Under Armour UA Band

5.2
5.2 score
(Gearweare.net) score (5.2)/10

Our Gearweare.net score is based on 3 different factors: Editor's rating after in-depth testing. User ratings submitted on this page Overall score from the "reviewmeter" based on reviews across the web the weight of each factor is: 40% editor rating 15% user ratings 45% reviewmeter.
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Editor rating: 6.0 / 10
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Under Armour UA Band Review Facts

The Under Armour UA Band is a basic activity tracker that measures heart rate when resting, sleep quality, workout intensity, and steps taken for both men and women. It can be used also as an alarm clock, a watch, to display texts, calendar notifications, caller ID, and challenges and updates from the UA Record. Compatible with Bluetooth Smart, it will send you alerts for step goals and periods of inactivity. This device comes with a charger and two different sized bands, plus it is water-resistant to wear during showering and rain showers. Your data is uploaded with a smartphone to the services of MyFitnessPal Premium and MapMyFitness MVP, which you get free for three months with the purchase of this tracker. The battery life is good at five days on a single charge. If you are looking for a simple, basic, easy to handle activity monitor, then this is it. We discuss the details of the several features of the UA Band further in the full review below.

Editor's Pros & Cons
Pros
  • Alerts for step goals and inactivity
  • Measures heart rate, sleep, workout intensity, and steps
  • Monitors sleep quality and duration
  • Control music selection and volume of a smartphone
  • Water resistance to be sweat and splash proof
  • Accurate data and easy to link with services
  • Display remains on for your workouts
  • Buttons do not need to be pushed for data
  • Battery life is five days on a single charge
Cons
  • Areas on the side where the numbers are blacked out is common
  • Battery life can be decreased to two days per charge when it is older
  • Did not have enough features for some people
See How
Reviews were analyzed here:
We read, analyze and sort reviews into positive & negative categories to give you the complete picture.
What are buyers saying?

We have spent 3 hours analyzing a total of 499 reviews.

These reviews are then categoried into "Positive" and "Negative" feedback.

Below you will read a summary of them:

Positive
  • Most reviewers are satisfied with the battery life.
  • The battery charges quickly.
  • Many buyers say the display is easy to read.
  • The UA Band works well with Myfitnesspal app.
  • It is decently water resistant and will keep working in dirty or muddy conditions.
  • With this device, you can simplify your activity tracking so it is easier to maintain or make changes for a healthy lifestyle.
  • It works well with android phones.
  • This tracker can be synced with an Apple Watch.
  • The sleep tracker works well.
  • Reviewers say it is impressively user-friendly.
  • The set-up is quick and easy.
  • It can be set up for text notifications and reading texts.
  • It's reasonably priced for a fitness tracker.
  • The UA Record app is user-friendly and works well with the UA Band.
  • Some reviewers who have used a variety of fitness trackers are pleased with this one.
Negative
  • The UA Band is water resistant but not fully waterproof.
  • Time is not automatically shown, you must activate the display.
  • A few reviewers claim issues with the band easily disconnecting from the tracker or breaking and cracking over time.
  • There are reports of the device malfunctioning within a year of use.
  • A synced phone is needed to read all fitness data.
  • The functions are basic compared to other fitness trackers on the market.
  • Some bug sprays can damage the finish on the band.
  • The material of the band is not breathable which leads to extra sweat.
  • Workout customization is limited.
  • The charging cable is short and getting a secure connection can be tricky.
  • Although many buyers are satisfied with battery life, some do complain it doesn't last long enough.
  • The step counter can be affected by how your arm is positioned and moving.
  • There can be a bit of a learning curve for users new to fitness trackers.
  • The display is difficult to read in bright sunlight.
  • The style is plain compared to other trackers.
Reviewmeter
The Reviewmeter shows you an overall score that you can easily refer to. The highest rating is 10 (100% positive feedback)
Of the 499 reviews we found in total, 55% were negative, and 45% were positive.
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Responsiveness

The UA Band is a good activity motivator because it encourages you to try to improve on your previous performances daily. The monitor is of good quality with a nice display as it fits well and is comfortable. It is responsive in that it accurately gives you the stats of your movements and sleep and serves as the monitor you need for great health improvement. Some people were disappointed that the heart monitor for a few of the stats has to be bought separately.

It does not come with this band for the price quoted and is not one of the main components of the device. The heart monitor will give you additional information about your heart data when the organ is at rest. A few other comments online concerned how well the touchscreen works. It is also a very modern and trendy band that looks well with any type of outfit and wardrobe style.

Style

Made of aluminum PC TPU with a buckle and clasp that are sturdy and long-lasting, the UA Band is a one-size-fits-all product. You get two bands actually that are of various sizes to ensure that you get a proper fit. In this way, those with small or very large wrists are not left out in the cold as far as comfort goes. The band is durable and breathable with plenty of ventilation holes to make the product comfortable. This item is great to wear with casual or professional attire as it is sleek, modern, and stylish. It is unlike a watch with a regular round or rectangular face and will add a sense of excitement to your outfits.

Support

Ever supportive of your activities and lifestyle, this UA Band wants you to be active to get the most benefit of the day. It will send an alert when the step goals are within reach and when you need to be active again. if you are sitting or idle for at least an hour during the day, this ideal device will alert you to get up and get the blood circulating. For those of you that have desk jobs, this is an important alert to have. it is too easy to sit for hours letting the body be inactive and negatively affecting our circulatory systems. Another supportive aspect of this lovely product is that it comes with two bands to fit your wrist size. most other items of this type come with just one band that may not fit everyone. These straps are adjustable to fit most sizes of wrists. As we will explain in more detail in another section, your activity data is uploaded with your phone to the fitness site available. if you do not have your phone for doing this, then the tracker will store your data for as many as seven days if a phone is not connected to it. you will not have to worry about lost data because of a lack of connection. The UA Band is quite supportive and helpful to the needs of your busy lifestyle.

