Jawbone Up Review | 171 Data compared

The Jawbone UP is a physical fitness bracelet designed to track continuous daily activity, sleep cycles, and meals via a companion smartphone app. The reviewer notes that the device excels in its elegant, minimalist hardware design which features a single control button, a hidden connection plug, and an invisible mode-indicator LED. Key positive functionalities include highly accurate exercise-tracking—which can even record pauses during stationary movements like push-ups—and a vibrating sleep-alarm that automatically wakes the user up during their lightest sleep phase. Additionally, the manufacturer provides a highly functional and beautiful online support forum for community troubleshooting. Conversely, the product is heavily criticized for its substantial software and hardware flaws. A major hardware drawback is the complete absence of wireless synchronization and the inability to charge the band directly through the phone, forcing users to constantly plug the physical device into an audio jack or a separate USB cable. The lack of a built-in GPS chip further limits its independence from the phone. On the software side, the application suffers from poor, circular navigation, requires repetitive daily wake-up adjustments, and features...

The VentureBeat review highlights the Jawbone Up as a stylish, 24/7 wearable with excellent sleep tracking, an improved app, and a 10-day battery, though it lacks a display and wireless syncing. In contrast, the clip-on Fitbit One is described as a "secretly geeky," unobtrusive device featuring effortless Bluetooth synchronization, a protective clip jacket, and a detailed online dashboard, despite its less inspiring, functional design.

The 2012 second-generation Jawbone UP is an improved TPU rubber fitness tracker that completely overhauls the manufacturing flaws and poor water resistance of its predecessor. Priced at $129.99, the device earns praise for being extremely comfortable across its three available sizes and for featuring a highly effective internal vibrating motor. This motor serves as a silent morning alarm and actively nudges users to move when they have been sitting at a desk for too long. Additionally, the device boasts an impressive 10-day battery life and allows flexible tracking, giving users the freedom to manually log workouts, exertion levels, and missed sleep data directly within its compatible iOS app.

The Jawbone Up is a sleek, exceptionally designed, button-less fitness tracker that serves primarily as an advanced pedometer with lifestyle monitoring capabilities. Designed out of medical-grade rubber, it wraps around the wrist comfortably without clasps and features a single button on one end to toggle between day and night modes. Its standout features include an attractive design, an impressive 10-day battery life, and a vibrant, well-designed smartphone app that tracks movement and sleep data while animating daily goals. However, data syncing requires physically uncovering a 3.5mm jack and plugging it into the phone’s headphone socket rather than utilizing a wireless connection. While the device excels at tracking sleep patterns by separating deep and light sleep cycles, it ultimately leaves consumers with more questions than answers because it fails to provide actionable recommendations based on the collected data. Key disadvantages include its limited functionality, lack of wireless connectivity (Bluetooth), and the fact that it cannot charge while syncing data. Additionally, at a retail price of $149, the tracker is significantly expensive compared to its competitors. It is less effective as a...

The Jawbone UP fitness tracker ($129.99) earns a 3.5 "Good" rating from PCMag for its thorough health monitoring and stellar mobile app companion. The medical-grade rubber bracelet is comfortable for 24/7 wear and provides an impressive 10-day battery life. Its standout features reside within its vibrant iOS and Android applications, which track steps, distance, sleep patterns, and caloric burn. Notably, the app supports a highly unique, vibration-based silent alarm that can analyze REM cycles to wake users up at an optimal moment, alongside customized "power nap" settings and useful "idle alerts" to discourage physical inactivity. Despite these excellent software metrics, the hardware suffers from significant limitations when compared to cheaper competitors like the $100 Fitbit One. The Jawbone UP lacks a physical data readout or screen on the band itself, forcing users to manually plug the bracelet into a smartphone's headphone jack to sync data. Furthermore, it completely lacks wireless syncing capabilities, heart rate monitoring, and integration with third-party software or smart scales. Additionally, its bright, wrap-around design is difficult to wear discreetly at formal events. Ultimately, while the health-tracking...

