Jawbone UP3 quick review – stylish, discrete and smart assistant for healthy lifestyle

Jawbone is not a new name in the world of wearable tech. UP3 is one of the most attractive devices from its portfolio, and this is why we decided to present a more detailed review of this device.

In the present publication you will find described the pros and cons of this smart bracelet that has the potential of becoming your thrustworthy sports assistant and also monitoring your sleep quality and heartbeat. All these functions have been squeezed into a small and thin body with nice looks, making it suitable or both sports and official outfits.

If you want to find out more about color variants, current price and availability, you can visit the following link: http://amzn.to/1YdVs7G

Contents

Official video

Design and construction

The main body of Jawbone UP3 is made of anodized aluminum. Jawbone points out that it contains more than 0.5 % nickel so that, perhaps, people with allergies will be less worried. The band is made of hypoallergenic rubber which is absolutely latex-free and ensures comfort while wearing. As far as weight is concerned, this bracelet is 29 grams and thus it is one of Jawbone’s lightest devices. Furthermore, it is only 9.3 mm thick in its thickest point which is pretty nice.

At the front we see a diamond pattern texture which hides three LED indicators – one for sleep, one for activity and one for mobile app notifications. The back features coarse finish that should prevent slipping. It is there that you can also find several product inscriptions and five square sensors. They use gentle electric current (you won’t sense it) to check the reactions of your skin and thus determine your heartbeat. In other words, the conventional heartbeat sensor that allows you to constantly monitor your heart rate is not present here. However, you are presented with a graph that displays a detailed statistics of your heartbeat throughout the week, month or longer periods. In this way you can follow how stress or different factors affect your lifestyle.

The band features a moveable buckle so that the size can be adjusted according to your wrist. You may fumble around the first couple of times you put it on, but you will get used to it. Other than that, once you pin it on it rests securely around your wrist. Jawbone UP3 has water resistance only against spray, rain or sweat. The manufacturer does not recommend leaving it on you while bathing.

Battery

Jawbone UP3 offers a 38 mAh battery which provides around a week of use after a single charge. The mobile app offers information about the amount of charge left in your battery. Additionally, to charge the device you will need around one hour. This process happens via a USB cable included in the package – its end has a magnet that sticks to the bracelet. You can either use your computer’s USB port or a conventional socket.

Specs sheet

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• Tracks steps, exercises and the sum of burned calories for a day
• Improved seonsors for sleep tracking
• Monitors your diet and burned calories
• Smart Coach unction, helping you stay motivated and achieve given goals
  
• Improved bioimpedance snesors automatically monitoring your heart rate
• Resistant to rain, sweat and spray
• 3-axis accelerometer
• Bluetooth® 4.0 BLE
• Three separate LED indicators: blue for sleep, orange for activity, and white for notifications
• Rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery, 38 mAh, up to 7 days of battery life
• Time for charging: up to 60 minutes
• Anodized aluminum construction
• Hypoallergeneic TPU rubber band
• Dimensions: 12.2 х 3 x 9.3 mm
• One size suitable for any wrist with a circumference between 140 mm – 190 mm
  
• Weight: 29 grams
• Compatible with a variety of smarpthones, equipeed with Bluetooth 4.0 and Android 4.3(Jelly Bean) or newer;iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPod Touch 5-th generation, iPad 3-th generation, iPad Mini, iPad Air

Jawbone UP mobile app

You will need to download Jawbone’s UP app (free of charge) for Android or iOS in order to check any result from the measurements of the bracelet. The connection between the two happens via Bluetooth 4.0 or newer. Also, there are a few simple steps to follow in order to connect your phone to the the wearable device. They include the creation of a personal profile and typing in your name, date of birth, height and weight.

The app features a homescreen that resembles your Facebook wall. If you scroll down, you will see different diagrams, results, and any info you have typed in and any conclusions by the app. Furthermore, you will encounter different pieces of advice and reminders (to drink more water or smile more, for example).

Additionally, the UP app offers two main submenus that can be accessed by swiping let or right. The first one contains info about your profile, your goals (steps made and hours of sleep) that can be changed, as well as your improvement. Perhaps, the most interesting option here is the opportunity to compete with firends. You can have duels for who will make most steps for one, three or seven days. Research says that doing sports with friends, especially competing with them, makes you be much more active. You can also send email invitations very easily.

