Jawbone has been known for launching awesome looking and functional products on the market on a regular basis. The company that started off by introducing cool Bluetooth headsets and speakers, has also forayed into other areas of wearable technologies such as wristbands. We recently received the company’s UP24 wristband for review and we were pleasantly surprised to find out that the device is so much more than just a fitness tracker and sleep monitor.
The system overhaul UP24 has received allows you to track your calorie intake, monitor your sleep and count your day to day activities. The goal behind doing all this, is to motivate you to constantly improve. That means, the UP24 motivates you to walk more, sleep longer, and eat a better diet.
The UP24 wristband connects wirelessly to your iOS or Android device via Bluetooth Smart to provide continuous feedback and frequent notifications to help you achieve your goals. The UP App meawhile uses your data to deliver insights and celebrate milestones while challenging you to accomplish more each day and also gives you individually tailored reports on how your sleep and activity interrelate.
In addition, the standalone iOS app UP Coffee tracks caffeine intake over time to demonstrate the impact of caffeine on sleep. We used the HTC One X smartphone to review the UP24. Unfotunately, the UP Coffee app is not available for devices running Android OS.
Visually the UP24 is a very simple looking device – the wristband does not come with a display. It comes with one button and an LED to tell you when it’s in sleep mode. Due to this, the battery life of the UP24 lasts about a full week per charge, which is pretty good considering how tiny the device is.
The wristband itself is made using hypoallergenic, medical-grade rubber, and is quite small and comfortable enough to wear throughout each day and night. Since the UP24 uses Bluetooth Low Energy radio to sync your data wirelessly, the only time you will ever plug-in the device into your computer is to recharge it.
As mentioned earlier, the device comes with just one button, which can be used for toggling between Sleep Mode, Power Nap and other functions. Opposite the button is the removable nickel-plated cap that hides the 3.5mm plug for charging. Recharging still happens over USB, with the help of an adapter.
The Up24 comed with version 3.0 of the Up app, which brings in a list of new features and improvements. Looks-wise, the app is similar to the previous interations. There are notifications that get pushed to your smartphone when you’re about to reach your goal.
You might also receive alerts updating you on your progress. Such updates all arrive automatically without the need to plug in the device if you’re using the Up24. This is especially useful if you have a very active day, wherein you do not have time to stop and plug in your device for updates, and so on.
With so many wearables out there, the UP24 looks like a winner, especially because the way the device is closely integrated with the overall app. The app not only allows you to track your performance, but it also allows you to join teams should you want to work with friends to track how each of you is doing. You can still manually enter food information, or search for products you’ve eaten.
In addition, the app also comes with a built-in barcode scanner – so your food is not listed, all you have to do is scan the barcode on the box to get it added into the app. With the UP24, you can can also set alarms. The UP24 will monitor your sleep and will wake you by vibrating when you’re in a light sleep.
Compared to the previous iterations of the UP device, the UP24 is a major overhaul. The Bluetooth wireless data transfer is a welcome addition to the whole package – it does have an impact on the overall battery life, but who cares as long as the data is automatically synced wirelessly? The UP24 by Jawbone is a winner and deserves Review Central’s Editors’ Choice award!
Price: AED 649
