Jawbone UP 24 vs. Fitbit Charge

When walking, hiking, or running for shorter strolls or longer than 30 minutes both devices are very close with numbers. As you can see with today's workout comparison:

+Jawbone Up

+Fitbit Charge

However, when you are doing short movements around the home, at work, even short steps while shopping the other fitness trackers which are not by Fitbit all appear to miss those steps, but why? Take for example yesterday, Friday, March 20, 2015. 

Total Steps

Jawbone Up - 11,965

Fitbit Charge - 13,487

A subtle difference of 1,522, although, after a week, even a difference of 700 steps 4,900 steps. This is nearly a 5,000 step difference or 2.5 miles. If you are trying to calculate calories burned and monitor your total activity, gain weight or loose weights subtle differences like these really add up!

Week Three - Up verses Charge

Still using the +Jawbone and a +Fitbit fitness tracker. Regardless of which wrist the Jawbone is worn the step count still varies a good 10% less than Fitbit. But, why is there such a difference...?

The time is now 14:24 in the afternoon here at my stats:

+Jawbone Up 24 - 2,245 steps

+Fitbit Charge - 3,711 steps

Step difference = 1,466

If you think about it the Up 24 is almost one mile in steps behind the Charge - wow!

Last night it was late, almost too late for a walk, yet, I found myself really wanting to reach my goal of 10,000 steps. So, with thirty-minutes to spare I ventured into the night air and racked up almost 3,000 steps. However, with the difference Jawbone told me this morning I only reach 72% of my goal while Fitbit gave me a nice 101% of goal reach.

03/24/2014

+Jawbone Up 24 - 7,242 steps

+Fitbit Charge - 10,226 steps

Step difference = 2,984 - yikes again! Especially when you read that they were both worn all day side-by-side on my left wrist. Nevertheless the app interface designed my Jawbone keeps me motivated and interested to doing this comparison test a little longer.

Day 17 with +Jawbone 

Here's a sample of the wonderful email that Jawbone sends out called the "UP Weekly" giving you a summary of your stats for the previous seven days, and yes, it is an email I look forward to reading!

UP Weekly 03-25-2015

Yesterday, March 25, 2015 was quite the day, mostly worked; however, I was able to go to the park with the kiddos, check the post, pick-up toys, walk around the office floors (two floors, four different suites) and the pace around the house to get in the remaining 300 steps reaching my 10K goal for my Fitbit Charge. Regardless of my effort, my Up 24 could not keep track of the movement as closely as the Charge - bummer! I really love using the app, but these statistical differences are nibbling away at my technological patience...

03/25/2015

+Jawbone Up 24 - 6,898 steps
+Fitbit  Charge - 10,179 steps

Step difference 3,281

Day 30 with the +Jawbone UP 24 and Month six with the +Fitbit Charge...

I really like the smart coach feature included for free with the Jawbone fitness trackers for it is both intuitive and motivational! The accuracy of the UP 24 compared to the Charge is very close. Day to day the UP 24 is about 500 to 1,200 steps lower. They are more accurately close in step count if I wear the Fitbit on my left wrist and the Jawbone on my right. However, this skews the data since I am right-handed. 

Wear & Tear

The Fitbit continues to wear very, very well and looks great. No visible signs of damage after nearly six months of daily use. I estimate the Jawbone tracker is about three to four months old, though, I have only owned it for one month. The screen on the Fitbit has a few scuffs and scratches from outdoor activities, though, the text is still bright as ever at their cool OLED screen. The band for the Jawbone UP 24 doesn't stay together very well and has grown quite annoying. Looking forward much I am to the arrival of the replaced called, Jawbone UP3 with integrated heart-rate, more of a band clasp, and other cool features. That is all for now. Here's a screenshot of the smart coach feature of sleeping included with the Apple iOS Jawbone app.

When you are meeting your step goals smart coach also give you screens like this one to keep you on your toes!

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Day 50 or so with the Jawbone UP 24 and their new app while also using the Fitbit Charge HR, yeah, I am still using two fitness tracker devices, and am getting burned out. What to do...? Buy a new fitness device to recharge my enthusiasm! Right? In circa two weeks, according to the +Jawbone Helpdesk my UP 3 tracker with heart rate should be arriving on my wrist. It will be an interesting experiment for my +Fitbit Charge was replaced with the Charge HR~ wahoo! This shall enable me to test two of the top trackers, HR trackers too, simultaneously... yeah, very cool right? I am stoked to have the opportunity to zap my skin about every other second non-stop for three weeks. During church this past Sunday my mind began to wander I was beginning to think, wait a minute, is all of this technology safe? Well, 50 hours later I am still feeling healthy, no skin burns, no allergic reactions, and my fitness levels are improving.

+Jawbone Apps for the iPhone
Old app - blue app - for the UP, UP24, or UP Move 

New app - purple app - for the UP4, UP3, and UP2

There are new details about the added features the +Jawbone UP3 and UP4 will be bringing to the customer's palate for fitness feedback... sleep anaylsis on steriods!
UP3: A Deep Dive into Sleep Tracking