WHOOP 5.0/MG Activity Tracker Review: data-heavy strap for people who actually want to train smarter

I’ve been testing the WHOOP 5.0 with the 12‑month WHOOP One membership for a few weeks, wearing it basically 24/7. I’ve used Fitbit and Garmin watches for years, so I wasn’t starting from scratch. The big difference with WHOOP is that it’s not trying to be a smartwatch at all. No screen, no notifications, just a nylon band and a sensor that feeds data into the app. If you like glancing at your wrist to see steps or heart rate, this will feel a bit weird at first.

The first thing that stood out to me is how much the whole product is built around recovery, sleep, and strain, not just counting steps. Instead of “you hit 10,000 steps, congrats”, you get a daily recovery score and a suggested strain target for the day. So it’s more like, “Your body’s at 60%, here’s how hard you should push.” For people who actually train regularly, that’s a lot more useful than step badges.

On the flip side, you’re basically renting a service. The device is tied to a membership, and this version just includes 12 months upfront. After that, you’re paying again every year. If you’re used to buying a tracker once and using it until it dies, the subscription will annoy you. And if something goes wrong early, like some reviewers mentioned (sleep not tracking, unit dying), you’re stuck waiting on support while your paid year ticks away.

Overall, my first impression is that WHOOP is great if you actually care about the data and are willing to open the app often. It’s less good if you just want a simple fitness band or smartwatch with a screen. It feels more like a training tool than a casual lifestyle gadget, and that’s going to either fit you really well or not at all.

Let’s talk money because that’s the sticking point for a lot of people. This package includes 12 months of WHOOP One membership plus the 5.0 strap and charger. After that first year, you’re paying again every year for the membership. You’re not really buying a device; you’re buying access to the platform. Compared to a one-time purchase like a Fitbit or basic Garmin band, that’s a big mental shift. One Amazon reviewer flat-out called out the yearly cost as a negative, and I agree it’s not cheap.

Is it worth it? That depends on how you use it. If you’re actively training, care about recovery, and will actually open the app daily, log habits in the Journal, and adjust your lifestyle based on the data, then you’ll probably feel like you’re getting your money’s worth. The insights, Healthspan age, strain targets, and AI coaching make more sense when you’re putting in work and tweaking sleep, alcohol, training load, etc. I personally started going to bed earlier after seeing how often my recovery cratered after short nights, so for me there was some real value.

If you’re more casual—just want steps, simple sleep stats, and occasional workouts tracked—then this is probably overkill and too expensive. A cheaper tracker with no subscription will do the job. Also, the fact that some users had devices fail after a few weeks and had to wait for replacements while their paid membership was running is not great. WHOOP does have a lifetime warranty on the hardware, but warranty doesn’t give you back lost time or data.

So in terms of value, I’d say: good for serious or data-nerd users, mediocre for casual folks. The tech is solid, but the subscription makes it something you need to think about long term. If you’re not sure you’ll stick with it for more than a few months, I’d be careful before locking yourself into this ecosystem.

Design-wise, WHOOP goes the opposite direction of Apple Watch and Garmin. It’s literally just a small black sensor clipped into a fabric band. No display, no buttons, no flashy stuff. If you like minimal gear and don’t want a screen lighting up during meetings, sleep, or workouts, that’s a plus. On the other hand, if you’re used to glancing at your wrist for pace, heart rate, or notifications, you’ll miss that a lot.

The unit is very light (around 3.8 oz with band and all) and sits low on the wrist. Under a hoodie or tight sleeve, it doesn’t snag or catch like some chunkier watches. I barely noticed it when lifting or doing push-ups, which I can’t say about bigger watches that dig into the wrist. The flip side is you’re always reaching for your phone to see anything meaningful, which gets old if you check your stats often.

The band that comes in the box is a CoreKnit nylon strap. It looks clean—simple black, nothing flashy—and it’s easy to adjust. But like some Amazon reviewers, I’m not a fan of nylon staying damp after showers or sweaty workouts. You can shower with it and it’s fine, but the band feels wet for a while. I swapped to a silicone band (bought separately), and that felt much better for day-to-day use. Honestly, they should offer a silicone option in the base package.

Overall, I’d say the design is discreet and practical, but it’s clearly built for function, not style. If you want a watch that also looks good at dinner or in the office, this is basically just a black strap that blends in. I liked that it didn’t scream “tech gadget”, but I did miss having quick-glance info on my wrist. So, good design if you’re okay living in the app, less good if you rely on wrist feedback mid-workout.

The battery life is one of the best parts of WHOOP 5.0. The brand claims 14+ days, and in real use I was getting around 12–15 days depending on how often I synced and how much I checked the app. That’s still way better than most smartwatches that need charging every 1–3 days. Not having to think about the battery all the time makes it much easier to wear 24/7, which is important since the whole point is continuous tracking.

The charging system is a bit different from what most people are used to. Instead of taking the strap off, you slide a small battery pack onto the device while it’s still on your wrist. With this bundle you get the corded Basic Charger that you plug into the wall to charge the battery pack, then clip that onto the WHOOP to charge the strap. One Amazon reviewer said they didn’t realize at first that you charge it while wearing it—I did the same. Once you understand it, it’s actually pretty handy: you don’t lose tracking time, and you’re not constantly taking it on and off.

