Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I pre-ordered the Jawbone UP3 directly from the manufacturer. When I initially ordered it, I was expecting it to be, as Jawbone advertised, the most advanced tracker on the market. I'll tell you now, Jawbone did not live up to their advertising, and I am very disappointed in the product I received on even the most basic of levels. (Please note that I evaluated this tracker from the perspective of being a runner, for which activity trackers are ideally suited.) PROS: 1. It has better sleep tracking than most products on the market. Since I like to see how my activity, eating, and sleeping habits affect the quality of my sleep, this is a big plus for me, and it's nice to have all of my health tracking in one convenient band. 2. It's relatively small and lightweight compared to most products on the market. I'm used to wearing medium weight bangles and bracelets, and this feels as though I've just added another to my wrist. 3. It tracks running and workouts the way it’s supposed to and performs this function like any other comparable tracker on the market. 4. The companion app for the iPhone is great. Jawbone nailed the presentation and user friendly means of communicating useful information rather than simply providing graphs with raw data. It interprets your data for you and offers helpful suggestions on how to improve your lifestyle and health. It also syncs with Apple’s health app, so any data you’ve collected using other trackers (*cough* Apple Watch *cough*) or third party apps (like Sleep Cycle) can also be incorporated into your overall data. I love the companion app and will probably continue using it for a very long time. Even if you don’t purchase the band, I definitely recommend you download the app. CONS: 1. It's not waterproof after all. Jawbone made a promise and failed to deliver. The band is merely water resistant. I paid for waterproof, but since I’m not a swimmer, I let that one go. 2. It's a fight every time I try to put it on. I wear the medium sized UP24 comfortably. Unfortunately, the one size fits all feature on the UP3 was poorly planned and, therefore, too large. Now, as if getting the clasp shut in the first place wasn't enough of a challenge, getting the band tight enough to be sure all of the sensors are touching my skin is downright annoying. I have to hike the D ring at the end of the strap almost all the way up to the aluminum and try to hold that in place while I work the clasp, but it's not well designed to be that tight, so it invariably slips back down and fits too loosely once I'm done fidgeting with it. 3. The D ring was a horrible idea. The clasp isn’t so great either. And, oh yeah, if you have bony wrists, the sensors on the inside of the band next to the D ring tend to dig in almost painfully. The clasp regularly catches on any of my clothing that has an open weave, and the D ring has managed to both bruise and cut my wrist in the short two weeks that I’ve been using it, making the band unbearably uncomfortable to wear. I’ve stopped wearing it for two days now, and I still have marks. It never fell off my wrist on its own like it has for some people, but I wasn’t exactly happy wearing it either. 4. The band is difficult to put in and out of sleep mode when you want, but somehow regularly puts itself in and out of sleep mode at incorrect times. The idea is that, for any action you want to take with the band, you have to use a double tap to wake the band, then use whatever series of taps/holds required to give it a specific command. While it recognizes commands immediately, it’s difficult to wake the band in the first place. Additionally, the band switching modes by itself means I receive inaccurate sleep data, which defeats the purpose of the one feature that made it stand out from the competition. The third party sleep app that I have been using for years collects better data than the UP3. 5. The active heart rate and body temp tracking features seem to be nonexistent. There have been no software updates since they’ve announced the product, and there’s no indication that there ever will be. Ultimately, this doesn’t perform any better or worse than the UP24, so I don’t understand why they expected me to pay so much more for it. I’ve decided that this product is not worth what I paid for it, and I am currently in contact with Jawbone to see if I can return it. The pros do not outweigh the cons. On a side note: In the time it took for Jawbone to manufacture and ship a product they had initially promised to deliver in December, I purchased and received an Apple Watch. I hadn’t planned on purchasing one, but my curiosity got the better of me, and I’m glad it did. I was able to compare the Apple Watch side by side with the UP3. You’ve now read my review of the UP3. Let’s just say there’s only room for one wearable on my wrist, and the Apple Watch won out. It performs better than the UP3 on all fronts except sleep tracking, and I have Sleep Cycle for that. Even Jawbone advertised using the Apple Watch in combo with their UP app on their own blog (Bogard. “Connecting Your New Apple Watch to UP.” April 24, 2015). There are better products out there. Don’t waste your money on Jawbone. If you have any questions about the UP3 that I haven’t answered here, please feel free to contact me or pose a question on my review. I’m the sort who really appreciates a quality review that enables me to make an informed purchasing decision, so I would be more than happy to share my experience and provide that same opportunity to you. EDIT - 06/18/15 - For those who are interested in reading it, I have replied to the manufacturer's response in the comments section of this review.