Fitness bracelet Jawbone UP: why this thing as it changes to the next and why I'll buy it again

Prior to this year, I sincerely believed that fitness bracelets is folly. Well, whatever, excuse me, a fool would give almost 4,500 rubles for a piece of electronics that will be 24 hours hanging on your hand and build some kind of graphics? Who needs it? I am an engineer with higher technical education (as well as a sedentary lifestyle and outlines the stomach) that I currently do not know? But now, after 7, 5 months of use, I am very weak imagine life without a bracelet. And not just a fitness band, namely the Jawbone UP.


couple of months ago ivansychev described an older model Jawbone UP24 c Wireless synchronization. I would like to write it on the personal experience of prolonged use bracelet, about why he has no alternative, how his "fix" (especially taking the word in quotation marks), and why it is necessary to buy it in the States.

First and foremost, you need to know about the Jawbone UP bracelet and fitness bracelet at all - they are not for athletes
Now back, sorry to me. My wife, as befits a beloved companion IT-person, too, reads computer publications. Therefore, when thematic resources began to make all sorts of tops gifts for the new year, I chose the bracelet Jawbone Up. Actually, the choice took place between the Fitbit and Jawbone, but the UP proposed smart alarm clock, and she bought it it.

Bought in the United States (as it turned out in the future, the most reasonable choice). Delivered via Shopozz (then still in the zone ru), because it was important terms and it was important not to screw it up with New Year gifts. And since several parcels are combined into one, it turned out that I knew nothing about the purchase. Sending come somewhere for 10 days, to a provincial city, albeit one million people, it was very cool. Then successfully migrated gift under the Christmas tree, where it was found on January 1st. Since then, I have not rented.

My Travel Set i>

What is the Jawbone UP: a small bracelet, filled in the rubber. On the one hand he neonka mode switch and status indicator, on the other - hidden cap connector for charging and syncing. The cap can be a time to lose, but it further.

What can the bracelet: the first thing they write often - is counting steps taken each day. WHO recommends that people should go about 10,000 steps daily. In summary, if you walk a day walking at least an hour, you can easily perform this task. Before buying a bracelet, I sincerely believed that somewhere so much and walk. As it turned out - nothing like that. So if I do not get the daily norm, then I am happy to perform the request of his wife the evening go for milk. Let me explain why pleasure - the fact that it gamification, ie giving important things gaming form makes with the tenacity to do what to do reluctantly. A classic example - leveling in any RPG. It seems as boring, but doing with interest. So here.

Every day you merge data from the bracelet to your phone and your corporate application draws a nice statistic. Here, in fact, lies the three ambushes:

First, I bought version of Jawbone Up, which is synchronized via the microphone jack. Ie you need every day to remove the bracelet, stick it into the headphone jack and sync. At the time of purchase have already existed model UP24, synchronizes the air under Android, but in December last year, the application only works on iOS. Therefore, we buy a simple UP. For this reason, you can not quickly find out whether you have passed the necessary kilometers, or not. It should again be synchronized manually. But my bracelet lived three days longer than the UP24.

Ambush two: the application for Android works worse than under iOS. Firstly, it is not so beautiful (I know, so-so the argument). Second, even as UP24 synchronized over the air with Android, supported by a small number of models with Android 4.3 (full list here ). Even with headphones synchronization problems a little more than iOS. Many Android resets for some reason the sound level in the application, and because of this band is not defined. It is treated by simple addition of sound to the maximum, but it's a bit annoying.

Therefore UP24 version iOS and someone will be more preferable.

Ambush three: statistics does not work without the internet. Ie data before displaying on the screen, fly into the cloud and then, from there, on the screen.

In addition to counting steps at the bracelet is a function of a reminder of immobility. You set up a period of immobility, after which the bracelet will vibrate and remind you of what a good idea to stretch your legs. It is, you know, useful. I set the timer for 45 minutes and, although every break I moved no more than 5 minutes at the end of the day tired not so much as before.

In some sections of the application can not make screenshots. Neither the standard nor by ADB. So we had to take pictures of "old-fashioned» i>

So much for the steps and movements in general. As you can see, there is nothing unique, and what could not be competitors, including new clock Android Wear. And now something for which I would not trade this bracelet for anything else. It ...

Sleep

To begin with a quote from Basha:

KWIer: and here I am every day of the game play ... but, basically, one and the same: a stealth mission, "How to leave in the morning to work without waking his wife and children" ... and in hardmod: only one try, without the ability to save and load .: x) blockquote>
 I have a similar situation. When I go to work, his wife and son are still sleeping. Therefore, the option with the usual alarm sound - it's not an option. Then save vibrobudilnik built into the bracelet. But the usual built-in alarm clock would not have been the killer-a feature, if not the main feature, which is not the competition. The fact that the Jawbone UP is able to determine the phase of sleep and wake up at a time when your brain is switched from the deep sleep phase in the phase of light. It was at this point to get up nice and easy, as opposed to feeling "better shoot" on waking in the phase of deep sleep.

I first tried this method when using the application Sleep As Android. I put the phone under the pillow, and it is easy to wake up in the correct phase. It was not until as long as I'm in a dream not wiped the phone on the floor, resulting in a smashed the hell out of the screen (but slept). Then by further experiments had to be abandoned, but the positive conclusions I did.

