Samsung Galaxy Ring vs Oura Ring: Which Is Worth It?

Here’s my honest take: If you’re an iPhone user or want the most accurate sleep data available, get the Oura Ring 4. If you’re already deep in the Samsung ecosystem and hate subscriptions, the Galaxy Ring is your best bet. I wore both rings for three weeks—on different fingers, during workouts, while traveling, and yes, even on Zoom calls where I definitely fidgeted with them. Here’s everything I learned.

The moment I started testing smart rings, I had one burning question: Can something this small actually replace my smartwatch? Spoiler alert—not quite. But what I discovered surprised me. These rings aren’t trying to be smartwatches. They’re trying to be something better: invisible health trackers that you actually forget you’re wearing. And honestly? They’re succeeding.

What Is a Smart Ring and Do You Actually Need One?

Quick answer: A smart ring is a finger-worn health tracker that monitors sleep, heart rate, activity, and body temperature 24/7 without a screen. You need one if you’re tired of charging your smartwatch every night, want better sleep data, or find wrist wearables uncomfortable. Skip it if you need GPS tracking, real-time notifications, or work out intensely with weights (rings can feel awkward during deadlifts).

Here’s the thing about smart rings—they solve a problem I didn’t realize I had. I was constantly choosing between wearing my watch to bed for sleep tracking or charging it overnight so it’d last through the next day. Battery anxiety is real, and smart rings eliminate it completely. Plus, they look like actual jewelry. No one at brunch knows I’m tracking my REM cycles.

Smart Ring

A titanium-based wearable device worn on your finger that tracks biometric data including sleep stages, heart rate variability (HRV), blood oxygen (SpO2), body temperature, and daily activity. Unlike smartwatches, smart rings have no display and focus purely on passive health monitoring. Leading options include the Oura Ring 4 (platform-agnostic, subscription-based) and Samsung Galaxy Ring (Android-only, subscription-free). Popular for sleep optimization, fertility tracking via Natural Cycles, and “invisible” health monitoring.

The Real Differences That Matter

The bottom line: The Oura Ring 4 costs $349 upfront but requires a $5.99/month subscription ($143.76 over 2 years). The Samsung Galaxy Ring costs $399.99 with zero subscription fees. Oura works with iPhone and Android. Samsung only works with Android phones, and you need a Samsung Galaxy phone to unlock AI features like Energy Score. Oura has better sleep tracking accuracy. Samsung has the superior charging case.

Let me be honest—I wanted the Samsung Ring to win. I’m tired of subscription fatigue, and that charging case? Absolutely beautiful. But after comparing my sleep data to how I actually felt each morning, the Oura was consistently more accurate. When I had a terrible night’s sleep (thanks, 2 AM anxiety spiral), Oura knew. Samsung sometimes thought I slept great. That difference matters if you’re using this data to make real decisions about your health.

Factor	Oura Ring 4	Samsung Galaxy Ring	Best For
Price (Upfront)	$349	$399.99	Budget-conscious buyers (Oura)
Subscription	$5.99/month (required)	None	Subscription-averse users (Samsung)
Total Cost (2 Years)	~$522.76	~$429.99	Long-term value (Samsung)
Phone Compatibility	iOS + Android	Android only	iPhone users (Oura only option)
AI Features Access	All platforms	Samsung Galaxy phones only	Samsung ecosystem users
Sleep Tracking Accuracy	Clinical-grade (18 sensors)	Good (AI-assisted)	Data perfectionists (Oura)
Charging Solution	USB-C puck (no battery)	Portable case (1.5 charges)	Travelers (Samsung case wins)
Weight	3.3g – 5.2g	2.3g – 3.0g	Minimalist aesthetic (Samsung)
Size Range	12 sizes (4-15)	9 sizes (5-13)	Petite/larger fingers (Oura)
Battery Life	Up to 8 days (real: 4-6)	Up to 7 days (real: 6-7)	Consistent performance (Samsung)

Which One Feels Better to Actually Wear?

Short answer: The Samsung Galaxy Ring is lighter (2.3-3.0g), thinner (2.6mm), and has a sleek concave design that protects the finish. The Oura Ring 4 is slightly heavier (3.3-5.2g) and wider (7.9mm) but features a completely flush inner surface with zero sensor bumps, making it more comfortable for 24/7 wear. If you have petite fingers, Samsung looks more proportional. If comfort during sleep is priority one, Oura’s flush sensors win.

