I’m a First-Time WHOOP User—Here’s My Honest Review of Its New Jewellery-Inspired Band

I have a slightly controversial relationship with wearable tech: I’m as interested in whether it goes with my outfit as I am in the data it will give me. And I have no trouble admitting I treat trackers like I do supplements or any kind of tablet - useless with continuity. The only reason my Oura ring has stood the test of time is that it’s become a staple piece in my jewellery collection.

But I’ve never really dipped my toe into the fitness band scene, and I’m going to give you the brutally honest reason why: visually, they're just not for me. I know what you’re thinking - maybe a little superficial, Ellie-Mae? Does it really matter what it looks like if its main job is to feed you data? Well, yes. And if I'm going to wear something 24/7, it simply cannot compromise a good outfit.

I’m not entirely convinced I’m alone in my slightly ridiculous standards for wearables. The more these devices become part of our everyday lives, the more aesthetics seem to really matter. Take the research: apparently, aesthetics can influence how much we enjoy using a wearable - and even how much we’re willing to pay for it. One 2022 study of smartwatch users and potential buyers found design was the biggest factor influencing whether people intended to use one. So, perhaps caring what my wearable looks like isn’t quite as frivolous as it sounds.

Which brings me neatly to why we’re all here - WHOOP Meridian, and its new jewellery-inspired Milanese-mesh band. Speaking to the brand, WHOOP says it’s “designed for people who care about their health and performance, but have equally high standards for design and how their wearable sits alongside the jewellery they already own.” Well, hello. Given my confession that my health tech needs to work with my wardrobe, I’d say I fit the brief. But this wasn’t just a test of whether Meridian looked good; I wanted to know whether making a fitness tracker more jewellery-like could actually make me want to wear it 24/7. As a first-time WHOOP user, I put it to the test.

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My WHOOP Meridian Review? I'm a Convert

What is WHOOP Meridian?

Let’s decipher the lore of WHOOP Meridian, shall we? For the newly initiated like myself, Meridian is WHOOP’s jewellery-inspired take on its screen-free health tracker: a Milanese-mesh band designed to look at home alongside your actual jewellery. It comes in Gold, Alloy, Matte Black and Rose Gold, with an adjustable magnetic closure designed to keep the sensor sitting flush against your skin.

But why exactly does it exist? According to WHOOP’s Global GM of Accessories and Apparel, Joel Lessard, the idea came partly from seeing their members styling their existing bands with their jewellery: “Meridian takes that a step further, giving you something designed to wear from work to dinner to weddings, without breaking your 24/7 tracking streak. The aim was to make wearing WHOOP adaptable to our members’ lives, instead of making them adapt to wearing WHOOP.”

Which, frankly, is exactly the experiment I was interested in.

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I wore WHOOP Meridian for four weeks here are my honest thoughts

The pros of wearing WHOOP Meridian

Let's skip the small talk and start with the bit I wasn’t expecting to like: the technology itself. The breadth of data is genuinely impressive.

As a first-time WHOOP user, I was relieved to find the set-up felt familiar. I’ve always found my Oura ring incredibly easy to use, so getting started with WHOOP was similarly straightforward - zero lengthy faff.

Now, the data deserves its own moment. This is certainly a device for people who want to know a lot about themselves. With consistent use, WHOOP starts building a picture of your personal patterns rather than simply throwing a number at you each morning. Yes, you get your Sleep, Recovery, Resting Heart Rate and Strain scores, but there’s considerably more underneath them, with metrics including HRV, respiratory rate, blood oxygen and skin temperature helping put your activity and behaviour into context.

I found that the most interesting part was testing this device across four weeks. It’s not simply telling me what happened; over time, it started to help me understand my own patterns. For some context: I’m a strength trainer, Pilates princess and avid hiker, but I also have a habit of pushing the boundaries of what my body can do. I regularly don’t get enough sleep; my latency - she’s all over the place- with my data showing me that it takes me almost an hour to drift off each night. With this in mind, I found the Recovery feature particularly useful. After a string of late nights, seeing my score take a hit was a fairly useful reality check - which often helped me decide if I should put my body through a punishing strength session, or opt for a stroll and sauna to regulate the nervous system.

