The latest Oura Ring 5 boasts an impressive design that is 40 percent smaller than previous models, making it much more comfortable to wear. However, a new teardown video from the repair experts at iFixit reveals a major catch: if the battery dies, the entire $399 device becomes useless electronic waste.
Here is a fresh look at what is actually inside this tiny piece of tech, and why you cannot fix it.
Cutting Through the Titanium Shell
When iFixit tried to open the Oura Ring 5, they ran into an immediate roadblock. Unlike older versions, the entire outer and inner walls of this ring are made of titanium, glued tightly together with a tough synthetic resin. Because it is impossible to pull the pieces apart without destroying the device, the team had to use a saw to cut right through the outer metal shell.
Surprisingly, cutting the ring open required little effort. While titanium is known for being incredibly tough, Oura keeps the ring lightweight by making the metal walls exceptionally thin.
Tiny Parts Packed Inside
Once inside, the teardown shows how Oura managed to shrink the device while promising up to nine days of battery life. The engineers packed a flexible circuit board and a tiny 10.2 mAh battery into every bit of available space.
The brains behind the ring include:
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An Ambiq Apollo 3 Blue processor: A highly efficient ARM chip running up to 96 MHz.
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384 KB of RAM: A tiny fraction of what you would find in a smartphone, but plenty for tracking sleep and steps.
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1 MB of storage: Used to save your health data before it syncs to your phone.
As a fun hidden detail, the team found the word “Oulu” printed directly onto the circuit board. This is a small tribute to Oura’s hometown in Finland.
The Ultimate Smart Ring Problem
Despite the upgraded chips and sleeker design, the Oura Ring 5 suffers from the exact same issue as older smart rings: it is totally unfixable. Because the battery is glued inside the fused titanium body, there is no way to swap it out when it eventually degrades and stops holding a charge.
While this means your $399 investment has a built-in expiration date, there is some hope for the future. Oura has already filed patents for a smart ring with a replaceable battery, showing they are actively trying to solve this industry-wide waste problem. For now, though, every smart ring on the market remains a temporary device.
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