Use

When it comes to the purpose and features of the UA Band, it is just a minimal tracker for the basic activities of measuring the heart rate when resting, sleep quality, workout intensity, and steps walked. It can be worn every day for continual monitoring of your activity all the time. If you just want something to give you the bare necessities of your activity progress, then this is the device for you. It is also good for those just beginning to monitor their daily activity and learn how such product work in conjunction with their busy day. However, if you want all the vital information concerning your daily progress and you want to seriously track your vital information, then this band will probably be too basic for your needs. Sleep quality and duration are monitored using the resting rate of the heart, which requires the heart monitor. This is the part that needs to be purchased separately to get the readings. A plus to this tracker is that you can control the music selection and volume when synced to a phone. This is convenient during the performance of your activities or even your job.

Waterproof

Being waterproof or resistant to water is an important aspect of any type of tracker or activity monitor that we wear on our wrists because of daily showers and baths. Those that love to go swimming also want their devices to be compatible with their aquatic lifestyles. The UA Band is water-resistant for wearing all the time, meaning that you can leave it on while showering, but it is best to not submerge it in water. The water resistance is 2ATM making the device sweat and splash proof, but it should not be worn while swimming. You will be safe with it also during a rain shower, but it would be best to cover it if the rain is a downpour.

Accessories

The only accessories that come with the UA Band are the two different sizes of straps for wearing the device and the charger to re-energize the battery. Having the various band sizes would allow a husband and a wife to share the device if they wanted to only use it for their individual activity monitoring.
They would get decent use from the two bands in this way. The charger is discussed in another section. One other accessory that is purchased separately is the monitor for heart rate. This is to measure the heart rate while you rest. It is good for measuring the sleep quality during the night to see how much you sleep and the type of rest you are getting. It is good for your continued health to know this vital information.

Accuracy

According to customers, the UA Band is accurate with the data it collects and is easy to link with the supplied services. you can confidently trust your information to understand how you perform in your activities and how to improve on them. Besides tracking your movements and sleep, this device can also be used as an alarm clock, a watch, to display texts, calendar notifications, caller ID, and challenges and updates from the UA Record. It will give you information all day long about you and your connections to the world at large. We want to address the biggest complaint of this product in this section of accuracy because of the numerous remarks about this aspect online. Almost every negative post from buyers concerns the fact that after a few months of use, the numbers on the display are not visible on the sides or in the corners. This makes the numbers hard to read or not readable at all. They are blacked out or have dark spots and the numbers are not legible. For example, an eight might look like a three and a three might look like a two. In our research, we came across many complaints of this which makes the product unusable eventually. The ratings for this item are poor because of this one flaw. The ratings that are perfect or positive are mostly from those customers who have not had the device long enough to come across this problem. If you cannot read the numbers on a product that collects numerical data, then this band becomes just that – a decorative wrist band only.

Apps

Compatible with Bluetooth Smart, you get a three-month free membership to two services provided by the manufacturer. These are MyFitnessPal Premium and MapMyFitness MVP. The data for workouts and steps sync with these two services using your smartphone for the uploading of the information. You will enjoy many of the perks on these sites to view and analyze your activity data to help you increase your performances and stamina in becoming healthier and more active in your daily life. For connecting, the UA Band works well with iOS8.4 and later models and also 4.4 or later Android devices. It uses UA Record for connecting to the services and apps.

Ease of Use

Being one of the easiest activity trackers to use that is currently on the market, you do not have to do much to track your progress and receive your information. The numerical display remains on for your entire workout and the clock feature is displayed constantly throughout the day. You do not have to press buttons for the data, as this operates with a touchscreen to make it easy for you to navigate. Touchscreens on such devices eliminate to an extent the problem of buttons being accidentally pressed or hit when they are in backpacks or bags with other gear. A touchscreen must be activated with just the right amount of pressure from the finger, so the issue of accidental operation is omitted. One problem that some people discovered with this device is that it may be too basic for those serious about activity tracking. There are plenty of advanced models with all the bells and whistles of monitoring activities, but this is not one of them. The UA Band has the minimal essential features of an easy-to-use band.

Power Source

This UA Band comes with a charger for rejuvenating the rechargeable battery. The manufacturer claims that the battery life on a single charge is five days. Plenty of customers say that the battery life is great and that it charges quickly. For those that have had it for about a year, they state that the battery life decreased with age. At about a year old, a single charge may only get you two days of use at a time. This is true of all of our devices though when you think about it. as they age, the battery life gets shorter and shorter each time we charge the product.

Bottom Line

The decreasing battery life and lack of advanced features should not be surprising to potential buyers of the UA Band. All electronic devices decrease in the battery as they age, and the features of this product are clearly described in the product details online. It does everything that it claims it can do and no more. It has accurate readings and will reliably monitor and track your basic data all day long. The problem of screen visibility with this item has been voiced by many customers online.

After several months of usage, the displayed numbers are not completely visible with the corners or edges of the numbers being blacked out or missing. Let’s keep in mind that you are depending on this product for the figures that it generates about your activity, so if you cannot view the numbers, then it is just an expensive bracelet. Enough people expressed their dissatisfaction with this issue that it should be a huge red flag for potential buyers. You may want to look elsewhere if you want an activity tracker for more than just a three-month stretch. However, Under Armour is great for producing high-quality garments such as Under Armour HeatGear Compression Shirt.