I’m going to be real with you—the first time I put on the Oura Ring 4, I was impressed by how substantial it felt. This is titanium. It has weight, presence, and honestly looks like something I’d wear even if it didn’t track my sleep. The Samsung Ring, on the other hand, felt almost too light. My partner described it as “plasticky,” which isn’t entirely fair because it’s also titanium, but the extreme lightness does give it a different vibe.

However, aesthetics aside, comfort is where things get interesting. The Oura Ring Gen 3 (the previous version) had these awful sensor bumps on the inside that left literal dents in my finger overnight. The Ring 4 fixes this completely—the inside is smooth as glass. I genuinely forget I’m wearing it. The Samsung Ring still has slight sensor protrusions. They’re not painful, but I noticed them when gripping my steering wheel or doing push-ups. If you lift weights regularly, this might bug you.

One thing I absolutely love about the Samsung design: the concave outer surface. Because the center of the ring curves inward, it doesn’t scrape against door handles, my laptop, or gym equipment. After three weeks, the Samsung Ring still looked brand new. My Oura (Stealth black finish) already had micro-scratches. If you’re rough on your jewelry, Samsung’s design is genuinely clever.

Color Options and Aesthetic Vibe

Oura wins the variety game. You get six finishes: Silver, Black, Brushed Silver, Stealth (matte black—my personal favorite), Gold, and Rose Gold. The Gold and Rose Gold options are stunning if you want this to look like an actual statement ring. Samsung offers three: Titanium Black, Titanium Silver, and Titanium Gold. They’re beautiful, but the options are limited. If aesthetic customization matters to you (and let’s be honest, it should if you’re wearing this 24/7), Oura gives you more flexibility.

Getting the Fit Right Is Critical

Both companies ship free sizing kits before your final order, which is essential because you cannot resize a smart ring. Oura offers 12 sizes (Size 4–15), which is a massive advantage if you have smaller or larger fingers. Samsung offers 9 sizes (Size 5–13), covering most people but excluding the extremes. I’m a Size 7 in Oura and Samsung, but they don’t feel identical due to differences in width and inner sensor geometry. Wear the sizing kit for a full day—your fingers swell more than you think, and a ring that’s perfect at 8 AM might feel tight by 8 PM.

The Most Important Feature

Here’s the truth: The Oura Ring 4 is significantly more accurate at tracking sleep stages (Light, Deep, REM) compared to the Samsung Galaxy Ring. Oura’s new Smart Sensing platform uses 18 sensor pathways (up from 8 in Gen 3) to capture clean data even if the ring rotates during sleep. Samsung’s AI-assisted tracking is good but tends to overestimate Deep Sleep and struggles to detect when you’re lying awake in bed. If sleep optimization is your primary goal, Oura is the clear winner.

I tested this obsessively. On nights when I knew I slept terribly—waking up multiple times, doom-scrolling at 3 AM—I’d compare what the rings reported to how I actually felt. Oura nailed it almost every time. My Readiness Score would be in the 60s, and the app would gently suggest I take it easy. Samsung, on the other hand, sometimes gave me an Energy Score in the 80s after objectively bad sleep. That’s a problem if you’re relying on this data to decide whether to hit the gym or rest.

The reason Oura is better comes down to hardware. The Ring 4’s Smart Sensing tech dynamically selects the best signal pathway from 18 options depending on where the ring sits on your finger. If it rotates 45 degrees during the night (which happens), it doesn’t lose data. Samsung doesn’t have this redundancy. If the sensors aren’t perfectly aligned with your palm-side artery, you get gaps in your data or inaccurate readings.

What the Data Actually Shows

Both rings track four stages: Awake, Light Sleep, Deep Sleep (Slow Wave), and REM. Here’s what I noticed:

• Oura: Conservative with Deep Sleep estimates (usually 45-75 minutes for me). When I had a genuinely restorative night, it showed up clearly in the data. The sleep timeline was detailed, showing exact wake-up times.
• Samsung: Often reported 90-120 minutes of Deep Sleep, which felt inflated. The app is less granular about micro-wake-ups, making it harder to identify what disrupted your sleep (Was it the neighbor’s dog? Your partner snoring? Stress?).

