I’m intrigued by the Oura Ring and the idea of more passive activity and recovery tracking.

Realistically though, would I actually be able to stop wearing an Apple Watch? I use the watch to reduce my temptation to use my iPhone, since that’s a strong source of distraction. If I had a ring instead, wouldn’t I just go back to carrying my phone around? With the watch I can still get useful notifications, as well as listen to podcasts and music. A ring can’t do that (yet).

I think this is a false attraction. Until I can more honestly say that I can get by without the Apple Watch features, the ring would only be an additional gadget. I’d end up wearing both of them, most of the time. The only exception might be while sleeping or on a cottage vacation. Those don’t really seem like enough to justify the cost of a ring, plus subscription.

And, having now watched a video from The Quantified Scientist, I see that the heart rate tracking by the Oura Ring during exercise is quite poor. So, that really reduces the attractiveness of the ring.

I think that the watch is simultaneously versatile enough and subtle enough to optimize the trade off between features and distractions.