I haven’t had a lot of good luck when it comes to something to track my walking like a fitness tracker! I have had 2 in the past- one I lost the first day I had it out- we had went walking on the trail when we lived in town and I had it clipped on my shoe- and somewhere along the way it came off. David , His Dad and I walked the trail again and never found it. Then after we got home I was still upset so we went back and ran into David’s dad looking again! Needless to say it never turned up!
I guess the second was not really a case of having bad luck but it cost a lot of money and I felt guilty having it on the credit card at the time, plus it got a bit finicky with charging and even with tracking me so I just ended up taking it back! I really enjoyed it while I had it though- Marley and I were walking around here at the apartments about twice a day for a while! I like being able to have a way to track my steps and see my distance and all that- it makes you feel like yes, that little bit of walking was more than a little bit of walking you know? I guess it kind of makes you feel validated in a way or something!
Back in May of this year a fitness tracker popped on my radar that I became really excited about, and there was a wait list to get it as well! I started talking to them then about doing a review, and finally just a few weeks back they got one in for me to review just in time for my gift guide!
So what is this item that I was so smitten with that I was so excited to finally receive for review? It is the Bellabeat Leaf! The Bellabeat Leaf is more than a fitness tracker for sure, and you would be more than likely to consider it to be a piece of “smart jewelry” instead! I think that when something is pretty and functional at the same time that makes it all the more better- it is a great combination!
3 Beautiful Choices to Choose From:
There are 3 versions of the leaf available: A silver one which is made of American ashwood in a neutral beige color combined with hypoallergenic stainless steel and sales for $119- this the one like I was sent to review and it really suits me because I always have liked silver vs gold!
The other versions are a Rose gold version which features Black wood and a durable, hypoallergenic rose gold steel plating and costs $149, and the limited edition Gold version which is made of 7000 year old Bog oak combined with gold steel plating and costs $249.
Functions & Features
As I mentioned before, the Bellabeat leaf is more than a fitness tracker. You can set alarms to wake you up, remind you to take pills , or even set one to alert you when you are being inactive! This is not an alarm that beeps but an alarm that vibrates so that way if you are using it for a wake up alarm it won’t disturb others- and of course that can be said about the other alarms too. You can have up to 3 set at a time.
This would be a good place for me to note that you can choose which way you want to wear your leaf – you can wear it as a necklace, a bracelet , or simply clipped on you. I personally am too scared to use it as a clip unless I am in the house so my preferred way to wear it has been the necklace because I don’t have the bracelet accessory at this time.
One of my personal favorite features is that you don’t have to charge it! The battery will likely last you 6 months (mine is still at 100%) and there is an included battery removal tool and you should be able to find the battery pretty much anywhere.
Also it is a wireless bluetooth sync that it uses between your device and the app (which I will discuss in a bit) and it doesn’t use a ton of battery power to do and you don’t have to sync every day if you don’t want to- which i do several times a day just because I like to see what is going on- but you do have the option to hold up to 14 days at one time!
So What does it Track?(with commentary!)
First of all you can set goals for each of the these things- well the Activity, Sleep and the Breathing if you wish! I have just been using the presets but I might adjust them over time!
Steps&Activity The Leaf will track not only your steps that you take , but you do have the option to input other activities that you participate in from a huge list of options that are available with the latest update of the app (again I will write more about the app shortly, I promise!) It also estimates your calories burned. So far I am not having a lot of activity because I have been so busy with blogging and my biggest bursts of activity seem to be when I take marley out, check the mail or am at the store!
I also kind of think that it is more accurate step wise when it is clipped on me (at least when I am in the house) but I pretty much just wear it as a necklace. then again like i say, I am not moving in the house a lot either! The leaf is 95% accurate according to tests comparing it to other trackers so- it is likely just me!
menstrual cycle: you input the days of your last period into the app and it will help alert you when your period should be on the way, and even when you will be ovulating. this was a feature I really liked because even though it is based on what you input, it isn’t a feature that I have saw available anywhere else- I am looking forward to an easy way to keep up with my cycle and I with trying to get preggers, of course being able to track ovulation is very helpful to me!
sleep: this has been one of my favorite features so far because of my crazy relationship with sleep , obviously! It is suggested that you wear it clipped on you when you do sleep mode for accuracy .. however I am still using it as a necklace and I have found it to be quite accurate! It does really well of guessing when I go to bed /get up (it is generally spot on- but if it is wrong you can adjust it) Also it tells you when you had light sleep, deep sleep and when you were awake.
breathing– I hate to say it but this one is a feature I haven’t really got to try yet! It isn’t that I don’t want to try it, and usually I wouldn’t write a review if i hadn’t tried all the features of an item- but where I have been having so much trouble with my allergy related asthma I guess you can say I am a little bit scared I will trigger an attack!I look forward to trying out the breathing part in the future when my asthma is doing a bit better (it is really bad this time of year and in the early summer- october and may are the worst months)
basically you can do some guided breathing exercises and it helps you with stress and things like that! I did play through a little bit of the first lesson and it reminded me of meditating a little bit so I really am looking forward to getting to use this feature of the leaf
Getting Started & The Leaf App Too!
Getting started with the leaf is simple- basically you will want to download the app, and follow the instructions to pair it up with your leaf! I did have a little snag with syncing mine up at first but all i had to do is turn the ipod on and off and it worked just fine!
This would be a good place to note that syncing your activities you simply will hit the sync button and tap the leaf twice. Sometimes it takes a few times -it can be a bit finicky but it has seemingly gotten better for me over time!
The app is available on the google play store as well as for your IOS devices as well. For me it is working better on my ipod touch than my tablet- ever since the app updated about a week ago my tablet forces it closed every time I try to open it, but that is likely my tablet because it isn’t that great to start with!
When you get started you will put in information about yourself like your name /birthday /height and weight and set up a password too. Then you will get an activation email to confirm. You will also have the chance to put in more information like about your period, where you are wearing it to track sleep and be able to set your alarms and goals as well.
You can also check out your status- which will give you memory information and battery information.
As time goes on you will notice that when you sync your activities will show up on the main app screen as numbers from 0-100- this indicates the percent towards your set goals. You can also tap each section to find out more information on each of them For example on the activity section you can find out your steps and calories and your active time. One thing to know is now that the app has done the update it only counts activity if you are active over 10 minutes!
Also at the bottom there will appear various things such as if you are fertile, a little section called did you know- where it tells you random facts and sometimes gives you feedback about things it notices about you- for example i had it tell me that I might want to go to bed at 10:30 0ne time- which is something that most people would agree with that knows me- because I am generally up past 12!
Thoughts & Takeaways
I am really enjoying my bellabeat leaf and I am enjoying learning things about my cycle, my sleep and the feedback that it has been giving me. I think that it is really pretty- and I love wearing it as a necklace because it is so “me” being silver and then you all know I love leaves (obviously- because of the fall and everything and the site name) of course it is shaped more of a different style of leave but I still like it.
I have saw some people say that the necklace that comes with it isn’t that long (it is pretty well perfect for me) and that wearing it as a necklace it is very heavy- which at some points I have thought but for the most part I don’t even notice!
I know that there are a few snags along the way with it- sometimes you have to hit sync more than once and sometimes you have to tap it more than twice..I also think the app is a little too basic.. however I do look forward to the future and seeing how things develop .. I Would LOVE to see a nap feature added where you can track your naps like as an added feature sort of thing
I think that if you are looking for a very intuitive and pretty fitness tracker and more you should def. consider getting one for sure. They are pretty early stage and there is a wait list but I think in the end it will be a really unique and a really nice piece to have!