If you’re serious about improving sleep hygiene, this accuracy difference is non-negotiable. Oura gives you actionable data. Samsung gives you a feel-good score that might not reflect reality.

Women’s Health and Cycle Tracking

Both rings track body temperature for cycle prediction and fertility tracking, but Oura is far ahead in this space. The Oura Ring 4 integrates deeply with Natural Cycles, the FDA-cleared birth control app that uses temperature shifts to predict ovulation. Oura’s algorithm can detect the biphasic temperature pattern (your body temp rises slightly after ovulation) with impressive precision. I’ve heard from friends using it for fertility planning that it’s been a game-changer.

Samsung also supports Natural Cycles integration and offers cycle tracking in Samsung Health, but reports suggest it’s a “limited version” compared to Oura. If women’s health tracking is a priority for you, Oura is the better investment.

The Reality Check

Real talk: Neither smart ring is a substitute for a Garmin or Apple Watch during workouts. The Oura Ring 4 auto-detects 40+ activity types but struggles with strength training and HIIT. The Samsung Galaxy Ring auto-detects walking and running but requires manual enabling and doesn’t track gym reps. Both lack onboard GPS (they use your phone’s GPS). If you’re a serious athlete, pair your ring with a smartwatch. If you’re a casual walker/runner who prioritizes sleep data, either ring works fine.

I’ll be blunt: I was disappointed by both rings’ fitness tracking. During a 5-mile run, both captured my route (via phone GPS) and average heart rate reasonably well. But during a strength training session—deadlifts, squats, overhead press—the data was messy. Oura sometimes classified my lifting as “walking” because of the repetitive motion. Samsung didn’t detect the workout at all unless I manually started it in the app.

The problem is fundamental: without a screen, you can’t see your real-time heart rate or confirm the ring is tracking. You have to trust it and check the data later. For someone like me who’s more focused on aesthetics and general wellness than hitting specific training zones, this is fine. But if you’re training for a marathon or optimizing strength gains, you need a watch, not a ring.

Step Counting and Daily Activity

Both rings count steps and estimate calorie burn. Oura sets daily activity goals (Move, Exercise, Stand) similar to the Apple Watch. Samsung displays a simple activity bar. In my testing, step counts were within 5% of each other, which is acceptable. However, Oura’s activity goals felt more motivating because they adjust based on your readiness. If you slept poorly, Oura lowers your activity target to encourage recovery. Samsung doesn’t have this adaptive intelligence.

The Charging Case Changes Everything

Bottom line: The Samsung Galaxy Ring’s portable charging case is a legitimate game-changer. It holds 1.5 full charges, lasts 6-7 days between charges, and displays battery level through a transparent window. The Oura Ring 4 uses a USB-C charging puck with no built-in battery, requiring you to find an outlet every 4-6 days. If you travel frequently, Samsung’s solution is vastly superior. However, Oura’s rated 8-day battery life is often closer to 4-6 days in real use due to recent firmware issues.

I cannot overstate how much I love Samsung’s charging case. It looks like a luxury earbud case—glossy, compact, satisfying to click open and closed. The ring magnetically snaps into place, and you can see the charge level without opening an app. I traveled for a week with just the case (no cable) and never worried about battery. This is the kind of design detail that makes tech feel premium.

Oura’s charging puck, by contrast, feels like an afterthought. It’s a small plastic dish that you have to plug into a USB-C cable, which you have to plug into a wall or battery pack. If you forget the puck at home, you’re out of luck. It’s also small enough to lose easily in a suitcase. After using Samsung’s case, going back to Oura’s puck felt like a downgrade.

However, there’s a catch: some Samsung Galaxy Ring users have reported battery degradation after 6-9 months, with the ring failing to hold a charge and requiring warranty replacement. Oura has its own battery issues—recent firmware updates (v2.9.0) have caused rapid battery drain, dropping the real-world life from 8 days to 4-5 days. Both companies are working on fixes, but it’s worth noting that neither ring is perfect in this department yet.

Is Oura’s Monthly Fee Worth It?

