Whoop 5.0: our wish-list, potential release date, rumours

In this article we look forward to Whoop 5.0 – our wish-list of features, potential release date and rumours.

The wearable distinguishes itself from the pack in its focus. Whoop teaches you the importance of taking care of yourself, it helps you optimise your training, sleep routine and recovery. And it does this better than anything else on the market.

Check our our full review of Whoop 4.0. If you are deeply invested in sports it is a great buy.

But what about the next generation? Should you hold off on any purchase before it arrives?

The simple answer to this is – no. That’s because the company has adopted a subscription model. Instead of paying for the hardware, you pay a monthly fee for the service (check current price on whoop.com). The good thing about this is that when new hardware comes out, you will automatically be upgraded.

Whoop 4.0 comes with some important enhancements over its predecessor. This includes a smaller form-factor, better accuracy thanks to upgraded sensors, the addition of SpO2 and skin temperature. You also now get haptic feedback, along with a choice of how to wear the device.

But what about Whoop 5.0?

Whoop 5.0: potential release date – late 2023 or early 2024

Let’s start off with the potential release date. The current generation was unveiled in September 2021. So it is just over one year old.

Its predecessor saw the light of day in May 2019. The first two generations were launched in 2015 and 2016. And while Whoop 1.0 was only available to professional athletes, all the other versions were made available to the general public as well.

If you are hoping to see Whoop 5.0 in the next few months, you will probably be disappointed. The company has said that the forming period will see a focus on software rather than hardware. No doubt, they are working on the next generation device in the background – but it will be a while before users will be able to get their hands on it.

A firmware refresh is due to land in the next month or two which will reportedly have some exciting features. The company says the update will “give users additional reason to wear WHOOP 24/7”. Make of that what you will.

The wait period between Whoop 3 and 4 was a two and a half years. If the company sticks to that release schedule the earliest we could see Whoop 5 is in early 2024, or perhaps the end of 2023. Two and a half years is a long time in wearable tech time. We would be surprised if the wait for Whoop 5 is any longer than that.

Whoop 5.0: our wish-list of features

Below are some changes we would like to see implemented for Whoop 5.0. It is worth mentioning, considering the company is currently working on a major software update – some of this might land on the current generation device.

A smaller form factor, physical button

Whoop 4.0 looks very much like its predecessor- simple, comfortable, screen-less design. Its size has come down by around a third. As mentioned, you now have multiple ways of wearing the device. The two main ones are on the wrist and on the upper arm.

We would like to see an even smaller form factor for Whoop 5.0. Some users tend to wear a smartwatch or sportswatch on one wrist and Whoop on the other. Perhaps a Whoop that is narrower might make it look more like a bracelet than a fitness device.

One could also imagine the integration of a physical button. This could have a variety of use cases. A press could indicate the start and end of a workout, for example. Or you could assign a button press combination to an event that you predefine in the smartphone app journal, perhaps drinking a cup of coffee.

It might come as a shock to those who are accustomed to smartwatches, but Whoop does not have a display. We think that this is a plus. The wearable is attached to your body quietly gathering data, with minimal interaction from you. Strap it on and forget about it. Perfect. With screens everywhere around us, we have enough distractions in our lives – thank you very much.

Sensor improvements

With each new generation come the inevitable sensor improvements. The tech is getting better each and every year.

It is too early to guess which sensors will come over the 12 months or so, but blood pressure tracking from the wrist is top of the list. Other candidates include hydration tracking, alcohol, lactate, glucose trends and much more.

UV measurements could also be a nice candidate. No other watch that this today, and the sensor could allow you to measure exposure and make appropriate recommendations.

Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets

What would also be nice is real time body temperature and blood oxygen. Or perhaps the ability to take these types of measurements on demand.

If you care about counting steps, Whoop isn’t for you.

We suspect the forthcoming firmware update will have a lot to do with capturing activity stats. At the moment Whoop does not count steps. Which seems like a trick missed. Find the cheapest fitness device on Amazon it has the ability to track steps.

Or how about an altimeter for counting floors climbed? These are the basics which would make the device more useful for simple tracking of daily activity.

Better strain assessment for weight training

Strain tracking on Whoop 4.0 is more reliable for cardio workouts than HIIT or lifting. Clearly there’s room for improvement.

About a year ago Whoop acquired Push. We actually reviewed their fitness band back in 2017. It does take a bit of time to learn how to interpret the data, but once the learning curve is out of the way the wearable is very useful. It takes the guesswork out of lifting.

So the company has the underlying algorithms. Which should allow for more accurate tracking of this type of activity. Perhaps we might even see the introduction of a strength training logbook.

Built-in GPS

A built-in GPS is also a possibility. At the moment you can tap into the GPS chip on your smartphone when using Whoop. But something that would not require you to carry your phone around while exercising would be much more user-friendly.

On this topic, it would also be good to see more performance type stats. It would close the gap between sports watches and Whoop. There are some people who use Whoop for recovery, sleep and strain statistics, and devices such as Garmin for detailed sports tracking. It would due away with the need for that.

Smart wake-up

Smart wake-up is next on our wish-list. Whoop 4.0 has the addition of haptic feedback. You can set an alarm clock that wakes you after achieving your sleep goal or when your recovery goes into the green zone. You also have the option to specify the time in the morning by which this needs to be achieved, say 10am. If you did not hit those targets by that time, you will be woken up.

But one could imagine the addition of functionality that gets you out of bed around a certain time, but when you are in the right part of the sleep cycle. A number of other brands have implemented this feature. It should not be too difficult to integrate.

The option to snooze would be nice, as well. Again, this should not be too difficult to add.

A fully customisable journal

If you are not using the journal function, you are not making the most of Whoop. Tag your behaviours in the morning and when the month is up you’ll get a detailed insight into how individual factors effect your sleep and recovery. A big part of using Whoop is making changes to your behavior that positively influence your health.

The company has recently published their annual review of stats. It showed that alcohol is by far the leading factor that negatively influences recovery. Surprisingly caffeine topped the list of factors which contributed to a positive recovery. It was followed by proper hydration.

And while the list of behaviours that you can tag is quite large, you are not able to add customised entries. We would like to have the option to add our food long, specific medications, custom behavior to get granular trends.

Play nice with third-party devices, heart rate chest straps, smart scales

Generation 4 of Whoop has brought improvements to heart rate tracking. Having said that, something that sits on your wrist is never going to be as accurate for those types of measurements as a heart rate chest strap. Currently there’s no option to connect to such devices. It would make activity tracking much more useful, particularly for high-intensity exercise.

And how about having the option to link up to a smart scales. Or at least to be able to import this type of data from Fitbit or Garmin, for example. Users are in this for the data!

Longer battery life

Whatever new features are added, we certainly hope they don’t come at the expense of battery performance. Currently you can expect between 4 and 5 days on a single charge. And while that’s pretty decent, we would love to see this extended to about a week.

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