The second-generation Jawbone UP is a lightweight, comfortable, and highly stylish flexible wristband designed to track distance, calories, sleep quality, and active intensity without requiring a tight fit that traps sweat. Its companion smartphone app stands out as an exceptional motivation tool, offering a beautifully designed interface that logs food via a barcode scanner, tracks distinct exercise sessions, and delivers automated health tips. Additionally, because the tracker lacks power-draining wireless components, it achieves an outstanding, market-leading battery life of roughly ten days on a single charge. However, the tracker suffers from major usability flaws, most notably its complete lack of wireless syncing, forcing users to physically plug the device's 3.5mm jack into a phone's headphone socket to view data. This frustration is compounded by a total absence of a device display—offering no immediate progress updates—and the lack of an altimeter to track elevation changes. Combined with a premium price tag of £99 that makes it more expensive than more convenient competitors like the Fitbit Flex, the Jawbone UP is difficult to recommend over its rivals.

The Live Science review rates the Jawbone Up 5.8/10, praising its detailed personal data tracking for steps, sleep, and calories, along with an engaging app that includes a barcode scanner for nutrition tracking. However, the device is criticized for its bulky design and lack of a display screen for instant stat checks. Furthermore, the lack of Bluetooth connectivity requires a clunky, manual, headphone-jack syncing process that hinders daily use. YouTube

The $129.99 Jawbone UP is a comfortable, well-designed personal health tracker that excels at monitoring daily activity and sleep efficiency via a robust mobile dashboard, featuring unique silent, vibrating alarms for wake-ups and inactivity alerts. It offers seamless integration with third-party apps like MyFitnessPal but lacks on-device data readouts and is limited to iOS and Android, excluding PC support. Significant drawbacks highlighted in the review include the lack of wireless syncing, requiring a physical connection to a smartphone's headphone jack to transfer data. Furthermore, the device lacks a screen to check stats on the go, does not connect with external sensors like heart rate monitors, and has a design that is not particularly discreet. YouTube

The redesigned Jawbone Up ($129.99) is an innovative, lightweight fitness tracker designed to be worn 24/7 to monitor daily activity and sleep patterns. Its standout strengths include a groundbreaking, flexible rubber design that is highly comfortable and water-resistant enough for showering. The companion mobile app is highly intuitive, presenting comprehensive data metrics like active time, idle alerts, sleep depth, and a historical timeline via the Lifeline feature. Additionally, it offers impressive battery performance, lasting roughly seven to ten days on a single charge, and provides motivational tools like haptic smart alarms and power nap modes. However, the device suffers from notable design and connectivity drawbacks. It completely lacks a built-in display screen or clock, meaning users are entirely dependent on their smartphones to check any health data. Data syncing requires a less convenient physical connection using a 3.5mm headphone jack adapter rather than wireless Bluetooth. Furthermore, the Jawbone Up features limited software support, compatibility only with iOS and a select few Android devices, and lacks GPS features to measure distance and speed, making it poorly suited for serious athletes.

Jawbone Up (2012) Review Summary The 2012 reboot of the Jawbone Up successfully addresses the widespread hardware failures of its predecessor by introducing a highly durable, water-resistant design capable of enduring daily showers, dishwashing, and rigorous bending without breaking. Its companion iOS application has been completely transformed from a basic data logger into a feature-rich, visually polished hub featuring comprehensive sleep patterns, bar graphs, and an active social feed designed to motivate users through peer competition. The device boasts an impressive nine-to-ten-day battery life, and its revamped food-tracking system now includes a helpful barcode scanner alongside a robust database to help users consciously monitor their daily caloric intake. However, the fitness tracker is held back by several notable design oversights and functional limitations. Hardware inconveniences include a bulky end cap and button that frequently snag on objects, a lack of wireless syncing or Bluetooth, and a reliance on a easily misplaceable, proprietary 3.5mm charging adapter. Furthermore, many software features feel unpolished; the "Smart Alarm" and "Power Nap" features struggle to accurately detect sleep states, the calorie tracker occasionally misidentifies scanned...

