Oura is upgrading its flagship health ring to a premium ceramic version and, for the first time, a portable charging case. The Oura Ring 4 Ceramic focuses more on style and doesn’t alter the science within, although the new case ensures weeks-long convenience between wall charges.
What’s New in the Ceramic Line: Materials and Design
Out goes the metal shell and in comes zirconia ceramic, a material valued for its lustrous looks along with color stability and scratch resistance. It debuts in four hues — Cloud (white), Tide (light blue), Petal (light pink) and Midnight (navy) — that read more like jewelry than gym gear.
The band is a little bit chunkier than the OG Oura Ring 4 — to lean into statement-piece style. In the hand, zirconia is smooth and cool to the touch, with a glasslike sheen. The material is hard, which means it resists everyday abrasion, but expect gray marks left behind from softer metals (think barbell knurling or keys) due to material transfer. Oura tosses in a polishing pad to buff those scuffs, which many people do with glazed ceramics.
Durability is a complex trade-off: zirconia, it turns out, is harder than most ceramics and holds up well against scratches, but, like all ceramics, it can be susceptible to hard impacts on sharp edges. Most wearers — that is to say — should be fine, as long as you don’t drop it on tile or concrete (never write smartphone reviews with dogs eating ice cream at the dinner table close by).
Real Travel Freedom with the New Charging Case
Oura’s charging case (also new), which packs five full ring charges into a pocketable cradle, will cost $99 when it is available later this year. Functionally, it makes the ring feel more like a pair of earbuds: place it on its dock for a top-up just about anywhere; no wall outlet needed.
Since the ring is rated to last multiple days on one charge, five refills mean weeks and weeks away from a charger for average people. Competing smart rings like Samsung’s Galaxy Ring, RingConn and Evie already come with battery cases as they ship, so Oura is bringing its product in line with the convenience standard many travelers have come to expect.
Same Health Tech Under the Finish, No Sensor Changes
The Ring 4 Ceramic is the exact same device as the regular Ring 4, under that ceramic shell. Those old standbys of continuous heart rate, temperature trends, SpO2 (blood oxygen saturation), sleep staging, HRV (heart rate variability), and activity tracking — the same data responsible for supplying Oura’s Readiness, Sleep and Activity insights.
While third-party validation of wearables can be hit or miss, studies from institutions like the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Oulu tie Oura’s temperature and sleep metrics to early illness signals and reasonably accurate sleep timing. Meanwhile, for the rest of us obsessing over longitudinal trends like resting heart rate, HRV stability and sleep regularity, the ceramic model should slot nicely into an existing data history.
Fit remains paramount. PPG sensors need consistent contact with the skin at the base of your finger; this slightly thicker profile might be a slight impediment under gloves or during heavy lifts, but sensor performance should match the metal Ring 4 as long as you’ve got your sizing right.
Multi-Ring Support for Style and Fit Swaps
In addition to the hardware, Oura is releasing multi-ring support that will allow members to switch between rings under a single account without interrupting data collection. That counts if you need a ceramic ring for work and a metal one for the gym, or if athletes prefer to wear one that fits snugly during training and another more loosely while sleeping.
The feature reinforces Oura’s pitch that a smart ring can be just as wardrobe-flexible as the strap on a watch — without sacrificing meaningful long-term data.
Pricing, Membership, and Who the Ceramic Ring Suits
The Oura Ring 4 Ceramic is sold starting at $499, a cost driven in part by its high-end materials and finishes. Like other Oura models, a membership is needed for full access to the features, and it currently costs $70 per year. The charging case is sold separately for $99.
If you want jewelry-grade looks, colorfast finishes and battery case convenience for traveling or on those racing weekends, the Ceramic range is the most finished Oura platform to date.
Fitness purists who prefer hardware that’s more low-profile may still gravitate to the standard metal Ring 4, but we already consider Priority Mode a winning new option from Oura — after all, it doesn’t water down the data.
Bottom line: Oura’s new charging case and ceramic finish elevate the smart ring from gadget to accessory. The sensors, the scores, the battery performance stays the same; everything around them just got a lot more stylistic — and a whole lot more portable.
