The Geeky Momm: What on earth is a Bellabeat?

My Bellabeat in Leaf Urban Silver

You have probably seen its ads popping out countless of times on social media and on the web. Yes they have been aggressively marketing this product through internet advertising and has created quite a hype. But what is Bellabeat and what does it do?

Bellabeat is simply a health tracker for women. Obviously, men can't wear this. But it's a beautifully designed, lovely piece of gadget/accessory appropriately dubbed as a smart jewelry that you can wear as a necklace, bracelet or a dress clip. You will need the Leaf app (available in AppStore and GooglePlay) in order for it to work.

It basically does the following:

Records your daily physical activity.
Monitors your sleep cycles.
Facilitates your meditation.
Shows and alerts your stress level.
Tracks of your monthly period and fertility cycles.

Other features:

Smart hardware.
Motion sensor.
Smart vibrations.
Secure data backup
No charging up to 6 months of battery life (CR 2032)
Reminds you if you are inactive with its Inactivity Alert.
Daily customizable Smart Alarms for vitamins, pills or waking up.
14 day memory when you need to change batteries.
Wireless sync with both iOs and Android
Water resistant (Leaf Urban models only).
Sustainable materials from wood composite.

The leaf jewelry front and back. The material looks like a piece of stone jewelry mounted on a stainless leaf shaped frame.

I'm constantly complaining nowadays on how stressed I am until I found about this health gadget that helps women focus and take control of their well being. Curiosity got into me and I did some routine background check and read some reviews and what got me hooked was that it's supposed to predict stress levels based on your lifestyle habits. It claims to be the first wearable technology that predicts it.

The OCness in me started to tingle like Spidey's sense when it mentioned STRESS MANAGEMENT. Technically, the Leaf app analyzes and calculates the physical stress you made while you're wearing the Leaf jewelry it so it will be easier for you to predict and manage it when both are synced together. Believe me it tracks your every move. Sounds complicated but it is actually easy to use.

I asked my sister in law in the States to get one for me while they had it at 30% off during the Black Friday Sale. I just got it recently and gave it a week to test it before I wrote this review. Normally, it retails from $119.00 to $199.00 depending on the model with more accessories. I got this Leaf Urban design since its water resistant compared to the Leaf Nature which is not. But design-wise, I prefer the latter. The most basic set came with the Leaf, the Stainless Steel Chain Necklace, Genuine Leather Straps, Battery Replacement Tool and four spare screws.

Whats inside the box. The Leaf, Stainless Steel Chain Necklace, Double Wrap Genuine Leather Straps, Battery Replacement Tool, four spare screws and a manual..

It comes in two leaf designs, the Leaf Urban and Leaf Nature. The Shell is a separate device that helps you listen to your baby's heartbeat if your'e pregnant but that's another story.

Like I mentioned earlier, it's versatile design and construction allows you to wear it as a necklace, bracelet or a clip. It comes in two leaf designs, the Leaf Urban and Leaf Nature in black, gray and natural color with Silver or Rose Gold combos. You can buy the pricier set that comes with both Silver and Rose Gold Tone clips, necklaces and different colored straps or purchase them separately as additional accessories. I opted for the Silver Tone set only since I wear silver toned jewelry most of the time and it's within my budget. It goes pretty well with my everyday outfits but in case if it doesn't, I can still wear it as a clip under my shirt, on my bra and it doesn't fall off. Admittedly, I'm addicted to wearing it often as if it were a part of my anatomy. (Except when I shower or when I'm swimming.)

Pull the plastic tab to activate.

The Leaf jewelry and the Leaf app.

When you get your brand new Leaf, you need to pull off the plastic tab that activates the batteries and sync it with your app. Just follow the app instructions and your Leaf will vibrate briefly when it pairs with your phone. Set up your basic Profile and other preferences. Take note that you will need to input the data manually at first since the Leaf is getting to know you and your routines. In my case, it took me about three days of manually putting in the details when I realized that you need to do this only about once. After this, you will just have to tap to sync it everyday to get the readings on the app. In my case, I usually sync it in the morning when I wake up. Remember to sync every time you make changes in your preferences in the app so the leaf will remember it next time. You may sync it as often as you like. DOUBLE TAP the leaf every time you sync. I didn't get this at first and I thought my Leaf was broken.

So let me take you to each interface:

Once you open the app, it will take you to an interface that will look like this (2017 version)

The Activity (orange), Sleep (purple) and Period (peach) tracking and guided Meditation (mint) exercises and Stress Awareness (salmon) tabs will help you understand your body, take control of your health and hopefully uncover your hidden superpowers. Tapping the tabs will take you to the following:

ACTIVITY

The Leaf tracks my day's number of steps, my active time, distance and calories burned.
I sync it each time I made new steps so it will show up in the app.

