WHOOP 4.0 vs. Oura Ring 3 vs. Fitbit Charge vs. Halo: Which Makes the Best Fitness Tracker?

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• You can wear it around the wrist, forearm, or bicep, or in compatible gym kit (Whoop body). There are a large number of color options to choose from when it comes to the strap and device itself. 

• The Whoop 4.0 sensor contains five LEDs (three green, one red, and one infrared), four photodiodes, and advanced algorithms for more accurate heart rate tracking. Similar to Oura, it also tracks heart rate variability, blood oxygen and skin temperature.

• Whoop is meant to be worn 24/7 and has a five-day battery. Whoop has a smart “on-the-wrist” charging approach, so battery life is rarely a concern. Just slide on the battery pack whenever you need juice and it charges while you wear it. If you don’t want to have the battery pack attached to your wrist, change Whoop off your wrist.

• The ring has green and red LED sensors — the green monitor your heart rate throughout the day, and the red track your blood oxygen. The ring can also track your heart rate variability (measuring stress), respiratory rate and body temperature. In the third generation Oura ring, which is completely round, there are five different finishes to choose from — silver, black, stealth, gold, and rose gold.

• Unlike adjustable wrist wearables, Oura can’t be adjusted. Oura can be worn on the pointer, middle, or ring finger. Hopefully, at least one finger will provide a nice fit at all times even if your fingers change in size due to a weight change.

• Because Oura isn’t ideal for activity tracking, lots of people in the community wear it for sleep exclusively. If you’ve got another device to track activity, there’s almost no advantage to wearing Oura during the day. If you opt to wear Oura during the day, it gets in the way for certain workouts, like lifting weights, where it’ll be prone to scratching too. You’ll have to monitor and manage its five-day battery life as well.

• The Fitbit Charge 5 has a full color AMOLED display. It’s crisp and bright, with smooth scrolling and animations. There’s an always-on option that makes it easier to see the screen at a glance, but we found in unnecessary in everyday use; unlike other fitness trackers, the Charge 5’s display woke reliably whenever we raised our wrist to check the time.

• The Fitbit Charge 5 has no physical buttons, but there’s an oval sensor on each side of the case for the watch’s ECG and EDA apps. On the rear of the watch you’ll find the usual optical heart rate sensor, plus the contacts for the charger. 

• The tracker unit is slim and mounts underneath the band with the heart rate sensor flush against your skin. The tracker snaps securely onto the band, but it can be removed quickly and easily when you need to swap bands. The sensor unit is waterproof down to 50-meters, so you can swim and shower while wearing it.

• The band is made of a strong mesh with a velcro clasp. The velcro on the Halo is just perfect.  I can pull the velcro as tight as I need and don’t have to fuss with the different settings of a buckle.  The mesh fabric is not as silky smooth as silicone bands but is still comfortable against your skin even when you are sweaty. If you don’t like the mesh, Amazon does sell a sports band with a more rubbery feel. The Halo doesn’t have a screen to grab your attention or a vibrating motor to buzz you constantly.

2. TRAIN SMARTER

• WHOOP measures and accumulates your training activities and daily effort with a Strain score that helps you understand when to rest or push.

3. RECOVER FASTER

• WHOOP analyzes your key metrics like HRV and resting heart rate to determine a daily recovery score, and shows you how specific lifestyle and training behaviors affect Recovery.

4. BEHAVIORAL JOURNAL

• WHOOP now measures your blood oxygen levels, skin temperature, heart rate, and more, so you can see when you’re making progress, or when something’s off your baseline.

• Tracks blood oxygen saturation and body temperature

• Innacurate heart rate readings and workout tracking in testing

• Haptic alarms

• Can irritate skin

• Offers weekly and monthly performance assessments

• Requires pricey membership

• Waterproof, highly portable charger

• Knit bands take a long time to dry

• No display

• Mediocre battery life

• Comfortable to wear day and night

• Can be bulky during certain types of exercise

• Syncs with Apple Health and Google Fit for more accurate data

• Ring material is not flexible and does not adjust for changes in finger size

• Battery lasts 7 days

• Data not available directly on device, like a watch

• Completely waterproof and can survive extreme temperatures

• Doesn’t track type of workout, must be synced with another device

• Lovely OLED display

• Exercise options could be expanded

• Solid performance

• Daily Readiness score needs Fitbit Premium

• Built-in GPS

• Clock faces aren't customizable

• Tracks overnight HRV, breathing rate, SpO2 and skin temperature variations

• No altimeter for elevation tracking

• Supports mobile payments

• No physical buttons

• Screen feels too small

• Slim, lightweight design

• Subscription to access all features

• Informative Sleep score

• Questionable privacy

• Accurate body fat scan

• Lab integration