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The Street

Jena Warburton

Apple Watch, Oura Ring finally get giant new competitor

Oura Apple Apple Watch Samsung Vitals

If you walk the dog, get competitive with friends or coworkers, or simply care about hitting 10,000 steps per day, chances are you've at least considered wearing a fitness device.

And chances are you fall into one of two categories: you are either devoutly loyal to one single device and simply refuse to part with it – even for formal events or overnight. Or you are a bit confounded as to which device is right for you.

And given the number of devices on the market today, it's easy to understand why the wearable fitness landscape can be so complicated.

Each device tends to have its own subgroup of devotees. Garmin is beloved by marathoners and weekend warriors, who train hard and value its durability and advanced training feedback features.

Fitness and gym junkies tend toward WHOOP bands, which lack a screen but boast a longer battery life and insight into key metrics like sleep and training load. They're also incredibly temperature resistant for those who enjoy activities like cold plunge and sauna.

Fashion-forward folks typically reach for the Oura Ring, which is a wearable smart ring that uses light sensors to pick up on key data points using the arteries in the fingers, and spits out insights on things like recovery, sleep, and stress.

And then of course there is the Apple (AAPL) Watch, which is the most popular wearable. Thanks to its ease of use and integration with iOS, anyone who uses an Apple product has probably considered purchasing an Apple Watch. It does so much more than track calories burned and step count. It sends emails, messages, answers phone calls, gives you the news, and even functions as a walkie talkie.

A collection of silver, black, gold and rose gold Oura Rings.
Oura

Top wearable devices release big updates

There have been rumblings for some time about the release of a new wearable by a big tech name, so the incumbents have been scrambling to keep a strong moat around their own products.

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In April, for example, Oura released the new Symptom Radar feature on its app, making it compatible with both its Heritage and Horizon models. The Symptom Radar uses inputs from the Oura ring to distinguish tiny bodily changes which might indicate a user is under the weather or at risk for getting sick.

Oura says it will detect these changes using the following metrics:

Temperature range
Respiratory rate
Resting heart rate
Heart rate variability

Oura already measures these data points, but adding them together as a part of a new tracking feature is brand new.

And in June, Apple Watch announced it was working on enhanced features for its watchOS 11 update. The update will feature the new Vitals app, which will measure:

Heart rate
Respiratory rate
Sleep duration
Blood oxygen levels

The following morning, users will then receive a status report on their overall health and well being. Vitals will also use these data points to tell users of things to watch out for. For example, a user may be alerted to higher than average respiratory rate for two or more days, which could be caused by an elevation change or other factors.

Samsung releases highly anticipated wearable

And finally, Samsung (SSNLF) has released its long awaited wearable smart ring to challenge some of the largest incumbents in the space.

Released on Wednesday, the South Korean tech giant made its first foray into the fitness space with the Samsung Galaxy Ring, which is aimed squarely at both Apple Watch and Oura Ring.

The silhouette looks similar to Oura's, albeit maybe more streamlined. And it tracks similar metrics, including: