UP by Jawbone - Medium - Retail Packaging - Blue..
Buy UP by Jawbone - Medium - Retail Packaging - Blue By Jawbone
Most helpful customer reviews
3862 of 3981 people found the following review helpful.
By RST
UPDATE: If you'd like to see my review of the UP24, you can see it here. Copy & paste required if it is not clickable link: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2ZEG4YLT0HZ9Y/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
UPDATE: Several people were asking what I thought about Fitbit Flex. I got one and compared it to the Jawbone UP here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1CVXEEYIAIR0W/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
A couple weeks ago I received my Fitbit One Wireless Activity Plus Sleep Tracker, Black after a few months pre-order wait. I had it two full weeks, got to know and learn it, and lost it swiftly. The fact that I lost it so easily made me decide to try Jawbone Up-- thinking that if I lose my arm, I've got larger issues... My review will be a comparison of these two devices for those trying to decide between the two. Early spoiler: I recommend Jawbone Up over the Fitbit One for most people. I'll tell you why...
UPDATE: There is an Android app now for the Jawbone UP. At the original time of my review it had not been released. Please check their website for which models have been fully tested/supported.
Hardware itself
The biggest frustration I had with the Fitbit One was that I wanted to use it for daytime activity monitoring and for sleep monitoring. Using it for both activities included moving the device from my belt clip, taking it out of the rubber clip, putting it in the wrist strap, and reversing this process each day. It felt like a chore after a few days, and some mornings I even forgot to put it back on my belt after showering & changing. These issues aren't faced with the Jawbone Up because you can leave it on your wrist at all times-- even in the shower. No annoying loss, no annoying moving it from clip to pouch to clip, no forgetting it at home in the morning. The Fitbit met it's ultimate demise after only its second fall off of my belt. It's so light and in rubber, it didn't even make a sound when it left me and met the ground. It was never found. Long live my FitBit One on however many belts it ends up on before it's lost again terminally...
Battery Life & Charging
Battery life on the Fitbit One can be as much as 14 days. The Jawbone Up is rated for 10. Both devices include a USB dongle for charging, and charge in about the same amount of time. Both charged fine when I used my iPhone charger to USB for their dongle.
Syncing
The Fitbit One bluetooth sync's wirelessly to an iPhone if you want, or to a PC. The fitbit comes with a charging dongle, a bluetooth adapter-- which must be used as it won't work with most or all other bluetooth adapters already built in to a PC. Plan to use up one or two USB slots for the Fitbit One. It's not a constant sync-- you have to initiate the sync if you want it to sync "now". Update/clarification: It does sync automatically on bluetooth if you use it with your phone, but not constantly. You can force a sync any time you want.
The Jawbone Up syncs by removing the cap and plugging in to the headphone jack of the iPhone. At first this felt like it may be a step back from the Fitbit One, but ultimately it's simpler and I waste less battery having bluetooth activated on the phone all the time. It's simple, works reliably, and you can sync to multiple devices if you want.
Wearing
The FitBit One is quite small and the rubber belt clip is smooth and small. Many users simply drop the device in the pocket, but I'm not one to let that happen and risk loss-- ironic because I lost it via the belt clip. I also have some belts that it would't clip on, so I found myself doing creative things like clipping it inside my change pocket.
The Jawbone Up is basically a bracelet-- and a stylish looking one at that. I found that the fitment guide on the back of the box ran a little large, so I originally bought a medium. After wearing, it felt too tight. I returned it for a large. I have so far been very happy with the large size. I recommend using the print out PDF from the Jawbone site as it clearly marked me as large when the plastic guide on the box made me think medium. They recommend going "up" a size.
From a daytime perspective, the wrist band of the Up hasn't bothered me at all, and actually I see it and it reminds me to move! I never saw the Fitbit One, and thus thought about it less often and had fewer reminders. More about reminders in functions/software!
I do wear the Jawbone Up in the shower, and have had no issues with that so far. It feels sturdy without feeling stiff. You can manipulate it by squeezing to fit tighter, looser, reverse which side meets which, etc. It isn't a "bendy straw" style where it holds shape. It always holds the wrist shape. The rubber on rubber is what lets it grip more or less. It doesn't feel heavy or annoying.
Software
Aside from the functionality of wrist vs belt clip, the software is really what differentiates the Jawbone Up from the Fitbit One for me. The Jawbone Up software is infinitely more useful, visually appealing and informative for me than the Fitbit One software. The Jawbone software tracks your performance over time and so does the Fitbit One-- but the Jawbone analyzes your data and makes observations-- "Hey you had 2x your normal amount of deep sleep last night-- did you do something different?" and other observations like that. You can also compare your sleeping data to your day's activities. The ability to view, review, and drill down/compare your data is easier/simpler/more automated and more enjoyable on the Jawbone Up than on the Fitbit One.
Fitbit supports some more social features-- like sharing to Facebook. Both support having friends in the system who also have the device that you can view/cheer on, etc.
As far as food logging goes, I'm not a huge user of this feature yet. What I do know is that the Jawbone Up supports scanning barcodes on food to capture what it is and content. The interface to browse and add food is far more visually appealing in the Jawbone Up than in the FitBit software.
About sleep monitoring: I don't know if it's accuracy or philosophy, but from a span perspective both units were accurate. I actively tell them when I am about to drift off and when I'm done sleeping. From there, the data varies. The Fitbit One would say that I woke up some 20 - 40 times per night! Maybe each time I roll over it thinks that qualifies as awake, I don't know. The Jawbone Up rates that much less, but also gives me info on "deep sleep vs light sleep and awake times" which I find more useful than just knowing how many times I was awake. I've found this analysis interesting because some nights I'll feel like I slept all night, but don't feel rested in the morning, and the Up will conclude that I didn't have much deep sleep at that night. That allows me to look back at my day before and contemplate why: too much caffeine too late? Too little exercise? Too much food to late? etc. Helpful data to influence how you live your days.
Both of these devices sync your data to a website. I personally rarely visit either of these, and don't plan to, thus my lack of review on that regard. In the iPhone age I only go to a PC when it involves a lot of typing, for the most part.
Functions & Added Benefits -- most of my conclusions here are about the Jawbone Up.
Fitbit One: It has an altimeter. This is how it guesses how many flights of stairs you've climbed. It also counts dual propeller flights I found accidentally on a recent business trip. If your'e a person who is not interested in tracking sleep or want to spend the least, this device could help you start getting an idea of your day & night activities.
Jawbone Up:
-A "power nap" feature that utilizes data from your normal light sleep cycle at night to determine optimum number of minutes for a power nap under 30 minutes. You can initiate a power nap by a series of button presses on the wrist band.
-An inactivity reminder: The wrist band can vibrate you every so many minutes that you're inactive, and you can configure this in the iPhone app
-A wake up alarm, at a custom time and you can additionally have it wake you at "an optimum time around your alarm" depending on your sleep cycle
Both devices allow you to customize your stride or calibrate the distance walked.
I'm still only in my first week of owning the UP, and I prefer it over the Fitbit One. To me, the Jawbone Up is more of a "holistic life data device" due to the software and the fact that you can wear it all the time. The FitBit fits more in the fitness data device for me, because of the lack of insight the software provides on the phone and the fact that it isn't as simple and easy to wear all the time. I'm an IT guy who spends too much time in front of computers, a lot of time traveling, and generally not feeling like I am active enough. I wanted these devices to help me improve my awareness of wellness, activity and sleep results. For me, the Jawbone Up was the right answer all along.
You might know that a year ago the Jawbone Up was released and recalled within a month. There were some technical reliability issues and the company took the opportunity and almost an entire year to rework the device, refund all customers and let them keep the potentially failure-likely device. They have some impressive videos at their website about how they re-worked the device.
Both devices are good devices and neither had any critical flaws. n that, I hope this review may have helped you decide which fits your needs most. I plan to respond to any specific questions below so feel free to ask!
1081 of 1158 people found the following review helpful.
