I Wore The Oura Ring 4 Ceramic For A Week, And It Shattered The Myth Of Ugly Fitness Tech

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The Oura Ring 4 Ceramic retails for $499.
• It has nan aforesaid capabilities arsenic nan Oura Ring 4 but a zirconia ceramic decorativeness and 4 caller colors.
• It's a stylish and whimsical summation to nan Oura Ring lineup.

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I've said it before, and I'll opportunity it again: astir exertion is disfigured and unappealing to an artful eye. No matter really galore times a smartwatch marque describes its instrumentality arsenic delightful aliases beautiful successful nan keynote, it will still beryllium a bulky portion of metallic pinch reddish and greenish glowing sensors. 

That's okay. We judge technology's artistic flaws because of nan functional intent it serves. I don't request my laptop to beryllium beautiful -- I request it to constitute this article. I don't request my smartwatch to beryllium arsenic luxurious arsenic a Rolex -- I request it to grounds my workouts. But wouldn't it beryllium bully if nan tech accessories we deterioration astir our wrists, fingers, and ears were arsenic beautiful arsenic nan jewelry we don connected a nighttime connected nan town? 

Also: The Oura Ring is nan Department of Defense's not-so-secret weapon

That's nan crux of Oura's latest smart ring, nan Oura Ring 4 Ceramic. It ditches nan difficult metals that debuted pinch nan Ring 4 for a soft, airy palette of pastels and rich | colors. Four $500 smart rings are a portion of this lineup: petal (a pastel pink), tide (a pastel blue), unreality (a creamy white), and midnight (a rich | navy). 

A susurration of stylish quiet luxury wrapped successful a techy health-tracking package, nan ringing is $150 much than nan starting value of its original Ring 4 lineup. 

The lineup and its vibrant array of colors look to entreaty much to a feminine clientele than its original Ring 4 lineup of neutral metals. More of a manner connection than an mundane tech accessory, Oura bills nan Ceramic ringing arsenic a individual touch that tin further bespeak nan style and sensation of its wearer, letting their style, whether that's an airy achromatic ringing aliases a daisy pinkish ring, "ring true."

Also: Why your Oura Ring artillery is dying quicker (and what Oura is doing astir it) 

In tandem pinch its merchandise of nan Ceramic, Oura besides launched multi-ring support successful its app, truthful users tin move retired their Oura Ring 4 1 nighttime for their Oura Ring 4 Ceramic without having to disconnect 1 to link nan other. 

Compared to nan original Ring 4, nan Ceramic is simply a spot chunkier. The Oura Ring 4 was already thick, and nan Ceramic is thicker. It's made pinch zirconia ceramic, a reliable worldly made to withstand scratches. This worldly is truthful strong, Oura says, that it's prone to wearing nan scuffs softer metals enforce upon it. Oura addresses these scuffs pinch a talented ceramic polishing pad included pinch nan acquisition of a Ceramic ring.

Nina Raemont/ZDNET

The Oura Ring 4 and nan Oura Ring 4 Ceramic are nan aforesaid arsenic acold arsenic package goes. Besides nan different worldly coating nan extracurricular (titanium pinch nan Ring 4 and zirconia ceramic pinch nan Ring 4 Ceramic), nan hardware successful nan ringing - nan artillery and nan sensors - is nan aforesaid arsenic well. Because of this, I won't get into item astir nan package of nan smart ring, which is fantastic. You tin publication astir that successful my original Oura Ring 4 review. 

Out of each nan exertion I reappraisal daily, nan Oura Ring is 1 of nan fewer products I deterioration astatine each (or most) times. Its information illustration and amount of tracked biomarkers present nan correct magnitude of accusation to its health-enthusiast personification base. It has precocious features for wellness freaks, but besides capable information to fulfill funny slumber and workout trackers. 

Also: The champion smart rings of 2025: I tested and recovered an evident winner

The smart ringing has correctly told maine erstwhile I'm getting sick and helped maine get backmost successful bully shape. It besides prioritizes information and is 1 of nan fewer companies committed to protecting wellness data. It's a merchandise that keeps its committedness - nary mini feat successful nan wearable wellness sphere.  

The zirconia ceramic decorativeness is perfectly gorgeous. Unlike nan Oura Ring 4 and its titanium decorativeness that discolors complete time, nan zirconia ceramic maintains its rich | colour that's built into nan material. It's shiny and smooth, a awesome decorativeness to tally your digit over, and it's nan only wearable I've tested that doesn't instantly look for illustration it. 

Maybe I could opportunity nan aforesaid astir its metallic counterpart, but nan Ring 4 Ceramic is different successful Oura's prioritization of it arsenic a manner connection first and a wellness locator second. This not only widens nan assemblage for Oura Rings but besides further normalizes and aestheticizes wellness tracking. 

Also: Two subscription-free smart rings were conscionable banned successful nan US - here's what comes next

The only rumor Oura users, including myself, person dealt pinch is nan device's progressively anemic artillery life complete time. After astir a twelvemonth of use, Oura Ring 4 users person reported a shorter artillery life, obscurity adjacent its eight-day guarantee. Oura seems to beryllium addressing this by offering free rings to users and initiating a ringing recycling programme for older rings. 

ZDNET's buying advice

The only quality betwixt nan Oura Ring 4 and nan Oura Ring 4 Ceramic is nan Ceramic's playful palette of colors, material, and an further $150 starting price. This manner taxation makes nan ceramic smart ringing a manner accessory first, a wellness locator second, and a position awesome third. 

If you'd alternatively way your wellness pinch a beautiful and tin smart ringing pinch a popular of colour than you would a bulky smart watch aliases metallic smart ringing (and you tin spend a $500 smart ring), nan Oura Ring 4 Ceramic is for you.