---
title: 'New Oura Ring 5: Didn''t See That Coming!'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=YK6mk0Bx8Fk'
video_id: 'YK6mk0Bx8Fk'
date: 2026-08-13
duration_sec: 610
---

# New Oura Ring 5: Didn't See That Coming!

> Source: [New Oura Ring 5: Didn't See That Coming!](https://youtube.com/watch?v=YK6mk0Bx8Fk)

## Summary

The Oura Ring 5 has been announced with a smaller design and new health features, but the real question is whether the sensor improvements will enhance accuracy, especially during exercise. This analysis breaks down the key changes and what they mean for users.

### Key Points

- **Size Reduction** [00:02] — The Ring 5 is up to 40% thinner, lighter, and smaller, which may improve comfort and wear consistency.
- **Blood Pressure Signals** [01:35] — Oura introduces 'blood pressure signals' using optical pulse wave data to detect long-term cardiovascular strain, not direct cuff measurement.
- **Sensor Redesign** [03:45] — Redesigned sensor architecture with more powerful LEDs and improved skin contact, but fewer signal pathways (12 vs. 18).
- **Live Activity Tracking** [05:18] — Live heart rate during workouts may require an external monitor, suggesting limitations in continuous on-ring tracking.
- **Sleep Tracking Expectations** [07:03] — Sleep tracking is expected to remain strong due to stable conditions, with no dramatic changes anticipated.

