OURA RING | The best sleep tracking device

By Brian James Rose

To tap into the powerful effects of quality sleep, monitoring both your short-term and long-term sleep habits is key. Oura provides the resources to help you do both, giving you a personalized gauge for your sleep quality and insights to help you improve over time.

Learn more about your Sleep Score and how you can use it to refine your nightly routine.

Sleep 

Oura measures sleep using sensors that gauge body signals, including your resting heart rate (RHR), heart rate variability (HRV), body temperature, respiratory rate, and movement, to determine your sleep patterns. These sensors include a photoplethysmogram (PPG), a 3D accelerometer, and a temperature sensor.

Each of your body’s signals shifts during the four different stages of sleep. For example, respiration and RHR rise to near-waking levels during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, while they fall to their lowest levels during deep sleep.

These shifts allow Oura to decipher your sleep patterns, such as how much time you spent in each sleep stage, how restorative your sleep was, and whether you went to sleep on time.

Tips 

• Keep the ring in position: Ensure the ring’s sensors are on the palm side of your finger directly against the skin.
• Switch it up: Switching fingers is OK. If your ring feels loose at the base of your finger before bed, try to find a better fit. All fingers are fair game.
• Stay charged: Make sure to charge your ring to at least 25% before bed to ensure you get a full night’s worth of data. If you have battery level notifications enabled in Settings, you’ll get a reminder to charge before bed.
• Pick a comfortable position: Try not to fall asleep on your ring hand a numb hand can alter your nighttime measurements.
• Consider your restlessness: If you’re a restless sleeper, keep in mind that excessive movement may affect your data. Do your best to find your ideal room temperature, mattress feel, and bedtime ritual—keeping you calm and cozy through the night.

Insights

You can see your sleep-related body signals at the top of the Sleep tab, displayed as four different measures.

Once Oura establishes your baseline for each body signal, you can start observing deviations from your usual patterns. For instance, you’ll notice that your heart rate is higher at night if you drink alcohol or eat a big meal.

Total Sleep Time

This metric measures the total number of hours spent in light, deep, and REM sleep. The average adult requires between 7 to 9 hours of sleep to reach full productivity the following day.

Time in Bed

This metric captures the total number of hours spent in bed throughout the night. Includes awake time, REM, deep, and light sleep. This count begins when you first lie down for bed and ends when you get up in the morning.

Sleep Efficiency

This metric measures the percentage of time spent asleep while in bed. If you have a restless night and are lying awake, this will lead to a lower Sleep Efficiency.

Resting Heart Rate

This metric measures the number of times your heart beats per minute while at rest. Resting heart rate can be a reliable gauge for recovery.

Contributors to Your Sleep Score

Scroll down the Sleep tab further to find your overall Sleep Score and the contributors that inform your score. How well you sleep and how much you sleep both influence your Readiness.

Your Sleep Score is comprised of seven contributors:

Total Sleep

This contributor reflects the amount of time spent in the light, rapid eye movement (REM), and deep sleep phases. Most adults need 7 to 9 hours of total sleep to perform well and stay healthy.

Efficiency

This reflects the percentage of time spent asleep vs. awake while in bed.  For adults, an Efficiency of 85% is considered excellent.

Restfulness

This reflects your movement throughout the night. Waking up, tossing and turning, or getting up is normal at a low level but moving around too frequently will lower your restfulness.

REM Sleep

This measures the percentage of time spent in REM sleep, reflected in hours. Associated with dreaming, memory consolidation, and creativity, REM sleep decreases with age. On average, REM sleep accounts for 20-25% of total sleep time for adults. A REM sleep total of 90 minutes or more will result in an excellent Sleep Score.

Deep Sleep

This measures the percentage of time spent in deep sleep, reflected in hours. The most restorative and rejuvenating sleep stage, deep sleep makes up anywhere from 0–35% of your total sleep. Deep sleep takes your age into account and will result in an excellent Sleep Score of around 90 minutes for young adults and 45 for older individuals.

Latency

This is the amount of time it takes you to fall asleep at night. Ideally, you will fall asleep within 15 to 20 minutes of lying down. Falling asleep in less than 5 minutes could be a sign that you are going to sleep too late or not getting enough sleep. Too much or too little latency can affect your score.

Timing

This lets you know if you fell asleep according to the natural rhythm of light and dark that supports a circadian rhythm. If the middle of your sleep falls between midnight and 3 a.m. (typically the darkest point in the night), your sleep timing is optimally aligned with a daily cycle. A consistent sleep routine, that supports your circadian rhythm, is important for your body’s essential processes including metabolic and hormone regulation.

Going to sleep within your Ideal Bedtime window will result in a higher Sleep Score.

Stages of Sleep

Scroll down the Sleep tab even further, and you’ll see a summary of your night’s sleep separated into sleep stages.

All four stages of sleep are considered in your Sleep Score: awake time, light sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep.

Deep sleep is key for body restoration (e.g., muscle repair), while REM sleep is associated with dreaming, memory consolidation, learning, and problem-solving.

Resting Heart Rate

Your resting heart rate (RHR) graph helps you see your body’s recovery pattern throughout the night. Ideally, your RHR reaches its lowest point during the midpoint of your sleep and rises again in time for you to jumpstart your day.

Interpreting Your Sleep Score

Your Sleep Score ranges from 0–100:

• 85 or higher: Excellent night of sleep
• 70-84: Good night of sleep
• Under 70: Pay attention to your sleep

If your Sleep Score meets or exceeds 85 on a given day, that day will be marked with a crown. View a calendar of days where you’ve achieved crowns by tapping “Today” at the top of your Oura home tab.