Whoop 5.0 Review: A Fitness Tracker With a Focus on Performance and Longevity

I’ve tested my fair share of fitness trackers over the years. From smartwatches to smart rings, I’ve seen how fast innovation in the wearables industry can change. You’ve probably seen this discreet, screenless band on the wrists of sport superstars like Patrick Mahomes, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mathieu van der Poel. But Whoop is designed for everyone, from casual runners to pro athletes. 

The Whoop 5.0 has been on my wrist for the past three months, and I’ve experienced firsthand how this upgrade offers a more in-depth analysis of your daily physical activity and long-term physiological conditions. As someone who loves Pilates, weight lifting, pickleball and the occasional cycling, Whoop has shifted how I relate to my exercise and recovery (especially reassuring me when my sleep dynamics changed with age).

The Whoop 5.0 and Whoop MG are virtually identical except for the MG’s integrated ECG features, which require pressing your fingers against the indents to obtain an ECG readout. You can only get the MG with a Whoop’s most expensive membership — Life. Having tried both the Whoop 4.0 and now the MG, the hardware upgrade alone (which is the same as the 5.0) offers subtle yet noteworthy changes, so trading in the older model for one of the new units was a no-brainer for me. 

Whoop 5.0 design and everyday wear

The Whoop 5.0 and MG are approximately 10% smaller than their predecessors, making the devices slightly sleeker. Thanks to the strap that comes with them, they sit comfortably just above the wrist with minimal sliding. It’s worth noting that the default fabric material strap that Whoop offers is not optimal, especially when you consider the unit’s waterproof functionality: It tends to stay damp after taking a shower or swimming (which can cause it to smell), and it collects sweat and dirt that leads to stains, especially on lighter colored bands. 

Whoop offers an alternative SportFlex band, which uses silicone, and LeatherLuxe bands. These bands will run you an additional $60 and $129, respectively. I’ve used the SportFlex on a 4.0 in the past, and although it handled water and dirt better, these use clip-on buttons like a belt, which don’t offer the more exact, adjusted fit as the default strap. 

If you’re unfamiliar with Whoop, screenless means that all your data is viewable only in the app, which is part of Whoop’s philosophy (to focus on the workout and recovery without distractions). The downside to this is that if you’re used to glancing at your wrist mid-run to check pace, you’ll be missing that real-time feedback. Whoop is a retroactive tracker, meaning it’ll tell you how you did after the activity is done and the tracker has processed the data, not as you go.

Whoop 5.0 battery life

Most noticeably, the battery life on the Whoop 5.0 has improved to last about two weeks, compared with four days on the 4.0. For someone on the go, commuting for work and spending time between homes, having that two-week cushion has offered forgiving flexibility when I’ve forgotten to pack the charging block in my bag (or recharging the wireless charger itself). 

In addition, the upgraded processors are 60% quicker than the previous units, which means a better app experience, faster syncing and more accurate workout auto-detection. Faster processors usually mean faster battery drain, but that has not been true for the Whoop 5.0.

Whoop 5.0 membership tiers

If you’re trading in your 4.0 for the 5.0 or the MG, you might ask yourself which membership is best. With these new units, Whoop now has three membership tiers: One, Peak and Life. The more you pay, the more insights and capabilities you unlock. 

One membership

The entry-level tier, Whoop One, costs $199 per year. You will receive the new 5.0 unit, the same as the Peak membership. However, it will come with a basic, wired charger, instead of the wireless charger that Peak and Life offer, which I find essential to Whoops’ overall ease of use and experience (those with Peak and Life memberships can charge without taking the unit off, thanks to the wireless charger that attaches to the Whoop’s clasp). The charger isn’t waterproof, so avoid showering or cleaning the band while charging. Like other trackers, the Whoop is made to be worn all day, every day, for precise health tracking. 

As for the data, Whoop One provides everything the 4.0 unit covers, with recovery scores based on updated sleep and strain monitoring, daily steps and physical activity detection, VO2 Max and heart rate zones, and women’s hormonal insights and menstrual cycle tracking. This beginner membership will inform you about your daily and short-term achievements and activities.

Peak membership

The middle-tier membership costs $239 per year, and you get access to what Whoop’s been recently cooking in their labs. You’ll get everything the One membership offers in addition to more long-term data sets such as Healthspan with Whoop Age (indicates the pace of aging based on all the info gathered across days of recovery, strain and other health insights), stress monitor and overall health monitor. These encompass some of the newest features of Whoop, using the data collected over time to create a larger picture of your physiology. I find this further encourages me to consider my daily habits, exercise routines and diet through an interconnected approach that can be adjusted or changed with Whoop’s AI coaching and suggestions for long-term goals and progress.

