While Oura Ring is a well-established health & fitness gadget, the Whoop 4.0’s features and flexibility to wear in multiple places have grabbed my attention. I was curious to know how the Whoop 4.0 tracker works and exactly tracks.
After using these two fitness trackers thoroughly, I realized that while they are tracking almost similar things, they differ in accuracy. That leads to one question- which of these fitness trackers is better? Let’s find out.
Specifications
| Specifications | Oura Ring Gen 3 | Whoop 4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 4-6 grams | 11.3 grams |
| Dimension | • Thickness- 2.55mm • Width-7.9mm | • Sensor- 25.0 mm x 35.97 mm x 10.1 mm; • Band Length- 24 cm |
| Size | Eight sizes (6 to 13) | One-Size |
| Customizable | No | Yes |
| EMF Safe | Yes | Yes |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth Low-Energy (Bluetooth Smart®) | Bluetooth |
| Battery Life | Up to 7 days | 5 days |
| Charging Time | Up to 80 minutes | 2-2.5 hours |
| Charger | Wireless Charging dock | Battery Pack 4.0 |
| Portable Charger Battery | N/A | Charges only 1 time |
| Water Resistance | Upto 100m/ 328 ft. IP54 | Yes; up to 10 meters for 2 hours |
| Dustproof | No | Yes; IP68 |
| Compatibility | • iOS devices running on iOS 15 or above • Android devices running on Android 9.0 or higher | • iOS 16 or higher • Android 10.0 or higher |
| Airplane Mode | Yes | Yes |
| Operating Temperature Range | -10–52°C / 14–125°F. | 15°F-140°F |
| Free Sizing Kit | Yes | N/A |
| FSA / HSA Eligible | Yes | Yes |
| Memory | Seven days of data (also depends on the frequency of use) | Up to two weeks |
| Warranty | One year from the date of purchase | Lifetime Warranty |
| Compatible With Other Apps | Yes | Yes |
Comfort, Material & Durability
While the Oura Ring is more comfortable to wear, the Whoop 4.0 band offers more flexibility when wearing the gadget. So, it depends upon the user’s preference.
I preferred wearing the Whoop tracker on my wrist as a band, mostly. I did try wearing it under my bralette but the wrist was more convenient for me.
| Specifications | Oura Ring Gen 3 | Whoop 4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Material | Durable titanium, PVD coating | • Band: 52% polyamide, 41% polyester, 7% elastane • Clasp: Stainless Steel • Hook: Stainless Steel • Fast Link™: Stainless Steel • Sensor Body: Titanium |
| Weight | 4-6 grams | 11.3 grams |
| Dimension | • Thickness- 2.55mm • Width-7.9mm | • Sensor– 25.0 mm x 35.97 mm x 10.1 mm • Band Length– 24 cm |
I have noticed that whenever I kept wearing the band for a prolonged period, it left sweat marks due to the polyester knitted bands and stainless-less steel clasp & hook. While there was not much issue with Whoop’s durability, I had issues with its low-quality buckles, which sometimes fell off.
Oura ring can only be worn on the fingers. The titanium-made Oura Ring has a PVD coating. Thus, it is quite lightweight and doesn’t leave any noticeable marks. However, I avoid wearing it while handling sharp objects or doing intense activities to save it from unwanted bruises, as it is only scratch-resistant, not scratchproof.
Initially, it took time for me to get the hang of wearing a ring a little bigger and thicker than regular rings, but eventually, I got used to it.
Compared to my Whoop tracker, my Oura Ring is more comfortable to wear and easy to manage.
Design & Colors
Unlike other smart rings on the market, I am glad Oura gives more color options to choose from. While the Oura Ring Gen 3 Heritage has four color options- Gold, Stealth, Silver, and Black, the Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon is available in Brushed Titanium and Rose Gold as well.
