The highly anticipated Whoop 5.0 and Whoop MG launched last year, bringing a host of new features to the brand’s distinctive screen-free wearable. While both bands continue to stand apart from the best fitness trackers by focusing on distraction-free data collection, their upgraded features have helped secure their place among the best devices on the market, especially for those looking to better understand performance metrics such as VO2 max, a key measure of aerobic fitness and endurance.
But how good is the Whoop 5.0, and is its more advanced (and more expensive) sibling, the Whoop MG, worth the upgrade? As a fitness editor, I wanted to find out whether the brand’s latest wearable could genuinely help me train smarter.
As someone who regularly spends their time being scanned and tracked to monitor and optimise my performance, I wanted to know whether the Whoop 5.0 could set a new benchmark for wearable devices, and whether it has what it takes to rival the growing number of longevity clinics emerging across the UK. Here’s how the Whoop 5.0 performed when I wore it continuously for a month.
Read more: Oura ring 5 review, tried and tested by a tech critic
Whoop 5.0
Rating: 5/5
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Why we love it
- New Healthspan feature
- New stress monitor
- New blood pressure feature
- Slimmer, lighter device
- New straps and design
- Two weeks of battery life
Take note
- Expensive annual subscription
- A lot of data for the average person
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.
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 ageing and the pace at which their body is ageing by providing a “Whoop age” and actionable advice on rest and recovery to manage and reverse said age.
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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 ageing, 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.
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 customisable 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, personalised 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.
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The Whoop scores are still based around 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.
The Whoop MG offers a heart screener that provides 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. The 5.0 does not offer these features but is otherwise identical to the MG from what I gathered.
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 £169 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 £229 a year. Existing users will automatically be upgraded to peak. Whoop life is the top tier – for £349 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.
Key specifications
Buy now £169, Healf.com
Should you buy the 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 this device. You can’t always have a perfect day or a perfect score and I’ve come to realise this. Some nights at 9pm 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 choices I’m making put me in the top 11 per cent 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.
How I tested the Whoop 5.0
I wore the Whoop 5.0 band from day to night, not once removing it from my wrist. During testing I assessed the following factors:
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
Emilie Lavinia was The Independent’s former 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.
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