UP2: Smaller yet no less a nuisance

YVES BEHAR has redesigned Jawbone’s popular UP24 activity tracker wristband as the UP2, which is 45 per cent smaller and much more stylish. The tracker looks sleek on the wrist and definitely keeps a lower profile. 

The anodised-aluminium frame is quite elegant, to the touch as well as the eye.

You can wear it 24 hours a day – it’s only 220x11.5x3-8.5mm and 25 grams. It’s shower-proof and splash-resistant, so go ahead and get wet.

The 38mAh Lithium-ion battery can last up to seven days and will take about an hour to recharge using the provided magnetic USB cable.

The UP2 is similar to the UP3 reviewed here recently but doesn’t have a sensor for monitoring your heart rate during sleep.

Like the UP3, its gently vibrating motor can be set to wake you up or remind you to get up and move when you’ve been inactive for a certain amount of time. You use the band to customise these reminders and it’ll give you a slight buzz on the wrist when it’s bedtime or you need a workout – or when you need to take your daily pill.

The Jawbone UP system comprises the wristband, the UP app on your smartphone, and the cloud service that records your activities and progress and provides Smart Coach tips to improve your health.

You download and install the app and use it to link to the UP2. You need to register for a UP account to use Jawbone’s online service.

Then the UP2 will track your activities and upload the data to the cloud network and fetch advice from the Smart Coach.

The UP2 band uses a precision motion sensor and powerful algorithms to passively track and quantify your activities, distance, calories, active time and idle time. The app then calculates calories burned based on your age, gender, height and weight, along with activity intensity and duration.

The UP2 also tracks your sleep. It uses “actigraphy” – an actimetry sensor – to monitor your micro-movements and determine whether you’re awake or asleep. The results will be shown on the app the following morning.

You can put the device in sleep mode manually by tapping the band. Do the same to exit sleep mode. Set how many hours you want to sleep and Smart Coach will tell you when you have to get to bed to achieve that goal.

Since the system is designed to track the burned calories in comparison to calories consumed, the app allows you to log meals and their calorie content. If your food package has a barcode and conforms to current healthy-food standards, the barcode will contain all the calorie data. So you use the app to scan the barcode – or take a photo of your meal and enter calorie data manually.

The UP2 accurately recorded how much time I spent in bed, how much time I slept soundly and lightly, and how long it took for me to fall asleep in the first place. It also noted the number |of times I woke up during the night.

There is no display and no buttons, just three different coloured LEDS – blue for sleep mode, orange for activity tracking and white for notifications. 

All the information is designed to be read via the phone app, and all interaction with the wristband is done by tapping it. 

Smart Coach gives you the motivation and personalised tips to help you reach your goals during both sleeping and waking hours. And Jawbone also sends a weekly summary of your statistics, such as average sleep time, steps taken and total distance walked in the past week. The summary also reports which period of the day you’re most idle.

Studies have found that, when active, the body produces enzymes to burn off excess calories, so the UP2 has an Idle Alert function. It will, for example, prompt you to get up and move around after you’ve been sitting idly for 15 minutes. The wristband gives that gentle buzz when you’re inactive for that length of time.

For exercise other than walking, such as cycling or yoga, you can use the wristband and app’s Stopwatch mode to monitor them too. Tell the app what kind of workout it is and it will estimate the calories burned.

The next morning the app also reports the number of steps taken the previous day, total distance walked, amount of active time, the longest active period and the longest idle period.

In my test I mostly recorded more than 10,000 steps each day, including riding almost six kilometres to and from the front of my soi to catch a bus to work and walking up and down 31 floors to the office. More active people could easily double that rate.

The UP2 from Jawbone is available in Black Diamond and Light Grey Hex for Bt4,990.

 

Key Specs

 

- Strap: Medical-grade hypoallergenic TPU rubber

- Casing: Anodised aluminium with less than 0.5 per cent nickel

- Battery: Rechargeable lithium-ion polymer, 38mAh 

- Battery life: Up to seven days

- Charge time: Approximately 60 minutes via magnetic USB charging cable

- Sensor and interface: Bluetooth 4.0 BLE; Tri-axis accelerometer

- Three single-colour LEDs: Blue for sleep, orange for activity, white for notifications

- Size: 220x11.5x3.0-8.5mm

- Weight: 25g

- In the box: UP2 band, |quick-start guide, USB charging cable