Whoop also offers bands in several colors, both in light shades and dark shades. So, I had plenty of color options in both gadgets, which gave me a lot of choice. I opted for the Black Oura Gen3 Heritage Ring and got a blue SuperKnit luxe strap for my Whoop 4.0.
| Design & Colors | Oura Gen3 | Whoop 4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Colors Available | • Horizon: Brushed titanium, Rose Gold, Gold, Stealth, Silver, Black • Heritage: Gold, Stealth, Silver, Black | Multiple colors |
| Design | • Horizon: Round-shaped ring • Heritage: Round ring with a flat-top design (plateau design) | A plain and regular band |
Both the gadgets looked quite trendy, thanks to their amazing design. Instead of having a plain round design, Gen3 Heritage chose a round ring with a flat-top design. This makes the ring look quite regal and noticeable.
Whoop 4.0 tracker is quite simple and looks like an ordinary band. However, different colored SuperKnit luxe straps or ProKnit straps, hooks, clasps, and sliders make it look really good. Moreover, I had the option of personalized engraving in Whoop for just $25!
Sensors
| Sensors | Oura Ring Gen 3 | Whoop 4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Red LEDs | Yes | Yes |
| Green LEDs | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared LEDs | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared PPG Sensors | Yes | Yes |
| Skin Temperature Sensors | Yes | Yes |
| Photodiodes | Yes | Yes |
| 3D Accelerometer | Yes | Yes |
| Gyroscope | No | Yes |
As you can see, Oura Ring and Whoop 4.0 have similar sensors. They are well-equipped with advanced technology and capable of tracking several metrics related to health and fitness.
Features
| Features | Oura Ring Gen 3 | Whoop 4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Heart Rate | Yes | Yes |
| Heart Rate Variability (HRV) | Yes | Yes |
| Resting Heart Rate | Yes | Yes |
| Workout Heart Rate | Yes | No |
| Blood Oxygen Levels (SpO2) | Yes | Yes |
| Sleep Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Sleeping Time Recommendations | No | Yes |
| Sleep Debt | No | Yes |
| Nap Detection | Yes | Yes |
| Detailed Sleep Analysis | Yes | Yes |
| Bedtime Guidance | Yes | No |
| Respiration Rate | Yes | Yes |
| Skin Temperature | Yes | Yes |
| Steps | Yes | No |
| Equivalent Distance/ Distance Traveled | Yes | Yes |
| Calories | Yes | Yes |
| Active Minutes | Yes | No |
| Average Pace | Yes | No |
| Sedentary Reminder | Yes | No |
| Activity Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Automatic Activity Detection | Yes | Yes |
| Workouts | Yes | Yes (automatically detects) |
| Training Activities | No | Yes |
| Fertility/Ovulation Prediction | Yes | Yes |
| Period Prediction | Yes | Yes |
| Pregnancy Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Mood and Energy | No | Yes |
| Physical Strain | No | Yes |
| Stress | Yes | Yes |
| Recovery | Yes | Yes |
| VO2 Max | Yes | No |
| Cardiovascular Age (CVA) | Yes | No |
| Body Clock | Yes | No |
| Chronotype | Yes | No |
| Illness Detection | Yes | No |
| Set Personalized Goals | Yes | Yes |
| Personalized Wellness Assistance | Yes (on the basis of scores) | No |
| Breathing Exercise | Yes | No |
| Meditation | Yes | No |
| Insights Feature | Yes (on the basis of scores) | Yes |
| User-Based Insights | Yes | Yes |
| Daily Summary | Yes | Yes |
| Trends | Yes | No |
| Health Reports | Yes | Yes |
| Share Reports | Yes | Yes |
| Rest Mode | Yes | No |
| Readiness Score/Recovery Score | Yes | Yes |
| Haptic Alarm | No | Yes |
| Behavioral Journal | No | Yes |
| Caffeine Intake & Hydration | No | Yes |
Both of these health gadgets track several important health and fitness metrics, but I find Oura Ring’s feature more diverse and useful than the Whoop 4.0 tracker. For example, the Oura Ring tracks steps, but Whoop doesn’t track it at all. For me, it is important to know how much I have walked throughout the day. In this case, I have to rely on Oura Ring.
