The Oura Ring 4 and Whoop MG look to offer health and fitness tracking in a discreet package – but which is best for your needs?
Both aim to provide deep insight into your performance and recovery, but they do so with fundamentally different approaches. The Oura Ring 4 continues to focus on discretion and holistic wellness via its ring form factor, while the Whoop MG doubles down on continuous in-depth health analytics in a screenless band, now with medical-grade capabilities.
We’ve thoroughly tested both the Oura Ring 4 and Whoop MG, and here’s how the two wearables compare in real-world use.
Pricing and availability
Both the Oura Ring 4 and Whoop MG come with some kind of monthly subscription, but the approaches vary greatly.
The Oura Ring 4 starts at £349/$349 for the basic design, though more premium finishes – like gold – are available at additional cost. There’s also a monthly subscription you’ll need to pay if you want access to all features, and that’ll set you back £4.99/$5.99 per month.
The Whoop MG, on the other hand, foregoes an upfront cost for a more expensive subscription. In fact, it’s the most premium subscription in Whoop’s offering at £349/$359 per year, and represents a significant increase over previous Whoop models.
Both are readily available to buy right now, both directly and from third-party retailers.
Design
The Oura Ring 4 and Whoop MG couldn’t be more different in their approach to wearable design.
The Oura Ring 4, as the name suggests, is a ring. It’s crafted from titanium, giving it a premium feel and impressive durability, and the new matte black and gold finishes are especially eye-catching. It’s easy to forget you’re even wearing it, which is a huge plus for 24/7 tracking.
That said, the Ring 4 isn’t significantly thinner than the Ring 3, and is actually larger than the Heritage model in some dimensions. The fully rounded shape and lighter weight do make it more comfortable to wear, however, and the removal of the internal domes helps it sit better on the finger.
The ring form factor is perfect for anyone who doesn’t want a visible fitness tracker on their wrist, and it blends seamlessly with other jewellery. The only real catch is sizing; you have to get it right upfront, as there’s no way to adjust the fit after purchase, and some people may find wearing a ring all day less comfortable than a band.
The Whoop MG, on the other hand, is a classic fitness band – albeit one without a screen – with a soft woven strap and a slim, lightweight sensor module. The new MG model is 7% smaller than the Whoop 4, making it slightly more discreet and less likely to catch on clothing.
The band itself is breathable and comfortable, even during sweaty workouts, and the range of colours and materials means you can personalise the look to your style. While it’s not as discreet as the Oura Ring, it’s still low-profile enough to wear all day and night, and it’s less likely to interfere with activities like weightlifting or manual work than a ring might be.
Ultimately though, the choice comes down to personal preference; the Oura Ring 4 is subtle and stylish, while the Whoop MG is a comfortable and practical fitness tracker.
Features and companion app
Neither the Oura Ring 4 nor the Whoop MG features a screen, so the companion app experience is more important than usual, as it’s central to how you interact with both devices.
Oura’s app is one of the most polished and user-friendly we’ve used. The dashboard is clean and intuitive, putting your daily readiness, sleep and activity scores front and centre. We especially like how the app visualises trends over time, making it easy to spot patterns in your sleep or activity.
It’s split into Today (current live tracking), Vitals (underlying health data) and My Health (longer-term health trends), with the latter including elements like cardiovascular age vs actual age, fitness ratings and stress resilience.
The company has also introduced meal tracking and robust womens health features with the Ring 4, including cycle insights, pregnancy metrics and fertility insights that integrate with apps like Natural Cycles and Clue.
The app also offers guided meditations, breathing exercises and wellness content, which we found genuinely helpful for winding down and managing stress.
The new haptic feedback on the ring itself is a thoughtful addition, providing gentle nudges for inactivity or bedtime reminders – subtle enough as to not be annoying, but helpful at keeping you on track without looking at your phone. However, it does not offer support for notification or call alerts – though that’s not something we missed. It’s kind of the point.
Whoop, on the other hand, is probably best described as a data-lover’s dream. The dashboard is dense but well-organised, offering deep dives into strain, recovery and sleep. The ChatGPT-powered coach feature provides personalised recommendations on exercise and sleep habits, and we found its daily feedback genuinely useful for adjusting our habits.
