Wearable news out of IFA 2026: the Circular Ring 3 vs Oura Ring 5 comparison just got more interesting. Circular used the Berlin stage to officially announce its new Circular Ring 3 series: Circular Ring 3 Pro and Circular Ring 3 Slim. Both are slimmer and sleeker than their predecessor. But the real headliner is Ring 3’s NFC chip for contactless payments, plus an FDA-cleared ECG and blood pressure trend monitoring (on the Pro version). My question is, why can’t the $399+ Oura Ring do those things?
All things considered, the wearable category changes quickly. A fitness tracker debuts in the summer only to be eclipsed by another brand in the fall. That’s just the way it goes. But if you’re looking to buy a health-tracking ring in 2026/2027, which should you choose?
I want to note that the Circular Ring 3 series isn’t available yet, nor do we have any information about price. According to TechCrunch’s reporting, it’s expected in early 2027. For now, I’m basing my assessment on the information I have.
Oura wins if you geek out over sleep metrics. The Oura Ring 5 builds on a decade of sleep and recovery science, for $399–$499 plus a $5.99/month subscription.
Circular Ring 3 wins if you want the smartest ring on your finger. It has contactless payments, haptic alerts, and an on-finger ECG sensor. Oh, and did I mention both rings in the series are subscription free? However, you’ll have to pay a monthly fee to use the blood pressure and glucose monitoring features.
This is the meat of the comparison, so let’s start here.
Want to buy your post-run smoothie without dragging your credit card along? Me too. Both the Ring 3 Pro and Ring 3 Slim let you do that, thanks to a built-in NFC Chip. Yep, you can use it to pay with a supported Visa or Mastercard.
The Oura Ring 5 doesn’t have NFC chips or any tap-to-pay features. Truth be told, the Reddit Oura community has mixed opinions. Some users want payment features, while others prefer to focus on health.
My verdict: I love contactless payment. If you do too and want it in your smart ring, the Circular Ring 3 series has it. The Oura Ring 5 doesn’t.
Need silent reminders for things like medications and alarms? The Circular Ring 3 series has brought back its haptic reminders (absent in the Ring 2) to both the Ring 3 Pro and Ring 3 Slim. Circular uses it for reminders, silent alarms, and health alerts. It even offers guided breathing exercises you feel instead of watching.
Oura Ring 5, on the other hand, is more passive. Without haptics, you’re chained to the smartphone app to see the data it collects and find out what it means—the Circular Ring 3 buzzes your finger instead.
My verdict: The Circular Ring 3 definitely has an edge if you want your smart ring to communicate with you.
Here’s where the Ring 3 Pro gets serious. It carries forward the single-lead ECG and FDA-cleared AFib detection that debuted on the Ring 2 and adds blood pressure trend tracking. It provides an estimate from the ring’s sensors instead of a cuff, according to IFA reporting.
Since we don’t have the full information on the product yet, I won’t get into the sensor architecture here. But it is exciting to see how Circular keeps pushing further into cardiovascular monitoring—more so than any other ring on the market.
My verdict: Circular Ring 3 Pro is the more ambitious health device here. Its cardiovascular features go far beyond what the Oura Ring 5 provides.
Oura has a decade of health data-collection experience, and that matters. Here’s where Oura Ring 5 still wins.
Sure, a health wearable can collect all kinds of data. But what it does with that information is even more important. Oura Ring 5 leans hard into this with its Health Radar. It’s a system created with over 40 in-house M.D.s and Ph.Ds that turns nightly blood pressure and breathing data into a 30-day picture of your health. It’s a pattern you can act on.
Android Police’s review backs that up in daily use. It singles out the readiness score for “confirming how I feel” before a workout. It also says the Symptom Radar is one of the ring’s most useful tools—because it can flag illness through changes across multiple metrics.
It’s one thing to know a reading has changed. It’s another thing entirely to know how it affects your daily life and what you can do about it.
Apps are important. Looking at the differences here, the gap widens even further. On the Apple App Store Oura has a 4.9 out of 5 from 490 ratings. That, my friends, is about as high a rating as it gets online.
Circular’s app has a 2.8 out of 5 from 490 reviews, which isn’t great. It supports Tom’s Guide’s complaint about Bluetooth sync issues during Ring 2 testing.
Connectivity is similar. Both apps now sync with Apple Health and Google Fi/Health Connect. But Oura also works with Strava, so you can import runs and ride. This is something Circular is still working on.
My verdict: Oura’s app has better reviews and connectivity.
This one’s another win for the Circular Ring 3. The Ring 3 Pro is rated for up to 12 days per charge and the Slim for up to 10. That’s an improvement over the Ring 2’s 7-day max, according to Gear Diary’s coverage of the IFA announcement.
Despite shrinking 40% in size, the Oura Ring 5 still lasts only about a week between charges in Tom’s Guide’s real-world testing. That’s unfortunate. You’d think that a ring with such a reputation would have a longer-lasting battery.
And that brings me to one of my deal-breaker rules for wearables: their batteries have to last as long as possible. A smart ring that needs constant charging defeats some of the point of wearing one.
My verdict: The Circular Ring 3 lasts longer between charges, no question.
I’d buy the Circular Ring 3 if I wanted:
I’d buy the Oura Ring 5 if I wanted:
Oura is the established health platform, but Circular is more ambitious. Before you decide, ask yourself which matters more to you.
In the Circular Ring 3 vs Oura Ring 5 comparison, both rings carry serious chops. The Oura Ring 5 focuses on sleep, recovery, and overall health. Multiple news sources have praised its daily readiness score and Health Radar features.
If you want a ring that lets you do things, the Circular Ring 3 is your wearable. It lets you make payments, buzzes your finger with reminders, and offers advanced cardiovascular monitoring.
In my opinion, the Circular Ring 3 is the more interesting option. It pushes the boundaries of what wearables can do. As a tech journalist, that’s what I like to see.