After the lackluster communication during the Oura Ring Gen 3 launch, you’d think things would be different this time around. Unfortunately, it looks like both long-time customers and fans are once again left in the dark—especially regarding the most important question:
Is there an upgrade offer for Gen 3 customers?
Judging by the deafening silence from the Oura team, the answer seems to be a resounding “no.”
It appears they truly expect people to toss their old rings in the trash and shell out $349 for a new one. There hasn’t even been a mention of a reduced cost for the “membership subscription,” which, until now, has been free for existing customers. But what’s worse is that they continued to promote the Oura Ring Gen 3 on Instagram just one day before announcing the new ring. A lot of users are upset because they recently purchased the Gen 3 without any warning that Gen 4 was right around the corner. I suspect Oura wanted to clear out stock, which is why they didn’t even hint at the new version’s upcoming release.
As a qurious sidenote, Oura stopped posting on X back in February, and they still haven’t announced the new ring there. However, their support team remains active on the platform. Ironically, I might be muted by them due to my blog posts, as I rarely if ever receive any replies 😅 Despite directly contributing to the sales of 20+ rings (and having a bunch of Oura swag to prove it), I’m apparently no longer on their radar.
They’ve also introduced a new referral program. You can use my code to get 10% off the Oura Ring 4: https://ouraring.com/raf/190663342c?utm_medium=iac_raf
Note: I won’t receive anything if you use it. Quite a downgrade in the referral program, if you ask me!
All in all, without a trade-in offer for existing customers, this launch feels like a misstep. Yes, there was confusion among the community last time as well, but at least there was also a lot of positive hype and eventually it did became clear that Oura will provide an upgrade deal and free lifetime membership for existing customers.
Will they cave under pressure this time? Just take a look at their social media—it’s not looking good. It’s a shame because I’m genuinely a fan of the company and would like to see them continue to succeed.
Oura has the best smart ring on the market, and they know it. Did they think they could get away with this kind of launch? Pride comes before the fall.
Joel Latto 