By J. Russell
So you buy the wristband and get the Up app on your iPhone. When you first connect the Up wristband to your iPhone it will give you a brief rundown on how it works and setup an account for you. After that it starts collecting your data.
Here is how it works... You wear the band 24/7. During the day it records when you are doing nothing, doing a little, and when you are doing a lot of activity. I tested the distance calibration with a GPS and it is actually fairly accurate; so it also records the distance you walk or run. All this happens without any input from you.
When you go to sleep... You press a button (on the band) to switch to sleep mode. When you wake up you press the button again to tell the band your day has begun. While you slept Up recorded information about your rest. Using Up's sensor the band knows how long you took to fall asleep, how many times you woke up, and whether you were in deep or light sleep. It also knows how much time time you spent in these different states. Now you connect the band to your iPhone and all your data is loaded into the app, which on my iPhone 5 runs very well. The Up app gives you visual and numeric representations of your data. The data is actually interesting information, especially relating to how you currently feel. The more days you log the clearer picture you get. This is the basic utilization of the band and app. You have to do at least this much.
And the Up band extras... It can be used as an alarm clock to silently wake you up. It can also alert you if you have done nothing (idle alarm) in a set amount of time during specific hours. For activities that the motion sensor will not represent well (like biking) you can press the wristband's button to record an activity. This activity can be viewed or edited separately from the other activity information. This is helpful. The only other thing the band does is wake you up from a mid-day nap if you need one. This PowerNap feature takes into account your sleep history, then monitors your nap, and wakes you up at an optimal time to be refreshed in the shortest time.
And the Up app extras... The app is organized very well, but also fairly limited on what you can do. You can set your current mood with emoji type smily faces. You can connect with other Up users and if you like, share your information with them. You can edit your activities, set goals to meet, and review your data. Graphs and charts can be utilized to look for trends over days, weeks, or months. You can also log what you eat using the app. This final piece of the Up app is also the most difficult to use and understand. While the food logging part of the app is extensive and powerful, everything else is so simple and easy to use, making it seem daunting. You have to put some time in to figure it out. Once you figure it out you can track your food intake and all the nutritional information that goes with it.
The wristband is very light and comfortable to wear. Without bluetooth wireless syncing it has an incredible 10 day battery life. Syncing via the headphone jack on the iPhone takes just seconds and only needs to be done twice a day. Personally I prefer a few seconds syncing rather than charging the band every few days to accommodate bluetooth. Overall the Up band/app combo is good and a decent starting point. And the one characteristic of the Up wristband I appreciate the most... people don't think it's electronic! Without this added attention it disappears into your everyday life, which I believe is the whole point of a device like the Jawbone Up.
469 of 510 people found the following review helpful.
By D. McGrath
What a cool premise! Everything the Up was supposed to do appealed to me.
I got my first one a bit over 2 months ago. It was awesome. Until it stopped working. Well electronics aren't foolproof. So I informed them of my experience and they said they'd send a replacement. While I was waiting for it to arrive I mentioned that I expected the 60 day return policy would reset with my new band, but I was told it did not. I thought that was odd. I would expect to get two months of uninterrupted service to decide if I wanted to keep it, but that clearly is not their policy.
Now as of yesterday my second band is also dead. No lights, no vibration, no charge or sync, and resets don't work. Frustrating!
I asked for a refund and was told I'm outside my 60 days - which according to them start from the day you order the product! Mine took well over a week to arrive, and I waited for another week for the replacement. I have had a functioning band for less than 60 days but they refuse to bend. I am stunned by the poor consumer experience.
Bottom line, the band fails way too easily and often for me, and you have no recourse if you're out of the 60 day window. I would avoid this product, and I would avoid this company.
***** Update after 6 months ******
I have now made my way through 4 up bands, and each one has failed on me in about the same time frame. I think I am still under warranty, but honestly I no longer have the energy to go and get another band only to have it fail on me in another couple weeks. I still love the idea of activity and sleep tracking, but this product clearly isn't engineered to be robust enough to provide a solution for more than a couple months at best. Very disappointing.
