Customers are reporting Oura Ring battery drain issues

Oura has one of the best intelligent rings around. It is certainly the best known. The device tracks a wealth of stats and does this well. But many users have been reporting Oura Ring battery drain issues.

There isn’t too much out there in terms of competition when it comes to smart rings. No big wearable brand has chosen to enter this market so far. This is despite rumors for years now the Apple is looking to release a smart ring of its own. We have lost hope this will ever materialize.

Oura is a sleek looking device that excels at sleep tracking. The ring spits out info on sleep stages and periods of wakefulness including something called the Readiness Score. This metric taps into your heart rate and heart rate variability to let you know how rested you are. Plus it tracks your temperature – useful considering the pandemic.

Other info dished out by the ring includes physical activity time, steps, calories burned and more. Plus there’s a decent little companion app as part of the package.

As good as all this sounds, there seems to be one issue effecting the device. You won’t read about it in most of the reviews out there because it is something that can become a problem, but only after long-term use.

Oura Ring – battery drain issue

Oura does not sell its ring on Amazon – you can only purchase it on their website. So it’s difficult obtaining objective customer review info.

But check out Oura Ring’s Trustpilot UK page, Trustpilot US page and you’ll notice many negative reviews. Which surprised us considering the Ring’s excellent reputation.

Read through these reviews and you’ll notice that many of them have one thing in common. They mention a deterioration in battery performance after a while, i.e. Oura Ring battery drain issues.

Six months in, a year in, some users have noticed that the ring has stopped holding charge. Oura should run between 4-7 days between charges but in some cases customers were struggling to get much above a day.

Granted, with each charge deterioration should be expected with Lithium Ion batteries as detailed on Oura’s website. Charging reduces the battery lifecycle. But up to a point.

Oura is offering replacements

In fairness, customers are reporting that Oura is behaving with integrity when it comes to the issue. If you contact them within the warranty period, they will ship a replacement device to you. Typically in less than a week.

You can contact customer support via the companion app or Oura’s website. It’s pretty straightforward. They can verify on their end if your battery is holding charge or not.

A user on Trustpilot has done this multiple times. Unfortunately, the last time he tried to replace the ring he was outside the warranty period so was unable to do so.

“I purchased my Oura Ring over 2 years ago now.” he writes.

“It has been replaced three times in that period. Each time the ring battery fades and it does not last longer than 24 hours…”

Here’s Oura’s response.

“The average battery life depends on various factors, such as the age of your ring (batteries can last much longer than two years, but this was the generous cutoff we decided upon for our warranty), usage of ring features (e.g. Moment), frequent partial charging, completing a firmware update, a loose ring fit, and taking a nap or multiple throughout the day—to name a few.”

“All rechargeable batteries in any device are considered consumables and have a limited lifespan—eventually their capacity and performance decline over time due to charge/discharge cycling.”

Our take

If you’re after a smart ring, Oura is still one of the best options around. Until someone comes up with something better that is. But do keep in mind that the ring battery might die on you after a while.

There’s no way to change the battery which can be considered a design flaw. If the Ring is outside the warranty period, you’ll have no option but to buy a new one if you want to keep tapping into the data. To sweeten the purchase, Oura offers $50 off on a new ring for existing customers.

Which essentially gives you 2 years from the original date of purchase to replace the device (if needed). It’s worth pointing out – if you’ve already received a replacement ring before the 2 years are up, your warranty (in most cases) still runs from the original date of purchase.

So if you’re close to that 2 year mark, we suggest charging the ring and testing how many days it lasts. If it is less than 3 days, it might be a good idea to ask for a replacement.

Where the issue stems from is not clear. Perhaps users are leaving the device on the charger too long and this is deteriorating the battery, or maybe it’s a design flaw. Hard to say. Hopefully, the next generation of Oura Ring resolves the problem.

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