I wore my Oura Ring vs Apple Watch 10 to track my steps for a week — and this device was way off

I had an Oura ring on my index finger before they became cool. I had friends laugh when I told them the chunky gold ring was a fitness tracker, but ever since I slipped the smart device on, I’ve been hooked. As a fitness editor, I test wearables for a living, and Oura has always been one of my favorites. It helps track my sleep, it tells me when I’m getting sick, it tracks my menstrual cycle — heck this little smart ring even knew I was pregnant before I did. But how accurate is the Oura ring when it comes to counting my steps? I dug into the data to find out more.

Like most of the best smart rings on the market, Oura doesn’t have a screen. Instead, you’ll need to head into the app to check on your daily step count and activity levels. The smart ring tracks your steps using “activity algorithms,” which were updated in March 2025 to allow the ring to function more like a pedometer, and more accurately distinguish steps from other activities that involve hand motion.

To compare the step counting accuracy, I compared the data on my Oura Gen 3 to that on my Apple Watch 10.

To clarify, I’m not putting the Oura ring and the Apple Watch head-to-head here, as they are extremely different devices. The Oura ring looks more like an item of jewelry, whereas the Apple Watch is one of the best smartwatches on the market — almost an extension of your iPhone on your wrist. The Apple Watch can give you live feedback on your calorie burn, heart rate zone, and distance traveled during a workout, whereas with Oura, you’ll have to head to the app afterward to tag your activity. Both are fantastic fitness trackers, but I’d argue they serve different purposes, and for this article, I’m purely looking at the step-counting abilities of both devices.

I used the Oura Ring and Apple Watch 10 to track my steps — here’s what I noticed

A slight glitch when digging into the data here is that neither Apple nor Oura allows you to see your step count from one activity, only your daily total. Unlike other walking challenges I’ve done for Tom’s Guide (check out this Apple Watch 10 vs Garmin Forerunner 265 face-off), I was unable to head out for a walk and manually count my steps, instead, I had to look at my daily step count as a whole.

From tracking my step count manually, I know that I walk around 2,200 steps per mile — the average person takes around 2,000, however, I’m pretty short, so obviously have a shorter stride length.

Here’s what the data said:

As you can see from the week’s worth of data, my step count was always higher on my Apple Watch 10. Unlike Oura, Apple relies on arm motion and its built-in accelerometer to track steps.

Each swing counts for two steps. It doesn’t matter whether you wear the watch on your dominant or non-dominant hand, the accelerometer should still measure your body’s movement. If you’re manually recording the walk in the Workout app, the watch will also use the heart rate sensor and GPS to make things more accurate.

Of course, it’s impossible to say which tracker is more accurate, but knowing I take an average of 2,200 steps per mile, I was able to look into Oura’s calculations.

On April 8, for example, the ring estimated I’d walked the equivalent of 7.4 miles over the course of the day. This would equate to a total of 16,280 steps, closer to the Apple Watch estimate. However, the ring only recorded 11,787 steps.

On April 13, Oura estimated I’d walked 9.9 miles over the day, which would equate to around 22,000 steps, however, the ring only recorded 12,074.

Interestingly, on April 14, I know I did a five-mile run in the morning, as well as dropping and collecting my son from nursery. Oura estimated that I’d walked 10.5 miles, however, neither the ring nor my Apple Watch seemed to get the step data right. I believe this is a user error, as I switched to my Garmin Fenix 8 for the run, and it seems the 10,634 steps Garmin recorded did not sync with my Apple Health app.

Of course, this is not to say that Oura isn’t worth investing in. It got my daily distances about right, it just fell slightly short on my step count.

However, counting steps alone isn’t an indicator of fitness. I’d argue that the Oura ring isn’t the wearable to buy if you’re looking to train for a marathon, as it lacks the screen to give you live feedback. Instead, it’s the wearable to have on your finger if you want to gain a deeper understanding of your overall health.

For example, I much prefer the sleep data that Oura provides when compared to the Apple Watch (read my Oura ring vs Apple Watch sleep tracking comparison here). What’s more, when it comes to tracking my menstrual cycle and fertile days, I trust Oura far more than my Apple Watch, as at least one night a week I find myself removing my watch to put it on charge, meaning it’s not getting the most accurate temperature readings.

The Oura does a fantastic job of flagging when I’m getting sick, or when I need to take it easy and rest. I wouldn’t be without the smart ring. However, if you’re looking for a device to really accurately count your steps, you’re better off buying an old-school pedometer or one of the best fitness trackers.

More from Tom's Guide

• The Oura Ring is the best device I've tested for tracking periods — here's why
• We've tested the best smart rings for tracking your health without a smartwatch
• I wore an Oura Ring for an entire year — what I like and don't like