The Jawbone UP activity-monitoring wristband has experienced a high rate of hardware failures, leading Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman to issue a formal statement and offer an unprecedented "no questions asked" refund program. The device features notable pros, including its sleek visual reports, a useful "Activity Reminders" system that sends gentle wrist vibrations to prevent prolonged sitting, and comprehensive nighttime sleep tracking that maps deep and light sleep cycles via an iOS app interface. Additionally, the company's generous refund policy allows dissatisfied customers who purchased the band from authorized retailers to receive a full financial refund while being permitted to keep their physical bands. However, the product suffers from critical cons related to major engineering flaws, forcing Jawbone to temporarily halt production. Two specific capacitors in the power system frequently fail, causing the wristbands to drop data, issue erratic or random vibrations, fail to hold a charge, and ultimately "brick" or stop working entirely within the first seven to ten days of use. Furthermore, multiple testing units experienced hardware-related syncing failures, creating a highly frustrating user experience and resulting in poor...

In this article from Summer Tomato, author Darya Rose reviews the Jawbone Up activity tracker, highlighting several distinct pros that initially led her to call it the coolest pedometer on the market. A major standout feature is the customisable hourly buzz reminders that nudge users to stay active and avoid prolonged sitting. Rose praises the elegant, sleek design of the waterproof wristband, noting it is far more attractive than standard pedometers. The app's user interface is celebrated for its beautiful graphical display of step progress toward goals, and the device features impressive sleep-tracking capabilities that monitor light versus deep sleep patterns alongside a gentle vibration alarm. Furthermore, the app initially promised strong habit-building and friendly, competitive social interaction components. However, the review outlines substantial hardware and software cons that heavily impact the device's reliability. From a usability standpoint, the lack of Bluetooth wireless syncing is a major drawback, forcing users to physically plug the band into an iPhone audio port to fetch data. Rose stopped using the sleep tracking because the bracelet felt obtrusively bulky in bed, and she found...

The Jawbone UP fitness tracker is a stylish, comfortable, and water-resistant wristband designed by Yves Behar that functions as an excellent always-on health accessory. It provides high utility by tracking physical activity, step progress, and sleep cycles via an internal accelerometer, syncing the collected data directly into a sleek iPhone app. The companion app also offers useful secondary features like a photographic diet-tracker, GPS route maps, and a team page to create fitness challenges with friends. However, the hardware suffers from major design and reliability flaws, most notably an unacceptably high failure rate where the bands completely "brick" and stop working entirely. Additional drawbacks include a poorly designed cap covering the connection jack that easily pops off and costs up to $15 to replace, a tedious physical syncing method requiring the band to be plugged directly into the phone's headphone port, and a team feature that lacks a functional way to scan contacts or social media to find friends. Due to these severe defects, the reviewer strongly advises against buying the device until permanent manufacturing fixes are implemented.

The Jawbone Up is a sleek, bracelet-style activity tracker designed by Yves Behar that functions as a piece of "functional jewelry" made from hypoallergenic TPU rubber. It excels as a lifestyle data collector, accurately tracking daily steps, calories burned, and highly detailed sleep cycles—including deep and light sleep phases. Notable positive features include its exceptional 10-day battery life, robust waterproof build that can survive showers and toddler roughhousing, a helpful "Idle Alert" to combat sedentary behavior, and a smart alarm that vibrates to wake you up gently during a light sleep cycle. Furthermore, its platform supports integration with popular third-party apps like MyFitnessPal and RunKeeper to offset localized data limitations. However, the device suffers from several notable weaknesses and inconvenient design choices. A major drawback is the lack of wireless connectivity; users must physically plug the tracker's 3.5mm jack into their smartphone to sync data, risking the loss of the small protective cap. The band also completely lacks visual indicators or a screen, meaning users cannot check progress toward daily step goals at a glance without syncing. Additionally, the external...

The Jawbone Up, a $99 wearable, is praised for its comfortable, stylish, and lightweight design, featuring a 10-day battery life and a "smart alarm" via its vibration motor. The device excels at passive activity and sleep tracking, supported by a polished, social-focused iOS app. However, the review notes significant drawbacks, particularly the lack of wireless syncing, requiring a manual, sometimes buggy, connection to the iPhone's headphone jack. Furthermore, food logging is tedious, and the clasp-less design can be awkward during daily activities.