Fitness bands are one of the new must have products for 2013 and I have recently become interested in them. If you visit the gym often one of these bands could help you track your progress much better. There are a number of options available like the Fitbit Flex, Nike Fuel Band, Jawbone Up and other fitness accessories. As I started to look round at these products and read up on them it became obvious they are to be worn 24/7, so the way they look and feel is very important. I decided to go for the Jawbone Up as it looks simple and stylish and its smooth design makes it comfortable to wear.
The Set Up
When you first receive the band it comes with very simple instructions which I was slightly worried by, however it clearly explains that the best thing to do is download the “Up” app for your smartphone. Then all you need to do is remove the tip from the band and plug the 3.5mm connector into your headphone jack in your phone. Then open the app and follow the instructions. The app will activate your band and help you set up your account.
The App
After you have activated your band and set up your account, you need to start adding activities to the app. You can log everything you eat to keep track of calories and nutritional information. I have used applications in the past where you record food and it can be very time consuming and inaccurate. However this is very different with the UP app, you are given a number of different ways to record food/drink. You can either use the quick menu to add simple items such as water, fruit, sandwiches and more, but if you want to be more specific you can search the database. One of the best ways to add food is to use the barcode scanner, all you need to do is scan the barcode on the packaging of whatever you have eaten and it will add this in.
After you have added in the food/drink you have consumed the app will work out how much of the daily recommended nutrition you have had plus calories.The Up app is very well designed and works extremely well with the band. When you first plug in the band you will be asked for your height, weight, DOB and gender. The app will then show you the average steps done and sleep gotten by similar people and the best goal for you to set. You can then decide to go for what the app recommends or tailor yourself. I decided to set my goals to the average in order to see how I measured up to people similar to me and then change afterwards.
You can also log various workouts, record your mood and check your progress through the day in terms of goals. The app will work out the total calories burnt from your exercise combined with your movement throughout the day and give you a report on your fitness for the day so far.
The band
After the band has been set up you can more or less put it on your wrist and forget about it. As you move around, the band records everything ready for you to sync later and check your progress. The Up app recommends you sync the band twice a day so you can see if you need to step up it up a notch (or even relax). To sync the band all you need to do is open the app and plug in the band, it will detect this and sync automatically within in a few seconds, then just remove.
As well as recording your movement the band will also monitor your sleep. There is small button on the opposite side to the 3.5mm jack that you need to hold down for a second or two before getting into bed. Once this button is pressed you are putting the band into sleep mode (indicated by a purple moon) and it knows you are about to go to sleep. The band then uses Actigraphy to track your micro movements and will be able to record when you fell asleep, when you’re in a deep or light sleep and whenever you wake up. When you sync your band this information is then downloaded to the app along with your activeness throughout the day. The aim is to be as active as possible throughout the day so that when you go to sleep you stay in a good deep sleep for most the night and feel more refreshed in the morning.
If you are wondering how you are going to charge the band as it needs to be worn 24/7 then don’t worry, this is one of the best features. The battery lasts 10 days on 1 full charge. When I first set up the band I only had 1 day of battery left so I was thinking I would need to skip 1 night each week of wearing the band to charge it, but I decided to give it a quick charge while in the shower and after 20 minutes it was almost fully charged.
One thing I should mention as there appears to be a lot of confusion on this in forums is that the band is classed as being water resistant and not waterproof, meaning you can wear it in the shower, in most weather types and sweat isn’t a problem either, but the band should not be worn when swimming.
There are additional settings you can change on band using the app. An alarm function with smart sleep can be set so it will buzz on your wrist to wake you up at your chosen time. The smart sleep means you can set it so that it will wake you up between 2 certain times, for example between 7:00am and 7:30am. The band will choose the right time to wake you up depending on what sort of sleep you are in. You can also ask the band to buzz when you have been inactive for a certain amount of time, letting you know you’re being lazy. You can also choose to tell the band when you are about to exercise by clicking the sliver button once and then holding it down until the green light shows 3 times, the band will then know you’re working out and can keep track of the time spent doing exercise.
Conclusion
The Jawbone Up is very easy to use and the app works very well. I have not had any problems since using the band and it is very easy to forget you’re wearing it. I was at first worried it would be hard to sleep in but if you buy the right the size it shouldn’t move round much (available in small, medium and large). It would be nice to have a Bluetooth function for syncing but this would result in a shorter battery life for your band and phone. The app is very good at using the data collected by the band and displaying it in a very easy to understand report and I was also very pleased with the way the app handles the input of food and drink. If there was one feature I would add it would be a progress indicator on the band itself like you get with the Fitbit Flex, using 5 lights to show your progress on your goals set, but all in all it’s a great fitness accessory for anyone and is available here for just £99.99.