Oura announced two new cardio fitness features for its Oura Ring: Cardio Effort and automatic VO2 Max estimation. Cardio Effort uses the Training Impulse method to assess weekly strain across five personalized ranges — light, fair, maintaining, building, and reaching — relative to the wearer's baseline. The metric is designed for long-term cardiovascular trend monitoring.
The updated VO2 Max feature, previously called Cardio Capacity in Oura Labs, now passively estimates maximum oxygen uptake during regular GPS-enabled workouts, eliminating the prior six-minute walking test requirement. It will be available in Oura Labs for the third-generation Oura Ring and later models.
These additions expand Oura's holistic health suite and position the ring form factor as a stronger competitor to the Apple Watch and Fitbit, which have offered similar cardio metrics for years.
Source: Engadget · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing