Despite working in an office, I like to stay as active as I can so I was pleased to try out the Jawbone UP2 fitness tracker recently.
Here’s what I thought of it:
Features
There are three main features of the Jawbone UP2; daily activity mode, sleep mode and a stopwatch.The activity mode keeps track of your steps and calories burned, sleep mode records the time you sleep and the stopwatch can be set before exercising. I don’t use the stopwatch but I’m a big fan of the other two modes.
Firstly, the activity mode is brilliant – it keeps tabs on your active and total calorie burn, distance traveled, time spent active and time spent idle throughout the day. I aim for 10k steps a day, which is really achievable when I can keep an eye on my progress.
The sleep mode is also very good; I had no idea how little sleep I was getting until I used it! It encourages me to try and get a better sleep pattern though, which is great. The alarm feature is worth mentioning too – you can set the band to gently vibrate, which is far more pleasant than the loud shrills of my iPhone.
Appearance
It looks more like a bracelet than an activity band but this appealed to me, because it doesn’t look too obvious. Not that I mind wearing a fitness tracker but I like that it blends in with my usual look, if that makes sense!
I also like the slim design because it’s light and comfortable to wear and it means that I can wear a regular wristwatch as well if I want to.
The strap looks elaborate but it’s easy to do up. It took me a while to get the hang of adjusting the tightness because the clasp is a tad fiddly but nothing a few trial and error moments couldn’t sort out.
I chose black because I knew that it would co-ordinate with my gym wear and my regular outfits but there are other colours in the range including silver, turquoise and purple.
Battery
The battery lasts seven days between charges, which is quite handy. It charges by a cable that clips magnetically onto the band and then connects to a USB or laptop. I usually charge it on a Sunday evening while I’m watching TV so it’s ready for the week ahead.
Overall, the Jawbone UP2 is the perfect fitness tracker for those who want to keep things simple. If you simply want to hit your daily step goals and check your sleep quality, I’d really recommend this model. It might not suit hard-core fitness fans who want more detail but otherwise, it really nails the basics.