Sarah Bowmar here to bring you my review of the Oura Ring vs Apple Watch! I would like to start this blog off by saying I was a full paying customer of both products and would buy them both again. I feel they each have their strengths and weaknesses and I hope this blog helps you in determining which one is best for you if you are on the fence!

I also would like to note that while I originally purchased each device for a specific purpose, I now use them for many other purposes that I was either unaware they were capable of doing or didn’t realize I would like certain features as much as I do! Additionally, I did not want to get into the nitty gritty technical side of these devices. They both have great websites if you want to learn more about how data is collected through each of their own technologies!

Why I Originally Purchased

Oura Ring

• I have owned the Oura Ring since the start of June 2021 (it is now March 2022) so nearly a year. I purchased the Oura because we were trying to conceive our second child. I was not able to consistently track my basal temperature to track ovulation during the summer for several reasons. The first reason is that you have to do it at the same time each morning and with a 10 month old at the time, that was virtually impossible. You also had to ensure you got three hours of sleep prior to testing temperature in the morning and you also couldn’t have already gotten out of bed. So if you forgot to put the thermometer by your bed or the cat knocked it off the stand, you were screwed for the day. It’s a very finicky way to test ovulation and I knew there had to be a better way.
• I started doing research into Oura and while it doesn’t tell you ovulation before it happens like the basal temperature has the potential to, it definitely tells you IF you have ovulated by a massive spike in body temperature. If you do become pregnant, your body temperature remains elevated through roughly the first trimester. You can distinctively see on the graph below when I got pregnant and my first trimester as my temperature remained high.

Apple Watch

• I prefer to check my texts and have calls come to my watch instead of feeling like a prisoner to my phone. During the day, I hardly take any calls on my phone unless its a planned conference call. I also prefer my kids to see my check my watch for texts instead of my phone. I also feel that I spend way too much time on my phone if I am on there to check a text- it turns into so much more than that
• I have owned my Apple Watch for over a year and I originally ordered it to track my steps as I don’t always have my phone in my hand while I am walking. I have a treadmill desk and I knew my step count wasn’t accurate with using just my phone. I also purchased the watch to use the stopwatch / timer feature during my workouts.
• I DID NOT purchase the watch to track my calories burned, in any way shape or form. I actually wish I could turn that feature off. It isn’t accurate. I don’t weight train to burn calories. It’s triggering to someone, like me, with a past of an eating disorder. Just my two cents

Pros

• Oura Ring
  • Free sizing kit
  • Free 6 Months of Data, $5.99/ month after that
  • Data is more accurate when comparing apples to apples
  • Sleep data- this is the most important to me as it shows SO much detail when it comes to sleep: active sleep, REM, deep sleep, wake windows, etc
  • Battery life is amazing, I charge once a week
  • Resting heart rate monitoring
  • HRV monitoring
  • Body temperature monitoring
  • Could replace wedding band
  • Natural Cycles integration
  • NFP- natural family planning
• Apple Watch
  • Find phone feature
  • Can read / respond to texts on watch
  • I don’t have to be tied to my phone without fear of missing a call or text
  • Customize the look with a ton of watch bands
  • Workout stopwatch / timer feature
  • Receive notifications without your phone
  • Take calls on the watch
  • Integrate certain apps with phone
  • Emergency SOS feature

Cons

• Oura Ring
  • Gets scratched very easily, the underside of mine is completely worn of color due to lifting weights with it on (which they don’t recommend but I’d prefer to have the data than the paint color)
  • Quite masculine which I don’t mind but I know others would
  • Bulky
• Apple Watch
  • Battery life is pure trash and you have to charge it almost daily
  • Calorie display on the watch face during a workout (some may view this as a pro, I do not as mentioned above)

Review

At the end of the day, you have to determine what is most important FOR YOU when it comes to a fitness / health tracker. They are both completely different tools that serve totally different purposes. Could you make the watch work for most of the data the ring gives you? Sure. Do I think it’s as accurate comparing apples to apples? No. But I do understand not everyone wants to have both devices on them at all times. For someone like me who is extremely data driven, I thrive on knowing all that I do with both pieces of technology. I hope this review helped! Please let me know below in the comments!

Specifics

• I have the Stealth Gen 3 Oura Ring
• I have the Apple Watch 44m Series 6