Now, when I got my jawbone Up, up it became convenient again. As a small child can not always sleep in full, up rested was very important. Yet it is important when you want to early in the morning to fly somewhere on business trips: even if you slept only 4-5 hours, but woke up a cucumber, and until your zombie colleagues are trying anything to figure out you pyshesh energy. Of course, fatigue will overtake you in a few hours, but usually enough to get to the airport, pass the control to settle on a plane and go to sleep quietly in a chair. Colleagues tend to just break up your mind coffee and other beverages, resulting in the aircraft can not sleep.

Another useful feature is the function of the bracelet "restorative sleep." Imagine that you have 30-40 minutes to "pokemarit." In this case, too, it is important to wake up in the correct phase. Previously, I used naps on the weekend to have time to catch up on sleep weekdays. And it seems like you are sleeping two hours, but sprightly feel not always. With the advent of the bracelet, I began to sleep for 30-40 minutes, getting the same cheerfulness as from two hours of sleep, while still have time to do some of his things. Actually, these lines I just write in the moment before I slept. And, I'm waking up, I would have whined, again not enough sleep.

Third, with the bracelet I cut the consumption of alcohol. Very clearly it revealed that if the bang bottle of beer in the evening, then fall asleep, of course, faster, but then the whole night the brain can not fall into a phase of deep sleep and relax. As a result, in the morning "hangover-type light," which it is actually explained by the fact that the body is not rested.

Here's an example: I have left to "relax" beer before going to bed. The total deep sleep: 1, 5 hours. And it seems like a long time, and sleep (8 hours), but did not feel rested. A Right up early and leave for the airport. Total sleep: 5, 5:00, deep - 3 hours. Feels rest is much better than in the first case. i>

A similar situation is observed in periods of brain storm, when the brain can not disconnect from the solution of the problem and stupidly trying to work even at night. So now I try to switch to something else for a couple of hours before bedtime. For example, to read. As a result, because of the alarm and I sat down on the Jawbone Up, and I can not change it to something else. And sometimes you want to change because ...

He infection, breaks

At the moment I broke two bracelets. Well I broke. First I stupidly burned in two months, sticking it in the charger on the tablet. As a result, the battery began to hold a maximum of an hour or two. The instructions said that can be recharged from any USB port and does not say anything about the strength of the current. As it turned out, chargers from tablets and USB3.0 ports for him disastrous. So only a warm-tube computer with a USB to 0.5A. And no more than 60-80 minutes. And it is desirable not to put the battery is below the 10-15% charge.

While corresponded with the support, which, by the way, almost instantly offers replacement and the most difficult to communicate is to convince Russia to send a replacement, tried two classic method of resuscitation.

- Soft Reset: connect to the charger with the bracelet, hold mode button, connect to a computer via USB. Once the bracelet light flashes, press the button stop synchronizing with your phone;
- Hard Reset: press the button 10 times. On the tenth button press does not let go and hold for 15 seconds. At the end of this period, the LED will flash happily. Then synchronize with the phone.

I have these standard methods did not help. Sensations were such that the band just could not get the normal status of the battery. After a long search came across the English-speaking advice that nowhere have not been caught. If you go to the settings menu bracelet (I have it in the upper left corner of the application), then poke in the name of the band, and then click recalibration, the battery condition is improving slightly.

At least, somewhere week bracelet could live at night and wake me up vibration. Then he died and more calibration did not react. By the way, I had to disassemble and can show the inside. Here is a thickening and has the brains and the battery.

In the second case, I will most likely fell off the trail, going to the button. So, even though the damage is crap, because that poured into the rubber bracelet, he, alas, neremontoprigoden. Therefore, any solution to the problems - only Softovaya.

In the meantime, managed to convince the support that except in Russia I get the bracelet never can. They agreed with me, and put a replacement. New UP flew for 15 days, was a copy of the old one, but it was slightly different pattern on the button. I can not say whether it is a new or an old revision, but the second bracelet lasted 5 months. In the end, he ceased to be pressed the button to go to sleep, and then completely extinguished lights. But the bracelet continues to wake me in the correct phase and synchronized with your phone. However, now I wear it only at night, because, I repeat, can not imagine without him lifting.

Support again almost immediately offered a replacement. The only thing that, in the light of political reasons flatly refused to send the bracelet in Russia. So I took the habit Shopozz . I'm not sure that such an exchange is possible when purchasing in Russia (in addition, as I wrote above, as the Jawbone UP has a cap which is easily lost the first replacement of the cap from the bracelet is free. But then again, you know, not ours) .

Conclusion

My new band is now undergoing customs. Until the end, I'm not very worried about his safety, so how did it happen that'll be able to exchange it for the warranty. And what will I do then, is the big question, because of obvious competitors Jawbone UP I do not see. On the other hand, the performance of the bracelet - is, after all, how lucky. My friend first bracelet has been working for more than six years. A few months ago he presented his girlfriend UP24, and now they are competing in the pair - who will take over the day (in the annex have the opportunity to join a team and monitor the progress of each other). Both have no complaints on the work there. By the way, they also showed me recipes for fun in the bracelet IFFTT. For example, dim lights HUE, when you woke up. Or switch the coffee maker and coffee preparation, if you sleep less than 5 hours. This, I believe, is very, very cool. So very, very I recommend.

P.S. Thanks to Shopozz for placing this text in a blog post.

P.P.S. Competitors Jawbone, bracelets Fitbit, there are program issuing new bracelets if you suddenly lost your old one. So it's back to the question of where to buy.

Source: habrahabr.ru/company/shopozzcom/blog/233785/

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