Oura Ring vs. Apple Watch: Which Should You Buy? I Tested Both!

I remember the day I first got glasses—I was convinced I was fine until I put on a prescription pair and realized I could barely see without them. Similar is the tale of my life before I became a health tech person (a biometric baddie, if you will)—turns out, it’s hard to know how well you’re sleeping off the top of your head when you’re asleep the entire time, lol.

Been meaning to get into the wearables game? Amid tons of health-tracking devices like the Fitbit, the WHOOP, and the Garmin, there are two gadgets that seem to always dominate the convo: the Oura Ring and the Apple Watch. So if you clicked on this article because you’re trying to choose one to splurge on, good news—I spent months testing the Oura Ring vs. the Apple Watch and I have the final verdict below. You’re welcome!

Before we jump in, a quick overview...

For this article, I compared the newest models of the Oura Ring (the Gen3 Horizon model) and the Apple Watch (the Series 9) by wearing both of them daily and comparing their various features.

And yes, before you ask, there are a bunch of overlapping features—but each device also has their specific strengths. Like, do you want to track your fitness or would you prefer temperature tracking that’s so good, it can predict periods? Do you prefer a sporty accessory or do you gravitate more toward lowkey jewelry? Do you want forgot-you’re-wearing-it comfort, or would you choose a bigger device if it allows you to not have your iPhone glued to your hand at all times? (*screams in decision-making paralysis!!!*)

But you’re busy doing stuff! Accomplishing things! Seeing people! You don’t have time to spend hours researching the specific deets! So I took it upon myself to deep-dive into alllll the strengths, weaknesses, fun features, and potential downsides of the Apple Watch and the Oura Ring for your easy perusing. Ready? LFG!

The exact models I tested...

Apple Watch Series 9 [GPS 45mm]

Now 23% Off

$429 $331 at Amazon

Oura Horizon Ring

Shop at Amazon

$349 $249 at Oura Ring

So, how does each device work?

The Oura Ring has little sensors on the inside of the ring (they feel like small, barely there bumps) that measure temperature, heart rate, and other biometrics from your finger throughout the day, while the Apple Watch uses similar sensors on the inside of the watch that sit against the inside of your wrist.

I personally found the Oura Ring to be more comfortable (it’s so light!), but if you’re not used to wearing a ring, you might prefer wearing Apple Watch with one of their comfy fabric bands.

Ease of wear

As I mentioned above, I wore my Apple Watch and my Oura Ring for the entirety of the testing period—and as you can imagine, I looked, as my 16-year-old little brother would say, absolutely dripped out. As a shopping editor who loves wearing jewelry, I found the Oura Ring to be waaaay easier to style, whereas I was constantly removing my Apple Watch when snapping OOTD pics.

But I ended up switching from the default band to this gold Casetify bracelet band that I saw Cosmo’s deputy shopping director Kim Duong using, and that small fix immediately upgraded the styling potential of my Apple Watch. Cute, right? I have pretty small wrists but was able to easily snap off the extra links to make sure the watch was snug against my skin for ~optimal data collecting~.

When it comes to colorways, both devices are available in multiple shades—so whether you’re a Deep Winter or a Warm Autumn, there’s a metal shade you’ll love. The Series 9 watch comes in eight color options from bright red to graphite, and the Horizon ring comes in six metallic shades from silver to rose gold.

A sneak peek of all the color options...

Apple Watch Series 9 [GPS 45mm]

Shop at Amazon

$425 at Walmart$36 at Apple

Apple Watch Series 9 [GPS 45mm]

$429 at Amazon

$429 at Best Buy

Apple Watch Series 9 [GPS 41mm]

Now 7% Off

$429 $399 at Amazon

$430 at Target$399 at Best Buy

Oura Ring Horizon - Silver

$349 at Oura Ring

Oura Ring Horizon - Black

$449 at Oura Ring

Oura Ring Horizon - Rose

Now 14% Off

$349 $299 at Oura Ring

Battery life

So, this was a big thing for me as a certified Lazy Person With No Outlet Near Her Bed. What I love most about the Oura Ring is that a full charge lasts me multiple days before I have to top it off—it’s the type of low-maintenance I aspire to be, lol. On the other hand, I typically need to fully charge my Apple Watch at least once a day. I get it—it’s a full screen that pumps out notifications all day, so it needs more juice, but if I forgot to top off the charge, it would die overnight. As someone who wants to track daytime activity and sleep, this wasn’t ideal.

