So if you already have a smartwatch (I have a Galaxy Active 2) does Whoop provide any further useful data? I like my smartwatch, but it’s not really motivating me in any way. I think its best feature is that I can answer a call without touching my phone lol. I don’t even wear the Samsung golfing as I wear my Garmin gps watch. I feel like I need a watch that will violently shock me if I go to eat french fries or until I get a workout in. They do have a band that will shock you, but sadly I don’t believe it’s “smart” enough to do more than wake you up on time.
@Kevomanc, yes I like the Whoop a lot better. My smart watch is an Apple Watch 4. I use it mostly to be able to play podcasts and receive calls without having to have my phone with me when working out or at the beach or pool.
The Whoop I believe provides much more useful information and the best thing about it that you don’t need to do anything other than wear it. It automatically tracks your sleep and your workouts. Each day it tells you how much your body has recovered and it encourages you to work out the proper amount today. It tells you how much you need to do to maintain your fitness level and how much to improve your fitness level. Throughout the day it lets you know how much progress you’ve made toward your goal.
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Thanks appreciate the feedback. As a former engineer I like data, but sometimes I feel like some of these devices are really complex and yet don’t provide the basic info you need. Like my gps watch that doesn’t always offer yardages to the dogleg or hazards. One of my favorite fitness trackers was the old MyTrack? which had an LED ring. You started the day in Red and the ring would light up to Yellow and then Green as you were moving throughout the day. If the ring was still Yellow in the afternoon I would start jogging up and down the stairs or doing something to get it to Green.
Couple days into using the Halo and I’ll say it’s “okay enough”. Definitely wouldn’t consider it a Whoop competitor as the measurement data simply isn’t there. The Halo really just has heartrate and steps and then bases things like sleep and activity level on the heartrate. Nothing about blood oxygen, or recovery or anything like that. The stuff they have in the “Labs” section would be good content for someone without a fitness or meditation app they already use. I turned Tone off after a day because it absolutely kills the battery.
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That’s too bad. I would have thought Amazon would have come out strong with their first wearable. Especially since Jeff Bezos said health & wellness is a priority space for the company.
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I’m returning the Amazon Halo. I found the data to not be particularly accurate and not the level I really want. If someone is looking for a lightweight easy activity tracker (and REALLY doesn’t want a FitBit for some reason) and an okay price it could work, but not for me. It is most certainly not a Whoop replacement, or even in the same league, so perhaps my expectations were a bit too high.
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Thanks CoryO. I’ve heard the same from others. I’m taking the Halo off my list of things to try. I’m going to stick with my Whoop.
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Good to know as I was thinking the Halo looked interesting once available to everyone. Hopefully they will improve and expand its capabilities. I would guess that it could be another huge data gathering device for them so I would expect them to have done better.
I haven’t tried Whoop but if the major benefit is understanding your sleep and recovery, a strong alternative which doesn’t require a subscription is the Oura ring. I love my Oura ring and the sleep and recovery is great and the company has a strong backing within the longevity/health community like Peter Attia (he’s connected as an investor/advisor FWIW).
I looked at the ring previously. Do you golf with it on?
No. Sometimes I forget and start hitting with it but I worry a bit about getting calluses/blisters with it. It is solidly built and not too bulky. FWIW, I also have an apple watch so I do get things like steps recorded during the round so the biggest benefit for me personally is the sleep and recovery stats
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Those are a big part of the Whoop but it also monitors workouts and reports how those workouts affect your “Strain” score, which is tied into the recovery data. For example it might say you need to achieve a Strain score of 16 today in order to help your body recover. Achieve a score of 18 to make fitness gains.
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This is a good article about how Whoop can help detect things such as a heart attack in this example. I have also heard from others who got sick and went back to look at their data and noticed some of the numbers had risen or fallen. If you pay attention to the data regularly it can really be beneficial.
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I believe the Whoop has a lot of health applications. Unfortunately, they are not allowed to do a lot to inform about these uses because it would turn the Whoop into a medical device which would require testing and FDA approval.
Give me a year and I’ll let you know if I figure anything out (I have a 1-year-old at home) 
I am a fitness professional for the past 10 years and I’ve used it. Personally, I didn’t find it super useful and ultimately not worth the cost.
I am pretty in tune with my health so I try and do the basic things right (sleep enough, eat relatively clean, de stress, recover from whatever) and when I don’t I can feel it.
For people who have never really paid attention to that or people who just love data, I can see some benefit.
I saw that article. Absolutely crazy - he is one lucky guy.
I’m an Apple Watch user and I think there is a ton of value in tracking your baseline numbers. I can always tell when I’m getting sick because my resting BPM will be out of whack. In an extreme case it can definitely save your life!
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It can’t be too long before we move from wearables to implanted chips. There is just too much value to monitoring heart rates and other vitals.
I’m a bit of a fanatic around wearables as a startup hacking guy and I agree that we are just at its infancy. The implantable chips aren’t exactly here yet but continuous glucose monitors are pretty darn close and are an amazing tool for controlling blood sugar and understanding how food and exercise impacts your glucose levels. I don’t doubt the millions of people who suffer from diabetes will end up using them as the prices come down.
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And the new O2 sensors add a lot of potential new functionality.