You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't own some kind of wearable these days, but for those who are still undecided, or on the hunt for a replacement, there’s one thing that can be seriously off-putting: subscriptions.
Despite pricey initial costs, many wearable makers are now charging users monthly to unlock deeper health insights. Whoop is a great example of this. The hardware might be solid, and the recovery features genuinely useful, but you’re paying a subscription to see the full picture. And if you’re someone who just wants better sleep, smarter training guidance and fewer “why am I shattered today?” moments, that can feel like a lot.
That’s why the latest launch from Luna is so noteworthy. The brand - best known for its affordable smart ring - has taken to CES 2026 to unveil its all-new Luna Band, a Whoop-style wearable that promises all-day health tracking, recovery insights and stress monitoring, but with no subscription required.
Real-time, voice-led health guidance
The main angle Luna is pushing here - other than the lack of a subscription - is how the Band isn’t just about dumping raw stats into an app and leaving you to figure it out by yourself. Instead, it’s built around “real-time, voice-led health guidance”, which basically means it wants to act more like a coach than a dashboard.
The other interesting part is how hands-free they’re claiming it’ll be. Luna says you’ll be able to log meals, add emotional context (which is actually useful if you’re tracking stress and sleep properly), and even ask for guidance using voice input, without constantly digging around in an app.
On iPhone, it sounds like this will lean on Siri for those interactions, but there’s no clear detail yet on how it’ll work on Android, which is a pretty big question mark given how many Whoop users are on non-Apple phones.
Under the hood, Luna says the Band runs on its own platform, LifeOS, which supposedly processes thousands of physiological signals per minute to spot changes in recovery, stress, circadian alignment and even hormonal patterns.
Hardware-wise, Luna’s talking up a “research-grade” optical sensor array alongside a high-fidelity 6-axis IMU motion sensor. The pitch is that this combo can detect more subtle things - like micro-recovery periods, circadian fluctuations and stress signatures - that similar wearables can miss. Again, we’ll need real-world testing to see how meaningful that is day-to-day, but it’s the right kind of ambition for a Whoop competitor.
One to watch
I haven’t gone hands-on with the Luna Band yet, but visually it looks very much in the same lane as Whoop and even things like Amazfit’s Helio Strap - a screenless device designed to disappear on your wrist while it quietly collects data in the background. And if it can do what it claims just as well as its rivals, I have no doubt this could be the one to watch for 2026.
So when exactly will it arrive? Luna says it will launch its subscription-less Band "later this year" although, for now, pricing and exact availability are still under wraps, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled.