While I appreciate Whoop’s sleep debt data and sleeping time recommendations, I find Oura Ring’s sleep tracking more elaborative and detailed. Along with tracking my sleep throughout the time, it also sends me bedtime guidance alarms that help me a lot. Only if Oura had sleep debt like Whoop too, it its sleep tracking would become more holistic.
I am quite impressed with Oura Ring’s breathing exercises and meditation feature too, which really help me relax. Its illness-detection feature and ability to track workout heart rate is commendable.
Whoop 4.0 has some of the really nice features that are missing in the Oura Ring, like physical strain, haptic sensors, caffeine intake (beta), hydration, and behavioral journal. However, these are not so important metrics. So, I would stick to my Oura Ring!
Accuracy
While I am satisfied with the accuracy of Oura Ring from the beginning, I had trouble getting exact data from my Whoop tracker initially.
The Whoop tracker took almost seven days to initialize, and then my baseline was recorded. After that, it tracked my cardio activities almost accurately.
Here are some of my observations that will give you a broader idea of these devices.
Fitness, & Activity Tracking
I didn’t find much difference between the Whoop band and Oura Ring’s reading while tracking my heart rate, HRV, RR, and SpO2. However, Oura Ring analyses health metrics to predict whether I am going to be sick or not. Fortunately, it helped me out several times correctly. That’s what makes it different from the Whoop band.
No doubt Oura offers multiple activities to select, but the ring still failed to track my HR several times, even when I was cycling indoors. Whoop was much better at this and never failed to track any metrics.
Oura Ring was able to detect when I was not moving for longer durations and sent me sedentary reminders properly. Oura tracked the distance covered, and it tracked my steps, accurately or not, which is a debate. In contrast, no such tracking, except the distance traveled, was available in the Whoop band.
But I felt Whoop is definitely made for athletes, while Oura is made for a more wide audience. I get why Ronaldo wears it: the sheer focus on workout strain, type, and how the band functions is unmatched.
And it’s not as if Oura lacks that much detailed workout analysis. Oura wasn’t made with this intension in mind; Whoop, maybe was. So, the difference is in the fundamentals of the brand, while both products excel at whatever they offer.
Sleep Tracking
In terms of sleep tracking, I find the Oura Ring far better than the Whoop 4.0 tracker, again because Whoop was made for fitness tracking.
Though sleep tracking costs me a faster ring battery drain, Gen3 keeps tracking my blood oxygen level throughout the night. Sometimes, I have to turn off the SpO2 mode to save my battery!
When I compare my sleep data with Oura Ring and Whoop 4.0 readings, I find the Oura Ring’s data more satisfactory. It rightly summarizes my sleep duration, waking time, and sleep disturbances.
I have noticed that Whoop 4.0 has failed to track the exact sleeping time or waking time on several occasions. Thus, I rely on the Oura Ring data to track my sleep.
It tells me about my sleep quality, its efficiency, latency, lowest HR at sleep, breathing regularity, and HRV movements in a detailed manner.
Stress Tracking
While Whoop 4.0 tracks stress and gives stress scores based on real-time HR and HRV, the Oura Ring tracks stress using heart rate, body temperature, heart rate variability (HRV), and motion.
Though Whoop’s stress tracking system is quite good and elaborative and suggests recovery insights or breathwork sessions, I find Oura Ring’s stress tracking system far more sorted and descriptive. It divides stress into four zones- Stressed, Engaged, Restored, and Relaxed which gives insight into the current state of stress.
When I compare both data, I find Oura Ring’s tracking far more satisfactory and accurate than the Whoop band.
Female-Centric Metrics
I am pretty impressed that both these gadgets have paid diligent attention to Women’s health. Oura Ring’s menstrual tracking and Cycle Insights are quite correct.
It has given me accurate data on my menstrual cycle and tells me more about how my body’s capacity is functioning and which menstrual phase I am currently in. This helps me to cope with my health when I feel low during my periods.
