Right as Samsung’s first smart ring – the Galaxy Ring – nears the end of its pre-order phase, Oura’s answer in the Oura Ring Gen 4 appears in recent certification documents. There’s little to glean in the way of technical advancements, but a sleek new design raises questions.
The Galaxy Ring was set to be Samsung’s answer to Oura’s Gen 3 smart ring. There are other smart ring manufacturers out there, but these two companies seem to be the most competitive of the bunch. Samsung is bringing it’s full Samsung Health feature suite to the Galaxy Ring, attempting to outdo Oura and it’s rather intuitive and robust algorithm-based feature list.
As Samsung’s Galaxy Ring begins to officially ship to those who pre-ordered the new smart ring, it looks like Oura is already working on its next model.
The Oura Ring Gen 4 has been spotted going through its certification rounds (via Android Authority). The certification process includes a couple of images of the ring itself in the assumed prototype state. Along with that, the certification contains images of the box labels, complete with model numbers and at least one color option.
The model number shown in the certification documents is OA11, which may or may not refer to the model size or color. The ring in the images is a size 10 of the confirmed 7, 9, 10, 13, and 15. We can assume Oura will be supplying the same ring sizes as with the Gen 3 model, though the certification documents are only specific to the above listed.
The Oura Ring Gen 4 itself looks a little different than the previous model. Oura may come out with another design iteration in the same way it offered the Horizon and Heritage editions. The one shown in the images looks like the Horizon, though it carries a flatter profile around the diameter. Inside, it also seems to lack protrusions that help the sensors get a better reading off of the skin. This may come at a later date when the design is fully fleshed out, though.
The labels included look to showcase a Gold color variant, and if the Gen4 follows the Gen 3 in any way, we could see a slew of finish options at different price points.
It’ll be interesting to see what Oura brings in the Gen 4 Ring, as it already has a broad foundation it can work with in features. It’ll also be interesting to see how the company responds to the Galaxy Ring to continue smart ring development as a whole.
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