Jawbone UP3- The Automated Fitness Tracker

Jawbone are well-known for their mini speakers with powerful sound. Three years ago, they released their first fitness wearable. On 5 November, they released a new and improved wearable- the UP3.

The UP3 is a new product but not a new idea; Jawbone broke ground with wearables with the original UP and the UP24. But, UP3 is clearly an innovation of previous versions. It takes existing technology and applies it across the board to become the “most advanced fitness tracker” ever.

The UP3 retained some fundamentals from other fitness trackers by Jawbone. There’s a free app that counts calories and is a smart coach (personal challenges and motivation) while the device can track and monitor sleep, food and drinks, and goals. In addition, UP3 has a smart alarm (will wake you up at the correct time during your sleep cycle) and idle alert (better get moving!) just like the UP MOVE, which Jawbone also announced on 5 November.

However, what sets UP3 apart are the incredible new features. With sophisticated sensors such as skin and ambient temperatures, heart rate, respiration, and tri-axis accelerometer, UP3 monitors your heart, advanced sleep, and activities with precision. It even classifies your activities automatically. That’s right. It knows when you’re sleeping. It knows when you’re awake. So, you’d better start running for health’s sake.

UP3 was designed to be worn every day for anything- it’ll track walking your dog and other daily tasks with the exercise you don’t even notice (no matter what the activity). It’s water resistant up to 10 m (32 feet) and has a battery life of up to 7 days. Its LED indicator, instead of a display screen, has coloured coded alerts for a quick look. Blue is sleep, orange is activity, and white is for notifications.

Like other fitness trackers, you can set personal goals for weight loss and gain, hours slept, and even steps a day. You’re even able to connect with your friends and family that also wear UP products to track each other’s success (or provide needed motivation). And the best part of any wearable- it syncs and updates wirelessly with Bluetooth.

Jawbone have always been keen on providing the best but typically aren’t the first ones with a great idea- they just run with it. As Kyle Vanhemert from Wired explains, Jawbone are open to outside developers coming up with and designing more features for the UP system. So, if you fancy a reminder when you need to eat or want a song suggestion when you’re stressed, then you can build it yourself.

UP3 is smaller than most other wearables on the market and also smaller than previous UP products. It’s only 29g (just over an ounce). UP3 is 220mm long (about 8.6 inches) so one size fits all. It’s clean cut and clasps like a watch but is less than 13mm across (.5 inch). It’s made of anodized aluminum and TiN (an extremely hard ceramic metal) coated stainless steel so it’s lightweight yet durable.

UP3 is compatible with both Android and iOS to easily integrate into your life. It’s currently available in black or white (although, Jawbone’s previous products are in a variety of colours) and comes with a USB charger. UP3can be purchased directly from Jawbone for $179.99 (£113).