Jawbone Vs. Fitbit

Jawbone UP24:

Way back in December of 2014 I acquired my first fitness tracker, Jawbone UP24. At a time when the Fitbit Charge HR had recently been released and the biggest trend was measuring heart rate and Jawbone was getting their butt kicked but had a great viral program announcing it’s upcoming the Jawbone UP3, same as the Jawbone UP24, just adding the heart rate monitoring and the design differences noted with the replacement Jawbone UP2, below.

Jawbone Up Fitness Tracker

My justification for the Jawbone UP24 was a closeout price from Walmart. The cost justified the Jawbone UP24 waiting for the Jawbone UP3 to be released the beginning of the following year.

Jawbone Up24 In Packaging

Fitbit Charge HR:

One of the reasons initially of purchasing the Jawbone UP24 and waiting for the Jawbone UP3 was the plain housing, have already invested in a nice watch and did not want another. The delays in getting the Jawbone UP3 gave me no other choice but to shop the Fitbit Charge HR. In June of 2015 purchased the Fitbit Charge HR and had been wearing both just short of a year and a half.

Fitbit Charge HR With Packaging

After using the Jawbone UP24 for some time, it was discontinued. It was around March, April or May of 2015 time frame that my first issue with the Jawbone UP24. The activation button, that is used to signal sleep as well as few other functions popped right off the Jawbone UP24 band.

Back then, calling their customer service did not know how to resolve the issue. After eight weeks, Jawbone finally was able to send a replacement, meanwhile, I purchased another Jawbone UP24 from another retailer. Late in 2015, the new Jawbone UP24 decided it was done.

Now wearing the replacement Jawbone UP24 and calling Jawbone Customer Service about the “new” Jawbone UP24. Jawbone Customer Service informed me that the Jawbone UP24 has been discontinued but I can have the Jawbone UP24 upgraded to the new version Jawbone UP2. Replaced with the Jawbone UP2, a couple of notes; not only was the band designed completely differently, the charge cable was changed as well.

R.I.P:
Jawbone UP24
December 2014 – October 2016

While wearing both over this time, this month, my last Jawbone UP24 decided it had had enough and started to vibrate and the light indicator turned red(!). Never having experiencing neither issue before, the Jawbone UP24 will no longer power up.

Have now been wearing the Fitbit Charge HR on its own since the loss of the Jawbone UP24.

Comparison:

Jawbone UP24 Technical Specifications

Fitbit Charge HR Technical Specifications

Pros:

Jawbone UP24:

Slim no frills approach
Simple one button control
Multi-colored sunburst & moon led indicators
Up to 14 day charge cycle

Fitbit Charge HR:

Monochrome OLED Display
Heart Rate Sensor
Resting Heart Rate*
Automatic Exercise Recognition
Automatic Sleep Recognition

Software:
Type: Caller Name ID, Clock, Silent alarm

General:
Integrated Components:  Heart Rate Sensor

Cons:

Jawbone UP24:

Manual Everything
Over time, band gets tighter and tighter
Corporate disarray

Fitbit Charge HR:

Download your records 31 days at a time
Charging Cycle (Up  to 5 days with no notifications running)