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Proposed Oura lawsuit highlights wearables' health limitations. The company is being accused of misrepresenting its smart rings' ability to accurately track sleep - but they've never been a replacement for medical tools. Reading time 3 minutes Smart ring maker Oura is facing a proposed class action lawsuit that claims its smart rings aren't capable of identifying and measuring sleep cycles, TechCrunch reports. The lawsuit, filed in a district court in California, says that because Oura's products don't measure common physical signals of sleep, like eye movements and electrical brain activity, instead making less accurate calculations based on secondary markers. Oura has advertised multiple generations of Oura Ring on their ability to accurately track sleep, including claiming the most recent Oura Ring 5 offers "95% Sleep Staging Accuracy compared to [a] clinical sleep lab." The problem, the lawsuit claims, is that Oura rings aren't actually able to take the same measurements as the sensors used in formal polysomnography (a sleep study). "Instead, Oura's AI models are doing guesswork as to what may be happening, based on improper inputs," the lawsuit says, only admitting that its smart rings aren't the same as a sleep study in technical materials most customers won't read. Because the company has continued to advertise its smart rings, amplified through celebrity endorsements and influencer marketing, without acknowledging the limitations of their sleep tracking abilities, the lawsuit alleges Oura has misled customers. Besides seeking to establish a class for future claims, the lawsuit is also asking the court for an injunction to stop what it alleges is false advertising and for monetary compensation for customers who were misled. In a statement to Gizmodo, Oura said that it stands behind its claims and disputes the allegations in the lawsuit: While Oura Ring is not a medical device or a substitute for a clinical sleep study, Oura's sleep staging has been validated and compared favorably in several studies against polysomnography, the gold standard. The data collection that informs the creation of Oura's sleep staging algorithm (NSSA) is unparalleled in sleep research with over 1,200 nights of data collected, and we published a peer-reviewed paper that describes how the sleep-staging algorithm was developed and how it uses the signals collected by the ring. Multiple third-party, independent studies support our claims of accuracy and we have transparently reported on the mechanisms and measures that inform Oura's sleep staging. We're committed to continuing to clearly communicate what Oura measures, what it estimates, and how members should use that information. We dispute the allegations and will defend against them in the appropriate legal forum. On some level, it shouldn't be surprising that an Oura Ring might not be as accurate as the multitude of sensors used in a true sleep study. The newest Oura ring includes a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor that uses red and green LEDs to measure things like heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and breathing; sensors for tracking body temperature; and an accelerometer that tracks movement. Those notably don't track brain activity, eye movement, electrical activity in your heart, or muscle activity, the types of markers that are typically tracked to understand someone's sleep in a clinical setting. Oura instead relies on the data it does collect to make an informed guess at the quality of your sleep and the amount of time you spent in each sleep stage. Like plenty of other wearable makers, Oura exists in a wellness gray area, where the accuracy of its features can be backed up with studies, but they can't be considered truly capable of medical diagnosis by regulators. Oura's been able to exist comfortably in that gray area for a while, but the lawsuit could be one expression of the challenges it might face now that impressive sales and a future IPO are drawing further scrutiny.

Oura ring doesn't accurately measure sleep quality, lawsuit says. * Daniel de Visé, USA TODAY * 27 mins ago Oura rings oversell their ability to track a wearer's sleep, a new class-action lawsuit alleges. Many Americans struggle with sleep. Oura rings promise to help people measure the length and quality of their sleep, along with WHOOP bracelets, Apple Watches and other wearable devices. Sleep "has become a major health priority for American consumers," says the lawsuit, filed Aug. 20 in U.S. District Court in California. Oura sits at the center of a nearly $7 billion sleep-tracking market, the complaint says. Oura, pronounced with a long O, promotes its smart ring as a sort of 24/7 wellness companion, capable of tracking both sleep and daily physical activity. "Comfortably wear Oura Ring all day and night to collect deeply personal health metrics and insights," Oura says on its website. "Your finger provides the most accurate reading with 50+ health metrics that directly impact how you feel." Lawsuit says Oura touts benefits its ring cannot deliver The lawsuit alleges, however, that Oura touts benefits its ring cannot deliver. The smart-ring firm, based in San Francisco, responded to the suit with this statement: "We dispute the allegations in this complaint and intend to defend against them." According to the suit, Oura has marketed its rings as capable of measuring not just how long you sleep, but how well. "Every morning, when millions of people wake up, they reach for their phone before they open their eyes - not to check messages, but to check how they slept," the lawsuit says. "They see a number from 0 to 100, the total sleep score telling them how well they slept. The next set of measurements follow: the time spent in deep sleep, in REM sleep and in light sleep; sleep efficiency, time in bed, restfulness, awake time; and other similar markers. For a consumer who has spent years exhausted, anxious and struggling with sleep, that number feels like an answer." Oura claims to be able to measure all of those things, the lawsuit says. "But in reality, Oura rings cannot measure one's sleep or cycles," the lawsuit says. "That's because sleep happens in the brain, not on one's finger." The lawsuit joins a broader debate on the value of wearable devices to track human health. Research has shown the devices can cause stress and anxiety for some wearers, who might put too much stock in the readings. For others, however, the rings and bracelets encourage good sleep habits. Plaintiff spent $513.68 on an Oura ring Attorneys brought the suit on behalf of Madison Surber, a Californian who bought an Oura ring for $513.68 in 2025 based on the disputed marketing claims, according to the complaint. "When you go to sleep, Oura goes to work," Oura says on its website, "translating your sleep data to define your optimal sleep schedule and spot areas for improvement." Oura told customers its ring could measure different sleep stages with 95% accuracy, said Shireen Clarkson, co-founder of Clarkson Law Firm, which filed the suit. She said its estimates are closer to 50% accurate: a coin toss. "What the ring does is, it sits on your finger, and it measures heart rate and skin temperature and body movement, and the algorithm spits out an estimate based on those signals about what your sleep stages are," she said. "People are relying on this information for their health, and I think that's where the danger lies." Oura acknowledges its ring cannot replicate a laboratory sleep study, the lawsuit says, but only deep within the technical materials that come with the product. Customers bought the rings based on the marketing: nearly 3 million rings in 2025, and more than $1 billion in sales, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit seeks to halt "unlawful and fraudulent" advertising and marketing of Oura rings, and potentially to halt their sale. The action also seeks restitution for the amount Surber and others allegedly "overpaid" based on the advertised benefits of the ring. Contributing: David Oliver Reporting by Daniel de Visé, USA TODAY / USA TODAY USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect More consumer news. Currently in Bend