I got the new Whoop MG three weeks ago and I wasn’t expecting this. Was it worth it?
Partially.
One of the features I was waiting for the most turned out to be underwhelming. Extremely underwhelming. Another feature I initially dismissed, I ended up loving.
It’s a mixed bag.
Let’s talk about it.
My Whoop History
I’ve been a whoop 4.0 user since October 2024. I can honestly say I’m a power-user of this device. Treating the usage extremely seriously.
I logged 468 total workouts in the app. 234 nights of sleep, and filled the journal every day. My goal was to get as much extra insights as possible. Does Sauna improve my recovery? How about a workout after 5PM? My list of daily things is about 30-40 long and I kept at it without missing a single one.
Weighed myself with a body comp scale half of the days for even more data.
When they announced the new MG and the more expensive “Life” subscription I immediately jumped onboard. More data is good, right?
Well… It turned out to be pretty underwhelming.
Mostly because the 4.0 is such a great device already.
Three things
Let’s talk about the three main things: battery life and how comfortable it is.
And then I need to cover the big problem I have with it – the Whoop age metric and pace of aging.
Battery life
Battery life is amazing. It really can last over 20 days on a single charge. That’s up from previous 4-5 days on the 4.0
The charger is of course a different size and the 4.0 charger won’t fit the new device. Another piece of e-waste.
Bands & Comfort
Same with the bands. I got the 4.0 with four bands. The classic black, the cheaper white, the more expensive tundra and the silicone. Ended up using the tundra for daily and the silicone for workouts like runs, where I sweat a lot.
The white one especially turned out to be a bad choice. Not only did it get dirty extremely easily, but the metal part wasn’t as tight of a fit as the other variants. What I mean is that when attaching the device to the band, it was a bit wobbly on one side.
For the MG I got the included black band and quickly got the silicone too. Unfortunately the orange color was not available, and I like my silicone bands in bright, neon colors, so went with the pink. Whe neon colors?
Because I only put the silicone bands on for some workouts and I want to be able to easily find them in the drawer – at first glance.
It is smaller and slightly lighter. And that’s great, because the main reason I ditched my Apple Watch ultra, aside from battery life was how big and heavy it was.
I also take my Whoop MG for swims and cold dips, and that’s another reason to get a silicone band. The regular one takes forever to dry once it gets wet. And when I cold-dip I submerge my hands too – including the whoop.
The whoop was way more comfortable, and the MG is slightly better still. The difference however, is barely noticeable.
The silicone band is heavier and more “sticky” so if you’re like me, it’s definitely not going to be a daily driver. The regular band is soft, very light and pretty comfortable though.
Why I got it
Ok, let’s talk about the main issue.
I love the whoop app for its clarity and simplicity. It’s probably the best way to gather large data sets and get insights.
Because of very precise logging of everything I am much more aware of what’s going on with my body.
I still use the Apple Watch Ultra for runs and bike rides. Things like the one above required even the Ultra to have the screen off for the duration to be able to last on a single charge.
I sometimes do the ECG on it. The ECG on the whoop is a nice to have, but not a deal breaker. I did the test, the results were very close to the Apple watch. All good. No afib.
The main reason I wanted the MG and the most expensive subscription was to get that pace of aging and whoop age metric.
And guess what.
It magically unlocked the moment I put the MG on and synced it. With NO data from the MG, only the data from the 4.0.
Which means it’s artificially blocked from the 4.0. It’s not that the it needs that specific hardware. It just gets blurred if you have a cheaper plan and a cheaper device.
I understand upsell but … not cool. Especially since when you look at what it uses to calculate your age, it’s just a handful of factors.
Should you get the Whoop MG?
The battery life alone is worth the upgrade. I got it for over 350 euros with a 16 month plan update, so I’m covered until mid 2026.
Too bad Whoop only has a “sell it to your friend” program for the old device and bands. They should just accept a mail-in of the old hardware and give you credits towards more free months.
Then recycle it themselves.
But all in all, if you’re fine with charging every 4-5 days, the 4.0 is still just as good, probably even on the cheapest plan.
Who knows what they’ll add in the future, but for now the Life plan doesn’t bring that much new to the table. I don’t regret buying, but outside the battery the improvements so far are pretty minimal.
Comfort improvement is negligible. New features are mostly meh.