P.S. I found that I could extend the battery life by turning on Do Not Disturb or Theater Mode (which basically turns off your screen), but then you can’t get notifications. I also snagged this Satechi 3-in-1 Charging Station for my desk that allowed me to simultaneously charge my Apple Watch, my phone, and my Airpods while I worked, which helped too!

Sleep tracking

Ever since I realized my dumpster fire sleep was actually affecting my ability to Do Life Normally, I’ve developed a habit of religiously tracking and checking my sleep stats first thing in the morning. The Oura Ring and the Apple Watch both tell you exactly how much REM, deep, and light sleep you get each night as well as how your time in bed compares to the time you actually spent sleeping.

The Oura app

The Apple Health app

Oh, and Oura takes things a step further and gives you an easy-to-understand sleep score from 0 to 100 based on your restfulness, your sleep efficiency, how fast you fell asleep, and your overall timing. Plus, it detects any naps you take (even if it’s a 10-minute power nap on your lunch break) and readjusts your sleep score accordingly!

And FYI, if you wear the Apple Watch at night, the Sleep/Wake Up alarm is designed to automatically vibrate from your watch rather than ringing out from your iPhone. If you prefer that your alarm still sounds off on your phone, there’s an easy workaround—just set a regular alarm instead of using the Sleep/Wake Up feature on the Clock app!

Fitness tracking

Alright, this is where the Apple Watch truly shines, like, Simone-Biles-at-the-Olympics style. You can select an activity on your watch like hiking, HIIT, or kickboxing, and it’ll give you tons of stats on your workout as well as showing you how close you are to closing those infamous rings (aka your daily move goals).

For research purposes, I wore both devices while surfing in Bali (they’re both waterproof—you can wear the Apple watch up to 50 meters deep and the Oura Ring up to 100 meters deep!) and discovered within the hour that the Apple Watch was the clear winner, absolutely no contest. There’s a surfing setting on the watch—the water lock automatically turns on as soon as you select it—and it’ll track your caloric burn, heart rate, time, and location for the duration of your workout. On the other hand, the Oura Ring didn’t pick up on the fact that I was surfing at all, so I had to manually enter the activity.

The Oura app

The Apple Fitness app

The Oura is good at detecting walking and running (and it always gives me the most accurate step count because it’s on my hand almost 24 hours/day!!), but at the end of the day, it’s not the best fitness device out there. For example, it’s inconvenient to wear when lifting weights, so I find myself taking it off at the gym...which is fine, because it doesn’t pick up much valuable data from strength training anyway.

Cycle tracking

Yep, menstrual cycle tracking is a lesser-known Oura and Apple Watch feature that can help you be more like “Saw that coming!!” and less like “Ugh, you again?” when your period arrives. Both devices have super-sensitive detectors that take your temperature throughout the night to detect subtle increases and decreases that indicate a shift in your cycle as well as app features that help you note confirmed period dates, log PMS symptoms, and track pregnancy.

Oh, and both apps can be paired with the Natural Cycles app, which is an FDA-approved form of non-hormonal birth control. But note that the Apple Watch cycle tracking app itself isn’t intended for any medical purpose—it only has retrospective cycle tracking, meaning it’ll tell you when you might’ve ovulated after the date has passed.

The Oura app

The Apple Health app

Assorted things to keep in mind

Because the Apple Watch is a smart device with a screen, it boasts a handful of fun features and capabilities that the Oura Ring doesn’t have. For example, it can tell you if you didn’t wash your hands for long enough, it can send you push notifications for when to take your medicine, and you can even give yourself a freaking electrocardiogram to test your heartbeat. The Apple Watch also works as a Bluetooth remote for taking iPhone pics!

Oh, and one of my favorite Apple Watch features as a city dweller? The noise notifications! I’m someone who is constantly worrying she’ll go prematurely deaf because of the noise levels in NYC (ever stood on a subway platform while two express trains roared past?), so it’s great to be tracking my noise exposure throughout the day.