Life membership

For Whoop Life (its most expensive membership at $359 per year), users get Whoop’s MG (medical-grade) unit, access to everything Peak offers, Heart Screening, ECG capabilities and Blood Pressure insights. For the latter, you will need a separate cuff and follow specific steps to calibrate the measurements. 

New Whoop 5.0 features: Healthspan and menstrual cycle tracking

One of my favorite additions to the Whoop 5.0 is the Healthspan suite, which will show you metrics like Whoop Age and pace of aging. These metrics aim to tell you not just how fit you are but how well your body is holding up over time. 

During my time testing Whoop, my pace of aging score has become one of the things I look at the most. It’s been equal parts exciting and jarring to see how habits and life events affect your body. For example, during an injury, I noticed that my Whoop Age increased by three years as I recovered. And on streaks where I have been consistent with sleeping well and moving every day, my Whoop Age will trend down.

One of the more interesting updates in the Whoop app is the menstrual cycle data. It’s more than a calendar, as it layers your cycle information over your recovery, sleep and strain patterns, so you can see how your body’s readiness shifts through each menstrual phase.

In my own tracking, I’ve noticed that during my luteal phase, my recovery score is often lower and my resting heart rate a little higher. Meanwhile, my follicular phase is a prime time for me to push harder during my workouts. The AI coach interprets my data and will suggest adapting my workouts based on where I am in my cycle.

That said, Whoop’s cycle insights still feel more “performance through cycle” than deeply hormonal. When comparing this feature with Oura Ring’s cycle insights, I noticed that Oura leans more into reproductive health tracking by measuring body temperature and predicting your next period. Oura also flags potential fertile windows without you having to log symptoms manually.

If your priority is training smarter throughout your cycle, Whoop is the clear winner as it takes into account your cycle phases and directly correlates them to your strain and recovery. On the other hand, Oura takes the crown for pure reproductive awareness and slightly richer temperature-driven cycle predictions. It really comes down to whether you want the data anchored to performance metrics (Whoop) or presented as part of your overall well-being (Oura).

Recovery and sleep insights

The recovery data that Whoop provides is where it really shines. Each morning, it will give you a score and color (green means excellent recovery, yellow means OK to good recovery and red means low recovery) based on your heart rate variability, respiratory rate and sleep. There’s also a journal feature that lets you log daily habits, like caffeine intake, sleeping with a partner or pet, exercise and alcohol consumption, so you can track what habits impact your body’s recovery. After a few weeks, I had a clear view of what things helped me recover faster and what habits tank my progress.

The sleep tracking on the Whoop is also pretty impressive and detailed. You can get insights into how long you slept and how much time you spent in each stage (light sleep, REM and deep sleep), and it’ll even recommend your bedtime based on your recovery needs and sleep debt.

Read more: Sleeping With Robots: How Artificial Intelligence Transformed My Sleep

Training with the Whoop 5.0

When you work out with Whoop, each workout gets a strain score, which is based on your heart rate and HRV. On green recovery days (signaling optimal recovery), Whoop encourages me to push a little harder. On red days (recovery is low — either because I didn’t sleep well or have been pushing my body to its limits), the Whoop AI coach will recommend taking it slow. More often than not, I feel like my body agrees with that advice.

Whoop 5.0 buying advice

When it comes to offerings, I find Whoop’s pricing model to be pretty logical: the unit is “free,” and users pay a monthly subscription that covers all the data and insights — as opposed to other fitness trackers where you pay a large sum up front for the unit in addition to a monthly subscription (albeit less expensive than Whoop’s). That being said, the increased subscription choices can have current members and new timers scratching their heads, deciding which to pick. 

With the MG membership costing $359 per year, I would strongly suggest the Peak membership for the majority of folks when choosing between the One (5.0), Peak (5.0) and Life (MG) memberships. While the MG features are pretty impressive, I don’t think it’s worth the extra money unless you regularly monitor blood pressure and heart health. Even then, it’s best to talk to your doctor to ensure you get the best insights. Without the blood pressure and ECG monitors, you still get all the comprehensive tracking you need.

The best features of Whoop 5.0 are the Healthspan and Female Hormonal Insights, which are available with the Peak membership. These features, along with all of the health data you’ll receive, will be more than enough to help you make health decisions that will maximize your recovery, fitness and sleep.