Reports of the Oura Ring smart ring overheating to the point of burning the wearer and emitting smoke have gathered on the Oura Ring subreddit recently.
It follows a similar issue faced by Samsung Galaxy Ring wearers, raising concerns among owners who are currently unaffected by battery issues that they may be next.
Worrying posts
Several posts to the r/OuraRing subreddit in particular have gathered the most attention, and were shared around Dec. 5.
The first post, titled “Ring started smoking” includes five images showing an Oura Ring 4 with obvious burn marks on the metal case (which you can see in the image above), and also an example of where the heat from the smart ring caused a blister on the wearer’s finger.
A second post titled “Please pay attention everyone” shared a similar story, where the owner noticed the Oura Ring 4 overheating. However, unlike the other story, the original post and images have been deleted.
The final post, titled “My ring overheating while sleeping” described the ring getting hot enough to wake the wearer up, but seemed to be a one-off event. A commenter said they have experienced the same issue, even after a replacement smart ring from Oura.
While these posts caught the most attention, and accurately sum up concerns by those reading the subreddit, a search shows instances of Oura Rings with expanding batteries have been reported for at least a year.
Oura responds
Oura is active on the subreddit and responded to each of the most recent posts, writing in reply to the first user:
I’m very sorry you’ve experienced this with your ring, and appreciate the concern this brings. I just sent you a DM, and we’d love to investigate it and have this resolved for you.
Oura was also quick to respond to the second user, writing:
Thank you for sharing this. I’m sorry to hear about this experience, and I want to take a closer look so we can help. I’ve just sent you a chat so we can connect directly and I can gather a few details.
Android Police contacted Oura for an official response to the situation, and to better understand if there’s a need for concern. An Oura spokesperson responded:
We take any safety-related report seriously and are actively reviewing the recent posts on a case-by-case basis. Based on what we’ve seen so far, these appear to be isolated incidents rather than a wider pattern, and we’re conducting thorough investigations — including third‑party analysis where appropriate — to understand exactly what happened and support the members involved.
Battery woes
I have worn an Oura Ring since the introduction of the second generation version released in 2018, and have never experienced any battery expansion or overheating.
However, like some other Redditors, I have had the battery fail in an Oura Ring 4, causing it to last less than a day on a single charge.
The good news is, not only did Oura’s in-app assistant immediately identify there was an issue, but the customer service team followed it up straight away by recommending a replacement. This happened without any prompting from me, and with no further information required either.
This left me with considerable confidence in Oura’s customer service, and I would urge anyone with concerns over their Oura Ring’s battery health to get in touch with them through the Oura app. Open the side menu and select the Help option to start a chat.
The latest Reddit posts are naturally concerning, especially coming soon after a report of a different smart ring overheating. However, at this time, Oura states these are isolated incidents, so there’s likely no need for too much alarm.
Android Police will continue to monitor the situation.
