Jaybird Reign, A Hands-On With The Best Health Monitor We've Seen Yet
When it comes to tracking health information, we've seen a lot of contenders this week in Las Vegas. CES brought a ton of wearables to our wrists, and collectively, we're still up in the air. One bright spot was the Jaybird Reign, which doesn't bring anything special in regard to form factor, but what they do with your info is interesting. We got a quick hands-on here at CES 2014, and in examining the wristwear, we found it something we'd likely use.
The Jaybird Reign keeps a familiar form factor, bringing the rubbery wristband we've come to accept as the normal for wrist wearables that aren't smartwatches. It has a little hardware component that's nestled into the band — again, nothing new. You might be wondering why something that seems so benign is interesting, and you're right to. It's not a flashy form factor that has us excited about the reign, it's their use of information.
The Reign monitors things like activity, sleep, and overall patterns to give you an idea of when you're in what they call the "Go Zone". That Go Zone tells you when you're living a nice, balanced life. You're getting enough sleep, and are up and around as much as a healthy person should be. The Go Zone is Jaybird's way of patting you on the back. On the flipside, should you find yourself working out too much or working too hard, the Reign will tell you to take a knee and relax.
In addition to keeping tabs and making sense of things, the Reign's app — where the information is housed and digested — was easy to navigate. Be it an overall picture of what makes you tick, or detailed accounts of your goings on, the Reign app was simple. For a device and app that make sense of you on a daily basis, we lke the ability to check for info a great way to stay ahead of the curve. After all, who doesn't want to be in the Go Zone?
Wrist wearables that monitor health are, dare we say, a dime a dozen. The Reign does something different, though. It's not unique in regard to form factor, but by making sense of your information, Jaybird offers a unique glimpse at how to be the best you possible. That sets the Jaybird reign apart, and for that reason, we like the Reign above all other wearables we've seen this week.