Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Do NOT purchase the "Sand Twist" color. The color itself is gorgeous right out of the box--a delicate gold face with a cream band. I put it on happily and went out to dinner with some friends. To my horror, when I removed my long-sleeved black sweater, the band had completely stained--I've posted the photos. Note that neither my band nor my sweater became wet, I wasn't exercising, and nothing unusual happened--the white band simply sat snug on my wrist underneath a black sweater for a few sedentary hours at dinner. Obviously I returned it the next morning and exchanged it for a plain black one. I don't like the aesthetic of the plain black one nearly as much, but at least the black won't become unsightly over time. I expected that an exercise band would not absorb color. What happens when customers wear brightly colored exercise shirts? I decided that I don't want to find out. Maybe it could have been cleaned, but there is no way that I am going to clean the band every time I wear a long-sleeved shirt. This is a major design fail for (at least) the sand color. This is why it gets 4 stars instead of 5. I have used the Jawbone UP24 and the Fitbit before the UP3. Between the two, I prefer the Jawbone. I started self-tracking with the Fitbit Ultra and was immediately hooked, but I broke 5 Fitbits in a row (they just stopped working.) Customer service was good about replacing them, but after the 5th one I decided that the Fitbit just didn't work for me and switched to Jawbone. It may have been because we ladies were instructed to wear the Ultra on our bras, which meant mine were getting soaked in HIIT workouts. The Jawbone, on the other hand, is fairly waterproof--you can even shower with it on--you're just not supposed to swim with them. I absolutely fell in love with the Jawbone's sleep tracking and smart alarm functions. The sleep tracking has always been accurate--if I get up in the middle of the night, it records it, and it is excellent at measuring the exact time I fall asleep and wake up. It's interesting to look at the sleep cycle information. They claim to distinguish between light sleep, deep sleep, REM sleep, and so on. You can set an alarm to wake you up at the optimal time given your particular sleep cycle, and it's supposed to be a more peaceful way to wake up. Of course, I don't know whether Jawbone can really measure REM sleep. The alarm, however, really does work the way that they say it does, which lends some support to their claim that they can distinguish between light and deep sleep. Basically, you set the time for when you need to get up, and your Jawbone will wake you up, anywhere up to 20 minutes before that time, based on your sleep cycle and optimal wake-up time. This is the major reason why I love my Jawbone, and I really do wake up more refreshed. It no longer feels as though I am getting "torn" out of sleep by an alarm, because I am usually woken during light sleep. Also, since the alarm is haptic (a silent buzz on my wrist) it doesn't wake up my husband, so it's excellent for couples who share a bed but get up at different times. I researched a number of activity trackers before purchasing the UP3, including the UP2, the Fitbit Charge HR, and an Apple Watch. I am completely obsessed with self-tracking, so I also have a Garmin for more serious running training and feedback, but I wanted something I could easily wear all the time, that would also track sleep in addition to activity levels. The major reason that I went for the Jawbone UP3 instead of the UP2 is because of the heart-rate monitoring. The heart rate monitor makes the estimated calorie burn far more accurate (not as accurate as a chest strap monitor, but accurate enough.) With the previous UP24 and my Fitbit, the calorie estimates were sometimes way off what they should be--they didn't always match up with the estimates given by cardio machines at the gym, and they weren't great at capturing interval workouts. Since I do cardio barre and HIIT workouts several times a week, I knew I wanted a tracker with a heart-rate monitor. People who are just going to use it as a pedometer and sleep tracker could plump for the cheaper UP2 and be just fine. Since the UP3 has a heart-rate monitor, its calorie burn seems to be a bit more on target. Apple Watch does have some sexy features, like being able to get notifications on the wrist. I decided not to get a first-generation Watch because they lack a GPS and have to be tethered to a phone, and because the sleep tracking and third-party app integration (like MyFitnessPal and Runkeeper) is terrible. Even if I buy a later-generation Watch, I think it would be worth keeping the Jawbone just for the smart alarm, since the Watch has to be charged every day and isn't designed to be worn overnight. The major strike against Fitbit was that the Ultras kept dying on me unexpectedly, and I ended up wasting money purchasing several before I finally gave up on the brand. I had really wanted to love them, and even gave out Fitbits as holiday gifts one year, but the Ultras just didn't work for me. I have eczema and sensitive skin, so when I heard that the new bands were causing lots of skin irritation, I decided to stick with Jawbone. The UP24 never bothered me. The new UP3 has to be worn fairly tight to get a heart rate, but it doesn't bother me, because I'd rather have it tight like a watch than loosely moving up and down my wrist, like a bracelet. I have five small indentations on my wrist after wearing it (from the heart rate monitors), but I barely notice that I'm wearing it throughout the day. Overall, I'm really happy with the Jawbone UP3. I just wish I could have worn it in the "Sand Twist" color, or another pretty gold metallic color. It would have looked more like jewelry.