Whoop’s all also stands out for its social features: you can join teams, compete in challenges, and compare your stats with friends or the wider Whoop community. The app also integrates with services like Apple Health and Strava, and its export feature makes it easy to share your data with coaches or medical professionals.
Where Whoop MG really pulls ahead is in its advanced health features, some of which simply can’t be packed into a ring form factor. The MG model adds on-demand ECG readings (by placing your thumb and index finger on the device) and continuous, inferred blood pressure monitoring – though this requires monthly calibration with a certified blood pressure, and is not as accurate as inflatable-cuff solutions as a result.
Also new for this generation are Whoop Age and Pace of Ageing features, which estimate your biological age and track how quickly your body is ageing compared to the average. These are updated weekly and are based on recent health and fitness data.
We found these features to be both motivating and insightful, as they provide a way to see the long-term impact of your habits. It’s not going to be 100% accurate, of course, but it’s a great frame of reference.
Health and fitness tracking
The Oura Ring 4 takes a holistic approach to tracking, monitoring metrics like sleep, readiness, activity, heart rate, temperature and blood oxygen. The new sensors are more accurate, especially for heart rate and temperature, and as mentioned earlier, the ring now offers improved menstrual cycle tracking and stress insights.
Sleep tracking remains a highlight, with detailed breakdowns of sleep stages and actionable tips for improvements. Oura’s readiness score is another genuinely useful metric, helping you decide when to push yourself and when to rest up.
When it comes to dedicated exercise tracking, Oura has made some progress. The ring can now automatically detect a wider range of activities, including running, cycling and strength training, and it does a solid job of logging duration, heart rate and estimated calorie burn.
However, we found the automatic detection to be patchy in use, with running often detected but activities like yoga often missed. Like Whoop, there’s no built-in GPS, so you’ll need to bring your phone for mapped routes – but for most casual users, there’s more than enough here.
The Whoop MG, meanwhile, is laser-focused on performance and recovery. It tracks elements like heart rate variability, resting heart rate, skin temperature, blood oxygen and respiratory rate, and its strain and recovery scores are at the heart of the Whoop experience.
Whoop’s unique strain score is a highlight, providing a more challenging and satisfying way to measure effort than traditional activity rings, and the device also allows you to log daily habits – like alcohol consumption or sleep environment – for more personalised recovery insights.
Elsewhere, the MG’s continuous monitoring is impressively granular, and the new sensors deliver even more accurate data. Sleep tracking is just as strong as Oura’s option, with in-depth analysis and nightly sleep coaching to improve the quality of your slumber.
However, exercise metrics on the Whoop MG are surprisingly basic. The device focuses on heart strain rather than detailed, exercise-specific metrics, and the lack of a screen means you can’t get real-time data during workouts. Auto exercise detection is also hit-and-miss, often missing low- to mid-effort activities.
For those who want in-depth, per-exercise tracking, a smartwatch might still be necessary.
Battery life
Oura claims that the Ring 4 can last up to eight days on a charge, but we found it’d get closer to around five days, with around 20% drain per day. That includes daily use with passive tracking and the occasional workout, and it charges via USB-C powered charging dock.
The Whoop MG, on the other hand, claims an impressive 14 days of battery life – more than double its predecessor – and we managed to get around 13 days of use in actual use.
The slide-on wireless power pack is another great feature, letting you charge the strap without actually taking it off, so you never have to interrupt your tracking.
Final thoughts
Both the Oura Ring 4 and Whoop MG are excellent wearables, but they cater to distinctly different audiences.
The Oura Ring 4 is the ultimate discreet health tracker, perfect for those who want holistic wellness insights in a stylish, small package. The app is a joy to use, and the new sensors make it more accurate than ever. Oura’s womens health features, including cycle, pregnancy and fertility tracking, are a major strength that also separates it from the Whoop MG.
Whoop’s alternative, meanwhile, is the go-to for data-driven athletes and anyone who wants to optimise performance and recovery. Its subscription model is a bigger commitment, but the depth of data, medical-grade features like ECG and blood pressure monitoring (with caveats) are second to none.
If you want a wearable that blends into your life seamlessly, the Oura Ring 4 is hard to beat. But if you’re all about pushing your limits, want the most detailed fitness analytics and are interested in advanced metrics like ECG and blood pressure monitoring, the Whoop MG is the clear winner.
