Jawbone UP – the bracelet that tracks your health and wellbeing

Jawbone UP is bendable computer you wear like a bracelet to help keep track of our sleep habits, how much we exercise, what we eat and our moods.

The sleekly designed wrist band can be worn 24/7 to help users capture their daily movements and sleep patterns.

It can then be synced with a companion iPhone and Android app that can help us keep a calorie tally of the food we eat and the state of our general wellbeing.

The Jawbone UP is designed to present the user with a snapshot of their wellbeing and achieves this by combining the sensors in the bracelet and harnessing the power of the smartphone to present the data in an interesting way.

And while it may look like a simple bracelet on the outside, it’s a sophisticated piece of equipment on the inside with a tri-axis accelerometer, a rechargeable battery that lasts up to 10 days on a single charge and a vibration motor to for silent alerts.

It has a TPU medical grade hypoallergenic rubber exterior and a single push button at one end of the bracelet and status lights to indicate what mode the device is in.

There’s also a cap on the other end of the bracelet with a 3.5mm headphone plug. This is used to connect it to the smartphone to sync the data. It’s also waterproof enough to wear it in the shower but not waterproof enough to go swimming with it.

The app has an excellent design and is easy to navigate and presents all of your data in an appealing and interesting way.

The four main areas Jawbone UP can monitor is move, eat, sleep and feel.

MOVE

The onboard accelerometer within the Jawbone UP comes into play to measure the number of steps we take, distance travelled and the total calories burned.

Users can also add workouts like bike rides, runs, walks and gym workout and the number of calories that burned along with it.

You can see your progress and set yourself goals and hopefully give yourself an incentive to keep moving.

EAT

This isn’t something that Jawbone UP can pick up but the app makes it easy to track what you eat.

Users can pick what they ate or drank from a list or by simply scanning the barcode on the packaging.

The app can then show you calorie intake, fats, carbohydrates, protein, sugar, fibre and sodium and the percentage of the average daily intake you’re up to.

That last one will show you if you’ve been overindulging and encourage you to eat sensibly next time.

SLEEP

This is another area where the Jawbone UP bracelet flexes its muscle.

By putting the device into sleep mode before you go to bed, it can track the hours you slept, how quickly you fell asleep and the amount of light and deep sleep.

The Jawbone UP can also wake you up at the right time with a silent vibration when it dictated you’re in a light sleep cycle so you’re waking up feeling refreshed rather than being torn from a deep sleep and feeling groggy.

There’s also a setting for having a power nap which has been calculated for the optimal time of between 25 and 45 minutes.

MOOD

One of the best ways to see how their sleep patterns, eating habits and exercise are combining is by expressing how you feel.

The app allows users to note their mood by choosing the corresponding icon.

The Jawbone UP is not a fitness product but rather a health and wellness product designed seamlessly fit into your life and provide a way to monitor your daily activities.

For everyone looking to improve the way you look and feel you need to understand your baseline.

The act of just tracking what your doing is enough to trigger change and the Jawbone UP can be that trigger.

The Jawbone UP comes in three sizes – small, medium and large and three colours Mint, Onyx and Blue with more colours to come.

It will be available from April 20 and will be priced at $149.99.

Related Stories

FitBit Zip digital health tracker will get you moving

Aussie-made app to help make healthier food choices

Healthier teeth and gums with the Philips Sonicare