30 Day Workout Challenge

I've already covered how the 3Plus app is absolute garbage, making the bracelet less useful than it should be (and the app has become even less stable since that review). But how accurate is it for what the bracelet does read?

I put my 3Plus bracelet's step, mile and calorie counter up against mapmyrun.com's GPS and calorie estimations for a few days to see how it would turn out.

Just before Christmas I was gifted a 3Plus Lite by my father when I mentioned the Leaf tracker. He found this one on sale and though it's not as pretty, he thought it would be a good tester to see if I would really benefit from such an expensive tracker in the future.

So how's this test run been working out?

Short answer: Horribly. Don't ever buy 3Plus products.

Long answer: The watch itself seems functional at first glance (now with an actual 3Plus accuracy review) and I think it looks pretty nice too as it's just a standard black band that doesn't clash with any every day clothing I can possibly think of. It functions as a watch, counts your steps in the way all wrist worn trackers do – registering arm motion, not actual steps – and translates that into calories burned and miles walked as long as you have accurate height and weight put into the settings.

The battery life also seems acceptable, only needing charged every 4 days or so. And charging seems to be quick, showing that it's done after a shower.

But that all sounds great for the $30 price tag so what's wrong with it?

LEAF is a really lovely metallic leaf-shaped piece of jewelry/technology from Bellabeat. It's like a Fitbit, except more fashionable and designed especially for women. It tracks a woman's health through her activity level, sleep and menstrual cycle.

Is it all complicated though? Syncing stuff and putting in numbers and blahblah, wearing tech is always a pain in the butt. According to Bellabeat, you just wear it. That's all. There are no buttons, no screens. LEAF is customizable and can be worn as a bracelet, necklace or clip. Bracelet and necklace accessories are included with purchase. The Silver LEAF comes with the beige bracelet and the Rose Gold LEAF comes with a brown bracelet.

LEAF works with an app that provides a simple visual snapshot of your daily activity, sleep, periods and meditation. With four tabs telling you everything you need to know about your daily progress, you can compare activities and learn what you need to improve in your life.

• activity and step tracking – You can also add custom activities in the app, because every activity counts.
• breathing and meditation tracking – It's not just about moving, it's about being still and breathing for a while.
• tracking movement during the night – With graphic visualizations in the app, sleep monitoring helps you understand what your body’s going through during the night.
• period tracking feature and fertility calendar – Never get caught by surprise by your period again and whether your trying to have a baby, or really don't want to have one, you can keep track of your likely ovulation schedule as well.