Less is more with the Oura Ring 5

Oura Ring 5：少即是多

If you’re reading an Oura Ring 5 review at The Verge, you likely fall into one of two camps: newcomers looking for a smartwatch alternative, or Oura users pondering an upgrade. In the case of the former, this is a great casual health tracker and the best smart ring on the market — but not your best choice if you really sweat the fitness details. If you fall into the latter, you don’t need to upgrade.

如果你正在 The Verge 阅读 Oura Ring 5 的评测，你很可能属于以下两类人之一：寻找智能手表替代品的新用户，或是正在考虑升级的 Oura 老用户。对于前者，这是一款出色的日常健康追踪器，也是目前市面上最好的智能戒指——但如果你非常看重健身细节，它可能不是你的最佳选择。如果你属于后者，那么你完全没必要升级。

I say this because the Oura Ring 4 came out less than two years ago. The ceramic version, of which I am a big fan, came out less than a year ago. These were major updates over the Oura Ring Gen 3, both in terms of software and in terms of sensors. Meanwhile, the Ring 5 is mostly an aesthetic update. You can think of this as a smaller and lighter Oura Ring 4. The sensors are the same, the battery life is roughly the same, and none of the software features are gatekept to the Ring 5.

我之所以这么说，是因为 Oura Ring 4 发布还不到两年。我非常喜欢的陶瓷版本发布甚至还不到一年。相比 Oura Ring Gen 3，这些产品在软件和传感器方面都有重大升级。而 Ring 5 在很大程度上只是外观上的更新。你可以把它看作是更小、更轻的 Oura Ring 4。它们的传感器相同，电池续航大致相当，而且没有任何软件功能是 Ring 5 独占的。

The smaller design is an engineering feat, but from a consumer perspective? It isn’t such a noticeable improvement that I’d advocate shelling out an extra $399 minimum if your current Oura Ring is working just fine. (And that’s on top of the $6 monthly subscription you’re already paying.)

这种更小的设计确实是一项工程壮举，但从消费者的角度来看呢？它并没有带来显著的提升，以至于我会建议你如果现有的 Oura Ring 还能正常使用，就没必要再掏至少 399 美元去购买它。（这还不包括你已经在支付的每月 6 美元订阅费。）

Still not convinced? Here are more reasons why you don’t need to upgrade. Unless the bigger ring is uncomfortable to wear because your fingers are particularly petite, the difference isn’t that noticeable. If the finish on your ring is blasted to hell, I’d actually recommend the ceramic Oura Ring 4. While my Oura Ring 5 is much more durable than the non-ceramic Ring 4, it still got a few nicks in about a month and a half of wear. (Note: I’m rough on rings, so if you take greater care, this might not apply to you.)

还没被说服？这里还有更多你不需要升级的理由。除非因为你的手指特别纤细导致大尺寸戒指佩戴不适，否则两者之间的差异并不明显。如果你的戒指表面已经磨损严重，我反而更推荐陶瓷版的 Oura Ring 4。虽然我的 Oura Ring 5 比非陶瓷版的 Ring 4 耐用得多，但在佩戴一个半月后，它还是出现了一些划痕。（注：我平时佩戴戒指比较粗心，如果你比较爱惜，情况可能有所不同。）

That said, should you have the funds in your FSA/HSA, or are blessed enough to not sweat the price, do what makes you happy. Now that the Oura app supports pairing multiple rings, I can confirm that you can easily swap between multiple rings, so your older Oura doesn’t have to become e-waste.

话虽如此，如果你有 FSA/HSA（医疗支出账户）资金，或者财力雄厚无需在意价格，那么怎么开心怎么来。现在 Oura App 支持配对多个戒指，我可以确认你可以轻松在多个戒指之间切换，所以你旧的 Oura 戒指不必沦为电子垃圾。

My main hardware gripe with the Oura Ring 5 is sizing. At my initial hands-on, Oura told me that the Ring 5 will have a narrower size range than its predecessor. Sizes 4, 5, 14, and 15 aren’t available. I was told this is because Oura is still assessing the demand, given the Oura Ring 4’s expanded range is still relatively new. That’s disappointing for accessibility reasons.

我对 Oura Ring 5 在硬件方面的主要不满在于尺寸。在最初的上手体验中，Oura 告诉我 Ring 5 的尺寸范围将比前代产品更窄。4、5、14 和 15 号将不再提供。我被告知这是因为 Oura 仍在评估市场需求，毕竟 Oura Ring 4 的扩展尺寸范围推出时间尚短。从易用性角度来看，这令人失望。

However, in my mind, this is also further proof that functionally, there’s not much difference between the 4 and 5 for consumers. (Either that, or Oura found it particularly difficult on the smaller sizes to fit in all the components.) Likewise, I’m disappointed to see that there’s no ceramic option for the 5.

然而在我看来，这也进一步证明了对于消费者而言，4 代和 5 代在功能上并没有太大区别。（要么就是 Oura 发现要在小尺寸戒指中塞进所有组件特别困难。）同样，我也很失望地看到 5 代没有陶瓷版本可选。

I’ll acknowledge that sizing is tough with smart rings. Fingers swell, and if you lose or gain weight, that can affect sizing as well. For that reason, you should still try out the latest sizing kit. Case in point, I’ve lost a good chunk of weight and while a size 9 fits me perfectly in the Ring 5, my size 9 Ring 4 fits more loosely.

我承认智能戒指的尺寸选择确实很难。手指会肿胀，体重的增减也会影响尺寸。因此，你仍然应该尝试最新的尺寸测量套件。举个例子，我最近瘦了不少，虽然 9 号的 Ring 5 戴着正合适，但我的 9 号 Ring 4 却显得松垮了。

My other quibble is Oura’s decision to make the charging case a $99 accessory instead of the default charger. Cases are just better than docks, especially if you have a naughty cat that likes to knock the dock off your nightstand. Also, it stinks that if you already bought a charging case for the Ring 4, you’ll have to buy another one for the Ring 5 because they’re not forward- or backward-compatible due to the sizing differences between generations.

我的另一个抱怨是 Oura 决定将充电盒作为 99 美元的配件出售，而不是作为默认充电器。充电盒确实比充电底座更好用，尤其是如果你有一只喜欢把底座从床头柜上扫落的淘气猫的话。此外，如果你已经为 Ring 4 买过充电盒，现在还得为 Ring 5 再买一个，因为由于代际间的尺寸差异，它们并不兼容，这真的很糟糕。

But enough about hardware. Oura tends to bundle new rings with a bunch of new software updates, and there’s no exception here. This time around, Oura’s launched: GLP-1 Insights, Health Radar (which bundles Symptom Radar with nighttime breathing patterns and blood pressure signals), Medical lab imports, the ability to delete health data from a specific time period, improved live activity tracking, and a medical AI chatbot.

硬件方面就说这么多。Oura 倾向于在发布新戒指时捆绑一系列软件更新，这次也不例外。这一次，Oura 推出了：GLP-1 洞察、健康雷达（将症状雷达与夜间呼吸模式及血压信号结合）、医疗实验室数据导入、删除特定时间段健康数据的功能、改进的实时活动追踪，以及一个医疗 AI 聊天机器人。

This isn’t gatekept to the Ring 5, and most of these are optional. And while I don’t object to the individual features, they had the overall effect of making the Oura app feel a lot more cluttered.

这些功能并非 Ring 5 独占，且大多数都是可选的。虽然我不反对这些单独的功能，但它们整体上让 Oura App 显得更加臃肿杂乱了。