I’ve been wearing the Whoop health and fitness band for a few weeks. It has had a resurgence in popularity recently, after being spotted on the wrists of athletes in sports ranging from tennis to F1, and due to the incoming challenger from Fitbit, the Fitbit Air.

You’re going to quickly learn this is a very capable fitness tracker, but also an expensive one, something only highlighted further by the Fitbit Air’s affordability. Has it dulled the Whoop to a whimper? Let’s find out.

Price, specs, and availability

One of the most important things to know about the Whoop is that there are two versions of the device, and both are essentially free. You don’t “buy” a Whoop, you join Whoop. What this means is, you’re charged an annual membership subscription for access to the app and features, and the wearable comes free with it.

The Whoop 5.0 is the basic version that comes with the $199 per year Whoop One membership and the $239 per year Whoop Peak membership. The Whoop MG unlocks specialist health tracking features and comes with the top Whoop Life package, which costs $359 per year. Discounts are available if you pay for multiple years at the start of your membership.

All three have standard health and fitness tracking features, and the table above will give you a better idea about the extras that come with the more expensive memberships. The Whoop 5.0 and MG look basically the same, and you can buy different straps to attach it to your wrist, ankle, or specific clothing, too. For reference, I have been wearing the Whoop MG with the Life plan.

The Whoop competes with other screen-less trackers, including the Oura Ring 4, Polar Loop, Hume Health Band, and Amazfit Helio Strap. The Fitbit Air will be released soon, and Garmin is rumored to have a similar product in the works.

Whoop design Screen-less fitness tracking

The Whoop 5.0 and Whoop MG (we’ll just call it the Whoop from here on, for simplicity, unless referring to features specific to one model) do not have a screen and do not require a constant connection to your phone to receive notifications, making them an entirely distraction-free wearable.

The main module contains the sensors, and it’s attached to a soft, fabric band with an unusual flip-over clasp, which holds it in place on your wrist. Alternative bands come in different materials and finishes.

It’s barely thicker than the average watch at about 11mm, and at 27 grams (for the Whoop MG), it’s light enough to be worn 24-hours a day. I’ve had no problem with comfort at all; it doesn’t get sweaty, and even if the band gets wet, it dries quickly.

The design is functional rather than attractive, and although you can jazz it up with different strap designs, it’s not something I feel the need to show off. It’s wide at around 24mm, so it’s always noticeable on your wrist.

I’ve worn it on the opposite wrist to my watch, which I consider a benefit just like a smart ring, but it’s not the most stylish option.

It’s almost unfortunate the Whoop is so noticeable, as otherwise it’s an entirely “silent” wearable, which is a huge benefit compared to noisy smartwatches. Design aside, the Whoop is a fuss-free fitness band you can wear 24-hours a day with ease.

Whoop Strain metric A new, but important way of measuring exercise

Strain is one of the three main metrics displayed at the top of the app’s home page, joining sleep and recovery. It’s an unusual score, but crucial to understand how, or if, Whoop will benefit you.

It displays your current Strain number and has a target to reach. It’s all calculated based on various data points, including your activity, sleep, and recovery. It can take a while to understand, but once you get started, it makes more sense.

Different levels of activity add to your Strain score, but you’ll quickly realize the target it sets is not going to be reached with minimal effort. Here’s where Whoop divides itself from other wearables. If you want to reach its Strain goals, you’re going to have to work hard.

For example, it sets my Strain targets at around 14 or 15 each day, and a regular day of work, activities, and a 30-minute walk sees my Strain reach between 7 and 9. To come close, you will have to do some kind of strenuous exercise for a fairly significant amount of time. There’s no way to set your own Strain target; it’s all done automatically.

There’s no question that the Whoop and its Strain metric are designed for very keen fitness fans, athletes, and aspiring athletes. It’s the reason you see the Whoop on the wrists of professional sports people, and the Oura Ring 4 on the fingers of people featured in Vogue.

Strain, once you understand it, is a very effective score. It’s far more indicative of how much you’ve pushed your body than step count or calorie burn, if you’re personally focused on sport and fitness. I really like the motivational messages the app sends, which do pleasantly reward you for making an effort, and give you a quick look at how it has affected your Strain for the day.

Because it’s not an easy target to reach, there’s a real sense of achievement when you do. It’s glanceable, and there’s no need to dig into the app to find out how you’re progressing towards your target.

If the thought of pushing your body to reach a tough target encourages you, you’re a regular gym goer, play sports a lot, or a combination of all these things, the Whoop will be a great fit. If none of these things apply, you’ll get more value from a wearable like the Oura Ring 4.

Whoop health tracking and motivation In-depth, but never pushy

Strain is the Whoop’s key metric, but its tracking doesn’t stop there. It covers sleep. stress, women’s cycle tracking with hormonal insights, plus a daily journal and manual food and hydration tracking.

In the well-designed app, you get access to a series of Whoop strength workouts and Whoop’s own AI chatbot. I’m often skeptical about these, but the Whoop chatbot does provide some interesting insights into why you feel the way you do, and it recognizes natural language, making it easy to use.

Dig into the app, and there’s a wealth of graphs showing daily performance, plus weekly trend reports too. I’ve found data on sleep debt and recovery very interesting, as it helps illustrate why I may not feel like pushing myself at the end of the week.

The app is also good at explaining why recovery is high or low, and suggesting whether you’re primed for low, moderate, or high strain. It doesn’t take long to find this information, and it’s presented in a way that’s easy to understand.

