This post is sponsored by Jawbone.
Rewind back a few weeks when I set some goals inspired by my new Jawbone UP. Those goals were to:
But most of all, I wanted the Jawbone to act as a reminder that it’s the everyday moments that add up to good health.
So how’d I do?
I think the sleep function was my favorite part! The UP has a feature called Smart Alarm that you can set to wake you up gently when you’re entering light sleep. I set mine to wake me up within 30 minutes (before or after) of 7am when I entered light sleep. It’s also the most gentle alarm that buzzes on your wrist – no obnoxious loud sounds or phones to fumble with! Most days it buzzed around 6:35am. One day when I went to 6am athletic conditioning it “woke me up” right at 6:30 in the middle of the class thinking “Boy she is in really light sleep!” I was most definitely awake then ; ) But overall, this feature is great because it gives me an extra 30-45 minutes before Mazen wakes up to get the day started. (He has been my alarm clock for 2 years!) Mission accomplished!
I am now in the habit of pushing the button to turn the UP into sleep mode each night so I’ve tracked quite consistently. I love the sleep charts! My longest night was 9 hours and 23 minutes and my shortest was 7 hours and 25 minutes (while traveling). I love that it tells you how long it took to fall asleep too – I guess I’m pretty tired because I’m always asleep in under 12 minutes and sometimes as little as 4.
Yeah…this goal was not quite met. I still suck at drinking water! But I will say it improved a little bit. I usually remember to log my first few cups of the day, and logging helped me on the front end of the day before I stopped trying. But overall, I’m still not hitting 64 ounces. I am drinking more tea, so that counts for something!
I rocked the step goal! My most recent 5 day average was 12,665 steps. I do wear my Jawbone all the time, so it counts my workouts and I also wore it during a soccer game and hit nearly 20,000 steps that day! Again, why didn’t I walk around the block to finally see a 20,000!? Another soccer day I was at 19,938 – so close! I’ve come close but haven’t crossed over to the 20s yet. I am definitely making an effort to get to 10,000, though, and the UP certainly makes that goal more fun to reach.
Overall I really, really like the Jawbone and give it the final leg up over the Fitbit.
Several of you asked on my last post which I liked more and I needed more time to tell. Both have pros and cons and the pros of one are the cons of the other. I had some sync trouble with both, so they cancel one another out for that.
Jawbone
Pros: Sleeker and better wrist band // Easier to activate sleep (I always had trouble with the Fitbit sleep double tap working) // Much more data in the app // Better celebration on the app dash for reaching goals // 7 day battery
Cons: No visual step count // No vibration party when you reach goal // Dated looking dashboard
Fitbit
Pros: Visual step count // Celebration vibration at 10,000 steps that you look forward to all day // More modern looking app // Syncs with My Fitness Pal for bonus active calories
Cons: Band falls off more and is clunkier // Less data and trends // Dash not quite as visual // Really short battery life – my biggest complaint.
I wore them both on the same day and here’s the step report. This included a 3.5 mile morning run plus walking to and from preschool. It’s really interesting to see the differences between them, especially in total calorie burn for the day. The UP seems kind of low for 7.5 miles, but maybe it’s trying to get me to lose weight!?
Both are good activity trackers, but I really like the Jawbone band better and all the data it provides. I’m sending my Fitbit back to Theodora!
One more cool thing to note: if you don’t want to buy the Jawbone tracker, you can actually still use the UP app to log food, movement, and sleep via Apple Health from iTunes.
Thanks to Jawbone for sponsoring this post. Learn more about the UP24 here.
Kaila @healthyhelperblog! says
I currently have a FitBit Force but since they are no longer making them I know I’ll eventually have to look into a different type of fitness tracker. The Jawbone sounds awesome and I love how sleek and thin it is!
Katie says
I wanted a force so bad! If I’m going to put a band on my wrist it needs to tell me the time.
Juliet says
I know!! I had the Force, too, but it was a subsidized one through work (yes I’m lucky there), and I had to return it from the recall. I agree, the only thing to get me to wear a device to track stuff is if it is also a watch. And the watch tech is so cheap to insert. I have no idea why no one has jumped on that bandwagon.
Nicole Bowles says
I’ve also had the chance to wear both and agree, prefer the Jawbone Up. I believe it can also sync with My Fitness Pal, I remember that being a feature I enjoyed when I first wore the band earlier in the year.
Alison says
I love my UP, it syncs to my fitness pal too. Love that feature.
Matt says
When it “woke you up” during conditioning class, I bet it was more a function of “It is within 30 minutes of the set time, and the user is clearly awake” so it buzzed. I need to try one of these out!
KathEats says
Maybe I’ll let you borrow it : )
Christie says
What a great little gadget! Thats so clever it can tell you how long you’ve been asleep for!
Alyssa @ The Healthy RD says
I’ve never tried the JawBone, but I do love my FitBit. I have the FitBit one (that is worn like a pedometer) so I don’t have to worry about it being clunky on my wrist. The battery life of mine seems to be about 2-3 weeks, which isn’t too bad in my books!
Katie @ Talk Less, Say More says
I’d LOVE to get a little band like this. Especially with the 50 States In A Year project approaching, it’d be a great way to make sure we’re getting enough activity while spending a lot of time driving!
Ashley says
A fitness tracker is on my Christmas list this year. I’m considering both of these devices; thanks for the reviews!
Sabrina says
Great review, but my eyes just keep going back to the night you had 9.5 hours of sleep. And the fact that 7.5 hours of sleep was the lowest you got.
JEALOUS.