## Transcript

the obvious headline is that it's smaller, much smaller actually. Oura says up to 40% thinner, lighter, and smaller, however that is measured. But, that's not really the part I care about most. Of course, size matters to some
extent. A smaller ring can be more comfortable, especially during sleep. people are more likely to wear it consistently. That can matter for long-term health tracking for some people. But, honestly, for me
personally, I do not care about the smaller size that much. I'll probably get used to a new size within a week or two, and after that, I might not notice a difference anymore at all. Now, that definitely might be different for you,
Rings too bulky. But, from my perspective, the more interesting question is what actually changed besides the size. So, in this video, I want to go through the main differences to the Oura Ring 4 from a more
scientific perspective. So, what new features did Oura introduce? What changed in the hardware? And did they change the sensors at all? And most importantly for me, can we expect for instance better heart rate tracking
during exercise? Now, to be clear, this is not a review yet, just my interpretations and expectations based on all the data and information that Oura has released. So far, Oura has not offered to send me a sample, so I now
ordered two Oura Ring 5s with my own money. But, let's actually start with probably where Oura is trying to make the biggest step. The most interesting one is the health radar, and especially something called blood pressure signals.
as I can tell, this is not a normal blood pressure measurement. The ring is not giving you systolic and diastolic values, so it's not telling you 120 over 80. And I think it should also not be seen as some kind of replacement
for validated blood pressure cuffs. Instead, Oura appears to be looking at the longer term cardiovascular patterns, especially during sleep, and trying to detect what signals might be related to cardiovascular strain or even elevated
blood pressure risk. That distinction is actually quite important because a cuff directly measures the pressure by compressing an artery, and a ring just cannot do that. So, what Oura is doing is more like looking for indirect
signals from the finger, probably from the optical pulse wave information and different than a direct measurement. Now, this could still be useful if it works well, but it's completely different in terms of claims that they
really compare it as if it were outputting exact blood pressure numbers. it. On the one hand, I could try to find a person with high blood pressure to test it on, and I'm actually on the high side myself as well. Or, I could measure
my blood pressure repeatedly with a cuff over many days or weeks, and then see if the Oura signals actually correspond meaningfully to changes over time. But, it really depends on how Oura will be showing that in your app. Now, Oura is
also adding nighttime breathing, which seems to give a longer-term view of during your sleep. Now, this could potentially be useful, especially because breathing disturbances can be related to things like sleep quality and
broader software features, it seems, like GLP-1 insights, health record imports, and also more proactive health-related tools. Some of these are quite interesting, but I would separate them from the question of whether Ring 5
itself is actually more accurate because a lot of these are software layer they don't necessarily tell us if the raw sensor data is better, and maybe it could even be implemented on the Oura Ring 5, but they just decide to only
give it to the Oura Ring 5. Now, moving to the actual heart rate tracking on the finger, and this is where things get more interesting for me, at least. Oura says that the Ring 5 has a redesigned sensor architecture with more powerful
LEDs and improved contact with the skin somehow. Some reports online also seem to indicate that the Ring 5 uses fewer signal pathways, so fewer independent signals than the Ring 4, 12 instead of 18. That actually sounds
counterintuitive at first. You might think that fewer pathways necessarily means less data and therefore worse accuracy. But if the remaining signals are actually better positioned or if the LEDs are stronger and if the contact
possible that the signal quality actually still gets better. And this is exactly what I'm looking forward to testing because on paper you can say almost anything about better sensors, but during a real workout, optical heart
rate tracking is very hard on the finger. It's especially hard for a ring on the finger because your fingers move, you grip things, and blood flow changes, necessarily equally tight in all environments. Now, running for instance
because you're not necessarily holding on to something, and walking is even easier than that. But again, cycling, rowing, and some kind of intervals might This is especially relevant because in the past no smart ring has ever
performed well on me for heart rate tracking during exercise. A ring that is just slightly too loose or worn on the wrong finger or rotated incorrectly can easily produce worse optical data. So, I'm really curious if the Ring 5 is more
circumstances and different temperatures, and also to different it on some other people. Now, there's also something interesting about the live activity tracking, which is related to the heart rate tracking. Oura's now
adding a more real-time workout experience in the app like pace and distance. However, based on some reporting, it seems that the ring itself might not provide the live heart rate numbers in the same way a sports or
chest strap would. Instead, for live heart rate during a workout, you may need to connect an external heart rate monitor, so not the ring. So, if that is correct, I find it very interesting in terms of choice. It could be a battery
heart rate data live from such a small device is not trivial, especially with a smaller battery, but it could also indicate honestly that Oura is not fully confident in a ring-based heart rate tracker during exercise, or maybe it
needs a lot of post-processing, so live heart rate is not that useful. But be very excited to test it, and honestly, it would surprise me if it does very well. Oura has historically been very strong for nighttime
measurements from heart rate to also sleep stages because you're not moving it actually generally performed well across the board for sleep-related metrics, and they actually invested a lot of time in this. Even in the sleep
lab testing that we did, Oura's sleep stage algorithm also appeared to be also for sleep stage tracking on the Ring 5, I do not expect a massive change. I expect it to be very good unless the raw signal quality has
changed substantially. If the raw measurements are still good, then I remain good as well. Now sleep is just much easier at the wrist environment for you're just laying still. You're not gripping handlebars, you're not doing
intervals, and the ring can collect relatively stable signals over more long periods. So my expectation is honestly that the sleep stage tracking, sleep heart rate, sleep heart rate variability will be probably similar to the Ring 5,
which is really good, maybe slightly better, but I would be surprised if it is dramatically different. Overall, I think the launch of the Oura Ring 5 is a I can see so far, but there's nothing truly spectacular in the sense that
immediately think, "Wow, this is going to change everything." But it's sort of a logical launch, a smaller device, so that for the first time in a while that is really significantly smaller, better battery claims, so a few days longer
now, I think up to 7 days, redesigned sensors, more proactive health features, and a bigger push into cardiovascular insights. And with Apple now also moving pressure related notifications on the Apple Watch, it actually makes sense
that Aura also tries to push in that direction as well. But for me again, the most exciting part is still very simple. Are the new sensors better at heart rate tracking during cardio exercise, especially running and cycling? Oura
appears to be specifically claiming improvements for workout heart rate, and compare it to a proper reference, so the Polar H10 ECG chest strap, and I'll not just look at average heart rate, but also lag, peak detections, dropouts, and
how it performs during intervals. Again, my expectation is that it might improve because those are relatively easy exercises. I'm cautiously optimistic there, but it might still be bad compared to wrist-based heart rate
more skeptical because gripping handlebars can make finger-based PPGs much more difficult. And for weight training or rowing, I don't have super high hopes. That doesn't mean it cannot be useful, but I would not assume the
same kind of performance as a chest strap. But I cannot really tell you, of always, the real question is not what the marketing says, the real question is what will the data say. And of course, I'll do all my detailed testing. I'll
test the heart rate accuracy during workouts, compare sleep stage metrics where possible, so like heart rate variability, nighttime heart rate, sleep stages, and I will try to understand if these new health signals actually
correspond to meaningful physiological changes. So, if you want to see that data, make sure to subscribe. Now, if you do decide to pre-order your Oura Ring, use my affiliate link down here, and it will support the channel. Make
some other way you can actually get a discount, because I think affiliate provide you one, and I want you to get the best price possible, so don't use my affiliate link in that case. Or if you want to buy anything at all on Amazon
for that matter, even something as small as toilet paper, or you want to get yourself a Fitbit Air, and you want to support the channel using my general really helps, and it doesn't cost you anything. Now, given that you watched
this video on the Oura Ring 5, I think you will like this video on the much cheaper Fitbit Air, and this video where I reviewed the Oura Ring 4, where you can clearly see the strengths and weaknesses Oura has had in the
algorithms. Also, if you see any mistakes in my reporting here, please below, cuz I'm just interpreting everything I read that I get from Oura everything I read that I get from Oura and see online. But, see you next time.