Whoop Strap vs Apple Watch

Whoop Strap vs Apple Watch – Which One Is Better?

In today’s digital era, you’ve certainly heard or seen the Apple Watch. Additionally, you might have noticed a growing number of gadgets being worn on people’s wrists, all of which have a lot more to offer than telling time. A great example is the Whoop Strap.

If you’re into fitness and haven’t heard of Whoop, you soon will as the device is loaded with impressive features and technology. However, if you’re puzzled about the better option to buy, this guide will walk you through an in-depth comparison of the Whoop Strap vs. Apple Watch to permit an informed decision.

Whoop Strap vs Apple Watch: Appearance

While the Whoop Strap and Apple Watch are strapped to your wrist, they feel and look different in the following ways.

Thickness

The Apple Watch and Whoop Strap are closely similar in their thickness profile. However, while the default band with a Whoop Strap is an elastic woven cloth-like material, the standard band for an Apple Watch is silicone.

Clasp

While the Whoop Strap has a clasp feature designed to set sizing, the Apple Watch had a conventional snap-on or groove that allows for effortless sizing adjustments.

Display

When comparing the Whoop Strap vs Apple Watch, both have a 24/7 heart rate monitor on the backside. In addition, the Apple Watch series has a touch-screen display that doubles as a mini-app device and a clock. Given that the Apple Watch face is usually at rest, the blacked-out screen is typically what you’ll see on your wrist. Whoop has no display whatsoever, with a cloth wrapping around your wrist.

Mobile App

Although you can predominantly control the Apple Watch directly from the screen, all the settings and information on the Whoop Strap can be controlled solely via the Whoop app on your smartphone or tablet. Granted, the Apple Watch also has a mobile app. However, it’s more geared towards adjusting display styles and settings. The Whoop watch, on the other hand, is more in-depth.

Water Resistance

Both the Whoop Strap and Apple Watch are waterproof, so you can shower or swim with both devices on, provided that the band is also water-resistant.

Band Design

The Apple Watch and Whoop Strap come in various band designs and colors that you can easily switch out for different looks.

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Whoop Strap vs Apple Watch: Function

The greatest differentiator between the Apple Watch and Whoop Strap is the functionalities. Typically, Whoop revolves around in-depth coaching and health data. In contrast, the Apple Watch usually serves as an all-encompassing app-based and communication-based gadget with a couple of health metrics as extra features. The main functionalities of the Whoop Strap can be broken down into:

Strain

It computes your overall exertion every day in addition to after each workout, on a scale of zero to 21 after factoring in your heart rate zones and baseline health. So, you can monitor how hard you push the limits after every session with personalized and instant feedback on your fitness journey.

Sleep

Sleep tracking monitors the quality and quantity of sleep you get every night, particularly breaking down the amount of time you spend in each sleep phase. Once the baseline is calculated, the Whoop Strap offers sleep coaching to give you insight into how much sleep you require, depending on your expected list of activities to tackle the next day.

Recovery

It considers the strain data of each day, the quantity and quality of your previous night’s sleep, and other metrics ranging from your respiratory rate and heart rate variability (HRV) to resting heart rate to deliver a customized recovery score as a percentage.

You’ll find this information useful on your fitness journey as the Whoop Strap will inform you each day if your body can handle an intense workout or you need a day to rest and recover.

When you access the Whoop app every morning, it’ll pepper you with questions about the previous day. For instance, how much water did you drink? Did you eat any food or a snack close to your bedtime? Did you consume alcohol? Did you wear blue-light blocking glasses?

Depending on the data from wearing the Whoop Strap coupled with your answers to the various questions, the app will offer suggestions for better lifestyle choices to enhance your recovery. For example, perhaps when you wear blue-light blocking glasses, you’ll get a good night’s rest, or if you eat too close to your bedtime, you’ll wake up feeling groggier. While these are just a few examples, you get the drift.

Now that you’re familiar with a few capabilities of the Whoop Strap, let’s explore a few functionalities of the Apple Watch.

Texting

While some people opt not to respond to text messages from their Apple Watch, the convenience of skimming through a text rather than pulling out your smartphone depending on where you are is unmatched.

Finding Your Phone

It’s no secret that most of us misplace our phones more than we’d like to admit. Therefore, the Apple Watch ushers in the convenience of hitting the ‘Find My Phone’ button and allowing your iPhone to ring out loud until you locate it.

Clock and Alarm

If you’ve been trying to break the habit of having your phone within arm’s reach at night when you’re sleeping but still want the flexibility of checking the time on your phone and setting the alarm, then you can do so on your Apple Watch, which vibrates to avoid waking everyone else in the house. If you wake up in the middle of the night or a bathroom break, you can check the time on your wrist without having to see other notifications.

Fitness Tracking

The fitness tracker of the Apple Watch computes not only your active fitness but also passive fitness. One of the most incredible aspects of the wearable device is sending you reminders about when to move around, stretch, and stand up.

These reminders are particularly helpful if you have a demanding office job, as many workers let the hours go by without remembering to step away from the desk and get active.