Another plus I appreciated: unlike my Oura ring, which will happily tell me it’s time to get up, wind down or go to bed, WHOOP doesn’t constantly prompt me to do something. I like that. I don’t necessarily need another piece of technology gently parenting me throughout the day. Instead, the information is there when I want it. Which leads me to my final pro: there’s no screen. As someone with a smidge of health anxiety, not being able to see my data as I look down is a huge bonus. I’m in control of when I check the app - when I’m interested.

Now, for the other half of the equation: Meridian itself. Here’s the thing - none of that impressive data is particularly useful if I decide I don’t want to wear the device.

This is where I think WHOOP has identified a genuinely important gap. Lessard told me, “We had noticed members styling our LeatherLuxe band alongside their jewellery, which gave the team confidence that people wanted their WHOOP to reflect their personal style as well as their commitment to health. Meridian takes that idea further, being an option designed to be worn to work, dinner, weddings and other occasions without interrupting continuous tracking.”

And I’d say that’s a plus. The brand’s point is that 24/7 wear is what allows WHOOP to build a more complete picture of your health over time - and, actually, that makes perfect sense. If you’re going to ask people to wear something continuously, it helps enormously if they don’t feel like they have to compromise their personal style to do it. That was certainly true for me.

I know that I am far more likely to wear my health tech when it feels like part of my life rather than another task I have to remember to do. The chic design became a part of my daily stack, and the adjustable fit helped, too, because being able to customise how snugly it sits makes a difference when something is supposed to stay on your wrist day and night.

So, while the app is what actually hooked me into the WHOOP experience, Meridian is what made me more willing to collect all that data in the first place. I didn’t spend four weeks thinking about when I could take it off. I spent them forgetting it was a fitness tracker at all.

Does it actually look like jewellery?

Right, this is where I got properly forensic. Because if WHOOP is going to tell me this is a piece of jewellery, it will be treated like one. I wanted to know whether it could genuinely pass as jewellery or whether it would still look like a fitness tracker that had been given a makeover.

Am I asking too much from my technology? Perhaps. But I put Meridian through its paces anyway.

One particularly telling moment came while I was collecting leather samples from my supplier, John - a master leatherworker who supplies the goods for my weekend hobby of journal making. As we happily debated which leather colour I should choose, the 75-year-old suddenly stopped to compliment my watch. A man who has spent his life working with beautiful materials knows craftsmanship when he sees it, so I took the compliment seriously.

It wasn’t until I told him it was actually a fitness tracker that he realised. Consider that the first unofficial test passed.

I then wore it within an inch of its life: to dinner, stacked with bangles; various Pilates classes, in activewear, with jeans; to a London Fashion Week party; travelling; on dog walks and, yes, to bed.

And I soon established that this band doesn’t just look like jewellery - it actually stands out as jewellery. From across the room, you’d struggle to identify it as a fitness tracker. People might reasonably ask whether you can see the actual WHOOP hardware, but honestly, I never noticed. Not in pictures, not under a sleeve - in real life, on my wrist. The metal has a reassuring weight to it and, importantly, it looks and feels like it justifies the price tag. John was fooled; I rest my case.

The customisable fit also makes a difference. The band has a magnetic clasp, so you can adjust it to sit exactly how you want it, which makes it feel more wearable day-to-day rather than something you’re constantly fiddling with. The smaller details also passed my admittedly high-maintenance inspection. Does it scratch? No. Does the magnetic clasp feel secure? Yes. Does the mesh pull at my arm hair? Thankfully, no.

There is one caveat: the gym. When I’m working out, I generally don’t wear jewellery. As we’ve concluded, Meridian feels like expensive jewellery. Now, as someone who doesn’t consider a workout complete until I’m pouring with sweat, I found the mesh less comfortable against my sweaty skin.

Sleeping in it was similarly subjective. I don’t usually sleep in bracelets - rings, yes; bracelets, absolutely not. I sleep with my hands on my cheek (don’t ask), and the mesh made me feel a little claustrophobic when I got warm. That said, I have friends who sleep in their full jewellery stacks and would probably find this entire paragraph slightly dramatic.

Everywhere else, though? It was a surprisingly good chameleon. And, perhaps more importantly, it passed the John test.

The things to be mindful of before buying

Like most things, it isn’t perfect.