Idle Alert

The second menu we mentioned deals with the functions of your bracelet. It is here where you find Idle Alert alarm – it makes the device vibrate. It will remind you to be active so that you won’t spend continuous periods of time simply sitting in front of your desk or in your soa. To make things less irritating, you can select the period of its activity and the frequency of being notified.

Activity Alert

Activity Alert allows you to customize when you want to receive certain alerts (for example, when you reach a given number o steps). You can also set at what time you want to receive inormation about your daily activity (this can be additional motivation to achieve the goals you’ve set for the day).

Reminders

In addition, there is a section called Reminders. It allows you to create reminders of your own such as that it is time to go to bed, to go training or time for food. This can be very handy if you follow a certain routine.

Sleep Tracking

By monitoring your heart rate, breathing, body temperature and skin reaction, Jawbon UP3 can provide information about the quality of your sleep. You can set a goal for an amount of hours for sleep (it is recommended that they be 8). When you go to bed, it is necessary to note this in the app by choosing the “Start sleep” button. This will result in vibration and turning on the blue LED indicator on the bracelet. When you wake up, you will have to press “End sleep”.

The hours spent sleeping will automatically appear in a diagram on the app’s homescreen. Apart from the number of hours, you will be able to see if you have achieved the aim for the day. If you press on this diagram, you will be redirected to a more detailed statistics. Moreover, you will be presented with a graph with four sections – four stages of your sleep. The first one is Awake – the period of time while you are still awake. The second stage is REM sleep – during this stage memories become integral part of your mind, and when certain chemicals, influencing mood, such as serotonin are being concentrated in your organism. Light sleep is the stage before deep sleep – here you can easily be woken up. Last but not least, Deep sleep – this is when your muscles and tendons rest and your immune system is reinforced. By moving your finger on top of the diagram you can monitor at what time you were in this or that stage.

Below this diagram there is data about the time you have spent sleeping and to what extent you’ve covered your goal. Further down you can see a sum total of the different stages of sleep, how many times you’ve woken up and the amount of time you’ve remained like this. If you keep scrolling down, you will see a diagram displaying your heartbeat during sleep, and even further down you will se for how long and with what quality you have slept for the last seven days.

Activity tracking

If you go back to the home screen, right next to the diagram about your sleep, you can find the one about your sports activity. Tap on it and you will be redirected to a submenu with a similar statistics. It starts with a diagram displaying the hours an minutes of activity. If you drag your finger across it, you can monitor when and how many steps you’ve made. You can also choose the activity type for a period of time that you’ve been doing. It can be connected to steps, walking or running, as well as activities not related to distance such as weight lifting, yoga and others. After you choose the activity type, you can set the difficulty level and the app will calculate how much calories you’ve burned (and also take consideration of your age, weight, etc). There are 18 activities to choose from, amongst which you can find even zumba, skiing and rope skipping.

We now go back to the diagram or, more specifically, to the table below it displaying the progress of your daily target, the distance walked and steps made. Also available is info about the total of active minutes, the longest period of activity or idleness, and the total of burned calories. In a similar fashion to sleep tracking, you have another diagram with your heartbeat throughout the day, and the last chart you get is related to your weekly progress. Here you can receive a detailed statistics about a given day, add a comment or share an achievmet.

Diets and additional features

There is a small blue button in the lower right corner that offers a shortcut to several other functions. These include the already mentioned statistics about sleep and activity. Additionally, you can also specify the mood you are in and monitor a chart with your kilograms (here you need to type in data yourself). There is also a dedicated menu for diets, allowing you to add different foods and the app will give you their nutritious value. Thus, you will have more accurate info on the income of calories and how many you will have to burn, and what types of food to keep out of your menu.

Verdict

Jawbone UP3 is not of the touch screen type bracelets. It is small, discrete, and still offers good looks that can fit your style, be it casual or formal. However, its main target is sports people because it does not offer notifications for received or missed text messages or calls.

Jawbone, however, have put a lot of effort in providing in a comfortable and intuitive way all the other info you would expect from a smart bracelet. This becomes possible thanks to th UP app which will surprise you with some additional features. For example, great attention has been demonstrated toward your sleep. The device monitors not only its duration, but also uses all available sensors to determine the different stages and thus offers a really detailed info. You will also find other options such as activity reminders, competitions with friends and creation of a personal diet. We were also pleased by the option to register activity not related to amount of steps or travelled distance. In this way your zumba dancing or weight lifting will be also part of your daily activity list.

If you want to find out more about color variants, current price and availability, you can visit the following link: http://amzn.to/1YdVs7G

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