A tracker that proves you don’t need a screen

I’ll be the first to admit that I was skeptical about Whoop 4.0. A brief summary: fitness trackerWithout a screen, it sounds a lot like a glorified wristwatch. However, after nearly a month strapped into Whoop’s ecosystem, I humbly admit I’m changing my tune. The Whoop 4.0 hasn’t only convinced me a screen isn’t necessary, it has me questioning if I want to go back at all.

The Whoop 4.0 device is a rare find in a saturated market. Its minimalist design features a small, lightweight tracker (33% smaller than the Whoop 4.0). Whoop 3.0The ) is a knit band with a metallic clasp. No colorful AMOLEDdisplay, or even a black-and-white LCD one. There is no screen. This means that there are no notifications, stats or distractions on the screen. It has a delightful effect.

The Whoop 4.0 is just beautiful. The Luxe bands are particularly attractive, and I received many positive comments throughout my testing period. Given that I wore my Luxe band during Thanksgiving holidays, I was thankful for it as an icebreaker during small talk with my family. “Ah yes, this is the Whoop 4.0, I have a pretty blue strap for it back at the hotel too!”

The Whoop Strap is a stark contrast with many of the most fashionable wearables. It doesn’t just blend in with your wardrobe, it accents and elevates everyday wear. Whoop has a large selection of color options, so it’s easy to find the right one for you.

Plenty of trackers tout swappable bands for mixing up your look — I have multiple Apple WatchBands rarely change from my go to nylon staple, but they do not vary much. During this review, I switched my Whoop band at least 12 times. I’m a huge fan of anything green so I wore my Ivy option most often with its elegant gold clasp. During USA World Cup games, I swapped into the blue kit for good luck (it didn’t work). I kept the standard black for those who were sweaty. runsYou can also hike. The Whoop band is more like a customized accessory than a tracker. The bands aren’t cheap ($49-$99), but it will likely feel worth the splurge.

It’s also easily the most comfortable wearable I can remember testing. Considering it’s designed to be worn 24/7, that shouldn’t be surprising. However, tons of trackers make the same claim, and this is the first I’ve found to very nearly live up to the hype. I had a personal preference for the exception. I tried to wear the band in a shower, but the moist strap gave my heebie-jeebies afterward. The team at Whoop provided me with alternative bands so that I could swap to a dry one.

If, however, you’re strangely comfortable wearing what feels like a wet sweatband for a few hours, you could theoretically keep your device on nonstop. It’s water-resistant to depths of ten meters (much deeper than my bathtub) for up two hours and safe for swimming in chlorinated water or salt water.

The Whoop 4.0, like the previous generations, is designed to stay on your wrist even while charging. The upgraded battery pack is even water resistant and can join you and your Whoop band during a shower if that’s ever necessary. You can quickly double-tap the battery to display its charge level. A red status light means you are low and a green one means you have juice left in the tank.

It was easy to charge during work hours, as it is lightweight and secure enough to type on a computer. The band gives off a real bulky-turtle vibe with the battery attached, so I wouldn’t make a habit of leaving the house with it clipped on anyway. A replacement battery costs $49 which is a significant cost if it gets lost while you’re out and about.

The battery pack itself charges via the world’s shortest USB-C cable. The utilitarian design is something I really appreciate as a neat freak who hates cord nests. I left my battery plugged in throughout the Whoop review period (outside of the time it spent on my device) and it didn’t disrupt my desk space in the slightest. The battery charged the device in less than two hours once it was placed on the tracker. Each charge lasted me for five days. It was a great convenience to have almost a week between charges and it is a huge advantage of not having to use a power-draining display.

Another benefit of the screen-free wearable device is its ability to provide uninterrupted sleep. Despite preset sleep times and sleep modes, I am easily distracted by my screen. smartwatchYou are in bed. If I’m not being woken up by a bright screen, I’m already awake, disabling sleep mode to send one last trivial text.

The Whoop 4.0 is easy to wear while you sleep and tracks your sleep. The latest model was added SpO2Tracking can be combined with a temperature sensor for overnight data. It was perfect for my sleep and wake times and my sleep stages were closely aligned with mine. Fitbit Versa 3, a remarkably accurate sleep tracker. I like the organization of the Whoop app’s sleep analysis. Since these features are largely carried over from the previous model, I won’t go into too much detail.

Personally, I found the Journal feature of Whoop’s sleep-tracking suite quite useful, although the daily prompt is somewhat aggressive. “What happened yesterday?” immediately gets my heart rate up. Users can now specify the behaviors they want to record, and then analyze how these behaviors impact their sleep over time. While I could see patterns in caffeine and alcohol intake, I was surprised to find how my sleep was correlated with hydration as well as certain mental health factors like gratitude, outdoor time and social fulfillment.

