The first version of UP had a difficult start and the UP24 was a real commercial success. Jawbone has launched UP2, UP3 and UP4 smart health bracelet. Here is our  the Jawbone UP2 review for entry-level model .

Installation

In the box, you find your UP2, the USB charging cable (owner) as well as startup guides and warranty. It is 2015, installing a smart health smart health connected object is now a breeze. We download the application UP (be careful there are two different) and then follow the instructions on the screen. You will need to USB connect your bracelet to wake it up. Then the application will ask you to activate Bluetooth, put the UP2 on your wrist and long press on it to pair with the phone.

Not surprisingly, the bracelet is fully loaded, so you can directly start using it … well almost. One final step is to adjust the closure until the strap fits your wrist at your convenience.

Installation is simple

Design and Hardware

The UP2 was imagined by Yves Béhar, the famous French designer. I chose the gray model that I find more fun than black. We are also testing the gray UP3 at the moment and I find the UP2 more successful in terms of aesthetics.

I had read a lot of contradictory opinions on the practicality or not of the closing system, I find it personally very successful. The bracelet remains in place, and apart from the manipulation to be done the first time, closing is very fast.

I have tested a lot of smart health connected bracelets / watches since 2012, and I must admit that the Jawbone UP2 is simply the most comfortable to wear. It’s very simple, it happened to me, at the beginning, to look at my wrist, because I thought to have made it fall. Its size and flexibility of the bracelet are certainly for many.Buy the UP2

Small flat, as for most manufacturers, the port of loading is owner, so you will buy a cable if you lose it. It is not practical to use, especially with a laptop, the UP2 having trouble staying in place during loading.

The upper part of the bracelet lets guess 3 icons. One to show that the bracelet is in classic mode (an orange runner), one for sleep (a blue moon) and one for notifications (a white bubble).

The bracelet is not not advertised as waterproof by the brandIt’s a shame for those who swim, but it does not bother me more than that, since you can shower with it.

Last but not least: autonomy. She is simply excellent ! After updating the firmware, I want more than 8 days without worries, while the bracelet is smart health connected almost permanently with my iPhone.

Features of UP2

The UP2 is a sensor of activity and sleep. The notifications function on the bracelet does not look active for now, it will certainly be soon. Regarding the activity the bracelet captures the steps, the duration of activity, inactivity, and calories spent whether in activity or at rest. A distance is also extrapolated from these results. You can also set inactivity alerts, which will make the bracelet vibrate if you have not moved enough for a while.

Regarding sleep, Jawbone is, as usual with this feature, very powerful. The UP2 detects the phases of light and deep sleep, the duration before falling asleep, the total time of the night, the number and the duration of the waking phases. In addition to this, the function “ Smart Alarm Is also present to wake you up when you are in light sleep for a set amount of time before your wake up time. Like on the UP24, this feature is really nice. You are awakened by vibrations and you just have to tap on the bracelet to stop them.

Real disappointment, which I hope will be corrected by an update, the transition to sleep mode is not automatic and you will have to switch mode before falling asleep. I found the parade, and I use the app to indicate my wake up times if I forgot to switch. The bracelet still captures all phases of sleep perfectly if you forgot to change mode. Highly an update that could make this bracelet smart health connected perfect.

The UP application

If you’ve read our UP24 Review, you already know that the UP application is the best in the market. For these new bracelets, Jawbone has released a dedicated application that retains all the qualities of the UP24. The health home screen is a Timeline that contains all the information of the day. The number of steps, the sleep of the day before, the foods you have eaten, your mood, as well as the advice of the Smart Coach.

The ergonomics are excellent, the reading of the data is very simple. The Smart Coach, which gives you advice as time goes by is also a real plus. You can set your goals for the number of steps, the sleep time and a weight to reach. For the latter, you can manually enter your weight after weighing, or like me, use a smart health connected scale that will synchronize itself. I use the Withings Smart Body Analyzer. The UP application is therefore open to third-party applications like Withings, Runkeeper, IFTTT, Nest, etc. The nap mode has meanwhile disappeared from the application.

Another major advantage for interested users, food tracking is really smartly thought. I thought it was going to be hard to record the food, but in the end it was more than simple. You can search with keywords or scan barcodes. For water, an icon is very dedicated and you see at a glance if your consumption was sufficient. Each food has a score of 10 and at the end of the day you have a rating. It is very interesting to know the nutritional value of food and this information can help you clean up your diet. It will not be my case, even at 2/10, a Kinder Délice that rips!

A new feature, duels, arrived with this new version. You can challenge a friend on your number of steps for 1, 3 or 7 days. Nice to do, even if I lost my first duel (writing articles on Stuffi is not good for physical activity …).

In addition, you can enter in the application or specify what sports you have done during your sessions, start a session with the stopwatch (too bad that it is not directly on the bracelet like the UP24), schedule multiple alarms depending on days of the week (with the Smart Alarm feature).

My opinion on the Jawbone UP2

The Jawbone UP2 is for me the best bracelet smart health connected (without measurement of heart rate) that I tested so far. The Fitbit Charge also has very nice features, but its design puts it on the screen below. On the other hand if you need the time, it will rather turn to the Fitbit bracelet. Jawbone really stands out with a perfect application, quality design and excellent autonomy. His only real fault is that he is not waterproof. In short, I recommend it. Place now the Review of UP3, to see if the 60 € difference between the two models are really justified!