It seems like everybody owns wearable tech these days, and Oura Rings happen to be among the most popular options. But now, the smart ring brand is under scrutiny as it faces a proposed class action lawsuit alleging its devices can’t measure user sleep or cycles as accurately as advertised. The 53-page lawsuit claims that Oura’s AI models perform “guesswork as to what may be happening based on improper results,” rather than tracking users’ sleep stages with up to 95 percent accuracy, as the company has advertised.
The proposed lawsuit takes particular issue with how certain Oura Ring models determine sleep stage data. According to the complaint, the rings “infer” sleep stages using metrics like heart rate, physical movement, peripheral skin temperature, and blood oxygen trend, none of which directly measure activity in the brain.
“The allegations against Oura still have to be proven, and Oura strongly disputes them,” says Michael McCready, Managing Partner at McCready Law. “But from a consumer protection standpoint, the question will be whether the company accurately described what the ring can do and had sufficient scientific support for the level of accuracy it advertised. A product doesn’t have to be perfect, but if you sell precision, you should be able to substantiate precision. Companies selling health-related technology have a responsibility to be just as clear about what their products cannot do as they are enthusiastic about what they can.”
Still, lawyers and health experts alike say a situation like this may serve as a good reminder for consumers to be more mindful of what wearable devices are designed to do. Because while wearable tech can certainly help raise health awareness, encourage healthier habits, and identify personal trends that may be worth discussing, it doesn’t mean they should replace medical-grade equipment or professional medical advice when needed.
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“More broadly, I’m a believer in wearables and technology. Data can help people recognize patterns, change habits, and ask better questions. But there’s a danger when we start treating an estimate generated by an algorithm as an unquestionable medical fact. The takeaway for consumers is to use these devices for trends rather than absolutes,” McCready adds.
For instance, if your ring has been telling you that you’ve slept poorly for three weeks, that may be useful information that prompts you to look at your sleep habits or take it to your doctor. But if the device tells you that you spent exactly a certain amount of time in a particular stage of sleep, remember that there’s still measurement, inference, and an entire algorithm standing between your body and that number.
“The real risk with consumer wearables isn’t that they’re inaccurate in every case,” says Arik Ben Ishay, CEO and Co-Founder of Biobeat. “It’s that consumers can’t easily tell when a number is directional and when it’s reliable enough to make a health decision on. A sleep score is a suggestion. A blood pressure reading a physician uses to adjust medication is a decision. Those require very different standards.”
Ultimately, the lesson here is to view wearable data as one piece of information rather than an exact medical finding. If your data consistently points to a potential health problem, use that information as a reason to talk with your doctor rather than trying to diagnose or treat the issue yourself.
Related: Doctors Say You’re Tracking the Wrong Smartwatch Data—Here’s What Actually Matters
Experts
- Michael McCready, Managing Partner at McCready Law
- Arik Ben Ishay, CEO and Co-Founder of Biobeat
Sources
- Oura Lawsuit Claims Rings Cannot Measure Sleep as Advertised. ClassAction, 2026
