Oura vs Whoop: Which Ware to Wear?

Wearable fitness comes in all shapes and sizes nowadays, with tons of accessories to choose from to match your specific lifestyle, needs, exercise routines and personal preferences. While many people are investing in smartwatches and fitness trackers, there’s a new trend of health-conscious wearables that focus on other metrics to give users a good image of their general health and well-being. We’ve created an Oura vs Whoop Comparison to give readers a good idea of which tracker is best for their needs, and covered what sorts of features and data you can expect from these devices. Neither smartwatch or fitness tracker, these new trackers emphasize sleep and heart rate over other measurables in an effort to help individuals understand how prepared (or unprepared) their body is for activity and strain. Whoop and Oura are two recovery-focused devices that track things like heart rate variability, the intricate minutiae of sleep and activity rather than revolving their design around steps and calories. The intent is to help customers get more in-tune with their body and its varying needs, with a goal of helping users improve their overall health through proper sleep and recovery. Question is, which one suits you best? Use this guide to help you decide.

Oura VS Whoop Comparison

What is the Oura Ring?

Keeping your wearable fitness discreet and unobtrusive is important for some people, especially those who don’t require a large and chunky smartwatch blaring notifications and other statistics at all hours. If the thought of wearing a band on your wrist is a little unappealing but you still want to have some of your health metrics tracked, the Oura Ring is a great option. The Oura Ring resembles a thicker wedding band, and is essentially a sleep tracker that’s designed to be worn on your fingers. (Your index, middle or ring finger will work, though Oura recommends wearing it on index finger). The ring is made with durable titanium and comes in four color options: Silver, gold, black and “stealth,” which has a matte black finish. This small-but-mighty device isn’t your run-of-the-mill fitness tracker or smartwatch, but focuses instead on various metrics (with an emphasis on sleep) to help you determine how ready you are for exertion each day. According to Oura’s website, they are actively working on adding more activity tracking features to the device.

How does the Oura Ring Work?

This teeny ring manages to track an impressive number of health-focused components to give users an idea of how prepared they are to tackle their day. The Oura uses infrared light beams that permeate your skin, sensors on the ring then recapture the reflected beams of light. This system allows the rings to measure your heart rate, respiratory rate and your heart rate variability. Additional sensors monitor skin temperature. This data, paired with an accelerometer (for movement tracking) allows Oura to paint an accurate picture of your health and activity, which it then sends to the app for easy viewing and analysis. 

Who is the Oura Ring Best For?

If you’re looking to improve your sleep and overall well-being, Oura Ring is a great option. It’s unlike other fitness trackers in that the primary focus of this device is to make you more aware of your recovery and sleep patterns in an effort to improve the quality of your sleep. Anyone (active or otherwise) seeking to get better, more quality rest should consider the Oura Ring. 

Metrics Measured on Oura: 

The Oura Ring focuses on delivering users a “Readiness” score that tells them how prepared they are to tackle a busy day. Each Readiness score is out of 100, with 85 or higher being optimal, indicating that users are ready to take on tasks; 70-84 denotes good recovery; and below 70 meaning users aren’t fully rested and recovered. A total of 7 metrics are measured, divided across three pillars, to curate each individual’s readiness score. 

Body Stress: Resting Heart Rate, Heart Rate Variability, Body Temperature, Recovery Index

Sleep: Sleep Balance

Activity: Previous Day Activity, Activity Balance

What is the Whoop Band?

Whoop is a fitness tracker that focuses on recovery rather than steps taken and calories burned. The band is worn around your wrist and features a sensor that tracks a lot of metrics in order to give users a solid idea of how well they’ve recovered from their previous workout –– and whether they’re ready for the next one. The band comes in tons of different materials and colors, making it easy to match your outfit or occasion. If you don’t like the idea of wearing the Whoop on your wrist, they also offer clothing that you can wear and integrate with your Whoop for hassle-free tracking.

How does the Whoop Band work? 

Similar to other fitness trackers, the Whoop sensor uses an optical heart rate sensor that shines LED light through your blood vessels under the skin on your wrist. There are several photodiodes on the sensor that then harness the reflected light and turn the measurements taken into data. The latest Whoop model, 4.0, employs pulse oximetry to track blood oxygen saturation, which is used for tracking and monitoring sleep. The sensor on Whoop is also capable of tracking your skin temperature, which can help predict factors such as incoming illness or a menstruation cycle. A built-in accelerometer is used for movement detection. 

Who is Whoop Best For? 

Whoop has been marketed for and advertised by professional athletes, which might give some consumers the impression that this device is most suitable for those who perform exercise at the highest level. The focal point of Whoop is recovery, which is why those who aren’t exercising regularly or with much intensity might not find Whoop’s data very helpful. That said, it’s a great tracker to incorporate into your routine if you enjoy regular exercise and want more in-depth information and analysis about your habits and health.

