Whoop 5.0 review: I tried to lower my biological age with the fitness band, here’s what happened

From fitness trackers to smartwatches to fitness rings, there’s no shortage of wearable tech promising to help us all move more and recover better.

WHOOP was an early pioneer in developing screenless fitness tech, with a massive community of fans including Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James and even Prince William, but the buzz eluded me until the WHOOP 5.0 was released this year.

WHOOP 5.0, from £153 per year

Suddenly, everywhere I turned on social media, at the gym, or among friends, devoted WHOOP 4.0 fans were talking about the new release, and it made me wonder what I was missing.

As an experienced fitness writer who writes about the best smartwatches, I may have been a little sceptical about wearing something that tells me the same data I can get from a watch, without even being able to tell the time.

But the more I researched it, the more I realised that the beauty was in the screen-free distraction, the lightweight feel (as there’s no heavy screen) and the richness of the app, compared to those offered by smartwatch brands like Garmin, COROS and Huawei.

I also have a self-inflicted sleep issue: I am absolutely terrible at going to bed early, so I was intrigued to see whether the WHOOP 5.0 would have any greater effects on my sleep than the smartwatches and fitness trackers I’d previously tried.

How I tested

WHOOP 5.0, from £153 per year

I put the WHOOP 5.0 through a four-week trial.

My main mission was to tackle my own self-inflicted sleep issues, so I relied heavily on the device to guide my bedtime and recovery every single day.

I wore it 24/7 during Pilates, heavy gym sessions, and while running to properly test its durability and comfort.

Crucially, I paid close attention to the device itself, not just the data.

I tracked how long the battery actually lasted and made sure the sleek, screen-free strap was comfortable enough to wear every night without irritation.

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• Quick summary
• Full review
• Verdict

Whoop 5.0 review: Quick summary

Pros:

• Lightweight
• Comfortable
• Shows you exactly why sleep is important
• 14-day battery life
• Impressive strength-training tracking

Cons:

• Requires a subscription
• Woven strap isn’t fast-drying

Rating: 4.5/5

Whoop 5.0 full review

First impressions

Picking up the Whoop 5.0, I immediately noticed its intentional simplicity.

There is no screen, no notifications, and no distraction and what you get is just a light, comfortable fabric strap housing serious tech.

WHOOP 5.0, from £153 per year

This design is crucial because the device needs to be worn 24/7 to gather its necessary biometric data.

The upgraded sensor array is where the magic starts: it now boasts five LEDs and four photodiodes which capture health data 26 times per second, ensuring unparalleled accuracy compared to older models.

This precision is vital because every piece of advice the strap gives you relies on its ability to measure your Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Resting Heart Rate (RHR) with surgical precision.

An improved battery life compared to the Whoop 4.0, now boasting up to 14 days of continuous use, also means you spend less time charging and more time gathering that crucial data.

Performance: How does the WHOOP 5.0 work?

Unlike fitness trackers and smart watches, you don’t get anything at all out of the WHOOP 5.0 by looking at your wrist.

Instead, the Whoop app is where the magic happens.

The ecosystem is built around the interaction of three central daily scores that form the home screen of the app: Recovery, Strain, and Sleep.

WHOOP 5.0, from £153 per year

In theory, understanding the relationship between these three is the key to mastering your fitness and getting healthier in a way that is good for the body long-term.

Recovery (the verdict): This is the definitive score—a daily percentage (and a green, yellow, or red colour) based on how rested your autonomic nervous system is.

It is calculated primarily from your Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Resting Heart Rate (RHR) captured during the deepest phase of your sleep.

This score acts as your morning forecast: a Green score (67%+) means your body is primed for high-intensity activity, while a Red score (under 33%) warns you that your body is fighting illness or is severely under-recovered.

Strain (the load): This is Whoop’s personalised measure of your body’s total exertion, scored on a scale from 0 to 21.

Strain accounts for the cumulative stress on your body, including both cardiovascular load (from running and training) and muscular load (from lifting weights).

Users rely on this to prevent burnout, as the score reflects both workout intensity and non-exercise stressors.

The Strain Coach uses your morning Recovery score to guide your day, instantly recommending an optimal effort level, so if you wake up Green, the Coach tells you to aim for a high strain; if you’re Red, it strictly advises low-level active recovery.

Sleep (the foundation): Whoop turns your sleep into a definitive performance metric.

It doesn’t just track duration; it measures things like sleep consistency, with the final score directly impacting your Recovery number.

To get fitter, the idea is to place more strain on your body, but not so much that you burn out.

And to get the most out of your workouts, you want to work on your sleep scores so that the Whoop allows you to go harder in your workout sessions.

As I’m quite data-orientated, I soon got into the habit of checking my Whoop app first thing in the morning so I could see how well I’d slept and whether or not I was getting fitter.

But I have to admit that having a sleep score wasn’t that much different to being given a sleep score by my smart watch, except that the Whoop was a little more comfortable to wear.

How is Whoop different from other fitness trackers?

While the WHOOP 5.0 can track step count and activities like fitness trackers, that is not its USP.

For me, the two things it does better than my smartwatch are its strength training tracking and its ability to give me a long-term picture of my health and how I’m ageing.

WHOOP 5.0, from £153 per year

Crucially, the 5.0 introduces Healthspan, in which you’ll find your Whoop Age – a calculated estimate of your physiological age, not your calendar age.

To get this age, Whoop uses a comprehensive analysis of nine core biometrics linked to longevity, including your weekly time spent in different heart rate zones, your daily steps, your sleep consistency, and your VO2 max.

If your Whoop Age is younger than your actual age, you’re on the right track; if it’s older, the device immediately shows you which specific habits are holding you back.

For me, it was sleep, and that made me wake up and start to make changes to my sleep habits

When my smartwatch app gives me a sleep score of about 67%, I’m guilty of shrugging my shoulders, resolving to try harder the following night and then getting distracted by the TV, an invite to the pub or replying to Whatsapp voice notes.

But seeing that my age is closely linked to my sleep and not wanting to look older than I actually am really motivated me to put my phone away earlier at night.

And it wasn’t just sleep either.

I found that the more strength training I incorporated into my weekly routine, the better my scores were.

As mentioned above, WHOOP is far superior at strength training than smartwatches, which love giving you credit for running or cycling, but suggest that you haven’t made much effort during a strength workout.

That’s because most fitness watches traditionally tend to measure your heart rate and estimate calories burned, whereas the WHOOP app calculates muscular load.

When I finish a lifting session, I went into the app and told l it exactly what I did, such as which exercises, how many times I repeated them (reps), how many rounds I did (sets), and how heavy the weight was.

WHOOP then took in all that information and, using sophisticated analysis, readjusted my daily Strain score.

I felt I got full credit for the physical stress and hard work of strength training, and this made me motivated to keep it up.

When I went a week without strength training, my WHOOP age increased, which was also hugely helpful in making me get to the gym and put in a proper workout.

Whoop 5.0: Verdict

After being sceptical about how a tracker without a screen could have any benefit on my health, I hold my hands up and say I underestimated it.

The WHOOP 5.0 is the only device that’s made me do something about my sleep habits, after showing me what effects they’re having on my physiological age.

The coaching insights are useful without being preachy and it is more comfortable to wear in bed than a watch.

While it’s not ideal to be tied to a subscription, you’d spend a lot more on Botox or anti-aging skincare if you didn’t have it.

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