Dissecting the Jawbone UP: Best Alarm Clock- 11.24.11
Of all things i’ve unboxed, the Jawbone UP (see the unboxing here) has lead to SO many questions over im, twitter, facebook, phone, in person lately… and i’ve been doing so much random research, compiling it and privately linking people to it ~ finally decided to just post it. As all the posts come out about people who love or hate their UPs ~ and after many discussions about how long it will take before someone (or everyone) makes the “croc charm” biz model happen accessorizing the UPs… even Brit wrapped her’s in brass wire… which i have to admit makes it feel far more tesla coil than fashion accessory… So what do i ACTUALLY think about the UP?
LOVE THE ALARM CLOCK. It vibrates to wake you (and just you ~ not your neighbors, whoever is in bed with you, etc.) ~ also meaning not jumping up to a jarring noise. It uses its approximation of your sleep cycles to wake you at the best time with in a half hour before your set alarm time. And in all honesty, i’d been sleeping terribly, and have been waking refreshed since i started trying it. Is it a coincidence? I’m not sure, but it’s been a noticeable enough difference that i’m intrigued enough to keep trying it.
I CUT THE RUBBER OFF WITHIN 24 HOURS. I tried to wear it around, but it just didn’t feel good… rubber on the skin 24/7? It was even more comfortable with just its minimal tech guts. Experimented a bit ~ and in the end decided to pull out the old little kid string from friendship bracelets ~ and friendship bracelet-ed it. It’s SO much more comfortable to sleep with now, and far thinner/more discreet than the original (and yes, no longer shower proof, but working great.)
I ONLY USE IT WHILE SLEEPING. The truth is ~ the food part, i’m not really going to take pics of everything i eat. The activity monitoring feels more like INactivity monitoring ~ great to let you know if you need to move more (you can have it buzz to remind you to be more active). And unlikely i’m really going to do the group thing and team up against friends to work out more.
BEST SLEEP TRACKING/ALARM I FOUND. Going through all the other options with my priorities being size/comfort, optimal wake up alarm based on sleep cycle, and vibration alarm ~ even throwing in price… the Jawbone UP is the best option i’ve found. Chart and links to all the others (devices, apps, etc) i looked into on the next page.
Anyhow, i think that answers the questions everyone’s been asking a lot… check out the next page if you want to see the actual guts of it, my experiments, and the comparison chart of other sleep monitoring options on the next page.
A peek at how thin/wearable it still is simply bare without the rubbery coating…
Trying out a leather strap to see how that looks as a thin cuff…
Sorry for the randomness in colors/blur ~ was playing with it all late at night ~ took some random snapshots between various cameras/phones while playing around! Here’s the friendship bracelet one…
This is an edit of the WakeMate comparison chart when i was researching between options.
Links to the others: FitBit - sleep bracelet looks big, and no alarm Sleep Cycle iPhone App - you put your phone under the mattress? Wake Mate - no vibrate alarm on wrist band MyZeo - can’t imagine wearing that on my head while sleeping… Lark - no optimal wake up alarm Sleeptracker - watch like device Axbo
I’ve used the Sleep Cycle iPhone App for a while and like it, you don’t need to put it under the mattress, I just place it on the bed next to my pillows and it seems to work. It’s not perfect, but for the price and the ease of use I wasn’t expecting a super-accurate experience.
----- Andy 25.11.11 05:25