The Jawbone Up3 comes in silver and black. (Photo: Daniel Bean)

In the future, we will be ruled by machines. But not in the scary Terminator-esque way Elon Musk predicts. It’ll be voluntary and come in the form of subtle nagging from little wearables like the Jawbone Up3.



This is the inevitable fate I have accepted after spending a week with the $180 device strapped to my wrist. But that doesn’t mean I’m about to take it off. The fitness tracking band is a peppy overseer of exercise, sleep, diet, and, in this latest model, resting heart rate. While I was busy living life, it became my physical conscience, connecting the dots of my behavioral patterns through its addictive smartphone app.

The Up3 and its new, slimmer sibling, the Up2, are by far the best-looking bracelets on the fitness wearables market (which isn’t saying much, unfortunately). But they tragically lack two basic functions: a touch surface that works, and a strap that will stay put.

Flawed by design

With the premiere of the Up3, the old Jawbone design — a bendy, colorful band that wrapped around your wrist like a bangle — has been completely revamped. The wearable’s sensors are now encased in a hard, anodized aluminum shell equipped with capacitive touch. In theory, you’re supposed to tap it to change from “awake” to “sleep” mode, or when you want to act on a notification. This is meant to be a convenient shortcut for switching between activities but instead proves to be the most infuriating part of its design. To get the band to respond, its surface requires a very specific double tap. Though I became more practiced at it over the week, I was never able to prompt the bracelet’s response on the first try. And I was dismayed at how dumb I looked trying in the first place.

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The Jawbone Up2 and Jawbone Up3, side by side. (Photo: Alyssa Bereznak)

Then there’s the Up3’s one-size-fits-all design. The stainless steel clasp loosens as you adjust it up and down the band. This eventually causes it to fall off at inopportune moments in the day. On at least two occasions, helpful passersby warned me I dropped something (the gadget). Which, you know, is not ideal. Thankfully, I had less of a problem with the Up2, which is lighter and thus more secure. And hey, at least neither of them gave me a rash.

Heart in a box

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