I’ve worn an Oura Ring for a while now, largely because it makes complex physiology (and personalized health) one number that becomes habitual to fixate on. Now that we’ve tested the Apple Watch Series 5 with Apple’s new Sleep Score, that edge is dwindling quickly. From over-night staging to wrist temp trends heart-rate metrics and an at-a-glance score that finally puts into context all of the aforementioned, it’s a watch away from making my ring obsolete.
This matters because sleep is now a national priority. A recent Gallup poll discovered that most Americans now say they would feel better if they got more sleep, and are actively seeking ways to improve it. When your machine, on its own, has turned raw data into something actionable you comprehend before a first cup of coffee — well, then you actually use it.
Why Apple’s Sleep Score could be spot on
Apple’s Sleep Score averages duration, bedtime regularity and disruptions into a 0-100 score, based on algorithms derived from the Apple Heart and Movement Study, which measured over 5 million nights of sleep. By Apple’s telling, the method is in keeping with that from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the National Sleep Foundation and the World Sleep Society — significant guardrails for a category that frequently careens off into marketing math.
It turned out that, in practice, the score mirrored my feelings about my mornings. Nights where bed times were late and middle‑of‑the‑night phone checks sent the tally tumbling even if overall hours looked fine. It’s that nuance — a penalty for inconsistency and fragmentation — that precisely creates behavior change.
Precision and queues: Why watch, not ring
The Series 11 Mayo Ambulance relies on an upgraded optical heart sensor, motion data and wrist temperature trends to stage sleep and flag disruptions. Apple’s longstanding strengths show up in the charts: clean breaks from light sleep to deep to REM, and heart-rate traces that closely echo what I’d expect out of a chest strap at rest.
Oura still feels very much purpose‑built to be a passive collector of nighttime signals. This ring form factor really shines with low‑movement, skin far heat centric readings, and has historically been great for HRV during sleep. But the gap has narrowed. On sleep nights in which I wore both devices, total time in bed and %sleep efficiency were generally similar, trends of staging moved similarly.
The watch’s larger health context is a differentiator. In addition to sleep, it adds ECG, irregular rhythm notifications, VO2 max estimates and fall detection and cycle tracking findings. Fda cleared sleep apnea detection feature provides clinical grade insight to help identify a largely underdiagnosed condition without a lab or a prescription
The stress story: Oura’s last big edge
If there’s one feature that is family with a finger, it’s time-of-day stress granularity. Oura’s Daytime Stress maps your cardiovascular load into intuitive zones — restored, relaxed, engaged, stressed — minute by minute. It is not a diagnosis; it is a mirror. I can identify the precise window during tough meetings or cramped flights when my physiology changed, and what made it get better.
Apple already has all the raw ingredients — heart rate, variability, activity and context — but it displays them as discrete tiles. Under a bumpy flight, I could watch my heart rate increase in real time on the Series 11, but I couldn’t take note of that spike or see an integrated stress timeline. A combined interactive stress view featuring recovery reminders would be one of the last remaining, meaningful gaps between the watch and Oura.
Battery and comfort trade‑offs
Practicalities still influence the decision. That ring reliably stays on for several days per charge; the Series 11 is still a daily top‑up kind of device, especially if you turn it into an always‑on display and work out often. Fast charging on Apple’s part helps — twenty minutes before bed tends to be sufficient pain in many instances — but multi‑day endurance is still a ring advantage.
Comfort is closer than you might think. A slim sport band makes the watch comfortable to sleep in, with the ring vanishing up on your finger. A ring can be a liability if your sport has you gripping heavy barbells or the pommel of a weapon. For runners and cyclists, the watch’s training metrics and navigation tip the other way.
Value, subscriptions and who should switch
There’s also cost calculus. Oura’s most crucial features are buried behind a membership service that costs around six dollars per month. Apple’s baseline health metrics, including the new Sleep Score, are not part of an ongoing subscription service, though premium classes like workout lessons are available as optional add‑ons.
If the top of your pyramid is a single wearable that can track sleep effectively, coach your training and badge on some safety features you hope to never need, then the Apple Watch Series 6 now fills that role well enough that purchasing or wearing a dedicated ring feels inessential. If you care about battery life that lasts for days on end and a forensic view of daily stress and recovery, the Oura remains purpose-built rivals.
For me, Series 11 sleep intelligence has already changed behavior: steadier bedtimes, fewer middle-of-the-night notifications and more clarity on why I’m groggier some mornings than others.
Show me an integrated timeline of stress along with recovery cues, and my Oura Ring might have to retire to the nightstand.