For quite a while now I’ve watched as friends have been using smart bands to track their daily steps. A little piece of me has wanted to try that, but I’ve always thought a FitBit looked a bit utilitarian outside of the gym. So when I saw Bellabeat’s LEAF, a piece of smart jewelry, I wanted to give it a try.
The LEAF is made to track more than just steps. It is also designed to track your period (thank you! I am so bad about tracking this on my own!), your sleep, activity in general (I can manually input the amount of time I’m doing yoga which might seem not so active since I’m not taking lots of steps or I can track how long I went for a swim since the LEAF can’t be worn in water) and even can lead you in breathing activities (kind of an intro to meditation). When you set up a LEAF account, you can set your daily goals (i.e. minutes of daily activity, hours of nightly sleep, etc.) Then choose how you want to wear the LEAF and go about your day. You can then sync with the app throughout the day to check your progress (on a 1 to 100+ scale).
The first thing I noticed about the LEAF is that it really is a stylish piece of jewelry. Made of wood and stainless steel, the LEAF is a versatile piece that really can go with anything. It’s a bit clunkier than I expected, but still doesn’t seem to overpower my small wrists. Check out Instagram to see all of the ways some users love to wear the LEAF! When I ordered the LEAF, only the light wood option was available, but I am LOVING the newer dark wood. Gorgeous! Designed to be worn as a clip, a bracelet or a necklace, the LEAF comes with all of the accessories you need to wear the LEAF in any way you choose. My favorite way to wear the LEAF is as a bracelet,with the included leather strap. When I’m playing soccer (no jewelry allowed), I prefer to wear the LEAF as a clip on my sports bra so I can still track my activity.
When I first started wearing the LEAF, I noticed a few issues with the app, but the team at Bellabeat has been working really hard to iron these things out. The first issue I had was a major discrepancy in the “number of steps” based on the way the LEAF is worn. But the app now has an option for you to choose the way you are wearing the LEAF so the tracking can be more accurate. And I’ve tried to start focusing more on activity than on steps (though I do wish I could more accurately track steps). I have found wearing the LEAF as a bracelet does seem to track steps more accurately than the other options. I also choose not to wear the LEAF when I sleep simply because I am such a light sleeper and rolling over onto a piece of jewelry would only wake me up (so I really can’t speak to the accurateness of the sleep tracker). It’s worth finding out if future generations of the LEAF will be more accurate as they do seem to be making steps in the right direction.
Do you wear a fitness tracker? Are there any features you would like about Bellabeat’s LEAF?