Despite the focus on performance, the Whoop doesn’t push you to do anything. It’s fairly passive, and I don’t even see move reminders, something the Oura Ring is never afraid to say. The Whoop gives you all the data, adds its advice and recommendations, but leaves it to you to do the business.

Whoop special features From ECG to blood pressure, for a price

There are various aspects that make the Whoop stand out, and it’s easier to break them down in a separate section.

Activity tracking. Automatic activity tracking has proved to be very accurate and adds to the convenience of the Whoop. You can also manually start a specific activity, which covers everything from acupuncture to yoga, via weightlifting and rock climbing. Each activity also gives you a Strain target to reach.

Pace of Aging. Under the Health tab, you’ll find your Pace of Aging score and also your Whoop Age, which indicates how your fitness affects your body’s condition.

ECG and heart health. If you want an ECG measurement, you have to own the Whoop MG and subscribe to the Whoop Life plan. It works by gripping the sides of the Whoop’s module, and once you’ve completed a calibration test, it will alert you to any signs of atrial fibrillation.

Once set up, the app tells you if it detects signs of atrial fibrillation, and there’s the option to download ECG reports to give to your healthcare provider. Not everyone will benefit from an ECG and atrial fibrillation detection, and it’s only available on the most expensive plan.

Advanced Labs. This optional, on-request service gives access to a lab blood test, and once completed, all the data is added to the Whoop app. It’s not available everywhere, has an additional cost attached, and requires you to join a waitlist in the app. Alternatively, you can manually add your own blood test results.

Blood Pressure Insights. The Whoop MG and Life plan is required for this feature. It does not measure blood pressure, but instead estimates a range once it has been calibrated using a blood pressure cuff.

After taking three measurements, the app provides an estimate of your blood pressure and charts it on a scale to show if it crosses over into too high or too low territory. While the ECG feature won’t apply to everyone, measuring blood pressure is more useful to more people.

However, seeing as you need a blood pressure cuff to set the feature up, you’re likely to already have an accurate method of measuring it, so think carefully about whether you need to pay extra for the Whoop MG and the Life plan to get estimates.

Whoop battery and charging Very easy to live with

Whoop claims about 14 days of battery life on a single charge, and this is accurate in my testing. It’s 10 days since I last charged the Whoop MG, and the battery sits at 35% remaining. However, if you use activity tracking a lot, it may have an effect on the battery life.

Charging is highly unusual. There’s no USB port or anything on the Whoop, and instead, you slide a portable charging pack over the main module to charge the battery. This can either be plugged into a wall charger or disconnected to charge the Whoop using its internal battery.

The advantage is that you don’t have to spend any time without wearing the Whoop even when it’s on charge. If you needed any more evidence, this is a hardcore wearable; this is it. It takes 90 minutes to charge the Whoop using the wireless battery pack, and while it doesn’t add any meaningful weight, it does get a bit warm on your wrist.

While an interesting charging method, if you lose the battery pack, you can’t recharge the Whoop, and there’s no alternative but to buy a replacement, which can cost up to $98.

Two weeks of battery life means the Whoop will require fewer trips to the charger compared to the Oura Ring 4, which lasts for around a week on a single charge, and a lot fewer charges than the average smartwatch.

Is the Whoop good value?

Before we get to the end of the review, it’s important to talk about value, but to do this, I’m going to leave whether the Whoop is good or not aside and just focus on what else you can get for the money.

The Whoop MG and Life plan I’ve reviewed is $359 per year, but if you sign up for a two-year membership when you buy it, you get a special $599 price. An Oura Ring 4 starts at $349, and a 23-month subscription to its app will bring the total over two years to $489. This rises to $640 if you buy the Oura Ring 4 Ceramic.

Sounds a lot, right? It certainly is when you consider the $350 Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 and $399 Apple Watch Series 11; both have all the health and fitness tracking features, plus the ECG and hypertension monitoring features, and no ongoing subscription.

Then, the Fitbit Air costs $100 and the $10 per month, or $100 per year Google Health subscription is an option. Understanding where the Whoop fits into the fitness wearable space is really important. It’s one of the most expensive options out there, so you must be absolutely sure you’re going to get the most from its features. If not, there are several ways to save a lot of money over a two-year use period.

Should you buy the Whoop 5.0 or Whoop MG?

I’ve enjoyed returning to the Whoop far more than I expected. I’ve found it very easy to live with, the data clear and informative, and its lack of notifications or pressure to perform very refreshing.

However, it’s very clear you’ll need to be athletic, or seriously trying to become more athletic, to get the most from it. It’s not a lifestyle tracker like the Oura Ring, and it’s not as generally helpful as a smartwatch.

This is important to understand because the Whoop is an expensive fitness tracker to live with. While it’s natural to look at the membership cost as a single, annual figure, it’s better to think about it long-term, because most of us will want to use it for more than a year or two.

This makes it a serious financial commitment, particularly compared to the $100 Fitbit Air. Whoop should be concerned about just how expensive it looks next to it, and whether its high-profile brand and athlete sponsorships are enough to keep people signing up.

Provided you fit the profile and are OK with splashing out on it every year, the Whoop is a good choice for your fitness tracker. For most people, the $239 per year Whoop Peak subscription should be considered the best option, as it has all the major features, including the wireless power pack, without the more niche ECG and blood pressure insights.

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