At the time of this writing, the Apple Watch does not track REM sleep information. I find this aspect of the Oura Ring particularly helpful. As someone who suffers from chronic insomnia, I have come to rely on the information given to me from Oura as an essential part of my life and health. As soon as I get out of bed, I reach for my iPhone, launch the Oura app, and it immediately begins downloading the night’s sleep information to the phone. It then processes the sleep information and within seconds provides summary information about the amount of time spent in bed, asleep, in light sleep, deep sleep, and red sleep. Its heart rate variability readings also contribute to its assessment of the quality of my sleep.

As someone who architects and builds technology and data management systems for my day job, if I do not get enough sleep, I know that I will have challenges solving really complex problems that day. After months of daily use of the Oura Ring, I have come to realize that if I get an hour or more of rem sleep and an hour or more of deep sleep, I will be set for the day. These numbers seem to be more important to me than the total number of hours slept. Even if I sleep plenty of hours but I got below an hour of deep sleep, I will have some challenges ahead that day. If both of those numbers fall far short of those goals, I will need to schedule a nap in my day or hold off my most critical thinking challenges for another day.

I bought the Oura Ring 2 before the third version was available, and have been quite happy with its results. I was presented with the opportunity to upgrade to the Oura Ring 3 for a 25% discount, which also included a lifetime membership of its monthly subscription service (that otherwise costs $5.99 per month, as of this writing). However, since I had just shelled out $400 for a higher-end ring finish just a few months before, I was not willing to turn around and purchase the upgrade. The Oura community of users has been vocal about the new monthly fee to access to the same data that is free on the generation 2 ring. Despite the new monthly membership fee, if I did not already have the Oura Ring 2, I would purchase the third generation and would fit that monthly membership fee into my budget.

I have come to believe that the Oura Ring is the best tool on the market for sleep tracking. Although it can do many other things, if tracking your sleep is a high priority, the Oura Ring should be on your shortlist of purchase considerations. If sleep tracking is not a real concern, there are a variety of other products on the market that may suit your needs better, and for a more affordable price. Overall, I am very happy with the sleep tracking information provided by the Oura Ring. I have to say that the Oura Ring has become an important aspect of my daily health and fitness. For me, I Gotta Have It!