Did Oura Ring Gen3 Address the Big Issues or Not? Let’s Have a Look.

My most popular article ever, Before You Buy an Oura Ring (a List of Missing Features), seems to be gathering a lot traffic since Gen3 Ring was launched. I figured it would be helpful to list those Gen2’s missing features and see if they have been fixed in Gen3. Here’s what I’ve learned after a few weeks of using the brand-new Oura ring.

Manually adding activities

Still not possible to manually enter a burned calorie count. I’ve also noticed that if workouts are automatically imported from Apple Health, you can’t edit them afterwards. This is mostly relevant if you’re interested in the tags the entries create.

On-demand HR tracking

Gen3 has on-demand HR tracking as well as semi-continuous HR tracking. Workout HR tracking however is coming later with a software update sometime in 2022.

I also asked Oura whether this continuous HR tracking is used to determine more accurate BMR and daily burned calories (instead of vague estimates based on hand movement and the wearer’s age/sex/weight), but Oura hasn’t replied back to me yet.

UPDATE: Oura’s customer care gave me two different replies, both times completely darting around the actual question. Either the customer care rep didn’t understand English (which I doubt) or was instructed to give me useless answers so that they wouldn’t have to admit that continuous HR tracking is not used to determine BMR. That number is still conjured out of thin air, as far as the customer is concerned.

PVD coating’s scratch resistance

Can’t comment on this yet after just a couple of weeks of use. Gen2 was very prone to scratching, and as far as I know, the coating is the same in Gen3.

Smart wake-up alarm

Not added.

Adding notes / tags

I don’t think there’s yet automatic analysis on how differently tagged days (and more importantly, the following nights) perform on different metrics. It’s possible to manually search for and highlight tagged days though.

More detailed breakdown of HRV

No updates on this front.

Additional note: sensor LEDs are now green!!!

One of the unique selling points for previous generation Oura was that its sensors were using infra red. These meant that unlike other smart wearables, Oura wouldn’t shine bright colored LEDs in the middle of the night right next to your face. Not sure why, but Gen3 has the typical green LEDs now and I believe once SpO2 tracking gets implemented, there will be a red LED too. And from my experience I can tell that those LEDs do shine through your skin when you’re trying to fall to sleep in a pitch-black bedroom.

Still on the fence? Maybe a discount would help!

You can use my referral link to get $40 / 40€ off and 1 month of Oura membership for free!