Jawbone Up3: Good looks, packed with lots of features

The Jawbone Up3 features the handiwork of renowned Swiss designer Yves Behar. It has a slim anodised aluminium casing with a rubber wrist strap, and is available in silver, red, black, blue and gold.

The silver and red versions have a twisted cross design on the casing, while the rest have diagonal lines running across the top of the casing. But the device does not have a display.

I reviewed the gold version and it drew admiring looks from friends and colleagues.

Like many fitness trackers, the Up3 has limited waterproofing capability. You can wear it when washing your hands or taking a shower but not when you go swimming.

I found the clasp insecure and it often came undone when I tried to reach for something. And if you, like me, tend to toss and turn when asleep, the Up3 might end up on the other side of the bed when you wake up.

A new firmware update allows automatic sleep tracking. Before that, you need to switch it to sleep mode. It works but sometimes gave me a sleep time that was shorter by an hour or so.

It does not track your heart rate constantly, only the resting heart rate while you are asleep.

Fitness statistics, such as steps taken and distance travelled, were quite accurate. Compared with my calibrated Nike+ FuelBand, there was only a 4 per cent difference in readings.

The advertised battery life is seven days, but I found myself having to charge mine by the sixth day.

TECH SPECS

PRICE: $309
WATER RESISTANCE: Splash-proof
WEIGHT: 29g

RATING

FEATURES: 4/5
DESIGN: 5/5
PERFORMANCE: 4/5
BATTERY LIFE: 4/5
VALUE FOR MONEY: 3/5

OVERALL: 4/5

VERDICT: The Jawbone Up3 is expensive, but it is feature-packed and the best-looking fitness tracker in this round-up.

See also: Why fitness trackers will stay on people's wrists
See also: Fitbit Charge HR: Lots of features for an action-packed life
See also: Garmin Vivofit 2: A capable tracker that gets you moving
See also: Runtastic Orbit: It also shows you how efficient your sleep is
See also: Sony SmartBand 2: Find out your stress levels with this tracker
See also: Striiv Fusion Bio: Ticks all the boxes but screen could be better
See also: Withings Activite Pop: Watch tracks swimming and has great battery life
See also: Xiaomi Mi Band: Only $20, but it does the job and offers some frills too

This article was first published on November 11, 2015.
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