For the first time in the Oura Ring's history, users can see their pace, distance, and altitude in real time while they run — but whether that makes the $399 device a genuine GPS watch replacement depends almost entirely on what you already carry.

Jane McGuire, Fitness Managing Editor at Tom's Guide, published a hands-on comparison today, running a 5K through London's Hyde Park with an Oura Ring 5 on one hand and a Garmin Forerunner 170 — a $299.99 entry-level GPS running watch that launched in May 2026 — on her wrist. The results landed in roughly the same place as the feature's promise: close enough on distance, Zone 4 heart rate confirmed by both devices, but with one structural gap that more serious runners will not be able to ignore.

Live Activity Tracking, which rolled out globally on June 4 alongside the Oura Ring 5's launch, is also available to existing Oura Ring Gen 3 and Gen 4 users — making it a software upgrade as much as a new-hardware milestone.

What Oura Ring 5 Live Workout Tracking Actually Does

The feature works by routing location computation through your phone. Because no consumer smart ring includes onboard GPS — the power draw would reduce a ring battery from six to nine days of life down to a matter of hours — the Oura app uses the phone's internal GPS module to track route, altitude, and velocity, then displays the resulting pace and distance as a lock screen widget. Users must carry their phone for the feature to function at all.

During a workout, the ring's optical sensors shift from their normal interval-sampling mode to continuous, second-by-second heart rate recording. That data streams into the Oura app — but the architecture does not allow it to appear on the live lock screen widget alongside pace and distance. To display heart rate in real time during a workout, users must pair a separate Bluetooth monitor: compatible devices include Garmin watches, Polar chest straps, Apple AirPods Pro 3, and Powerbeats Pro 2.

This is not a software gap Oura can patch in a future update. It reflects a fundamental constraint of the ring form factor: a GPS chip and the battery capacity to sustain it cannot currently fit inside a ring that also lasts a week on a charge. Every smart ring on the market faces the same architectural ceiling.

How Accurate Is Oura Ring 5 GPS Compared to a Running Watch

McGuire's 5K test produced a 30-second-per-mile pace gap between the two devices. The Oura Ring recorded an average of 9:02 per mile; the Garmin logged 8:32. The difference came entirely from one missing capability: auto-pause. The Garmin Forerunner 170 automatically stops its timer when the wearer is stationary — at traffic lights and crossings — then resumes when movement returns. The Oura Ring does not. In central London, where stops are frequent, that dead time accumulated.

Distance accuracy, evaluated independently of the pace calculation, tracked closely between the two devices — a meaningful result given that the ring was using iPhone GPS rather than its own satellite receiver.

Heart rate data told the same story across different hardware. The Oura Ring recorded a 145 beats-per-minute average; the Garmin logged 151 bpm. Both devices classified the session as Zone 4 — the anaerobic-threshold range running from roughly 80 to 90 percent of maximum heart rate. For a workout McGuire intended as a Zone 2 recovery run, two independent devices converging on Zone 4 is the kind of signal that is difficult to dismiss.

Can a Smart Ring Replace Your Running Watch

For some runners, already. For others, not yet.

Users who run with their phone and do not need live heart rate during workouts — or who own a compatible Bluetooth heart rate monitor — will find that the Oura Ring 5 now fills the gap that previously made it irrelevant for real-time fitness use. Trusted Reviews assessed the feature as "pretty basic" compared to sub-£100 smartwatches, which is accurate but frames the wrong question: the ring's value proposition is not active-workout data in isolation. It is the combination of sleep tracking, readiness scoring, recovery metrics, and now live workout data in a single device that never comes off your finger.

What the Oura Ring 5 cannot do, structurally: auto-pause a workout, display live heart rate without secondary hardware, or leave your phone at home.

The Garmin Forerunner 170, at $299.99 — $100 less than the Oura Ring 5 — does all three, with a standalone AMOLED display, independent GPS, and a training ecosystem purpose-built for running. For athletes managing split-by-split pacing, the Garmin remains the more complete active-tracking device.

Who Gets the Most Out of Oura Ring 5 Live Tracking

McGuire, training for her seventh marathon, said she would use the feature only for easy, unstructured runs — sessions where effort feel matters more than split precision. That framing describes the feature's real audience well: health-focused users who already wear the ring for sleep and recovery data and want their workouts logged in the same place, without a second device for everyday training runs.

For that user, Live Activity Tracking fills the last meaningful gap in the Oura Ring's fitness offering. It works, and the distance accuracy holds up against a dedicated GPS watch within the constraints of phone-tethered location and the absence of auto-pause. The $5.99 monthly membership — or $69.99 annually — that Oura requires for full data access, including live tracking, adds to the total cost of ownership and is worth factoring into any direct price comparison with a standalone running watch.

Live Activity Tracking is available now for all Oura Ring Gen 3, Gen 4, and Gen 5 users via a firmware and app update, requiring no new hardware purchase.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Oura Ring 5 have built-in GPS?

No. The Oura Ring 5 has no onboard GPS chip. Live Workout Tracking works by using your phone's GPS to calculate pace, distance, and altitude, then displaying that data on a lock screen widget. Carrying your phone during workouts is required for the feature to function. This is a hardware constraint shared by every consumer smart ring — adding a GPS chip would reduce battery life from six to nine days to a few hours.

Does the Oura Ring show heart rate during a workout without a separate device?

Not in real time. During workouts, the ring's optical sensors record heart rate second-by-second, but displaying that data live on the phone screen requires pairing a separate Bluetooth heart rate monitor, such as a Polar chest strap, Garmin watch, Apple AirPods Pro 3, or Powerbeats Pro 2. Without a paired device, heart rate remains viewable only after the workout ends.

How does Oura Ring 5 live tracking compare to the Garmin Forerunner 170?

In a tested 5K comparison, the Oura Ring 5 matched the Garmin Forerunner 170 closely on distance and placed the run in the same heart rate zone. The Oura recorded a pace of 9:02 per mile versus the Garmin's 8:32 — a 30-second gap caused entirely by the Oura's lack of auto-pause. The Garmin Forerunner 170 also includes standalone GPS, auto-pause, and an always-on display, with a starting price of $299.99 versus the Oura Ring 5's $399.

Is an Oura subscription required to use Live Workout Tracking?

Yes. An Oura membership costs $5.99 per month or $69.99 annually and is required to access the full Oura app experience, including live workout tracking and post-workout data analysis. Without a subscription, biometric data is still recorded but access to it is significantly limited.