Jawbone UP Review

Fitness gadgets are having their moment in 2013, with companies eager to produce the perfect wearable tech device — something to help users get moving away from their desks, be active, eat right, and even sleep better. The POPSUGAR Tech and Fitness teams faced off in a Jawbone UP challenge to see if using the fitness tracker band could really motivate us to take more walks during the day, go to bed at a decent hour, and otherwise live a healthier lifestyle.

Built with an accelerometer, the hypoallergenic rubber UP ($130) — available in small, medium, and large sizes — monitors daily activity like walking and running and breaks that activity down by total steps taken, pace, distance, and calories burned. The data is then synced to UP's iOS and Android apps — which also include a nutrition database to record meals and snacks — by inserting one end of the band into the phone's headphone hack. For the less motion-based exercises, users can input a workout into the app, like yoga for 30 minutes, which is then logged to your timeline with an estimate of calories burned. Recent software updates to the iOS app will now pull in information from third-party wellness apps like MyFitnessPal and Withings.

Available in eight colors, the UP band also monitors sleep cycle, showing in a graph the hours of deep or restless sleep per night, and how long it took to finally fall asleep. Intended to be worn 24/7 (it's water-resistant!), UP will send you a little buzz when you've been sitting too long or vibrate to gently wake you up in the morning with the smart alarm setting.

While, admittedly, the Tech team didn't always keep up on daily steps as compared to the marathon-training Fitness team, all four participants wore the UP bracelet for about a month, from sleep to shower to the gym. Here, fitness and technology take on the Jawbone UP.