First, the data can feel intense. As a completely new WHOOP user, I found myself slightly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information to hand - a complete data paralysis, if you will. If you want this level of detail, that’s obviously a plus, but I found the app more difficult to navigate than my Oura. I’m a creature of habit, and I like knowing exactly where to look for my three key scores. WHOOP takes the detail to a whole new level - which is brilliant in theory, but in reality, overwhelming. I caught myself Googling my scores; in my second week, for example, my Recovery score dropped to 33, putting me firmly in the red, and naturally I spent the rest of the day spiralling. So, a warning to my healthy-anxiety girls: set some boundaries with your data. Not every number needs investigating.

Second, the sleep test didn’t quite pass for me. Aesthetically, Meridian is beautiful, but I found the weight of the mesh and the sensation against my skin increasingly uncomfortable in bed. I don’t sleep in jewellery beyond my rings, so having to keep a bracelet on overnight felt slightly claustrophobic - and I say that as someone who can’t even sleep in socks because they make me feel like I can’t breathe.

Third - the gym. I’m a sweaty girl, and the feeling of damp mesh against my skin was enough to make me take it off on several occasions. Which, when the whole point is continuous wear, rather defeats the object,

Fourth: Meridian DOESN'T charge your WHOOP. This is probably the biggest practical takeaway from my experience testing this. The band itself isn't compatible with charging, so you need to swap to another band when you charge the device. I’d say this is potentially quite an important consideration if we’re being sold the idea that we’re wearing this device 24/7.

And finally, there's the membership. The £119 gets you the Meridian band, but you’ll also need a WHOOP membership to access the full experience, so it’s worth factoring in the ongoing cost before deciding whether it earns a place in your jewellery collection. WHOOP starts at £169 a year in the UK, with Peak at £229 and Life at £349.

Who is WHOOP Meridian for?

If you’re reading this wondering whether you’re the type of person who needs a WHOOP Meridian, here’s what I’d say: Meridian has been designed with existing WHOOP members in mind.

Lessard tells me, “The product was built for people who already value continuous tracking, but want a more premium gold or silver bracelet that sits alongside their jewellery.” He also sees it appealing to people who have previously been put off wearable tech because of how it looks.

Which, on paper, sounds exactly like me. In reality? After four weeks of actually wearing it, I’m not so sure I’m their prime audience.

I loved having my Sleep and Recovery scores to hand, but beyond that, I kept wondering how much of the data I would actually use. I’m interested in understanding my body, but I’m not trying to optimise every metric it produces. Take the ECG feature, for example. It’s clever: you open the app, place your thumb and index finger on the sensors in the clasp and, after around 30 seconds, WHOOP gives you a snapshot of your heart’s electrical activity and rhythm. If that level of detail is what you’re after, brilliant. For me, though, I found myself thinking: what am I doing to do with this?

I think that’s really the answer: whether you need a WHOOP is entirely dependent on how much you want to know about yourself. And the Meridian, well, that’s for those who have been waiting for their fitness tracker to feel like an extension of themselves. Not something you keep for the data and take off when it doesn’t fit the outfit, but something you want to wear.

So after four weeks, did Meridian make me a WHOOP convert?

After all that, I think my answer is yes: with a few caveats.

Did WHOOP win me over as a health tracker? Yes. The depth and detail of its tracking are beyond anything I’ve ever seen, so I can definitely see why the brand has loyal users. Did Meridian win me over aesthetically? Also yes. It’s easily the chicest fitness tracker I’ve worn, and I genuinely found myself forgetting it was a tracker.

The other question is whether I’d pay for WHOOP long-term. I’m still undecided. Not because of quality; the data is compelling. I’m just not sure I need this much information about myself at all times.

The sticking point for me was the 24/7 wear. As much as I loved how it looked, I found myself taking it off quite regularly to give my wrist some breathing space - particularly when I was sweaty or getting into bed. And if you’re paying for a device designed to build a complete picture of your health through continuous wear, that’s worth considering.

Maybe the most telling part of this review: I went into it wondering whether a fitness tracker could be pretty enough to wear. I came out wondering whether I could tolerate wearing one all the time. For me, Meridian solved the first problem. The second? I’m still working on it.

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