Here’s where it gets complicated: The Oura Ring 4 requires an Oura Membership at $5.99/month ($71.88/year). Without it, you only see three scores (Sleep, Readiness, Activity) with zero detail. No sleep staging, no heart rate graphs, no temperature trends, no historical data. The Samsung Galaxy Ring has no subscription—all features are free forever (assuming you own a compatible Samsung phone). Over two years, Oura costs ~$523 total vs Samsung’s ~$430. The question is: Is Oura’s superior accuracy worth $93 more?

I have complicated feelings about Oura’s subscription. On one hand, the app is genuinely excellent. The data presentation is beautiful, the insights are actionable, and features like Resilience (long-term stress tracking) and Daytime Stress feel worth paying for. On the other hand, the idea of “renting” access to my own health data irritates me on principle. If I stop paying, I lose access to historical trends and detailed metrics—data that my body generated.

Samsung’s approach feels more consumer-friendly: you pay once, you own the experience. But here’s the catch—Samsung isn’t promising this will stay free forever. The AI-powered Wellness Tips and Energy Score rely on cloud processing via “Galaxy AI,” which is currently free but could be monetized in the future. Samsung has a history of introducing subscriptions (Samsung Care+, cloud storage), so there’s no guarantee this won’t change.

What You Lose Without Oura Membership

If you don’t subscribe to Oura, you see three numbers: Sleep Score (e.g., 85), Readiness Score (e.g., 78), and Activity Score (e.g., 92). That’s it. No breakdown of how much Deep Sleep you got, no heart rate trends, no SpO2 data, no temperature graph. You’re essentially buying a $349 ring to see three daily numbers. For most people, that’s not worth it. The subscription is effectively mandatory, which Oura should be more transparent about.

Ecosystem Lock-In: The iPhone Problem and Samsung-Only Features

Critical consideration: The Samsung Galaxy Ring is Android-only and heavily favors Samsung Galaxy phones. If you use an iPhone, you cannot set up the Galaxy Ring at all—it’s incompatible. If you use a non-Samsung Android phone (Pixel, OnePlus, Motorola), you can use the ring via the Galaxy Wearable app, but you lose Energy Score, AI Wellness Tips, Find My Ring, and Double Pinch gestures. The Oura Ring 4 works identically on iPhone and Android with no feature restrictions.

This is a dealbreaker consideration. If you’re in the Apple ecosystem (which ~57% of US smartphone users are), the Samsung Galaxy Ring isn’t even an option. You’re getting the Oura Ring by default. If you’re an Android user on a Pixel or other non-Samsung device, you can technically use the Galaxy Ring, but you’re losing the features that justify its existence. The Energy Score—Samsung’s answer to Oura’s Readiness—simply doesn’t work without a Samsung phone. At that point, why not just get the Oura, which gives you the full experience regardless of your phone?

The exception is if you’re already deep in the Samsung ecosystem. If you own a Galaxy S25, Galaxy Watch, and use Samsung Health as your central hub, the Galaxy Ring is a no-brainer. It integrates seamlessly, and the lack of a subscription fee makes it a great long-term investment. Plus, Samsung has a clever feature: if you wear both a Galaxy Watch and Ring, the system automatically deactivates the ring’s sensors during the day to save battery, extending the ring’s life by up to 30%. That’s smart engineering.

Unique Samsung Features (Galaxy Phone Required)

If you do have a Samsung Galaxy phone, you unlock some genuinely cool features:

• Double Pinch Gestures: Pinch your thumb and index finger (wearing the ring) to dismiss alarms or trigger your phone’s camera shutter. It’s a delighter feature that feels futuristic.
• Energy Score: Samsung’s AI-powered daily readiness metric, similar to Oura’s Readiness Score. Based on sleep quality, HRV, and activity.
• Find My Ring: If you lose your ring, the app makes the LED on the ring flash so you can locate it. (Oura doesn’t have this.)
• Galaxy AI Wellness Tips: The app analyzes patterns (e.g., “You sleep better on days you walk 5,000+ steps”) and offers personalized advice.

These features are legitimately useful, but they’re also leverage—Samsung is using them to keep you locked into their hardware ecosystem. If you ever switch to an iPhone or Pixel, your $400 ring becomes significantly less valuable.