Metrics Measured on Whoop: 

Whoop measures a wide variety of metrics broken down into three primary pillars of performance. Strain is based on a scale of 0-21 and originates from the Borg Scale of Perceived Exertion. This score isn’t linear, and Whoop actually encourages you to push your body harder when your “Strain” score is higher. Recovery measures how well you’ve rested your body; this number will not fluctuate throughout the day, and will reset as you sleep at night. The Sleep pillar has the most measured metrics, and Whoop gives users a recommended number of hours to sleep each night based on the various metrics they measure. The three different pillars that Whoop focuses on are designed to give users a solid idea of how they’re pushing themselves and, in turn, recovering. This approach to recovery is meant to help improve overall health. 

Strain: Current Max Heart Rate, Average Heart Rate, Calories Expended

Recovery: Resting Heart Rate, Heart Rate Variability, Respiratory Rate, Sleep

Sleep: Duration, Performance, Efficiency, Consistency, Latency, Sleep Debt, Sleep Stages, Disturbances 

Comparing the Whoop and Oura

Both of these trackers use infrared light to measure various metrics to give users more insight into their sleep and overall recovery. (And if you’re looking for better sleep, we recommend a starting with a new mattress). While the Whoop gives users a recovery score, Oura gives them a readiness score. They are similar, but there are a few differences in how they operate. 

Oura App Features

The Oura Ring gives users plenty of in-depth data about their sleep and activity to help them determine their quality of rest and how ready they are for activity the following day. On the app, you’ll find a plethora of information. The Oura app breaks down users’ readiness scores by metric and shows how each one factors into the readiness score. You can also see graphs with heart rate information for more detailed viewing. The app also pinpoints certain things that might cause unusual scores and calls attention to it, informing users that it identified something that varied from the norm and offering a suggestion based on its findings. The Oura app also features a meditation segment, offering meditation sessions (both guided and unguided) during which it collects physiological data. 

Whoop App Features

According to Whoop’s website, their app does more than simply track and display your data. It takes the information from each day and calibrates and analyses it over time to present you with recommendations to improve your health. (One easy way to add more movement to your day is with an under desk treadmill). Within the app you can find your sleep data, daily strain score (this is based on your training and exercise) and your recovery percentage. They’ve also added a new feature called “Health Monitor” that displays your vital signs to help you understand patterns, improvements and irregularities. Whoop’s app also features a journal, where they encourage you to track certain behaviors –– such as nutrition, caffeine intake and alcohol consumption, among others –– to help glean an understanding of what factors impact your training and recovery most. 

Which Has More Accurate Wellness Tracking? 

It’s tough to claim one fitness tracker offers more accurate wellness tracking over the other, especially considering how difficult it is to measure and quantify solid wellness tracking. The Oura Ring states that it offers 98% accuracy for heart rate variability measurements and 99.6% accuracy for heart rate tracking. These percentages are higher than most wrist-based trackers and that’s because of the location of the sensors (according to Oura), which are closer to arteries thanks to the finger-based wearable. Whoop also provides plenty of accurate information regarding heart rate and other factors, but makes no claims on their websites. It’s important to note that no fitness or heart rate tracker is perfectly accurate. 

Primary Focus

One of the key differences between Whoop and Oura is who the scores are most beneficial for. While they both focus mainly on sleep and activity to give users a good idea of the quality of their rest, Whoop is designed with athletic users in mind, giving wearers a recovery-based score that varies based on how well they’ve recovered and how hard they’ve trained. Oura, conversely, is great for pretty much any health-conscious person who wants to know more about how they’re sleeping and how they can improve their overall well-being. 

Cost

The Oura Ring and Whoop are both more expensive than many other wearable wellness devices on the market, but their pricing models are different. Oura charges $299-$399 upfront for the cost of the ring (depending on what color you choose), plus an additional $5.99 monthly for membership, which includes access to the app and is necessary for using your Oura Ring. The first six months of your membership is free. 

Whoop offers several membership options: 24 months at $20 per month ($480 required upfront), an annual membership at $25 per month ($300 annually), and a monthly membership at $30 per month with a 12 month minimum. There is no cost for the band itself, only the membership. 

Breaking down the annual costs between the two, the Oura would cost $334.94 or $434.94 for the first year (again, the cost is dependent on which color ring you purchase), and $71.88 for subsequent years. Whoop will cost anywhere from $300 to $360 annually, unless you opt for the long-term membership and pay up front, in which case you would pay $240 annually. In the short-term, the Oura Ring is more expensive than the Whoop. However, looking at long-term costs, the Oura is the more affordable option.