Whoop rivals are coming — Polar launches subscription-free band as Garmin hints at new sleep tracker on Instagram
For years the best smartwatches have focused on providing bigger and brighter screens, but right now the trend seems to be ditching the display entirely.
Whoop has long set the pace for screen-free fitness trackers and launched its latest Whoop 5.0 device in May, and now Polar has announced its first screenless wrist wearable will come out on 3 September.
Meanwhile, rumors of a Garmin Whoop rival have circulated for months and the brand added fuel to that fire with an Instagram story on 17 June that suggested a new sleep tracker is set to launch soon.
Polar hasn't given many details about its new wearable device, but it did confirm that it will be a subscription-free alternative to other trackers.
That sounds like a reference to Whoop and its subscription-based model, but until Polar announces the pricing of its new band it's impossible to say whether it offers better value for money.
The band is designed to be worn at all times, tracking activity and workouts alongside your sleep, and Polar suggests it will be lighter and less intrusive than having a watch on your wrist.
'Our users have been asking for a new kind of wearable,' Sander Werring, CEO at Polar.
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'One that puts them in control of their health and fitness right out of the box, without the distractions of screens or the pressure of constant notifications.'
Other details are thin on the ground, but Polar did launch the Polar 360 screenless band last year.
It's designed for business-use only, but could give an idea as to what the new consumer tracker could look like, with a simple black band and an optical heart rate sensor.
Rumors suggesting a screen-free Garmin device is coming have gathered pace in recent weeks, and Garmin poured fuel on that fire with an Instagram story on its main account yesterday.
This showed a woman in bed with the caption 'how did you sleep? Find out soon'. No further info on the tracker has been released yet, but it would be somewhat ironic for a screenless tracker to arrive hot on the heels of the Garmin Venu X1 watch, which features Garmin's biggest AMOLED display yet.
The focus on sleep in Garmin's story suggests that the new tracker could be designed to be used alongside a Garmin watch, which you'd wear in the day and could sync the sleep tracking over to.
Fitness tech blog the5krunner has reported on unreleased Garmin devices in the past and claims the new band will launch in July or August.
The appeal of a screenless product is simplicity and style. If you don't want another distracting screen in your life but do want to track your activity and sleep stats, a screen-free band is a great alternative to the best fitness trackers, and you can wear it alongside more traditional jewelry and watches.
However, for screenless products to be a success, the partner app has to be exceptionally good, which they are for Whoop and indeed the best smart rings like the Oura Ring 4. These apps provide clear info in an engaging way.
I've been testing Polar and Garmin watches for years and while I'm a fan of both as a keen runner, I'd say their apps will need some work to deliver the same experience as Whoop or Oura.
Garmin Connect and Polar Flow are both very heavy on data, which is good, but that data is not always clearly presented, especially for the more casual fitness audience that might use a Whoop-style product over a traditional sports watch.
Whether the new products can unseat Whoop as the top screenless band will depend on getting the presentation of data right, though price will be the key factor. The cheapest tier for using Whoop costs $199 a year, so Garmin and Polar may look to rival that figure with the price of a subscription-free band.
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