App Experience: Oura’s Interface vs Samsung Health

User experience winner: The Oura app is widely considered best-in-class for health tracking. It’s clean, intuitive, narrative-driven (tells you why your scores are what they are), and introduces features like Daytime Stress and Resilience that provide genuine lifestyle insights. Samsung Health is feature-rich but cluttered, trying to serve watch users, phone users, and ring users simultaneously. If app UX matters to you, Oura feels more premium and focused.

I open the Oura app every morning before I even get out of bed. It’s part of my ritual. The interface is beautiful—soft gradients, smooth animations, and a timeline that tells a story of your day and night. When my Readiness Score is low, the app doesn’t just say “you’re tired.” It explains why (e.g., “Your resting heart rate was elevated, possibly due to alcohol or late-night eating”) and suggests actionable steps (“Consider a lighter workout today”).

Samsung Health, by comparison, feels like a data dashboard. It shows you everything—steps, heart rate, sleep, water intake, food logs, medications—but the presentation lacks Oura’s narrative warmth. It’s functional and powerful (especially if you’re tracking nutrition or using it with a Galaxy Watch), but it doesn’t spark the same daily engagement. I found myself checking Samsung Health less frequently because the interface didn’t invite exploration the way Oura’s does.

Daytime Stress and Resilience (Oura Exclusive)

One of Oura’s standout features is Daytime Stress, which tracks physiological stress in real-time and plots a “Stress vs Restorative Time” curve throughout your day. This helped me identify non-obvious stressors—like how a heavy lunch spiked my stress levels, or how a 10-minute walk dramatically increased my restorative time. Samsung doesn’t have an equivalent feature. If you’re working on managing stress or building better daily habits, Oura’s granular insights are incredibly valuable.

Who Should Buy the Oura Ring 4?

Get the Oura Ring 4 if you:

• Use an iPhone (it’s your only high-end smart ring option)
• Prioritize sleep tracking accuracy above all else
• Want the most comprehensive women’s health and fertility tracking (Natural Cycles integration, precise cycle prediction)
• Value a polished, narrative app experience
• Are a “data person” who wants granular insights (HRV trends, temperature graphs, Resilience tracking)
• Don’t mind paying $5.99/month for premium features
• Have smaller or larger fingers (12 size options vs Samsung’s 9)
• Want a ring that feels substantial and premium (heavier titanium construction)

Oura is the choice for the biohacker, the wellness optimizer, the person who genuinely wants to understand their body’s patterns. It’s clinical-grade tracking in a beautiful form factor. Yes, the subscription is annoying, but the data quality justifies it if you’re serious about sleep optimization.

Who Should Buy the Samsung Galaxy Ring?

Get the Samsung Galaxy Ring if you:

• Own a Samsung Galaxy phone (S25, Fold, Flip, etc.)
• Hate subscriptions and want a one-time purchase ($400 and done)
• Already wear a Galaxy Watch and want to extend battery life with ring backup
• Prioritize the superior charging case for travel convenience
• Value lighter weight and slimmer profile (better for petite fingers)
• Want gesture controls (Double Pinch for camera/alarms)
• Are okay with “good enough” sleep tracking vs clinical-grade accuracy
• Prefer a sleek, modern aesthetic that protects against scratches (concave design)

Samsung is the choice for the ecosystem loyalist, the person who values convenience and integration over absolute precision. It’s a fantastic ring if you’re already invested in Samsung’s hardware universe and want seamless syncing across devices without monthly fees.

My Personal Recommendation

If I had to choose one ring to wear for the next two years, I’d pick the Oura Ring 4—but with reservations. The sleep data is simply more reliable, and as someone who struggles with sleep quality, that accuracy is non-negotiable for me. The app experience is also significantly better; I actually look forward to checking my Oura data each morning, whereas Samsung Health feels like homework.

However, I’m genuinely jealous of Samsung’s charging case every single time I plug in my Oura puck. That case is a masterclass in industrial design, and it solves a real problem (travel charging) that Oura completely ignores. If Oura released a Gen 5 with a similar charging solution, it would be the perfect ring.

For most people reading this, here’s my simplified advice: If you have an iPhone, get the Oura. You have no other choice anyway. If you have a Samsung Galaxy phone, get the Samsung Ring. The ecosystem integration and zero subscription fee make it the smarter long-term value. If you have any other Android phone (Pixel, OnePlus, Motorola), get the Oura. The Galaxy Ring loses too many features without a Samsung phone, and at that point, you’re better off with the more accurate device.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you use the Samsung Galaxy Ring with an iPhone?

