Oura Goes Public as Smart Ring Rivals Battle for the Wearable Crown

TL;DR

• Oura is preparing for a blockbuster IPO after surpassing a $5 billion valuation, 2.5 million rings sold, and a push toward profitability driven by its $5.99/month subscription and AI health features.
• Samsung, Ultrahuman, and RingConn are leading a crowded field of challengers with no-subscription pricing, longer battery life, and ecosystem-specific bets to undercut Oura's dominance.
• The smart ring battle is shifting wearables from fitness trackers to 24/7 medical-grade devices, with AI coaching, sleep apnea detection, and women's health emerging as the next frontier.

Oura's Road to Wall Street

After nearly a decade of defining the smart ring category, Oura is finally heading for the public markets. The Finnish company, maker of the Oura Ring Gen 3 and Ring 4, confidentially filed for an IPO in the U.S. earlier this year and is targeting a 2026-2027 listing.

It's a milestone years in the making. Oura has sold more than 2.5 million rings, doubled revenue to over $500 million in 2024, and raised more than $200 million in 2025 at a $5.2 billion valuation led by Fidelity and Dexcom. CEO Tom Hale has been open about the endgame: turn the ring from a sleep tracker into a mainstream health platform, then go public.

Key to that story is subscriptions. Unlike most rivals, Oura charges $299 to $499 for hardware plus $5.99 a month for Oura Membership, which unlocks its Readiness, Sleep, and Stress scores. Investors love the recurring revenue, now with over a million paying subscribers. New AI tools like Oura Advisor, glucose integrations via Dexcom Stelo, and FDA-cleared sleep and heart health features are designed to justify that fee and pitch Oura as more than a gadget company ahead of the IPO.

Samsung's Ecosystem Play

The biggest threat to Oura isn't another startup — it's Samsung. Launched in July 2024, the Galaxy Ring marked the first major Big Tech entry into smart rings.

Samsung's strategy is the opposite of Oura's: $399 with zero subscription. The pitch is seamless integration. The Galaxy Ring feeds sleep, energy score, and heart rate data directly into Samsung Health, pairs with Galaxy Watches and Galaxy AI phones, and offers up to 7 days of battery life in a titanium design.

While reviewers noted it launched without deep fitness tracking for workouts, Samsung has been rapidly closing the gap in 2025 and 2026 with AI-powered sleep coaching, snore detection, and expanded sizing from 5 to 15. With global distribution and bundling power Oura can't match, Samsung has already shipped hundreds of thousands of units and forced Oura to defend its premium pricing.

Ultrahuman Bets on No Fees and Metabolic Health

India-based Ultrahuman has emerged as Oura's most direct startup rival. Its Ring Air, priced at $349 with no subscription, undercuts Oura by hundreds of dollars over two years.

Ultrahuman's edge is metabolic health. Beyond sleep and recovery, it pushes glucose tracking via its M1 CGM, circadian alignment tools, and its UltrahumanX AI coach. The company manufactures in its own UltraFactory, markets heavily to athletes and biohackers, and has expanded aggressively in the U.S. and India.

In late 2025, Ultrahuman launched the Ring Air 2 with improved sleep staging, AFib detection, and a 10-day battery claim. CEO Mohit Kumar has openly positioned it as the anti-Oura: all your data, no paywall.

RingConn and Circular Race to the Bottom on Price

If Ultrahuman is the premium challenger, RingConn is the value disruptor. The Chinese startup's RingConn Gen 2 and new Gen 2 Air start at just $199 to $299, also with no subscription.

RingConn is winning on battery and niche medical features. It promises 10-12 days of battery life — nearly double Oura's 7-8 days — plus a charging case that extends it to 150 days, and was among the first to offer sleep apnea monitoring and AI sleep coaching for free. It's become an Amazon bestseller and a favorite for first-time buyers unwilling to commit to Oura's subscription.

France's Circular is taking a different design-first approach. Its Circular Ring 2, priced around $380, introduced digital ring sizing via smartphone, haptic vibrations for alarms and medication reminders, and onboard ECG with FDA clearance in progress. It's smaller, lighter, and leans into fashion partnerships.

The Women's Health Opening

Movano Health saw a gap Oura missed for years: women. Its Evie Ring, designed specifically for smaller fingers, focuses on menstrual cycle tracking, mood, and energy fluctuations tied to hormonal changes, with no subscription at $269.

After resolving an FDA-related patent dispute with Oura in 2024, Movano relaunched Evie with improved accuracy and AI-based cycle predictions. While sales are far smaller than Oura's, it has won partnerships with employers and insurers focused on women's wellness — a market analysts say could be the fastest-growing segment in wearables.

Amazfit and the Bundle Bundle Bundle Strategy

Zepp Health's Amazfit Helio Ring at $299 shows another strategy entirely: don't sell the ring alone. Amazfit bundles the ring with its GTR and T-Rex smartwatches, positioning the ring for sleep and recovery while the watch handles workouts and GPS.

It's a compelling hybrid model for athletes who don't want to wear a bulky watch to bed. With no subscription and integration into Zepp Aura AI sleep coaching, Amazfit is quietly capturing fitness enthusiasts at a lower price point.

What the Ring War Means for Wearables

The IPO race is about more than who sells the most titanium bands. Smart rings have cracked what smartwatches couldn't: comfortable, discreet 24/7 tracking with 90%+ sleep compliance.

The next phase is medicalization. Oura has already received FDA clearance for heart rate and sleep features and is pursuing blood pressure and blood oxygen algorithms. Samsung, Ultrahuman, and Masimo's potential entry are all chasing sleep apnea, hypertension, and early illness detection. Expect partnerships with Dexcom, insurers, and employers to subsidize rings as preventive health tools.

AI is the other battleground. Every player now offers an AI coach — Oura Advisor, Samsung's Galaxy AI Energy Score, UltrahumanX — that turns raw sensor data into plain-English guidance. Whoever owns the best health LLM could own the category, much like Apple Health owns the watch.

For consumers, the war is great news. Prices are falling, subscriptions are under pressure, battery life is climbing, and accuracy is improving fast. For Oura, going public means proving it can stay king as Samsung scales, Chinese rivals slash prices, and Apple still looms with a rumored ring of its own.

The wearable crown is no longer just about counting steps. It's about who you trust with your sleep, your heart, and your future health — 24 hours a day, on your finger.

AndroGuider Team

Articles written by the AndroGuider team. We try to make them thorough and informational while being easy to read.