[Review] “Why Pay KRW 780,000 for It?”... Why the Oura Ring 5 Keeps You Wearing It

With the recent launch of Oura's smart ring, the Oura Ring 5, in South Korea, interest from the MZ generation has surged. Its thinner, lighter design than previous smart rings is cited as a major reason for its popularity.

However, with a price tag of up to KRW 780,000 and a separate monthly subscription fee, it is a burden to make a purchase decision based on price and subscription cost alone. This review was conducted to wear the device firsthand and check its functions and practicality.

The initial impression was one of doubt about its necessity. Since existing smartwatches can already track activity, heart rate, and sleep, smartphone owners felt little need to buy a separate product. Even so, Oura Ring's biggest strengths were presented as convenience and design.

After a month of wear, however, that perception changed. From then on, the Oura Ring was worn more consistently than a smartwatch, and the absence of weight on the wrist was seen as its biggest advantage because it did not interfere much with daily activities.

The difference was especially noticeable during sleep. To check sleep status with a smartwatch, it had to be worn all evening as well, but the smartwatch carried a sense of weight. After switching to a smart ring, it became easier to sleep comfortably.

The effectiveness of health-tracking devices depends on accumulating data through consistent wear. In that sense, a smart ring's strength lies in convenience. Its advantages are especially significant for users who rarely use a smartwatch's call and text functions.

The smart ring also incorporates design as an element aimed at the MZ generation. The Oura Ring 5 measures 6.09 mm in width and 2.27 mm in thickness. While the Oura Ring 5 adopts a thinner design than its predecessor, it is still thicker than a typical ring. Still, because it does not strongly resemble a health-tracking device, it can be worn like an everyday accessory.

If judged only on functionality, Samsung's smart ring may be more appealing. Samsung's smart ring is cheaper and does not require a separate monthly subscription fee. However, given the nature of a product worn every day, a thin design is considered an advantage, and that is presented as a factor that increases the appeal of Oura Ring.

The Oura Ring 5 comes with more than 50 body-information-based features. Its comprehensive metrics include 7 daily contributor metrics, including blood oxygen, respiratory rate, sleep duration, and sleep quality. Its supporting insights include 13 items such as activity level, step count, heart rate variability balance, calorie burn, inactive time, naps, and menstrual cycle.

However, at first use, its functions were limited compared with a smartwatch. In particular, there was disappointment on the health-management side because information such as blood pressure could not be checked.

Against that backdrop, Oura unveiled Health Radar in 7 days. Health Radar added cardiovascular health-related features such as blood pressure signal and nighttime blood pressure, and these additions partly addressed existing shortcomings.

The blood pressure signal feature helps identify changes and patterns that may indicate cardiovascular strain. The nighttime blood pressure feature uses photoplethysmography (PPG) signals during sleep to show blood pressure-dip patterns and long-term trend changes. Values measured separately with a blood pressure cuff can be entered into the app for management.

The Oura Ring 5 added a nighttime breathing feature. The unit for previously provided respiratory regularity data was one day, but the revised display format has been expanded to show trends over the past 30 days. As a result, expectations are growing for practical use from the perspective of users concerned about breathing discomfort during sleep.

However, it does not provide notification features aimed at users who only use a smartwatch. Even if an abnormal pattern is detected, there is no ring notification for the change. For that reason, it is being pointed out that there are limits in terms of convenience.

Price was identified as the biggest obstacle when deciding whether to buy it. The launch price of the Oura Ring 5 is KRW 630,000 for the black and silver models. The gold, stealth, brushed silver, and rose models cost KRW 780,000.

The structure that adds a separate monthly subscription fee of around KRW 9,400 also increases the burden. Samsung Electronics' smart ring costs under KRW 500,000. Samsung Electronics' smart ring does not have a separate monthly subscription fee.

As a result of these comparisons, the price burden of the Oura Ring 5 becomes greater. In functional comparisons, product accuracy is not 100%. Providing higher accuracy also does not feel like a major advantage.

The Oura Ring 5's core competitive edge lies in the convenience that supports continuous wear, and there is also a view that the price burden stemming from design innovation can be partly accepted. However, separate from the price, the ongoing burden of the monthly subscription fee is acting as a factor that makes people hesitate to buy, and even among reactions from people around users after wearing the product, there were views that they would hesitate to buy because of the monthly subscription payment structure. Although the product drew strong attention after its launch, actual conversion to purchases is expected to be difficult because of this subscription-based cost structure despite the market's strong interest.

Source: TECHWORLD · Kim Hye-jin
Original: https://www.epnc.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=407891

References

• https://www.epnc.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=407891