Pricing

The pricing for both gadgets varies wildly (!!) depending on the material and color that you choose, which is good news for anyone on a budget and anyone who’s interested in splurging on a fun colorway.

The Apple Watch Series 9 starts at $399 for their aluminum finish and $699 for their stainless steel finish. On the other hand, Oura Ring is slightly more affordable, ranging from $349 to $549 for the newest Horizon style depending on the color and from $299 to $449 for the older Heritage style (which has identical hardware, FWIW).

The most affordable options...

Oura Heritage Ring

$299 at Oura Ring

Apple Watch Series 9

$399 at Amazon

$399 $299 at Walmart$400 $300 at Target

A quick snapshot of the Apple Watch...

Looking for a TL;DR? Keep scrolling for a look at the Apple Watch’s most standout features (and some of the not-so-standout downsides).

Pros

• Excellent activity and fitness tracking
• Great for going phone-free while still getting notifications or making calls
• Interchangeable bands
• Can be paired with Natural Cycles as an FDA-approved form of birth control
• Tracks your heart rate and sends you notifications when things look abnormal
• Sends medication, hydration, and standing reminder notifications
• Tells you when your environment hits noise levels that aren’t safe for your ears
• Waterproof up to 50 meters deep
• Easy to find when lost (also allows you to find your iPhone when lost!)

Cons

• Pretty bulky
• Battery life varies but typically needs to be charged daily
• Retrospective cycle tracking in the Health app isn’t intended for medical use
• Can only pair with iPhones
• Doesn’t give you a score to interpret the data it collects

A quick snapshot of the Oura Ring...

Below, everything that the Oura Ring excels at—and some of the less ideal features—in a nutshell.

Pros

• Incredibly sleek and easy to style
• Lightweight and comfortable for wearing during sleep
• Great battery life—only needs to be charged once or twice a week
• Gives you daily scores that help you interpret your data
• Superior cycle-tracking capabilities
• Can be paired with Natural Cycles as an FDA-approved form of birth control
• Excellent step tracker
• Waterproof up to 100 meters deep
• Lost rings can be found via Bluetooth

Cons

• Not the best at tracking types of physical activity
• Costs $5.99/month for the app subscription
• Not a phone substitute (can’t take calls or send texts)

So, which one is better?

On one hand, the Apple Watch offers a more robust range of fun, techy features that pair seamlessly with the iPhone—it also requires a little more hands-on maintenance (it’s pretty much a mini iPhone and needs to be charged pretty often). On the other hand, the Oura Ring is an excellent health and wellness device. It’s smaller and delightfully low-maintenance—plus, it can run on a single charge for multiple days.

After testing both, I found I preferred the Oura Ring for my current needs. I love that it has detailed cycle tracking and gives me daily sleep, readiness, activity, and resilience scores. It’s also easy to wear every day with every outfit (important!).

But if you’re looking for strong fitness features, you’ll want to choose the Apple Watch. If you’re the type to go on a run before you head to a corporate office where it’s acceptable to text and check your notifications as long as it’s on an Apple Watch—in that case, your decision is totally cut out for you.

Oh, and if you have the funds to buy both (okay, money bags!!), by all means, go for it. I wore both for weeks, and I can confirm you’ll benefit from having both because they offer different features!

Why trust us?

As Cosmo’s unofficial tech expert, shopping editor Hannah Oh has spent months testing various health trackers and wearable devices like the Oura Ring, the Apple Watch, the Fitbit, and the WHOOP. She takes her sleep and wellness very seriously (eight hours each night or bust!) and spends her free time explaining to her friends and family why they should hop on the biometrics train.

Hannah Oh

Shopping Editor

Hannah is the Shopping Editor at Cosmopolitan, covering all things from chic home decor to trendy fashion finds, TikTok products that are actually worth your $$$, and the perfect gift to buy for your boyfriend's mom. She previously wrote for Seventeen and CR Fashion Book. Follow her on Instagram for hot takes on red carpet fashion and pictures of her office outfits that nobody asked for.