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Oura is going public, but these smart ring companies are coming for its crown
Oura smart ring IPO filing leads crowded market as rivals add smartphone-like features. Finnish company Oura officially filed to go public on September 3, with revenue nearly doubling to $1.21 billion for the nine months ended June 30, selling 3.6 million rings and reaching about 5 million paid members. The IPO follows the launch of the Oura Ring 5, its slimmest and lightest model yet. However, competitors are emerging from multiple angles: French company Circular announced its upcoming Ring 3 series will feature NFC tap-to-pay and on-finger vibrations, while Chinese firm RingConn’s Gen 3 ring (starting at $349) adds vascular health insights and vibration alerts. Indian company Ultrahuman raised $70 million with backing from Qualcomm’s venture arm, and its $479 Ring Pro, shipping in the U.S. in mid-September, features a redesigned form factor to circumvent an ITC patent ruling in Oura’s favor. Ultrahuman aims to run software directly on the device for AI interactions and games. Samsung entered the market in 2024 with the $399 Galaxy Ring, a basic option for ecosystem users. Dreame unveiled a ring with a small touchpad for skipping songs or snapping photos, plus haptic alerts. The smart ring race now extends beyond health tracking to cramming smartphone-like features into tiny titanium bands, including screens (Pebble Halo, India-only) and touchpads. The irony is that rings were initially appealing for being less intrusive than smartwatches, but the industry may end up turning them into mini smartphones.