Laura Kanadel has been professionally interested in sleep measuring since 2020.
She highlights three features the Oura Ring Gen3 offers as reasons why she prefers the Oura Ring to other wearables: the quality of sleep measuring, activity level, and heart rate variability.
“The heart rate variability feature is excellent for mindfulness. This is useful as women report symptoms of stress more often than men,” says Laura Kanadel.
Oura Ring as fertility tracker
In Laura Kanadel’s opinion, the most important element is that the third generation of the Oura Ring also measures temperature to monitor menstrual cycles.
“By following temperature changes, you can use the Oura Ring to see when you are the most likely to get pregnant and use it as a birth control tool or a tool to increase your chances of getting pregnant,” says Laura Kanadel.
The first to focus on sleep
According to Oura Health, the company behind the Oura Ring, the ring was the first wearable to focus on sleep when the first version launched in 2016.
Since then, a range of other wearables measuring sleep have come to market. Still, the Oura Ring tops the list in some reviews .
“I primarily chose Oura Ring because it was new and exciting and focused on sleep. The other wearables I have tried were a bit clumsy on sleep,” says Laura Kanadel, who works professionally with sleep.
How it works
According to the Oura Ring company, the skin around your fingers is thinner than around the wrist. This makes it easier for the nanosensors in the Oura Ring to measure the relevant parameters than a wearable wrapped around the wrist.
Another advantage compared to, e.g. smartwatches is that the Oura Ring battery lasts up to 6-7 days because it has no screen.
“In contrast to the Oura Ring, the Apple watch needs to be recharged every 24 hours,” explains Laura Kanadel, as another reason to move from the Apple Watch to the Oura Ring.
Read also about Suzaan Sauerman’s Oura Ring experience.
Sharing sleep knowledge professionally
In January 2022, Laura Kanadel used her professional knowledge of the importance of measuring sleep to found The Sleep Institute, which helps companies and individuals alike understand sleep quality.
“Women’s and men’s sleep are very different from each other. Problems with sleep are most common among women, as the menstrual cycle affects our sleep and overall health,” explains Laura Kanadel about some of the facts that spurred her to start her own company working professionally with sleep.
Read also Vanessa Julia Carpenter’s review of the Oura Ring.
Preferred over other wearables
Before settling on the Oura Ring Gen3, Laura went through a handful of other wearables, for example, Jawbone, Fitbit, and Apple Watch, which started measuring sleep in 2020.
“Jawbone was fine for its time when I used it in 2012-2013. My former Fitbit was also alright. I tried my husband’s Apple Watch after he gave up on it due to its short battery life and constant disruptions from email notifications.
The Apple Watch didn’t work for me either because it had too many irrelevant features,” says Laura Kanadel.
Missing more functions
On the downside, Laura Kanadel thinks the Oura Ring has too few functions. She would like more encouragement or suggestions on improving your health on the Oura Ring smartphone app.
For example, Laura Kanadel would be interested in a “readiness score” feature that shows the state of your health.
“Combined, the Oura Ring and the phone app could warn you if your health stats indicate that your immune system is weak and you appear to be on the verge of getting ill, even if you don’t yet feel ill”, suggests Laura Kanadel.
Besides that, Laura Kanadel is disappointed that the third generation of the Oura Ring hasn’t expanded the battery life to two weeks. This is technically possible, according to Laura Kanadel. Finally, she would like the Oura Ring to look nicer.
“Even though it’s not a big, bulky wristwatch, the aesthetics could be better,” says Laura Kanadel.
See more sleep tracker reviews