Yet another Whoop rival has appeared at CES 2026 — this time from AI gym company Speediance

• Speediance, maker of AI-powered connected fitness equipment, has debuted the Speediance Strap
• It's a screenless wearable designed to support 'data-driven training'
• There's no indication of pricing yet, but it will launch this year as part of a Kickstarter

Speediance isn't a name many fitness-tracker fans will be familiar with at first, as the company is best known for making AI-powered connected fitness equipment like the Gym Monster 2 cable strength trainer. Well, now it's come to CES with a fitness tracker, and there's no denying that it looks familiar.

Yes, it looks just like a Whoop. Running practically unopposed in the 'best fitness tracker without a screen' space for so long, Whoop was joined by the also similar-looking Polar Loop last year. Now, at CES, it's fighting for space both with the Luna Band and the all-new Speediance Strap.

Speediance hasn't released many details about the Strap just yet, other than it's a product prototype and will be subject to a Kickstarter launch later this year. There's no word on price (I reached out to a Speediance representative, who confirmed as much) but we do know that it'll have a base price, with an optional premium subscription for AI features, rather than an all-subscription model like Whoop.

Speediance said in a press release that "core activity and recovery data is available at no additional cost, with optional Wellness+ access providing advanced AI planning and long-term insights". So far, so depressingly standard for the wellness industry these days (I'd love to own a device without an ongoing subscription paywall, please).

We also know that the device will offer data-driven daily readiness scores like the best Fitbits and best Garmin watches, and it'll "monitor physiological responses related to stress and core body temperature" so will have one eye on recovery as well as training.

It's taken longer than I expected, but minimalist fitness trackers are having a moment again, between these Whoop dupes and the best smart rings. It seems a theme is emerging: while I don't think specialist running watches will ever be replaced, more people are looking for focused, multi-disciplined training and turning away from on-wrist notifications.

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.