Regarding wearable tech for health and fitness, two big names battle it out: Whoop Vs Apple Watch. Both devices go on your wrist, promising to transform how you track your well-being and exercise routines.
But which one should you crown the winner? Well, that depends on what matters most to you. In this piece, I’ll explore the pros and cons of Whoop and Apple Watch in detail. So, let’s begin.
Whoop vs Apple Watch: Features And Functionality
Boom! Here is the comparison table of Whoop and Apple. This table is just a road map to drag you into the detailed features.
| Features | Whoop | Apple Watch |
| Workout tracking | Tracks workouts automatically and manually | Tracks workouts automatically and manually |
| Automatic workout detection | Yes | Yes |
| Calorie tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Support for chest straps (HRM) | No | Yes |
| HR broadcasting | Yes, can broadcast HR to other devices | No |
| Guided workouts | No | Yes |
| Strain tracking | Provides a daily strain score | No |
| Sleep tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Sleep stage analysis | Yes | Yes |
| Sleep quality score | Provides a sleep quality score | No |
| Recovery score | No | No |
| Health Monitor | No | Yes, monitors blood oxygen, heart rate, and more |
| Battery life | Up to 5 days | Up to 18 hours |
| Pricing | $15.93 to $30 per month (membership required) | $249 to $799 |
Activity And Workout Tracking: Whoop Vs Apple Watch
Below is the table that very clearly tells you the difference based on Activity and work:
| Activity and Tracking | Whoop | Apple Watch |
| Automatic workout detection | Detects all previously logged workout types. | Running, walking, swimming, elliptical workouts, rowing. |
| Number of workout types | Tracks 100+ activities | Tracks 20 activities |
| Workout detection threshold | Automatically detects workouts over 15 minutes with a minimum strain score of 8. | Automatically detects workouts based on activity type. |
| Fitness goal scoring | Uses Metabolic Strain for goal setting. | Uses Active Calories or Active Minutes for goal setting. |
| Step counting | Not supported | Tracks steps. |
| HR broadcasting | Can broadcast heart rate to other devices. | Does not broadcast heart rate. |
| External HR monitor (chest strap) support | Does not support external HR monitors. | Supports external HR monitors (chest strap). |
| Recommendations | Provides personalized recommendations from a strain coach, sleep coach, and AI-powered training plans. | Offers exercise reminders. |
| Post-workout analysis | Provides detailed metrics and recommendations after workouts. | Provides raw workout metrics. |
| Community | Offers team functionality and activity sharing. | Awards and activity-sharing functionalities are available. |
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Calorie Tracking: Whoop vs Apple Watch
Tracking how many calories you burn is pretty much a guessing game if you don’t know your basal metabolic rate (BMR). BMR is the energy your body needs for basic functions like breathing, digesting food, and pumping blood when you’re just resting.
In simple terms, if you don’t tell your fitness tracker your BMR, it has to be estimated based on your height, weight, and gender. This makes calculating your calorie burn tricky and not very accurate.
The Apple Watch tracks all the active calories you burn, whether it’s during a workout or just normal activities like carrying grocery bags from the car. You can see these active calories as the “Move” metric in red in the Fitness app.
However, you won’t see your total calorie burn, which is your BMR calories plus active calories. You’ll have to do that math yourself. On the flip side, WHOOP shows you your total calories burned right on the app’s dashboard.
But it only shows active calories for workouts it tracked or that you manually added. In other words, WHOOP doesn’t display active calories from normal activities like climbing stairs.
Step Counting: Whoop Vs Apple Watch
Apple Watch tracks how many steps you take each day, but WHOOP doesn’t. Whether it’s important or not depends on where you are in your fitness journey and what you want from a tracker.
I value walking more than jogging for health and longevity reasons. After all, our ancestors and early humans walked in search of food, so walking mimics their activity patterns.
Initially, I believed that high-intensity workouts like CrossFit, lasting only 13-25 minutes, were an excellent bio-hack to achieve the same or better fitness results without taking 9,000 steps per day. However, my perspective has changed.
