With a sleeker fit, breakthrough Smart Sensing technology, six stunning finishes, and expanded sizes, Oura Ring 4 is the most accurate and comfortable Oura Ring yet.
Designed in Finland, the birthplace of Oura, Oura Ring 4 symbolizes what can be achieved when aesthetics and technology come together in perfect harmony.
Behind the cutting-edge features and benefits of Oura Ring 4 is a group of innovative and passionate Oura employees who drove the design and development of Oura’s latest offering.
In this short film, we’re pulling back the curtains at our Finnish offices in Helsinki and Oulu to share the story behind Oura Ring 4.
Read more about the behind-the-scenes development process below.
Inside the Ring: Q&A with Oura’s Industrial Design Team
The process of crafting Oura Ring 4 took many years, a number of iterations, and countless feedback sessions with current and potential Oura members.
To learn more about this intensive process, we sat down with the members of Oura’s industrial design team: Alejandro, Industrial Design Director; Erin, Senior Color, Materials and Finish Designer; and Sauli, UX Designer, Hardware.
With expertise in materials and consumer hardware, this team played a pivotal role in the creation of all aspects of Oura Ring 4 hardware, from the charger to the packaging to the sleek form factor itself.
What was the goal in creating Oura Ring 4?
Alejandro: Our goal was to create a product that disappears into your life, helping you with your health without you even noticing it. It’s like wearing a t-shirt. You’re not constantly aware you’re wearing it because it has become second nature to you. It doesn’t obstruct your life; it just solves a problem without getting in your way. We want it to suit who you are, feel like it’s part of you, and be something you actually want to wear.
Sauli: We wanted Oura Ring 4 to blend seamlessly with your other jewelry or stand on its own. We aimed for a design that would appeal to a wide audience, and the style reflects that.
What were some of the challenges in creating Oura Ring 4?
Sauli: The biggest challenge was working with such a small product. In traditional industrial design, the outside of the product is often designed separately from the inside. But with a tiny product like this, every change to the exterior affects the internal components and vice versa. So, we had to collaborate closely with the mechanics and electronics teams. This means a measurement as small as 0.1mm—the thinness of a hair—can negatively impact the comfort and the fit. This takes a large amount of iteration—finding solutions that worked for all teams was both challenging and rewarding.
Alejandro: In terms of hardware, we’re talking about extreme miniaturization. Our product achieves a similar goal to other health devices, but in a much smaller form factor. It’s amazing how much we’ve been able to miniaturize.
Plus, because it’s a ring you wear on your hands, it has to be durable and long-lasting. It has to withstand everyday life, like going to the gym, and still maintain its integrity.
Where do you find your inspiration for design?
Ale: Truly, our inspiration comes from humans. From the very beginning to the end, we always come back to our members. We are inspired by their needs and put a huge effort into understanding their problems, motivations, aspirations, and fears. We really obsess over understanding them. We design for them, then go back to them to test our propositions and ideas. Even after finishing development, we continue to return for their feedback.
Erin: Everything we learned by talking to different types of people and members, solving for their pain points, and really understanding them to create a product that fits their life perfectly.
How do Finnish design principles play a role in your work?
Sauli: Finns tend to have a very high bar for design. We expect a lot. Everything must be purposeful. There are so many devices around us that compete for our attention, constantly beeping and buzzing. At Oura, we want to create the lowest-friction device—something you don’t need to manage on a daily basis.
Erin: Finnish design is everyday life here in Finland. Finnish design is about simplicity, attention to detail, and respect for nature and materials. It’s about working with the material, not against it, and that’s something we embrace at Oura.
Tell us about the titanium material used for Oura Ring 4.
Erin: In Oura Ring 4, we wanted to celebrate titanium as a raw material. That respect for the material is very much in line with Finnish design values.
Oura Ring 4 is fully titanium, both inside and out. Titanium is a biocompatible material, making it a great fit for the human body. It’s even used in surgical implants as it’s considered a non-allergenic material. This makes it the perfect material for the inner side of the ring, which has direct skin contact 24/7. It’s also incredibly lightweight, allowing us to create a small, light product, which is ideal for a ring.
What’s new about the finishes?
Erin: Oura Ring 4 comes in six finishes, including a new black—it’s a true, deep black. We developed a coating for our titanium material that is darker and more durable.
For brushed silver, we developed the process for creating this specific finish over the course of a year. We tried many different versions and tightly controlled the type of brush used and how many times it can be applied. These are made by actual people—handcrafted, in a way. This finish is unique to Oura because of the brushing direction, which creates a special optical effect. As you move your hand, the ring changes with you.
How do you iterate on the prototypes during the development process?
Erin: Oura Ring 4 has gone through quite an evolution, including changes to the architecture. Every prototype gives us an opportunity to test and learn—there are no “bad” prototypes.
In the Helsinki office, we have a small design workshop and a space for color and materials. We use that space to quickly iterate and prototype different ideas. If we have a hunch we want to test out, we can quickly create a prototype. We use 3D printers, CNC (computer numerical control) machines, milling, and even manual lathing. Essentially, we can use any method to quickly bring an idea to life and decide whether it’s worth exploring further. We have to be very agile, and prototyping is crucial to us. Since we’re working with such a small product, every detail really matters.
What are you most proud of in Oura Ring 4?
Erin: Oura Ring 4 is the most comfortable smart ring ever made. All you have to do is put it on your finger and go live your life. It is the culmination of all the learnings from Gen1 onward.
Sauli: I’m excited for the overall improvement in quality and comfort, not just with the ring, but the entire experience—from the retail packaging to how the ring feels when you wear it. Erin has especially worked hard on the packaging and finishes. The whole experience is elevated.
Ale: We finally created a fully titanium ring that is incredibly minimalistic in terms of its mechanics and what it does. And with Smart Sensing, Oura Ring 4 is able to capture the unique patterns that belong to you and optimize for your unique physiology, delivering more accurate data for your unique body. This is how we deliver a voice for every body.