The latest smart ring to aim for Oura’s crown comes from an unexpected source. In a surprise debut, Acer showed off the FreeSense Ring at Taipei’s Computex show. While catching up to the Oura will be a tough task for a company just breaking into the smart ring space, the FreeSense seems like it could be a compelling and (potentially) more affordable alternative. We don’t have all of the details of the FreeSense Ring yet, but let’s dive into what we do know to see how the two stack up.

Price

Acer hasn’t officially announced a US price or release date for the FreeSense yet, but one big factor confirmed in its favor is the lack of a monthly fee. The Oura Ring 4 costs $350, which is $50 less than the most expensive smart ring we’ve reviewed (the $399.99 Samsung Galaxy Ring) but still $50 more than its predecessor.

While not technically required, you have to pay a monthly fee to access any of the Oura app’s useful insights. Oura’s membership costs $5.99 monthly or $69.99 annually after a one-month free trial.

The silver Oura Ring 4 (Credit: Andrew Gebhart)

Acer won’t have a monthly fee associated with its Ring, which is already a point in its favor. Thanks to its lack of a subscription, it will automatically be the more affordable buy if it costs $350 or less.

Winner: TBD

Design and Durability

Acer has released most of the details on the FreeSense’s physical specs. It’ll be made of titanium, a premium material matching the Oura 4. Oura offers more size and color options. It comes in sizes 4 through 15 (12 options) with six color choices: black, brushed silver, gold, rose gold, silver, or stealth (dark gray). The FreeSense will come in sizes 7 to 13 (seven options) with two color choices: black or rose gold.

Rendered images of the FreeSense Rings (Credit: Acer)

Otherwise, the FreeSense stacks up well against the Oura 4. Both rings are 0.1 inches thick and 0.3 inches wide. The FreeSense Ring is lighter, weighing between 0.07 ounces and 0.11 ounces depending on the size, undercutting the Oura 4’s range (0.12 to 0.18 ounces).

The Acer FreeSense has an IP68 resistance rating, making it impervious to dust and able to withstand submersion in water. It has a 5ATM rating as well, so it can withstand water pressure up to 164 feet deep. The Oura Ring 4 doesn’t have an official IP rating, but it is water resistant to a depth of 328 feet.

Winner: Oura Ring 4

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Compatibility

As devices without a display, smart rings rely on syncing data with an app on your smartphone to provide you with the health insights that they collect. The Oura Ring 4 works well with both Android and iOS devices. The only major smart ring we’ve tested that doesn’t is the Samsung Galaxy Ring, which is tailored for Samsung phones.

Acer also sells Android phones, so the Ring could be exclusive to Android. That said, I expect Acer to try to court a broader audience with wide compatibility.

Winner: TBD

Sensors and Features

The Oura Ring 4 is the best smart ring in large part because of how well it tracks activity, sleep, and stress. Its well-organized companion app turns that information into actionable advice with a specific sleep score, a general readiness score, and a continually updating activity score. The app also makes it easy to find specific data, plus it offers detailed women’s health tracking capabilities, and long-term health metrics like cardiovascular age and sleep regularity.

The Oura Ring app (Credit: Oura/PCMag)

Oura regularly tests new features and rolls them out to users’ rings, and the older Oura Ring 3 has access to all of the same software features as the latest model. In fact, Oura just recently updated its app to offer more accurate calculations of your active time and steps in an effort to improve its fitness tracking capabilities, which have always been limited.

The Acer FreeSense Ring will have a lot of catching up to do. Acer has promised 24/7 health tracking combined with AI-enabled health insights. Specifically, its ring has confirmed tracking for blood oxygen levels, heart rate, heart rate variability, and sleep quality. While all of that will make for a good start, gathering accurate health metrics and presenting them in a way that’s easy to interpret might take some time and tinkering.

Winner: Oura Ring 4

The Verdict: It Largely Comes Down to Price

The Oura Ring 4 provides lots of details about your activity, sleep, and stress levels, making it the best smart ring we’ve tested. It’s expensive, however, at $350 up front plus a monthly subscription fee. The Acer FreeSense Ring is thin, light, and durable, and has the health tracking sensors to at least keep up with Oura, so depending on the price, it could be a strong budget-friendly alternative. We look forward to checking one out as soon as we can, so stay tuned for more details.