When I asked Whoop’s founder Will Ahmed about the launch of the 5.0 last year he didn’t reveal much. In fact, he led me to believe the brand wasn’t likely to roll out a new iteration at all. Instead, he promised meaningful updates to the existing band that would make it easier to track and improve your health. “We like to ship what we've got today, and just emphasize that,” he told me. “We want to make sure that if we do launch new hardware, it’s a total game changer.”
Ahmed also stressed that Whoop is in a class of its own and therefore didn’t need the features that most of the fitness tracker market has come to depend on — like a watch face or a step counter. I agree that Whoop is a one-of-a-kind experience and I’ll happily call myself a fan now, but I and the rest of the Whoop community knew that if we kept asking, we’d eventually get our step counter and that if we were patient, we would also get a 5.0.
The day has finally arrived and Whoop has launched the latest version of its coveted fitness tracker — a smarter, smaller, slimmer model with better battery life, aesthetic accessories, and a host of new intelligent features.
I was among the first to trial the 5.0, putting its capabilities to the test and comparing it with its predecessor, and other fitness tech I’ve tried. As someone who regularly spends their time being scanned and tracked in the name of health and wellness, I was keen to see whether the new Whoop would set a new standard for other wearables to catch up to and whether it might have the power to compete with a new wave of longevity clinics popping up.
How I tested
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I was fortunate to have an exclusive preview of the 5.0 and wore it every day for a month to fully test every one of the new features. Throughout the testing period, it didn’t once come off my wrist — not even during charging — so I could build a clear picture with my data. You can charge the Whoop while it’s on your body so I wore it around the clock, downloading the data from the night before on the app each morning and adjusting my workout, recovery, and sleep plans based on my scores.
I also cross-referenced the data with my Oura ring for the first and second week and with my Eight Sleep for the whole month to determine how accurate the Whoop was in comparison. I also used compatible apps, including the Apple Health app and the Withings app for a clearer picture of my health, and hardware (the Withings blood pressure connect monitor) to see what the tech was capable of as the month went on. I used the data to analyze the key Whoop metrics like sleep, strain, and recovery after exercise and rest days but I also used some of the more in-depth metrics, the AI assistant, and features like breathing exercises to boost my scores across the month. Beyond this, I considered the Whoop 5.0’s new weight, style, battery life, and accessories.
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
Emilie Lavinia is The Independent’s fitness and wellbeing editor so she knows her way around a fitness tracker. Having tested past iterations of the Whoop, as well as the Oura ring and other wearables and smart trackers for IndyBest, she’s able to tell which trackers are worth the spend and which should be avoided. An expert on sleep, stress, and nutrition as well as which wearables work best for women, she has the lowdown on value, features, and new releases from leading brands.
Whoop 5.0
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I became a Whoop devotee last year after I swapped my Oura ring for the Whoop 4.0. Yet, despite the incredible accuracy of the data and the boost to my sleep and recovery, there were a few things about the fitness tracker that bothered me. The device felt a little distracting on my wrist, the knit strap wasn’t waterproof and didn’t really match my style and there was no step counter in the app.
These things might not have bothered you — your wrists might be bigger than mine, you might have opted for a chunkier silicone strap, and hitting 10,000 steps a day might not be your goal. You might also not be a total fashion victim. These were my gripes with an otherwise brilliant product.
To my delight, all my complaints have been addressed with the Whoop 5.0, and a ton of new features have been rolled out. The new band is smaller, lighter, holds its charge for two weeks, and comes with a range of new straps and accessories. The band I tested was part of the leatherluxe range and the tan and gold finish blended seamlessly with my entire wardrobe — and it was showerproof.
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While not strictly a brand-new feature, the step counter is also a welcome addition many users were calling for (myself included). As far as actual updates go, there are plenty. The app has a new interface with fresh features, including the daily outlook (your AI assistant), healthspan (your longevity calculator,) and blood pressure insights.
Longevity is the wellness buzzword of the year and I am one of many perhaps slightly fanatical people attempting to halt or reverse their biological age. The 5.0 seeks to help users understand the markers of aging and the pace at which their body is aging by providing a “Whoop age” and actionable advice on rest and recovery to manage and reverse said age.
Similarly to its predecessor, the 5.0 relies on metrics like HRV and VO2 max to determine your physiological age and place you in a percentile for your actual age group. It uses these data points to feed you helpful information and tips daily.
Developed with Dr Eric Verdin, CEO of the Buck Institute for Research, on aging, the new healthspan feature takes a few wears of the device to unlock but what it shows you after that time is fascinating. The product lead for Whoop tells me she’s actually gotten younger while working on this feature.