No. The Samsung Galaxy Ring is incompatible with iOS and cannot be set up or used with an iPhone. It requires an Android phone running Android 11.0 or higher. If you’re an iPhone user, the Oura Ring 4 is your only high-end smart ring option.

Is the Oura subscription really required?

Technically no, but functionally yes. Without the $5.99/month Oura Membership, you only see three daily scores (Sleep, Readiness, Activity) with no details. You lose access to sleep staging, heart rate graphs, SpO2 data, temperature trends, and all historical analysis. For 95% of users, the ring is useless without the subscription. Oura should be more transparent about this upfront.

Which ring is better for sleep tracking?

The Oura Ring 4 is significantly more accurate. Its Smart Sensing platform (18 sensor pathways) delivers clinical-grade sleep staging that closely matches polysomnography (PSG) data. The Samsung Galaxy Ring’s AI-assisted tracking is good but tends to overestimate Deep Sleep and miss micro-wake-ups. If sleep optimization is your primary goal, Oura is the clear winner.

How long does each ring’s battery actually last?

Samsung Galaxy Ring: Rated for 7 days, real-world use delivers 6-7 days consistently. Oura Ring 4: Rated for 8 days, but recent firmware issues have reduced real-world battery life to 4-6 days for many users. Samsung’s portable charging case (holds 1.5 charges) makes up for any difference, as you can recharge on the go without needing an outlet.

Can you wear both rings at the same time?

Yes, I tested this. I wore the Oura on my left index finger and Samsung on my right index finger for comparison. The data diverged most noticeably during sleep—Oura was consistently more conservative (and accurate) with Deep Sleep estimates. However, wearing two rings long-term is overkill unless you’re testing or comparing. Pick one based on your phone ecosystem and priorities.

Which ring looks better on camera for content creators?

This is subjective, but I found the Oura Ring 4 in Stealth (matte black) or Gold to be more visually striking. The wider band (7.9mm vs Samsung’s 7.0mm) has more presence in photos and videos. Samsung’s concave design is sleeker and more minimal, which some prefer for a “quiet luxury” aesthetic. Both look significantly better than a smartwatch on Zoom calls.

Do either of these rings track blood pressure or blood sugar?

No. Neither the Oura Ring 4 nor Samsung Galaxy Ring measures blood pressure or blood glucose. They track heart rate, HRV, SpO2 (blood oxygen), skin temperature, and activity. If you need blood pressure monitoring, you’ll need a dedicated cuff or a medical-grade wearable.

Can you shower or swim with these rings?

Yes. Both rings are water-resistant to 100 meters (10 ATM), meaning you can shower, swim, and wear them during water sports. I wore both in the shower, pool, and ocean with no issues. However, some users report skin irritation from moisture trapped under the ring, so make sure to dry the inside occasionally, especially after sweating or swimming.

The Smart Ring Era Is Just Beginning

After three weeks of wearing both rings, I’m convinced that smart rings are the future of health tracking for non-athletes. The form factor is simply superior for passive monitoring—you genuinely forget you’re wearing it, which means you actually keep wearing it. Smartwatches have screens that demand attention; smart rings disappear into your daily life and quietly collect data.

The competition between Oura and Samsung is exactly what this nascent category needs. Oura held a monopoly for years, and while they built an exceptional product, the lack of competition meant slow innovation and an unchallenged subscription model. Samsung’s entry—with its superior charging case, no subscription fee, and ecosystem integration—is forcing Oura to improve. The Ring 4’s flush sensors and Smart Sensing platform are direct responses to user complaints and competitive pressure.

Neither ring is perfect yet. Oura needs to fix its battery drain issues and seriously reconsider its subscription pricing (or at least offer a one-time “lifetime membership” option). Samsung needs to improve sleep tracking accuracy and make more features available to non-Samsung Android users. But both companies are moving in the right direction, and I’m genuinely excited to see where Gen 5 takes us.

For now, pick the ring that fits your ecosystem and priorities. If you value data accuracy and don’t mind a subscription, go Oura. If you value convenience and ecosystem integration, go Samsung. Either way, you’re getting a glimpse of the future—and it fits on your finger