After a day with Oura Ring 5, I can’t believe how much improvement there is from Ring 4

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Highlights taken by ZDNET

• I’m wearing the Oura Ring 5 day.
• It’s more comfortable and smaller on my finger.
• Sometimes the best improvements are the ones you can’t see.

If you have a smart ring around your finger, size does matter. Oura has revealed its super-slim Oura Ring 5 in late May, and it looks smaller and lighter than the Oura Ring 4 that the smart company unveiled two years ago.

Also: Oura Ring 5 vs. Oura Ring 4: I compared smart rings for health tracking – and it’s pretty close

Oura Ring 5 not only comes with a slimmer design, it’s 40% smaller. Oura also adds one extra day of battery life to the ring for longer wear. To achieve this, Oura had to completely redesign its smart ring, replace the battery, refine the algorithm, and install powerful LEDs to track health.

This is Oura’s biggest update in generations, as much of the software that came in Oura Ring 5 is available in Oura Ring 4.

I’ve been using the ring for a day, and my favorite part about the health tracker is, surprisingly, how small it is.

More with more comfort

Ironically, the most noticeable difference between wearing the Oura Ring 5 and the Oura Ring 4 is how little I can see the Oura Ring 5 on my finger. The compactness of Oura’s fifth-generation ring makes it more comfortable to do simple things, like holding a heavy object or making the Girl Scout hand sign (stick your index, middle, and ring fingers together without a gap).

Also: I replaced my Apple Watch with Oura Ring 4 for sleep tracking (and it does other things better)

While wearing the Oura Ring 4, I couldn’t fully squeeze my fingers without the ring leaving a small gap between them. This wasn’t a huge problem with the Oura Ring 4 – in fact, many people would say the fourth generation’s battery life decline over time was a much bigger problem. However, it was small enough to be annoying, especially since I was wearing the ring almost 24/7.

This problem has all but disappeared with the Oura Ring 5. The small space around the ring when I squeeze my fingers, and the reduced size of the ring helps it fit in with other real analog devices. It looks — and I can’t stress this enough — like the jewelry I wear every day.

Also: The best rings you can buy

In fact, when I compared the Oura Ring 5 to Kerry Wan’s wedding band for ZDNET, I found that the two rings are the same size and width. That might not sound like a big deal, but it’s a major advance in sensor, battery, and hardware technology — and the first mainstream example of wearable technology that’s even more comfortable and, as the name suggests, wearable.

I am excited about the future of Oura

Yes, the Oura Ring 5 makes me excited for the future of Oura, but the new smart ring also makes me excited for all the little pieces of technology that will — if not — be able to surpass the Oura Ring 5, as we now know that these devices don’t have to be bulky and rigid to work.

Also: Early Prime Day smartwatch and smart ring deals I can recommend

Because I only wore the ring for one day, I can’t stress its extended battery life. I’ll be updating this review, though, with that information in a week, once I’ve tested those battery claims. The same goes for the plethora of software updates that come with the Oura Ring 5, including Health Radar, live activity tracking, blood pressure signals, and more.