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Another new feature I actually really enjoyed was the AI assistant. Whoop is the first wearable with this feature and if you’re a first-time user, having all the data broken down can help to make sense of it all and motivate you. I’ll admit that when I first started using Whoop, I wasn’t sure what my scores really meant. The new daily outlook tool explains exactly what the numbers mean and what you might try to focus on that day.
The tech pulls in your scores and exercise recommendations and integrates the weather, your performance goals, and healthspan insights to answer questions and give you prompts throughout the day. I woke up one morning to see that my blood oxygen was out of the normal range, so I asked the AI why this might be. It offered a few ideas and solutions, including a breathing exercise, which I was prompted to log in my daily journal.
The journal isn’t new but it’s a great way to track your habits. It offers a customizable checklist that you can tick off with options like, “took a multivitamin”, “slept with a weighted blanket” and “consumed caffeine”. This encourages you to build healthy habits and keep your streak going.
In the app, personalized plans have also been moved to the home screen so making a plan with advice from the AI coach, filling out your journal, and checking your scores is a more seamless experience.
The Whoop scores are still based on strain, recovery, and sleep but the app now offers even more granular insights, especially where sleep and stress are concerned. Sleep performance now has four parts and there are new ways to log data. There’s also a new stress monitor which uses a variety of metrics to assess stress levels.
You’ve got a heart screener that offers an ECG reading and generates a PDF report and blood pressure insights — a totally new addition for fitness trackers and likely one that other brands will copy. You need to calibrate your first reading with a blood pressure cuff which you can do at your doctor’s office or with a smart cuff at home and the band’s sensors take care of the rest.
Both features were pretty easy to set up and use which is incredible considering the size of the Whoop. Everything is smaller and stronger so the 5.0 offers a better processor, a smaller battery charging pack with 30 days of charge on top of your two weeks with a fully-charged band. Personally, I was amazed at the battery life considering my phone can barely make it through a day and the Oura ring only lasts a few.
Other new features include membership tiers, of which there are three. At present, your subscription gets you a band and access to the app for a year. The new tiers offer different in-app experiences with the band.
A Whoop one subscription is the most basic — at $199 a year it’s ideal for first-timers. Whoop peak has also been introduced with the healthspan stress monitor features — great for those interested in longevity and biohacking it costs $239 a year. Existing users will automatically be upgraded to peak. Whoop life is the top-tier option and costs $359 a year, you’ll get medical-grade insights, such as blood pressure.
The 5.0 is a whole lifestyle experience with the band sensors able to automatically detect whatever exercise you’re doing, measure biological age, and prevent health issues with medical-grade insights. It’s a futuristic experience that caters to anyone with what Ahmed describes as an aspirational approach to their health.
Buy now £199.00, Whoop.com
The verdict: Whoop 5.0
I loved wearing the Whoop 5.0 so there’s very little I can say that might dissuade you from buying the new hardware if you’re already keen. Of course, given it’s the most impressive wearable on the market, it’s expensive, and the price might put some people off. But there are now a few differently priced subscriptions available.
One thing I will say is that if you’re not into being consistent or trying to form habits, you’ll either not really benefit from the coaching and plentiful data or you’ll likely feel a little bullied by it. You can’t always have a perfect day or a perfect score and I’ve come to realise this. Some nights at 9 p.m. my Whoop will tell me, “That’s enough excitement for one day, off to bed.” I will try to contain my shock because I have just walked through my front door and intend to be up for hours.
Some might also struggle with wearing a device on their wrist that doesn’t show the time, especially if you’re a Garmin or Apple Watch devotee. This change could be a little confusing to begin with. The band is just your set of sensors, everything is in the Whoop app so you do need your phone to check your data. The data is logged in the band for hours so if you’re away from your phone, turn it off or disconnect the Bluetooth the app will catch up once it’s reconnected and you won’t miss anything, you just need your phone to see anything.
The Whoop is the best health coach you’ll find outside of a human being and it’s incredibly smart with the way it uses biometric data. The 5.0 is also lightweight and stylish and has exceptional battery life. It offers a sizeable upgrade from the 4.0 and you can go even bigger with features if you want to pay a little extra annually.
In the app, the community groups and leaderboards are still present which is a nice touch but not something I’m overly concerned with as I’m not training for anything competitive or specific. However, it’s nice to get the odd reminder that the things I’m doing and the choices I’m making put me in the top 11 percent for women my age — something to brag about with my fellow health freaks.
If you have any health goals and the financial commitment is one you can make — Whoop peak works out at less than $20 a month — I’d say the investment in the 5.0 is a no-brainer. During my testing period, my sleep, VO2 max, and daily step count improved, and I got a better sense of how my body was responding to stress and exercise. I was also able to log activities and daily habits like drinking AG1 and electrolytes, red light therapy, massage, and symptoms linked to hormones and mood. If the 5.0 helped me achieve that in a month, I’m keen to see what it could do in six, a year, and beyond.
