Oura adds cardio tracking tools as Google’s Fitbit Edge and Air miss sleep breathing insight

The Oura features, Cardio Effort and automatic VO2 Max, are available for Oura Ring Gen 3 and later models but require an active Oura membership, The Verge reported. The company said the tools are designed to help users understand how regular workouts affect long-term health and whether they need to increase or reduce activity. Cardio Effort measures how hard the cardiovascular system works during exercise and how long that effort is sustained, rather than pace, distance or calories. It calculates a rating for individual workouts and compares cumulative weekly effort with a personalized baseline.

Ratings run from Light, described as substantially lower cardiovascular strain than the user’s usual baseline, through Fair, Maintaining and Building to Reaching, which indicates markedly higher exposure relative to baseline and may signal that it is time to prioritize recovery. The feature can recommend rest rather than always pushing users to increase effort.

Automatic VO2 Max, previously called Cardio Capacity, is in beta through Oura Labs. It activates after users complete five qualifying GPS-enabled activities, including walks, runs and hikes. The earlier Cardio Capacity feature required a six-minute walking test for calibration. Once activated, VO2 Max readings appear in the Oura app’s My Health Heart Hub, with a current estimate, a low, fair, high or peak rating, changes over time and personalized insights for when aerobic capacity meaningfully shifts or stays consistent.

Google’s sleep breathing quality feature is one of three Health Guardian insights the company rolled out last month, Android Authority reported. Pixel Watch 3, 4 and 5 owners can access all three without an additional subscription. Fitbit Edge and Fitbit Air owners are limited to blood pressure and insulin resistance trends, even with a Google Health Premium subscription. Google’s own online store comparison confirms the omission, according to Android Authority.

Google said more devices will receive sleep breathing quality but has not confirmed whether Fitbit Edge and Fitbit Air are among them. The omission leaves the two trackers without the full set of Health Guardian insights, although both support the other two features with Premium.