While I’m still a huge fan of HIIT workouts, I now realize the importance of moving as much as possible throughout the day. Counting steps can be a useful metric to keep track of your overall movement.
That said, I don’t pay much attention to my step data. But based on my Apple Watch’s tracking, I’ve been averaging over 10,600 steps per day over the past five months.
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Health Monitor
Let me tell you about an awesome new feature that WHOOP introduced with their WHOOP 4.0 wearable device. It’s called the Health Monitor, and man, it’s really cool! Basically, it gives you a daily snapshot of your five most important biometric readings that WHOOP tracks while you’re sleeping.
First off, it monitors your respiratory rate, which is how fast you’re breathing. Then, it checks your blood oxygen saturation level, known as SpO2. This tells you how much oxygen is in your blood. Next up, it tracks your resting heart rate or RHR for short.
After that, it looks at your heart rate variability, or HRV, which is a measure of how consistent your heart rate is. Finally, it even keeps an eye on your skin temperature.
Now, here’s the really neat part: if any of these biometrics stray from your normal baseline, WHOOP will give you a warning. This is super handy because it can alert you to potential issues like overtraining, the start of an illness, or even changes in your menstrual cycle. Pretty awesome, right?
While the Apple Watch doesn’t have such a comprehensive feature, it does let you track your respiratory rate and perform on-demand blood oxygen saturation checks. Still, WHOOP’s Health Monitor is just next-level stuff!
Hardware And Sensors
| A mix of green, red, and infrared LEDs | Whoop | Apple Watch |
| 3D accelerometer and gyroscope | Yes | Yes |
| Optical heart rate sensor and pulse oximeter | A mix of green, red, and infrared LEDs | Mix of green, red, and infrared LEDs |
| NTC (negative thermal coefficient) body temperature sensor | Yes | No |
| Electrodermal activity (skin conductance) sensor | Yes | No |
| Sampling rate | 100 times per second | Varies |
| Interchangeable straps | Yes | Yes |
| Electrocardiogram (ECG) | No | Yes |
Pricing
| Device | Price | Description |
| WHOOP 4.0 (with 12-month membership) | Starts at $251.85 | This includes the WHOOP tracker and a membership that provides access to features like sleep tracking, strain score, recovery score, and coaching. |
| Apple Watch SE | Starts at $279 | This smartwatch tracks workouts, heart rate, sleep, and more. It does not require a separate subscription fee. |
| Apple Watch Series 7 | Starts at $399 | This is a more advanced smartwatch with additional features like a larger display and blood oxygen monitoring. It does not require a separate subscription fee. |
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Final Thought
Both WHOOP and Apple Watch offer impressive fitness tracking capabilities, but they cater to different needs. The WHOOP shines with its advanced sleep monitoring, recovery tracking, and comprehensive Health Monitor feature.
On the other hand, the Apple Watch stands out as a more versatile smartwatch, offering a wide range of features beyond fitness tracking. Its built-in ECG, fall detection, and seamless integration with other Apple devices make it an attractive option for those seeking a well-rounded wearable experience.
Ultimately, the decision between WHOOP and Apple Watch depends on your priorities. If you’re an elite athlete or deeply invested in tracking every aspect of your fitness and recovery, the WHOOP is the better choice. However, the Apple Watch is the way to go if you value a more comprehensive smartwatch experience with a sleeker design and broader functionality.
Frequently Asked Questions
Whoop tracks workouts automatically and manually, while the Apple Watch also tracks both types and offers guided workouts.
Yes, Whoop displays total calories burned on its dashboard, whereas Apple Watch focuses on active calories and requires users to calculate total burn manually.
No, Apple Watch tracks steps, but Whoop does not provide step-counting functionality.
Whoop’s Health Monitor provides a daily snapshot of key biometric readings during sleep, including respiratory rate, blood oxygen saturation, resting heart rate, heart rate variability, and skin temperature, with alerts for deviations from baseline.
Whoop features additional sensors such as an NTC body temperature sensor and electrodermal activity sensor, whereas the Apple Watch includes an ECG sensor but lacks these specific sensors found in Whoop.