts. I really like having all my metrics on my screen. I can't see myself ever truly giving that up, but Aura has improved here too. Now, with live activity tracking, you can see workout stats on your phone during runs or gym sessions. But where Aura really shines is with passive workout tracking. It automatically detects workouts, and yes, it still occasionally labels my entire life as housework, which I will take credit for. But if you still want a tracker that does the tracking for you, kind of always in the background, Aura is still doing a very solid job at that. Aura is also very clearly pushing hard into women's health, which I am very excited about. There are two big updates here. Menopause insights, which uses structured questions around sleep, mood, and cognition to track changes over time. And we have upgraded cycle insights, now with hormonal birth control tracking, showing how biometrics shift across hormone and non-hormone days. And perhaps most importantly, this isn't locked to the new hardware of the Gen 5. Older rings are getting the access too, which makes the subscription, again, feel more justified. Battery life is another huge appeal of a screenless fitness tracker. No display to power, less power needed, makes sense. But even with the Aura Ring 5 being smaller, it has the same week-long battery life on average that Aura Ring 4 had. Also, the same as Fitbit Air for what it's worth. But what about compared to other smart rings? I do know that Ringcon rings get a few more days of battery life, and I really appreciate that that company offers a trade-in program. I've asked Aura why it doesn't. I know users are really starting to speak up about it more. Hopefully we'll get a change on that front at some point. Then there's UltraHuman trying to come back after losing a trademark infringement suit and it had a privacy breach situation. It's just not good. And for what it's worth, when I tested the UltraHuman ring, I didn't really love it. The battery life was mid-at-best. What keeps me recommending the Aura Ring is the entirety of the experience. Okay, yes, the others are subscription-free, but if you're going to take your wellness tracking seriously by buying a $300-$400 piece of hardware in the first place, then why wouldn't you put up a very reasonable monthly that hasn't gone up in years and delivers new features and labs on the regular? All that said, if there is one part of the Aura Ring experience I do not think is worth it, it's the charging case. I was super excited by the idea of it when it came out for Aura Ring 4 earlier this year, but in practice, meh, I throw it in my bag. The ring didn't always stay put. It's honestly, to me, no more convenient than really just using the charging base. And for $100 more, I think you could pass. I guess like if you need a gift for someone who very obviously loves their Aura Ring, sure, but you will have to get the right size that matches their ring, so just keep that in mind. To wrap things up, the Aura Ring 5 is the clearest version yet of what Aura is trying to be. Yes, there are cheaper, subscription-free alternatives and those trade-offs are real, but Aura's value has always been in the depth of its data, the quality of its insights, and how seamlessly it just kind of fits into my daily life. Between the design upgrades, best-in-class app, and expanding health features, this is a product where maybe software even matters more than the hardware. But yeah, the hardware looks pretty killer this time around too. But what do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments, especially if you'd like to see a set of essentials like I had done for the Aura Ring 4. Otherwise, that's it for me for this video. Thanks for watching. I'll catch you next time.