Yes in this case @user.reload.email and @user.email is the same thing. But it’s good practice to use @user.reload.email instead of @user.email to check what is exactly saved in the database i mean you don’t know if you or someone add some code in after_save which changes it’s value then it will not have effect on your tests.
EDIT:
And also what you are checking is what’s saved in the database so @user.reload.email exactly reflects what’s saved in database then @user.email