You're fat, lazy, and not getting enough sleep. At least that's what the consumer electronics industry seems to be saying with the recent deluge of fitness devices announced. In the last month alone, we've seen the introduction of the seventh generation iPod nano with integrated Nike+ sensor, the Fitbit Ultra clip-on sensor, and Motorola's MOTOACTV knockoff of the iPod nano + LunaTik watchband. And that's not even counting the myriad of dedicated cycling, running, and swimming computers targeting hardcore athletes over the same period.STAR G2000
See, fact of the matter is, we are fat, lazy, and tired, particularly in the US and increasingly in parts of the UK and Western Europe. According to 2008 statistics compiled by the US Department of Health Service, 68 percent of US adults are overweight or obese. Ironically, the US also leads the world in gym memberships with 50.2 million people (16.3 percent of the total population) toiling away in air conditioned sweat boxes. Unfortunately, 80 percent of those well meaning individuals don't actually use their memberships beyond the month of January ¡ª "resolution month" ¡ª resulting in about $12 billion wasted each year. In other words, the recent glut of fitness products has nothing at all to do with corporate altruism; there's gold in them thar cellulite hills!
Today also marks the retail release of yet another fitness device: Up, by Jawbone. While most of you know the Jawbone brand from its highly stylized Bluetooth earpieces, the company has branched out recently with its well-received Jambox portable speaker. The Up fitness wristband is meant to be worn 24-hours per day, every day. Like the Fitbit, Up includes an accelerometer that tracks your movement in order to give an estimate of your calories burned. It also features a sleep measurement mode that continuously measures your sleep cycle. However, unlike the Fitbit, Up can vibrate your wrist at just the right moment so that you awake feeling refreshed and ready to start the day. Or at least that's the claim. Up is also very much post-PC, meaning it connects directly to the iPhone's headphone jack to synch with a free app. Question is: is it worth $99 given all the competition?
Hardware
If you've seen a Jawbone Jambox then you're already familiar with the Up's rubber covering. The band itself is composed of a steel spring vertebrae that snaps rigidly into place around the wrist. It's hypoallergenic covering is made to be sweat-proof and water-resistent to a distance of 1 meter (about 3 feet).
There's no clasp on the wristband so it's easily removed and put on ¡ª faster than a wristwatch in most cases. In practice, mine has held up to daily showers over the last four days of testing. It dries quickly in the air or with a wipe of the towel.X10i Wifi
Software
Up integrates the same Fullpower-MotionX engine already found in Jawbone's Era motion-controlled headset. It's this internal software that allows Up to make sense of the data collected by its motion sensor, converting it into steps, distance, calories burned, pace, intensity level and active versus inactive time. You sync data off the Up by attaching its 3.5-mm plug to your iOS device, launching the free Up app, and hitting sync.
The iOS app is free but not all that intuitive even though it features the kind of UI polish you'd expect from a Jawbone product. Unfortunately, the polish is applied to a thin veneer ¡ª the app feels very much like a 1.0 product (although it's listed as version 1.1 for launch) with its confusing structure and buggy operation.
In portrait mode you can see a segmented view of your sleep, activity, and meals. Rotating your device into the horizontal presents you with a detailed view of each segment ordered chronologically in a timeline. I ran into a bug more than once, where nothing would display on the landscape timeline until I swiped the screen. There's more finicky behavior if you tap the screen in portrait mode, as doing so will force the display into landscape. The only way to return it to portrait is to rotate the phone 90 degrees in one direction and 90 degrees back.
Wrap-up
I've now lived with both the $99.99 Jawbone Up and $99.95 Fitbit Ultra fitness devices so you're probably wondering which I would recommend? So am I, honestly.
First, Up is only available for owners of the iPhone 3GS or newer models. The iOS app is a basic requirement of the UP system ¡ª without it the Up hardware is a functionless rubber bracelet. So the choice is obvious if you don't own an iPhone.
The Up app is pretty limited in functionality compared to what you can do with Fitbit's full-blown web interface and mobile site. And Jawbone's "meal tracking" feature is laughable in comparison. Having said that, iPhone owners will appreciate the convenience of being able to sync and view their data wherever they are (Fitbit owners must walk in range of their dock).
As a 24 / 7 wearable device I greatly prefer Up's wristband design as opposed to Fitbit's clip design. I never worry about Up sliding off my wrist whereas I lost my Fitbit when it popped off my belt. Both devices measure the quality of your sleep but only Up offers an integrated vibrating Smart alarm to wake you up and activity reminders to nudge you out of your lethargy. Up, unlike the Fitbit, is waterproof, allowing you to take it swimming, and it can draw your runs onto a map using GPS data collected from the iPhone. Fitbit Ultra, however, includes an altimeter, which the Up lacks, to more accurately measure the exertion required to climb and descend stairways.E3 Bluetooth
So, I'm calling it a draw and urge you to carefully consider the benefits and shortcomings of each device based upon your own needs. Neither can compare to expensive fitness computers (costing two to three times as much) that measure peak athletic performance while quantifying your every move. They don't have to. The Jawbone Up, like the Fitbit Ultra before it, has successfully inspired me to move more, sleep better, and eat smarter ¡ª and that's worth 99 bucks to me.
Update November 22nd, 2011: Since reviewing the product we have experienced a product failure that we've seen repeated too frequently in the Jawbone support forum and on Twitter. We've discussed the issue with the Jawbone team, including Travis Bogard, Jawbone¡¯s VP of Product Management. Jawbone is offering free replacement units but does not yet know the root cause of the issue. Until this is fixed, we can not comfortably recommend this product.