(Bloomberg) -- Oura Health Oy, the Finnish maker of smart rings, rolled out the next generation of its flagship device, aiming to stave off competition with more accurate health tracking and an updated titanium design.
The new Ring 4 line will have roughly double the number of sensors, as well as new algorithms that can adapt the hardware to a user’s physiology for more accurate results, the company announced Thursday. The new rings also recess the sensors deeper into the ring frame, creating a thinner look.
Oura is facing more competition in the smart-ring market. Earlier this year, Samsung Electronics Co. launched a product called the Galaxy Ring with its own activity-tracking features. But Oura Chief Executive Officer Tom Hale said that superior accuracy will continue to give his product an edge.
“They were aiming at where we were two years ago,” he said in an interview published earlier this week. An independent study of 60 users found that the new Oura ring gave 30% more accurate readings for blood-oxygen data overnight, and 31% fewer gaps in measuring heart rates during sleep, according to the company.
The new model, priced at $349, replaces the Ring 3 line, which launched three years ago at $299 and up. The company said it would continue to sell the old version until inventory runs out. The latest model begins shipping on Oct. 15 and will be sold directly by the company and via major third-party resellers like Amazon, Target and Best Buy.
Battery life is an advantage of smart rings, which typically last longer than health-tracking watches. Oura said the Ring 4 will now go as much as eight days on one charge, a day more than the prior version. But that battery life will vary depending on the size of the ring chosen by the user.
The ring is available in traditional ring sizes 4 through 15, an expansion over the prior range of 6 through 13. The new version comes in similar colors to the Ring 3, including silver, black and gold.
Oura has sold more than 2.5 million rings so far and is on track to reach $500 million in revenue through calendar 2024, Hale said in the interview.
In the future, the ring maker may expand into other areas. Hale said the company has prototypes of a necklace-like device and is exploring the potential for wrist-worn products. In particular, he said a device that can touch the chest is ideal for taking electrocardiograms. Hale said he can “for sure” see Oura selling multiple different types of wearables.
The most promising future initiative could tie in to headsets, such as the smart glasses sold by Meta Platforms Inc. under the Ray-Ban brand, Hale said.
“We’ve been doing some work with the Meta Ray-Ban guys to see if there’s something interesting there,” he said. One idea that Oura is researching involves using the ring as a controller for the glasses.
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