An Excellent Sleep Tracker

The Apple Watch has an impressive sleep tracker that monitors the various sleep stages, hours of sleep, and the total duration of deep sleep. However, keep in mind that its respiratory algorithm isn’t as advanced as the Whoop Strap.

Calories and Heart Rate Data

In addition to the ‘active’ calories you torch during physical activity, the Apple Watch provides heart rate data and heart rate monitoring. These metrics are essential as recognizing them will provide a baseline to work with when you track your fitness progress. Small, incremental changes that you can monitor and have on record can make a tremendous difference after a while.

Whoop Strap vs Apple Watch: Battery

The charging capabilities and battery life differ significantly when comparing the Whoop Strap and Apple Watch. You might notice that your Apple Watch runs out of charge relatively quickly, allowing you to get up to a day and a half of full charge. As a result, it forces you to charge it during the day to strap it on at night, which can be inconvenient depending on your day-to-day.

The Whoop Strap has an impressive battery life as it can last up to 5 days on a full charge. Furthermore, its rechargeable battery back slides on the wearable device to charge as you wear it. That means it’s designed to be worn 24/7, preventing you from losing any data. You can shower in it and swim in it.

Whoop Strap vs Apple Watch: Health Apps

Watch Health Apps

When it comes to the health apps native to the Apple Watch series, there’s not much to complain about as they contain the fundamentals such as habit tracking, heart rate, and sleep schedules. However, the truth is that the Whoop Strap packs a boatload of more features in one application, so you can get all the details you need in one place.

For example, the recovery, strain, and sleep coach features are accessible from the same main screen, and the information carries over seamlessly from one feature to another. On the other hand, the Apple Watch feels more like a set of health features that are loosely linked. The Whoop Strap was particularly designed for fitness coaching and tracking.

Whoop Strap vs Apple Watch: Comfort

There’s no denying that the Apple Watch feels more clunky compared to the Whoop Strap, as it feels like the latter is hardly noticeable. Furthermore, you have free rein to wear the Whoop Strap on your bicep, making it more convenient for competitiveness in a one-on-one game or a run. So, while the Apple Watch is a better fit for the office, the Whoop Strap is an excellent addition to your fitness arsenal.

Whoop Strap vs Apple Watch: Cost

Whoop and Apple utilize entirely different pricing models, making it an uphill battle to compare the gadgets side-by-side. Additionally, each brand has its unique hardware update cycle. That means you can invest in a new Apple Watch model each year starting from $400 or more, depending on your preferred strap options, configuration, size, and material.

Contrarily, the Whoop Strap only updates its hardware every few years, and instead of buying the strap up front, you have to join a monthly subscription that includes future software updates coupled with the gadget.

The benefit of Apple’s approach is the one-off cost of the smartwatch, after which you can use for years down the road without any recurring costs besides the battery if it’s in good condition. In addition, the OS updates are free and compatible with older models.

While the fancier Apple Watch models can set you back more than $500, remember, even the priciest model is limited to the same fundamental sleep tracking and fitness capabilities as the cheaper options. For as little as $18 per month, you can get the latest Whoop Strap 3.0 if you commit to a 3-year subscription. However, if you prefer a shorter membership, you can pay $30 every month.

Why Is HRV Important?

You may not realize it, but heart rate variability (HRV) is one of the most essential metrics in the fitness world. The average resting heart rate for adult males ranges from 60 beats to 100 beats per minute. Therefore, if a man’s resting heart rate is 60 beats per minute, they might assume their heartbeats just once per minute.

However, that isn’t always true, as there might be two heartbeats occurring over a timeframe of 1.85 seconds and two extra heartbeats occurring every 2.15 seconds. It’s these fluctuations in the heartbeat that are collectively referred to as heart rate variability.

HRV is a highly accurate fitness indicator, so the greater it is, the better for you. In addition, you’ll want to factor in HRV when monitoring your recovery score that is also displayed in real-time and available to Whoop Strap users.

Why Are Recovery Tracking and Calorie Tracking Essential?

Since understanding how intense your workouts should be depending on your level of recovery from the previous day prevents you from overdoing it, you can push yourself harder on your dedicated workout days as you have more in your tank.

If you’re into fitness, you typically keep your foot on the gas 90% of the time. However, through these fitness and activity tracking features, you can pump the brakes now and then, ultimately resulting in better performance.

Why Is It Crucial To Be Quantitative About Your Health?

As they say, if you can measure it, you can manage it. That applies to everything in life, including fitness and business. To enhance your performance in the most ideal way, you require date-drive and empirical evidence to impact your physical activity, how you eat and sleep every day, to gain insight into the variables that correlate with your body’s optimal recovery.

The Bottom Line

To sum it up, the Whoop Strap and Apple Watch differ significantly, so the better option for you boils down to your needs and lifestyle. For example, if you prefer a fitness band, Whoop is your best bet. On the other hand, if you gravitate more towards a smartwatch with apps and a face, then the Apple Watch is right up your alley.