Waterproof Activity Trackers for You (and Your Little Dog, Too!)
Activity Tracker for You: Waterfi and the Jawbone UP24
I can’t tell you how many people I’ve talked to since getting a waterproofed Jawbone UP24 (that’s the one that works with the iPhone — they also have an Android-compatible model) who’ve said, “I had no idea they could be waterproofed!” That’s because they don’t come that way from Jawbone. A cool company called Waterfi sells them, along with all kinds of other electronics like waterproofed iPod Shuffles, Kindle Paperwhites, Nike Fuelbands and headphones. Plus, they offer that service for any of those devices you might already have.
How does it work? I don’t know. Magic? (No, not really — if you want the full scoop on the process they use, you can read up here.) Mostly, I just know that it worked perfectly. I’ve been wearing my UP 24 for a month or two now, almost nonstop — that includes in pools, in the shower, in rain, and even in a lake, and haven’t had any problems at all. Jared has been talking about getting one as well, and we both independently decided that, if he buys one, it’s for sure going to be a waterproofed one. I mean, an UP24 on it’s own is already an investment at $149.99, and the Waterfi version is $249.99 — to me, $100 is well worth some peace of mind (especially considering how often I’m in the pool).
And, as far as the UP24 itself goes … this is a pretty sweet little device. It’s easy to wear on your wrist, and the free app (which is where you see all your data — nothing is displayed on the device itself) is simple to use. I’ve learned that, while on an active day with some biking and running and socializing I might get nearly double my goal of 10,000 steps, on days when I work all day long? Umm, I don’t move much at all. I wish that it counted certain non-steppy workouts (like the spin bike and weight lifting) as steps, but it does, at least, count it toward your calorie burn.
You can also add food to track your nutrition (it’s easy, too), make notes about your mood to discover patterns, track your sleep (both deep sleep and lighter sleep, which was fascinating). And! You can set it to buzz when you’ve been sedentary for a set amount of time during certain times of the day (I set it for 45 minutes of inactivity between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. to get me up and away from my desk), and you can also set it to buzz and wake you up during a time in your sleep cycle when you will wake up refreshed. That feature I didn’t end up using though — every time I needed to get up early, I got too nervous that I wouldn’t feel it and set a regular alarm instead. But it’s an awesome concept.
Fit Bottomed Line: This is freaking awesome.