A new study published in the peer-reviewed publication Sensors reveals that, compared to the “ absolute reference » sleep tracking (polysomnography or PSG), the Oura Ring 3 connected ring turns out to be the most precise sleep tracker compared to an Apple Watch Series 8 and a Fitbit Sense 2.
The study, conducted by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, enrolled 35 healthy participants who wore all three devices and were monitored by PSG overnight. The Oura Ring 3 offers up to seven days of battery life and sleep and activity tracking technology.
The Oura ring is more precise and more sensitive
« The Oura ring was no different from PSG in estimating wakefulness, light sleep, deep sleep, or REM sleep », Say the researchers in the study. It should be noted that Oura funded this study and that its lead author, Dr. Rebecca Robbins, is a medical advisor to Oura.
According to the study, the Oura Ring 3 was 5% more accurate than the Apple Watch Series 8 and 10% more accurate than the Fitbit Sense 2. The smart ring also had the highest sensitivity for wake detection and sleep, while the Apple Watch had the lowest sensitivity. The Fitbit Sense 2 smartwatch is average for both tests.
« Oura Ring did not significantly underestimate or overestimate any of the four sleep stages, while the Apple Watch overestimated light sleep by 45 minutes on average and deep sleep by 43 minutes on average ”, according to the press release.
A reliable estimate of sleep phases
Oura’s sleep classification algorithm, which uses machine learning techniques and “ one of the largest wearable sleep datasets ”, according to Oura, was able to achieve 79% agreement with polysomnography in the classification of the four stages of sleep, according to the study.
“Unlike other devices, Oura Ring can more reliably estimate the time spent in each of the different stages of sleep said Raphael Vallat, sleep specialist and head of machine learning at Oura.
Less intrusive technology
By monitoring health data including heart rate, body temperature and blood oxygen, wearable technology has allowed those who cannot regularly see a doctor to understand their own sleep and activity patterns.
« While polysomnography remains the gold standard for sleep assessment, wearable technology offers the ability to measure sleep continuously, in a less intrusive and more natural way, making it a more scalable solution for sleep assessment. »
