Oura Ring 5 Review (2026): Is It Worth £399 + a Membership?

The biggest change is physical. Oura redesigned the mechanical, electrical, optical and battery architecture to make the Ring 5 about 40% smaller than the Ring 4 - roughly 2mm narrower and 30% thinner - and it now weighs between 2 and 2.69 grams depending on size. On the finger that difference is immediately obvious; the Ring 4 already wore lightly, but the Ring 5 is the first smart ring most people will genuinely forget they are wearing.

The rest of the upgrade is about data. Two new metrics headline the launch: Blood Pressure Signals, which track cardiovascular patterns overnight, and Nighttime Breathing, which builds a 30-day rolling view of sleep-related breathing. Oura also added live activity tracking for workouts, better automatic detection of low-motion exercise, GLP-1 medication insights and a new Brain Health Study.

Oura rates the Ring 5 at 6 to 9 days per charge, up from the 5 to 8 days quoted for the Ring 4. In practice the figure you see depends on ring size - smaller rings hold smaller cells - and on how aggressively you use continuous tracking. A week between charges is a realistic expectation for most people, which keeps the ring comfortably ahead of most smartwatches.

The more interesting addition is an optional portable charging case that stores around a month of power. If you travel often, that single accessory removes the one nagging worry with any wearable: arriving somewhere with a flat device and no charger to hand.

Like every Oura, the Ring 5 reads your body through optical sensors on the inner face of the band, using photoplethysmography (an optical technique that measures blood-volume changes) alongside temperature and motion sensing. That feeds the sleep staging, heart-rate variability and readiness scores Oura is known for, all of which remain among the most accurate available in a consumer device.

The new Blood Pressure Signals feature is worth understanding clearly. It surfaces overnight cardiovascular patterns rather than a cuff-style blood-pressure number, so treat it as trend context, not a medical reading - if you need a diagnosis, a validated upper-arm monitor is still the right tool. Nighttime Breathing is more straightforward: a 30-day view of breathing regularity during sleep that can flag changes worth discussing with a clinician.

Yes, and this remains the Ring 5's biggest asterisk. Oura Membership (the subscription that unlocks Oura's full analysis) costs £5.99 per month or £69.99 per year, with the first month included when you buy a ring. Without it you keep only a stripped-back set of daily scores; the detailed sleep, readiness and health insights that justify buying an Oura sit behind the subscription.

Factor that into the true cost. A £399 ring is really £399 plus around £70 a year for as long as you wear it, and unlike a one-off purchase that bill never stops. It is a fair model for the depth of analysis on offer, but you should go in with your eyes open.

For most Ring 4 owners, no - or at least not yet. The Ring 5 is the better device, but the core experience that makes Oura worth owning - the sleep staging, the readiness score, the recovery trends - is broadly similar between the two generations. The genuine wins are the smaller form factor, the slightly longer battery and the new cardiovascular metrics.

If your Ring 4 still holds charge and fits well, keep it and let the new sensors mature through software. The upgrade makes most sense if your Ring 4 battery has degraded, if the size always bothered you, or if Blood Pressure Signals specifically address something you want to monitor.