Wrist fitness bands are incredibly useful motivational devices for those looking to lose weight, increase their stamina, or simply increase the amount of physical activity they indulge in. However, with so many different styles of fitness bands to choose from seeing a side to side comparison between two of the most popular, the Jawbone UP24 and the Nike+ Fuelband may help to make it easier for you to decide which of these two wrist fitness band is right for you.
The Jawbone UP24
The UP 24 from Jawbone is blue tooth enabled, and comes in a variety of colors including onyx, lemon line, Navy blue, Persimmon, and pink coral and in sizes small (5.5 – 6″), medium (6 – 7″) and Large (7 – 8″) making it suitable for both men and women. This fitness band takes a holistic approach to fitness not only tracking your steps and other activities, but recording the amount of time you are active vs. the amount of time you are idle, your sleep patterns, and even nutritional information. The band itself is narrow and does not display the information, you need to plug into your cell phone to see the amount of steps you have taken, calories burned and other information.
The Nike+ Fuelband (1st Generation)
The first impression we got was, that the Nike Fuelband is a little bulkier than the Jawbone UP24. This comes from the digital display and is also a watch. It’s available in black, black ice and white ice. And in sizes of Small, Medium/large and eXtra Large. The Nike+ Fuelband measures steps taken and burned calories – all these daily activities are tracked such as climbing stairs, biking, running, basketball, dancing and more. The Fuelband informs you about the level you reached per day or how close you come to your set level. Everything can be conveniently read from the display – everything in real time.
Jawbone UP24 vs. Nike Fuelband (1st Generation) comparison
- The Fuelband is bulkier and thicker than the Jawbone due to the need of extra space for the digital display (not on Jawbone UP24).
- While you can view your activities on the fuelband in real time, you need to plug the jawbone into your smart phone to track your activities.
- The Jawbone UP24 takes a overall holistic approach to fitness tracking your sleep, activities, and nutrition, the Fuelband mainly tracks your physical activities.
- The UP 24 has a longer battery life and much better 3rd party connectivity than does the Fuelband.
- The Fuelband can also function as watch, not so with the UP24.
- While both the UP24 and the Fuelband are water resistant the UP24 is slightly more water resistant than the fuelband.
- The UP24 has far superior software than does the Nike Fuelband.
- While both the UP24 and the Fuelband receive about the same user ratings (somewhere between fair and good) the Nike Fuelband has more complaints from users regarding the short life of the device, poor battery power, and lack of customer service offered by Nike.
Result
While the Jawbone UP24 seems to be a better motivational tool since it takes a more holistic approach to health, and simply seems to function better overall, the Nike Fuelband offers a digital display that may prove to tad bit more motivational since you can actually track your activities in real time, and it also doubles as watch.
It really seems to come down to a choice between immediacy and higher functionality.