This aspect of the Whoop experience shows how a simple tracker can be a powerful tool when used in conjunction with a robust app. It is easy to turn the sleep insights that Whoop offers into practical changes.

To that same end, the key to the Whoop experience is that you don’t have to think about it. It’s the fitness tracker version of the sentiment that the best camera is the one that’s with you. The device pairs a new improved heart rate sensor with the same great app experience to offer users a fitness tracker that doesn’t impose on your day-to-day.

The Whoop 4.0 monitors your heart rate, just like the previous model. It then translates that data into “strain” to represent how hard you work each day. The band starts recording your workout automatically when it detects that it is you exercising. It ends the workout when it detects that it is finished. The Whoop app allows you to confirm your workout, adjust details if necessary, and view your heart rate data from the recorded activity.

This is done automatically and with remarkable accuracy. Should the band miss a workout, you can manually add details in the app. You can simply scroll to the appropriate time and choose your activity type to record heart rate data. On the other hand, if Whoop detects a phantom workout, you can also delete the “workout” label, but you cannot delete the heart rate data itself.

This method of tracking activity can be surprisingly liberating. Rather than focusing on closing rings or starting the correct sport mode, the Whoop strap encourages users to exercise for the sake of exercising, then check in when it’s convenient. No counting, no fiddling with your watch before you run. stepsAll day. Pure heart rate data. You can also start a workout via the app, and even track your progress. GPS data if you bring your phone, but the point is, you don’t have to.

The tracker is heavily dependent on heart rate data so I was pleased to see an improvement in accuracy. The Whoop 4.0 performed better than my Polar strap or other wearables during most workouts. It’s still not perfect in nailing high-intensity bursts, but overall, the data was reliable for Whoop’s purposes. Unfortunately, you still can’t pair your Whoop 4.0 with a chest strap if detailed accuracy is a priority.

When you are ready to review your day’s work, your data is organized into the same categories as the previous model: strain and recovery. The app is incredibly intuitive and displays results in a user-friendly manner that’s easy to digest. You can now dig deeper into strain, recovery, or sleep data as well as enable coaching. Tap on a workout to see its heart rate graph and activity stats. Tapping on a specific sleep session will reveal a breakdown and wake events as well as a heart rate graph.

To examine your personal trends and patterns, you can also see your results across all categories in weekly or monthly data sets. Whoop automatically calculates averages for you and provides valuable insights into your behavior. The app provides direction and information to help you reach your health goals.

Whoop removes many of the details that can make fitness tracking an obsession with stats rather than a way to improve your health. The screen-free wearable is not for athletes who depend on real-time data like pace, distance or heart rate zones. Outdoor enthusiasts who are looking for navigation tools or onscreen mapping should look elsewhere. If you often need to know the time, Whoop can’t help you either. This one was not easy to master.

The Whoop Band offers no on-wrist benefits other than aesthetics and a highly effective alarm. The haptic, which is new in this generation of Whoop, will allow you to wake up during your optimal sleep cycle. Everything else is done in the app. Whoop emphasizes balance between how hard your body works and how it recovers.

However, I was surprised at how easily the Whoop platform integrates to other popular fitness tools. Workouts can be uploaded. Strava, and you can also broadcast Whoop’s heart rate data to third-party apps and devices like Peloton.

The Whoop strap is a rare example pure tracking, even as the line between smartwatches and fitness trackers continues to blur. It’s not offering to make phone calls, play music, or make contactless payments, and honestly, it’s kind of nice. Many of us are so emotionally attached to our phones, a second screen attached to our bodies isn’t necessary. Will I go back Apple or Garmin? Yes, probably. This month was a refreshing reminder of the fact that connectivity can be exhausting and that sometimes on-screen metrics can be quite draining. The Whoop 4.0 app offers an alternative.

Despite all that, Whoop 4.0’s pricing structure may still be a concern. The strap is passively trackable, but the subscription structure is not.

Technically, the Whoop 4.0 hardware comes free. The tracker is not for sale, but interested buyers must commit to a 12-month membership. Whoop draws $30 from your wallet each month, making it a costly investment over the long-term. The monthly price can be reduced by $5 if you’re willing to pay upfront

At face value, $360 isn’t totally outside the realm of logic for a reliable fitness tracker. The ongoing fee is not cheap after the first year. If you keep your devices for several years, the Whoop 4.0 cost is comparable to premium devices such as the The One. Apple Watch UltraOr Garmin Fenix 7. Unfortunately, subscription fees are a growing trend. But, my Apple Watch can do a lot without me having to pay for it. Apple Fitness PlusMany people have successfully used it. FitbitDevices without opting for Fitbit premium. Whoop is unique in the fact that membership is required to use the devices in any capacity.

If you do purchase in, you are at the very least covered in terms of future-proofing. If Whoop releases a new model of hardware, you will automatically be eligible.