Hopefully one day my child will require more sleep overnight and I’ll get to have at least 7 hours of sleep. 🙂
jill says
My husband brought home 6 Gatorade reusable water bottles (the big green squirt top ones) and we keep them topped up and in the fridge. Our whole family – including our almost-two year old and our 7 year old – is now very well hydrated. I don’t know why, but I find it more satisfying to take a swig from the water bottles than to have a glass of water. I’m pretty sure it sounds dumb, but it’s totally worked for us.
Now – how do 9.5 and 7.5 hours get a check mark for your your “8.5 hours, no more, no less” goal, when they are either more or less? I’m confused! Probably because I haven’t had coffee yet. I am all for long sleeps, though. They are the best. When we manage to schedule early bedtimes (like, 8:30 or 9pm early), my husband and I pretty much spend the whole next day high-fiving about how awesome we feel.
KathEats says
Well I’m only giving a check for improvement – you’re right that every night wasn’t great, but that 9.5 was a recovery day! I think what’s important to me is my average is 8.5 rather than 9.
Alex @ True Femme says
This was a great (and really useful) post for me because I’m debating on which one to get. I agree that the dashboard for the fitbit is a little more modern but I like the look of the jawbone better and it seems like from people I’ve talked to, it has the edge. Thanks for sharing!
Lori says
I have had an UP for 10 months now. I am on my second one….the first one quit working. They did send my a replacement after trying several things to get it working again. But now the second one is having problems. I love it when it works. I am getting discouraged with this thing. I hope your works better than mine over the long haul.
Kay says
I have a Fitbit Force, and I’m worried the day it breaks I won’t know what to do.
I love the sleekness and the colors of the Jawbone, but when I was looking at fitness trackers, the Jawbone was having syncing issues. 🙁 Bummer.
I hope they come out with an updated tracker for Christmas, while I love being able to keep track of my daily health, I love the visual face on the Force, and would totally go for a brighter, cuter, slimmer version.
Nic says
Thanks for the review – appreciate it! I checked out their website but didn’t find anything regarding manually entering in exercise, if that’s even possible? The reason I ask: some days I swim laps at the pool. I know the Jawbone cannot be fully submerged in water, so how would one account for those calories burned even though actual “steps” weren’t taken? Sorry if that sounds confusing!
KathEats says
I just checked the app and you can manually enter exercise : )
Pat says
Everything i’ve read lately about drinking water says that all liquids count and that 64 ounces is not the minimum; people are different as to how much liquid they need to stay hydrated, just like in other things. :). I’ve been thing about one of these devices, so appreciate the reviews.
Tracy says
Do you not count the tea you drink as part of your water goal? I would probably include it if I was tracking. It’s water with flavoring added right?
KathEats says
I do! But I don’t drink very much in the warm months.
Cheri @ Overactive Blogger says
I have a Fitbit, and I totally agree with some of your cons. Love that it tracks for me, but I want to get a cuter wristband for it, and the battery life makes me crazy because I’m so active. I need to get better about remembering to charge ALL my devices.
Paige says
I’ve had several FitBit versions, and now have an UP24. This version of the UP tracker vibrates when you reach your step goal, and syncs with MyFitnessPal (and many other apps). UP also has amazing customer service, in the event you do have a problem. After using both brands, I can say that UP is my fave; I’d never go back to FitBit.
kim says
Hey Kath, Thank you for taking the time to review both of these devices. I have been waiting to hear you opinion. Can you say with complete certainty and honesty that this post was without biases although it was sponsored by Jawbone?
KathEats says
Yeah. I shared the cons. I really do like it.
Ella says
KATH I cannot believe you are so active and drink so little liquid! On a recent post you mentioned how little you drink (coffee in the morning but no water) and I was flabbergasted! How do you do it? I guess I am the total opposite though, I’m ridiculously hydrated and thus I have to pee all the time, ha! I’m pregnant with my 3rd and honestly I rarely notice a difference in the number of times I go to the bathroom when I’m pregnant vs. when I’m not pregnant 🙂
PS this is a great post! I always enjoy your product comparisons.
Ashley @ Saving Money in your Twenties says
I love the idea of it waking you up gently in the morning- that’s brilliant!
Elizabeth says
You didn’t even mention the inactivity alarm – I think that’s my favorite feature of the Jawbone UP! I have mine set to 1 hour, so if I’m bogged down at work and get to the 1 hour mark of no activity, it will vibrate, which reminds me to get up and walk around. It’s good to get fresh air and take that little break!
KathEats says
I’m usually not able to take a bbreak (time crunch of babysitterms or naptime!) So I find it kind of null for me
Allison says
Hey Kath! I’m not sure I understand this comment. What do you mean you’re not able to take a break?
KathEats says
I just mean that I have to get everything done in a 2 hour nap time so I don’t want to spend 15 minutes getting up to move around!
Allison says
Oh okay, makes sense. The way you worded it initially came off a little condescending, but I guess I was wrong!
KathEats says
Oh no, sorry. I just mean that if I were working all day the breaks would be more important, but when I sit down for 2 hours I gotta crank stuff out so when my band vibrates it just reminds me that I’m sitting too much! Not at all saying other people aren’t working hard too! Many are working hard a lot more hours a day than me : )
Laura @ The Healthy Sooner says
Really helpful review! And I love your nails…just got mine painted that same color. Is it Essie Chinchilly?!
Jessica says
Kath –
Thanks for the comparison. I have been contemplating one of these but was sort of overwhelmed with the choices so this really helps! Cant decide if I should bite the bullet and get one or wait till the Iwatch comes out next year? That thing sounds amazing!
As always – love and appreciate what you do –
Jessica
Melinda says
Can you use them with a I phone app?
KathEats says
Yup!
Ashlee says
Were you able to setup the goal with drinking water on your jawbone? Or did you have to track that on your own?
KathEats says
You can do it on the Jawbone, yes, but it’s not as user friendly as something like My Fitness Pal