Review: Sport Loop band — comfortable band for the Apple Watch

Two years ago, at the same time that Apple introduced the Apple Watch Series 3, Apple introduced its first Sport Loop band for the Apple Watch.  Until last month, I had never tried one.  This year, with the Apple Watch Series 5, Apple has introduced a new mix-and-match approach where you can purchase almost any Apple Watch band to pair with any style of Apple Watch.  (You do, however, have to purchase some type of band; you cannot just purchase the body of the watch without any band.). So when I purchased an Apple Watch Series 5, I used that as an opportunity to try out something new and I opted for one of Apple’s Sport Loop bands — which cost $49, just like Apple’s Sport Band.  If I had any idea how fantastic this band is, I would have purchased one two years ago.  This is by far the most comfortable band that I’ve ever used with the Apple Watch.

Hook-and-loop

The Sport Loop band opens and closes with a hook-and-loop … don’t call it Velcro™ … system.  But more than just a fastener, the hook-and-loop is what defines this entire band.  Almost all of the band is composed of a double-layer nylon weave with tiny loops.  

You cannot really see the loops with your eyes, but they make the entire band very soft, light, and breathable.  

Underneath one of the ends of this band are five small pads with hooks on them.  The hooks are smaller than any other hook-and-loop or Velcro system that I’ve tried before, so much so that when I touch the hooks they almost don’t even feel like hooks.  But when you place the end of the band down, the hooks easily attach to the loops.

You can sweat while working out with this band and it dries very quickly thanks to the tiny loops.  One of the biggest complaints about the Apple’s Sport Band is that sweat can get trapped under the band.  The Nike version of the Sport Band tries to solve that by having lots of holes in the band, but that still isn’t a perfect solution.  With the Sport Loop, unlike the Sport Band, I never really notice sweat.  I do notice that the Sport Loop will get a little damp as it absorbs sweat but then it dries out pretty quickly.

I haven’t tried swimming with the Sport Loop, but I have gotten it completely drenched in a sink.  The nylon band absorbed a small amount of water but not enough to feel like it was getting heavy — nothing like a wet cotton cloth rag — and it dries pretty quickly once your arm is out of the water.

Perhaps my favorite feature is that the nylon loops give this band a very soft and comfortable feel.  I also own Apple’s Woven Nylon band, and it feels nothing at all like the Sport Loop band even though both bands use woven nylon.  The Woven Nylon band feels good but feels flat.  This one feels soft.

The hook-and-loop system adds a feature to this band that I also love with Apple’s Milanese Loop band:  the band adjusts to any size.  With other bands like the Sport Band, Classic Buckle, and Woven Nylon band, sometimes one hole can be a little too tight and one hole can be a little too lose.  By using hook-and-loop or magnets, the Sport Loop and the Milanese Loop can be adjusted to the perfect size.

But the Sport Loop is even better than the Milanese Loop because the band itself is slightly strechy.  So if your wrist gets just slightly bigger or smaller during the day, you don’t need to adjust the Sport Loop band.  It is always snug without being too tight around your writ.  And unlike the Milanese Loop, the Sport Loop won’t slide up and down your wrist unless your purposefully make the band too lose.

Size

I have a larger wrist, around 215mm.  While I can use a large Sport band (which Apple says is designed for up to 210mm wrists), I prefer the XL version (designed for up to 245mm wrists), which currently comes in only black.  Apple says that the Sport Loop for the 44mm Apple Watch is designed for 145-220mm wrists.  Even though I’m at the top of that range, the Sport Loop fits great on my wrist.  And it looks to me like you could probably go up to 225-230mm before your wrist would be too large to use the Sport Loop (because then the part of the band with the five pads of hooks would not be able to fold over).  On the other extreme, if you have a small wrist and use a 40mm Apple Watch, the Sport Loop is designed for a 130-200mm wrist.  If your wrist size is around 130mm or smaller, I imagine that you might run out of room to fasten the band, so you might want to try a Sport Loop in an Apple retail store before buying it.

Style

Rene Ritchie of iMore calls the Sport Loop the yoga pants of Apple Watch bands, and that’s not a bad comparison.  It’s very comfortable.  I love this band so much that I would be tempted to wear it all day long with my Apple Watch.  But just like those yoga pants wouldn’t be appropriate for work, I find the style of the watch to be a little casual for work.  Thus, I’ve been using the Milanese Loop at work and when I want to look more dressy at night, and I’ve been switching to the Sport Loop after work, on the weekends, and when working out.

If you are thinking about buying this band, keep in mind that it has a loop style.  Like the Milanese Loop, this band always forms a circle with the watch.  You slide your hand in and out of the circle to put it on or take it off.  If you use some sort of a stand for your Apple Watch charger, make sure that it works for the band to loop around the stand; you cannot just have two wings coming off of each side of the watch like you can with many other bands.

The Sport Loop comes in lots of different colors.  When the watch was first released in 2017, the colors were uniform on both sides of the watch band.  Although Apple no longer sells that style of Sport Loop band in its online store, you can still find it on Amazon.  Indeed, as of the time that I am typing this, some of the colors such as Indigo and Hibiscus are on sale on Amazon for under $25, which is a fantastic price.

If you buy from Apple, the current generation of the Sport Loop (other than Pride Edition) has one color on one side and a different color or shade on the other side.  Because the Sport Loop wraps around itself, the end result is that it looks like the band coming from the top of the Apple Watch is a different color/shade than the band coming from the bottom of the Apple Watch.

The current color combinations being sold by Apple this season are Anchor Gray with two shades of gray, Midnight Blue with black one one side and blue on the other and a blue trim, Alaskan Blue, with a darker blue on one side and a lighter blue on the other side and a yellow trim (the one that I bought), Khaki with one side blue and one side tan, Camel with one side yellow and one side lighter tan with a light blue trim, Pomegranate with two colors that are almost pink, and Pride Edition.  To my eye, they all look like nice combinations.  Having said that, if Apple were still selling versions that used the same single color on both sides, I’d probably opt for that style.  

Conclusion

If you plan to get your Apple Watch wet a lot, such as when swimming, or if you will be using your Apple Watch in an environment in which food or other substances are likely to come in contact with your band, then the Sport Band with its easy-to-wipe-off fluoroelastomer might be the best band for you.  But otherwise, the Sport Loop band is so incredibly comfortable that it gets my highest recommendation.  I’m very happy that I opted for this style when I purchased my Apple Watch Series 5.  If you are not buying a new Apple Watch, consider buying one from Apple for $49 or getting one of the older color styles on Amazon for only $25.

Having said that, the Sport Loop is such a casual watch band that I recommend that you also get a nicer watch band to wear whenever you are dressed up.  For me, that is the Milanese Loop.