The downside is it’s one more little piece to keep track of. If you misplace the charger or forget to charge it, you’re stuck. Also, the Basic Charger is corded; the wireless PowerPack is extra money. I only used the Basic and it was fine, but it’s not as slick as just dropping a watch on a stand. Still, since you’re only doing this every couple of weeks, it’s not a huge hassle.

Overall, I’d give the battery experience a strong rating. It does what they say: long life, quick top-ups, and you don’t have to interrupt tracking. If you’ve been annoyed by charging your current tracker every other day, this is a nice upgrade. Just be ready to deal with WHOOP’s slightly quirky charger system and not lose the little pack.

Comfort is one of the strong points here. Because there’s no screen, no big case, and it’s pretty light, the WHOOP sits flat on the wrist and doesn’t move much if you size the band correctly. I wore it 24/7—sleeping, training, showering—and most of the time I genuinely forgot it was there. Compared to a bulky Garmin or Apple Watch, it’s less annoying under long sleeves or when your wrist bends a lot during lifting or yoga.

The downside is the CoreKnit nylon band. It’s soft and flexible, but once it gets wet (showers, pool, heavy sweat) it tends to stay damp for longer than I like. One Amazon reviewer mentioned switching to silicone, and I did the same after a week. With silicone, it feels way better: easier to rinse, dries quickly, and doesn’t get that slightly musty feeling if you sweat a lot. So comfort is good, but only once you dial in the right band material and tightness.

In terms of skin reaction, I didn’t get irritation, even wearing it all day and night. The sensor doesn’t dig in, and you don’t need to crank the strap super tight to get readings. WHOOP’s app also suggests alternate wear spots (biceps, etc.) if you buy their extra sleeves, but I tested only on the wrist. For sleeping, it’s much less intrusive than a full watch; no sharp edges, no crown pressing into your hand if you sleep with your wrist bent.

So overall: comfort is pretty solid, but I’d budget for a second band if you’re picky. If you’re okay with a fabric band that sometimes feels damp, you’ll be fine with the included one. If that kind of thing bothers you, I’d go straight for silicone or something similar and skip the frustration. The device itself is easy to live with; the band choice is what makes or breaks the 24/7 comfort.

On the performance side, WHOOP is very focused on heart rate, HRV, sleep, and recovery. During workouts, it tracks heart rate and builds a “strain” score based on how hard your body is working over time. You don’t see this on your wrist, only in the app afterward or during if you keep your phone handy. For steady cardio (runs, cycling, rowing), the heart rate tracking was in line with my Garmin chest strap most of the time, with only occasional small lags during sudden spikes.

The sleep tracking is honestly where it shines. It picks up sleep and wake times, plus stages (light, deep, REM) pretty reliably. Nights where I felt wrecked the next morning usually matched a low recovery score and poor HRV. You also get suggested sleep times, and over a few weeks, it starts learning how much sleep you personally need. That part felt useful, especially when I tried going to bed later and saw recovery instantly tank. One Amazon reviewer who had a defective unit mentioned sleep tracking totally breaking, so there are clearly some quality control issues, but when it works, it’s solid.

The catch is a lot of the more advanced stuff takes weeks to unlock. VO2 max estimates, fitness age (Healthspan), and more accurate recovery baselines only really settle after you’ve worn it consistently. So the first 1–2 weeks feel a bit underwhelming: you get basic data, but not the deeper insights. If you’re impatient or not sure you’ll stick with it, this ramp-up can feel like a drag.

One thing I did like: the Journal correlations. After logging habits like alcohol, late meals, caffeine, etc. for a couple of weeks, you actually see numbers like “alcohol within 3 hours of bed is associated with -X% recovery.” It’s not magic, but it’s a good reality check. Overall, performance is pretty strong for people who want detailed recovery and stress info, but you need to commit to wearing it all the time and give it a few weeks before judging it.

When you buy this WHOOP 5.0/MG package, you’re not just buying a band. You’re getting: the WHOOP 5.0 sensor, a CoreKnit nylon band, a corded Basic Charger, and 12 months of WHOOP One membership. The membership is really the core of the product. Without it, the strap is basically useless because all the magic happens in the app: recovery scores, strain targets, sleep analysis, menstrual cycle insights, VO2 max estimates, and the AI coach.

WHOOP tracks a bunch of stuff automatically: heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep stages, respiratory rate, and general movement. With the Journal, you can log 160+ habits like alcohol, caffeine, bedtime, stress, cold showers, etc. After a while, it shows correlations like “when you drink late, your recovery drops X%” or “when you go to bed at consistent times, your HRV improves.” Some of this is common sense, but having the numbers in front of you can be a good slap in the face.

The app also pushes daily recommendations: when to go to bed, how hard to train, and how your recovery looks compared to your baseline. There’s also this “Healthspan” feature that tries to estimate your fitness age vs your actual age. It takes a while to unlock though, which lines up with what some reviewers said: you need patience for WHOOP to calibrate. You don’t get the full feature set in the first week.

In practice, I’d describe WHOOP as a subscription to a data and coaching platform that happens to come with a band, not the other way around. If that idea sounds good to you and you’re ready to open the app daily and mess with your habits, it makes sense. If you just want simple stats without a paywall every year, this setup will feel like too much.