Jawbone Up Review (finally)

Copied from my old blog:

Good evening critters!

As promised, here is the review of my new Jawbone Up band. I have had it for a couple weeks now, and I believe that I am truly beginning to get a feel for it. You can purchase the Jawbone Up on their website or at other places like Best Buy, the Apple Store, etc. I bought mine from Best Buy for $129.99. If you want to know more about the hardware, software, and different specs, then click on the links above and check out their sites; I am only going to be giving a simple review of a few things today.

What Is It?
In a brief description: the Jawbone Up band is a very intricate step tracker that is meant to be worn at all times (even in the shower!). It uses special software and a corresponding phone application to display the amount of steps you have taken, the amount of sleep you have gotten, and, also track other workouts or food intake. The app gives you a wonderful visual display of all of the data that it has collected by showing things like calorie count (plus calories burned through resting and moving), light and deep sleep, and more! There are also extra functions like a stopwatch, an alarm, and many other different modes that you can put it in. The Up band can be used by anyone and everyone with its three different size options.

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Why I got It
First off, this was not a whim decision. I had thought about it and thought about it nearly all summer. I had first seen the Up band at the Apple Store while at the Boston Marathon. It got me really pumped and motivated to start understanding what my body was doing, and to understand the habits (good, as well as bad) that I have been creating. Knowing that I still had the desire to purchase this product after waiting all summer, I saved up the money and bought it. I picked a black one because it matches nearly everything.

My Thoughts on the Design
The band is made out of a very flexible rubber that allows you to easily twist the strap around your wrist. This bracelet does not come with any sort of clasp, but holds it's shape well enough to stay snug on your arm at all times. I love the simple feel and design of the rubber; however, sometimes I find that the slight stickiness (its not really sticky, it just has a little bit of a grip to it) makes it get caught on clothing, bags, or some other forms of fabric. Also, without a clasp, sometimes the loose ends will get caught wrapped around other things like hair ties, grocery bags, etc. I haven't found that either of these issues are entirely deal breaking, but it definitely is still something to consider when purchasing this wrist band.
Another structure of the design to consider before purchasing is the removable cap. Jawbone has gotten a lot of flack over the fact that the Up band is not sync-able through bluetooth. In order to relay the data from your day's work outs you must physically plug the device into the headphone jack on your phone. Removing the small cap can not only be a hassle, but it can also create other problems like the ability for one to loose it. I don't necessarily find it too difficult for me to plug my band into my phone every once in awhile (considering I normally have my phone on me at all times anyways). So, the big discrepancy of the band not being bluetooth capable is not a problem for me at all. In all honesty, it only takes like 5 seconds for the bracelet to sync its data into the application, then you can just put the cap back on and replace the band to your wrist. The only issue that I have faced with the cap is a slight discoloration due to it rubbing up on things like my desk and laptop.

The App
The application for your phone was one of the huge selling points for me. I have yet to have a problem with the synchronization at all, and all of the data is displayed absolutely beautifully. One might ask, well what do you do with this data? Well, the application lays it out in a manner that makes it really easy to understand. You can look at how your steps from the day are matching up with the goals you have set, what your sleep schedule has been looking like this past week, and compare the trends that you are seeming to have from day to day, week to week, month to month, and MORE! I love all of the colors and some of the cute interactive things that make the application just a little more personal and fun to visit.
Within the app you can meet people and add friends so you can work together or challenge each other. The main/home screen is the news feed of the whole app that lets you see everything that you have input into your phone for that day, as well as what all your teammates are doing. You can also track your food in this area by either scanning a bar code, searching Jawbone's inventory, or adding your own foods and information. But no, the application doesn't stop there! Just from the news feed page, you can also set your mood for the day with an interactive smiley face slider, comment on other people's activities, and get involved in your's AND others' health.
With a simple slide to the left from the home screen more options become accessible to the user like setting alarms, and entering various work outs. Everything in this application is super colorful, animated, user friendly and needs absolutely no instruction. I love it so much.

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The Battery Life
Jawbone says that their Up band is meant to last 10 days, and so far, that is exavtly what I have experienced. I would give them a 5 star rating on battery life. However, (I know, I'm sorry, there seems to always be a but) when it comes time to charge your up band you have to take it off and plug it in to a computer. That's not really an issue unless you are someone like me who doesn't want to miss anything or take any steps "for free." I want to make sure that my band is calculating the calories that I am burning all day every day, and that means that when I have to take it off IT IS NOT CALCULATING. I think I am being a tad bit over dramatic. It only takes a couple of hours for the band to fully charge, and most of the time I can do it at a time in which I will be sitting down or working on something at my desk. Needless to say, the battery life is amazing, and the charging of the band isn't really a big deal, but it still can be a hassle.

All in all, I really like the Up band by Jawbone. I would recommend it to ANYONE I ran into (including Sky--he might be getting one soon, too!). My favorite features are the alarms that wake you up when you are in a light sleep and the alarm that alerts you when you have been sitting for too long. Tracking your food has also never been simpler with this application. Just all together the Jawbone Up band allows you to get a better understanding with what is going on in your day to day life. The purpose of the band is to inspire you and motivate you to work harder at being active and healthy, and for me...it is doing exactly that!

If you have an Up band and are wanting to become teammates please let me know in the comment section below. Also, if you have any questions about the band itself then feel free to shoot me a comment about that, too. I will try to answer everything to the best of my ability!
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I love you all! Peace OUT