Wearable tech has never been more in vogue, but the world seems to have moved on from fitness watches, something the Duke of Sussex cottoned on to years ago.
Prince Harry has been wearing an Ōura Ring since at least 2018, having first debuted the wearable technology on his royal tour in Australia with his wife Meghan Markle, two years before they bowed out of the royal spotlight.
© Getty
© GettyThe father-of-two was seen wearing Ōura's Heritage ring in black on his right hand, which features a classic plateau design.The device, which starts at £299, promises to track temperature, sleep efficiency and heart rate variability, in turn offering its wearers the opportunity to become more in tune with their body.
For years I've debated whether or not I should invest in the Ōura Ring, but as I enter my second month of wearing it, I can already sense that my relationship with this genius gold band is set for the long run.
Using Ōura to track my sleep has changed my life
© OuraFrom the first few nights of wearing it, I became hooked on checking my Sleep Score each morning, which calibrates your awake time, light sleep, REM and deep sleep during your time in bed. Depending on your sleep, Ōura gives you a 'Readiness' score, which determines how ready your body is to take on the day.
I'm undecided on whether or not seeing a poor Sleep Score negatively affects my mood purely because I've seen it written down, or if Ōura's readings are actually accurate enough to predict my mental and physical performance for the day ahead.
Where a bad night's sleep would normally be something I'd just 'get on with', I've found that poring over every percentage of my post-sleep stats can sometimes make me feel more anxious, especially if I've slept poorly on a night where I have work the following day.
Having said that, becoming obsessed with my Sleep Score is - in my opinion - a healthy obsession because in turn, I've paid closer attention to optimising my sleep schedule.
I was averaging around 6 hours 45 minutes of sleep per night before wearing my Ōura, and now I rarely get less than 8 hours 10 minutes - a benefit that has improved my brain and body performance. If Ōura tells me it's time to wind down, I'll always listen to it.
I love that it automatically tracks my workouts
I fell out of love with my fitness watch for several reasons, but mainly because I've never liked how it looks with an outfit.
The Oura looks like any other piece of jewellery in my collection, but I'm left feeling secretly smug knowing that it's tracking my heart rate, cycle, sleep and stress levels throughout the day.
As a keen runner, the only element I miss is that the ring can't link to Runna, the training app I use for marathon training. It can auto-detect when you're working out, which is great for tracking a workout screen-free, but it's certainly not the device to use if you want to log your mile splits or distance markers.
Oura Ring Gen 4
© OuraFinal thoughts on the Ōura Ring
I had been considering investing in an Ōura Ring for years, and now I have it, I wish I had done it sooner.
While the £69.99 per year membership fee (which you need to access the Ōura app) does feel steep initially, I feel like the improvements I've noticed to my sleep and wellbeing have been worth every penny.
It is genuinely the best wearable tech I have tried, and it's the first that has made a positive impact on my lifestyle. Prince Harry was years ahead of the trend; I'd expect to see smart rings becoming far more mainstream in 2025.