The Whoop 4.0 tracker’s period tracking is also by far accurate. It predicts the correct dates, and its Menstrual Cycle insight is very informative. Apart from tracking my period, it keeps me updated about how my period cycle is affecting my sleep and suggests workouts according to it.
Though the Oura Ring only has the Pregnancy Insight feature, Whoop 4.0 can actually track pregnancy. While I have not used these features yet, I feel that these features will surely help expecting mothers.
Companion Apps
While the companion apps of Oura Ring and Whoop 4.0 are really informative and user-friendly, I find the Whoop app a bit overwhelming. In contrast, the Oura app has more sorted tabs (Home, Readiness, Sleep, Activity, and Resilience) that provide important information related to overall health.
The Whoop app also contains information on real-time stress levels, my daily performance scores, trends, health metrics, etc., based on my overall body activities. However, its graphs are difficult to understand. Though Whoop has AI-powered Whoop Coach to get real-time answers, I don’t find them very helpful. Their answers were quite vague and general.
While I appreciate interesting podcasts and blogs on the Whoop app, the Oura app has its own elaborate sets of information that are equally interesting and helpful. So, my experience with the Oura app is far better than that of the Whoop app.
Battery And Charging
In terms of charging, I didn’t find much difference between their battery life. While their official website claims to have one-week battery life for the Oura Ring and five days for the Whoop band, this is not true. My Oura Ring lasts 4-6 days (fewer days when SpO2 mode is enabled!), and the Whoop 4.0 battery lasts for four days only.
| Charging Details | Oura Ring Gen 3 | Whoop 4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Official Battery Life | Up to 7 days | 5 days |
| My Observed Battery Life | 4-6 days | 4 days |
| Official Charging Time | Up to 80 minutes | 2-2.5 hours |
| My Observed Charging Time | 80-100 minutes | 2.5-3 hours |
I have to charge my Oura using the wireless charging dock connected to a power source via an extended USB cable. Since it takes almost 80-100 minutes to charge fully, I charge the Oura Ring when I don’t need to track my vitals. For example, while cooking, bathing, or gardening.
Whoop has a much smarter charging method. Instead of using a USB cable or charging case, it can be charged using the Whoop battery pack. Moreover, it can be charged while wearing the gadget. All I have to do is slide the Battery Pack onto the band.
However, once my battery pack dropped on the floor while I was doing the dishes, and I had to buy a replacement (which cost me $49), I would advise you to be careful while charging it on your body. In terms of charging, I admit Whoop has done a good job, but I don’t mind Oura’s charging method. So, both work for me.
Prices, Subscription, & Availability
The Oura Ring Gen 3 costs from $299 to $549, depending on the model and color. It is a subscription-based fitness gadget that costs around $6/month.
The Whoop 4.0 tracker, on the other hand, does not have any cost, but it comes with a subscription plan. The Whoop subscription plan ranges from $30/month to $399/two years.
| Pricing Details | Oura Ring Gen 3 | Whoop 4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Official Price | $299-$549 | $239.00 with 12-month membership |
| Subscription | • $5.99 a month • $69.99 a year | • Free for the first month • $30/month • $239/year • $399 for 24 months |
| Availability | Some countries in North America, Europe, Africa & Middle East, Asia & Pacific | Worldwide |
In terms of price, I find both of these fitness gadgets quite expensive. Moreover, they require an additional subscription plan to access their respective apps.
Final Verdict
It is very rare that I find myself comparing two gadgets, and both of them are at par with what they offer. It is quite evident that Whoop and Oura targeted different health aspects. Whoop is more workout and activity-centric, while Oura aced sleep tracking.
Both Whoop and Oura are good at fitness and sleep tracking; it’s just that Whoop specializes in workouts and Oura in sleep and overall health. Since I am not a professional, I think Oura is the best choice for me. Even though Oura’s $6 subscription per month is a bummer, it’s better than Whoop’s $30 per month.
So, Oura Gen3 was more value for money than Whoop 4.0.
