Both Whoop and Apple Watch have made names for themselves as offering easy ways for users to track their workouts and gain insights into their performance. But how can you choose between them?
What, if anything, does Whoop do that Apple doesn’t? Or, if you’re sporting one of the best iPhones is it a guarantee that an Apple Watch will be a better suited wearable for you?
As we’ve reviewed both the latest Whoop and countless Apple Watches here at Trusted Reviews, you’ve come to the right place for advice. We’ve compared the specs and overall offerings of Whoop to Apple Watch below, so you can decide which device is right for you.
If you’re not completely sold on either Whoop or Apple Watch, then make sure you visit our round up of the best smartwatches and best fitness trackers instead. Or, visit our Whoop vs Garmin and Garmin vs Apple Watch to see how Garmin compares.
Price and subscriptions
Both the Whoop and Apple Watch considerably differ in how you can buy them. Whoop operates as a subscription model, whereby you’ll receive either the Whoop 5.0 or Whoop MG Strap at no cost, but you’ll have to pay an annual membership fee to access the app and supporting features.
There are three memberships to choose from: One, Peak and Life. One is the cheapest starting at £169/$169 for a 12-month subscription, and includes a Whoop 5.0 device, charger and a Jet Black CoreKnit band.
Peak is the mid-range offering, with a starting RRP of £229/$229 for 12-months. This plan also comes equipped with a Whoop 5.0 device but also includes a wireless PowerPack and an Obsidian SuperKnit band.
Finally, at the time of writing, Whoop is offering a one-month free trial for anyone who wants to try before they buy. This offer includes a “certified pre-owned” Whoop 5.0 device, one-month of Peak membership, a basic charger and a new SuperKnit band. Although it comes with Peak, you can choose to upgrade to Life or downgrade to One before your trial ends.
This is a pretty good way to see what Whoop has to offer before making the expensive commitment, however just note that you will need to enter valid payment details at the checkout.
In comparison, buying an Apple Watch is a much more straightforward affair. While there are various optional subscriptions you can add to your device, from Apple’s own Fitness Plus to third-party tools, you don’t need to tie yourself down to a plan in order to use the Apple Watch.
The cheapest of the series is the Apple Watch SE 3 which starts at £219/$249, while the Apple Watch Series 11 is the mid-range option with a starting RRP of £369/$399. Finally, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is the most expensive of the line-up and starts from £749/$799.
We’ll touch upon the differences between the Apple Watches in this article, but for a closer look you should visit Apple Watch Series 11 vs Watch SE 3 and Apple Watch Series 11 vs Ultra 3.
Design
The biggest difference between Whoop and Apple Watch is that the former is entirely screenless which the brand explains “means you can focus on your health”.
All Whoop straps also support an external PowerPack which slides on while you’re still wearing it. That essentially means you’ll rarely need to take it off, even to charge, for a more conclusive picture of your health. However, this PowerPack doesn’t come with the cheapest One subscription, so would need to be purchased separately.
On the other hand, all Apple Watches sport a square touchscreen display on top of its strap. While the exact size of the screen depends on the series of Watch you opt for, with the Series 11 available in either 42mm or 46mm while the Ultra 3 comes as a 49mm model.
Each Apple Watch also differs with the screen type. While all three of the current flagships have an OLED Retina display, the Watch SE only has a max brightness of up to 1000 nits. In comparison, as the Ultra 2 is designed to be used outdoors, this is reflected with its mighty 3000 nits peak brightness, compared to the Series 11’s 2000 nits.
Even so, we should mention that the SE 3 is the first of Apple’s more affordable watches to sport an always-on display, which is a hugely welcome addition.
Whoop 5.0
Apple Watch Series 10
Health tracking
While all Whoop straps are fitted with sensors to track the likes of your heart rate variability (HRV), sleep and blood oxygen levels, the exact monitors will depend on the subscription plan and Whoop model you opt for.
For example, while all models allow you to track and monitor your sleep and recovery, only the Whoop MG can take an ECG reading.
Plus, Peak and Life subscriptions have Healthspan which looks at how your daily habits impact your health. It also gives you a Whoop age, which is a measure of your physiological age as opposed to your actual age, and a “Pace of Aging” which measures how quickly your age changes.
As Whoop straps don’t have a display, you can find all your health data and metrics via the accompanying Whoop iOS or Android smartphone app.
Apple Watches also offer sleep tracking, heart rate, respiratory rate tracking too as standard, however more expensive counterparts offer additional monitoring. Both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Ultra 3 can monitor your wrist temperature, blood oxygen levels and take an ECG too.
While the SE 3 doesn’t sport those features, it can detect signs of sleep apnoea – much like the Series 11 and Ultra 3. This is a brilliant tool that’s found in many smartwatches, as our own Mobile Editor Lewis Painter was alerted of his own sleep apnoea when using a smartwatch.
Fitness tracking
While you can manually log workouts to your Whoop app, the strap also has automatic activity detection which identifies when you’ve started exercising based on your heart rate, movement patterns and strain levels too.
One of our favourite features of the Whoop strap is its recovery score. Akin to the Garmin’s Recovery Time, Whoop’s Recovery measures your body’s post-sleep return to its baseline state and factors in your resting heart rate, HRV, respiratory rate and sleep to present you with a score between 1-100%. Essentially, the higher the score, the harder you can push yourself during a work out.
We were seriously impressed with this, and found it helps with “making informed, health decisions”.
Apple’s activity hardware has been relatively unchanged for the Watch, so even those sporting older models will be familiar with the newer versions. Having said that, the Apple Watch Series 11 and Ultra 3 do see some new features such as Training Load and, thanks to their respective water resistance ratings, more swim features too.
With the Apple Watch series, you can download compatible third-party workout apps like Strava and Peloton and track your progress through them. Plus, as we mentioned earlier, you can also subscribe to Apple Fitness Plus and benefit from hundreds of workouts too.
Smartwatch features
Put simply, Whoop isn’t a smartwatch in the traditional sense and shouldn’t be used if that’s your primary want. This means you won’t receive notifications or be able to play music from the strap, unlike the Apple Watch which pairs neatly with an iPhone.
In fact, we’ve praised the Apple Watch Series 10 as “the best smartwatch for iPhone users” and “if you’ve got an iPhone and don’t want a true sports watch […] this is the best smartwatch.”
When paired with an iPhone, you can receive your notifications such as messages and calls, use Siri and make purchases with Apple Pay, all without needing your iPhone nearby. However, if you’re sporting on the best Android phones and want a companion smartwatch, then you’re better off looking through our best smartwatch guide instead. While it is technically possible to pair an Apple Watch with an Android, you’ll miss out on many features and it’s simply not worth it.
Battery
Regarding sheer battery prowess alone, Whoop significantly surpasses the Apple Watch. While the Apple Watch series offers a matter of hours, with the Watch Ultra 3 promising up to 72 hours (in low power mode), the latest Whoop 5.0 is promised over 14 days.
You can also recharge the strap via the wireless PowerPack, which attaches directly to the top, like how a standard display would, to charge. This means you theoretically never need to take your strap off, therefore resulting in uninterrupted health tracking.
Verdict
It’s difficult to draw a conclusive verdict between Whoop and Apple Watch as they both offer different features. However, if you’re a keen athlete or someone who wants an in-depth look at their health and fitness metrics, and doesn’t necessarily want a smartwatch then the Whoop is undoubtedly a great choice.
However, if you’re an iPhone user who wants a way to keep on top of your notifications while tracking your health metrics, and without tying yourself down to a subscription, then the Apple Watch would suit you better.