The Activity tabs shows the records of activities that the Leaf has counted while you were doing your usual routine whether running, dancing, biking or just simply walking in the mall. You get real time overview of your daily activities, steps taken and calories burned, and understand how your movements affect your health. You can customize your activities and set your goals and adjust them according to your preference. Like mine, I set my activity goal to 12,000 steps per day or roughly 9 kilometer and burn more or less 400 to 600 calories depending whether I walk or run.

SLEEP

The chart shows when and what time I had light sleep and deep sleep. The yellow bar shows the time I was awake.
It also assesses the quality of my sleep at the bottom part. Don't get stressed out if you find yourself having "Disturbed Sleep" like in my mine (but slept for 8:21 hours).
Focus on the number of hours you slept. My goal is 8.

What amazes me is the Sleep tracking feature. We spend up to a third of our lives sleeping so it's important to get it right. The Leaf monitors your sleep and helps you understand what your body goes through during the night, so you can get better rest and wake up easier. It accurately tells what time you fell asleep, what time you woke up and my favorite, how well you have slept. Yes, you will need to wear it while sleeping. I wear the Leaf securely clipped on my shirt (they also recommended it that way) and it does not bother me at all. It also vibrates gently to wake me up in the morning.

MEDITATION

It has built in session recordings that you can download for free (internet needed) and listen to.
It tracks your Duration and Sessions.

I don't use the Meditation feature often because I listen to Coldplay as my meditation. 😁Hehehe. 😄 Honestly, music is my happy pill. But seriously, the Meditation sessions has breathing exercises that is beneficial and tremendously effective in de-stressing one self, find calm, and regain our focus. Quite useful once in a while.

STRESS

By swiping left or right, you can see the summary of your activities, sleep, meditation sessions and period cycles and assess your stress level in this tab.

Our activity levels, sleep quality and reproductive health all affect how stressed we feel. By monitoring these elements Leaf Urban can create an overview of your lifestyle and detect patterns that may cause stress before it takes a toll on you. (Source: Bellabeat)

PERIOD

It tracks your period, fertile days and ovulation.

Leaf’s period tracking and fertility calendar help you understand your body’s natural rhythms and cycles, it predicts your periods and give you valuable feedback about your reproductive health. So you’ll always know what’s going on, whatever the time of the month. (Source: Bellabeat)

SMART ALARMS

Note: You will need to sync your Leaf after every change to the alarm’s settings as this will transfer the new settings onto the Leaf itself.

Alarms (Source: Bellabeat)

Your leaf has the ability to have 3 alarms set up along with one daily recurring alarm that you can use as a pill reminder. When your Leaf vibrates for an alarm, it will vibrate with 5 consecutive longer vibrations. The pill reminder will vibrate with 4 longer vibrations.To access this feature, you will need to go into the app’ Settings, select the Leaf that you wish to set an alarm on and then select the Alarms label. Then it’s simply a matter of adjusting the time you want your Leaf to vibrate, setting a name for the alarm, setting the days that you wish to have the alarm repeat on and turn it on.

Inactivity Alert will trigger vibration on the Leaf if you are not moving enough.
You should also set up a Do not disturb period to tell the Leaf not to vibrate when you are usually sleeping. Having this turned on will make the inactivity alert not work during the set hours, but any alarms that you have set will still go off.

Inactivity Alert (Source: Bellabeat)

You can set up your Leaf to remind you to be more active if you have not been moving for a certain period of time. To do this, go into the app’s Settings, select the Leaf that you wish to remind you to move and then press the Inactivity alert label. Depending on the level you select there, your Leaf will remind you to move more or less often, by vibrating consecutively with 8 short vibrations when you’ve been inactive.

Keep in mind that you will need to do a certain number of steps to not have the Leaf remind you to be more active and the exact number depends on your usual activity levels.

WAYS TO WEAR YOUR BELLABEAT

Worn as Bracelet.

It comes with genuine leather strap in Capuccino. Looks rather good with you other accessories don't you think?

Worn as Clip

Either clipped on shirt or pants, its snug enough that doesn't move around nor ruin or puncture the cloth. It doesn't require any pins.

Worn as Necklace

Adjustable high grade stainless steel necklace.

What to love:
It looks really stylish and so nice and functional too. It has what I need for now. It's also versatile since it can be worn as necklace, bracelet and clip. It comes in different color variants too (if I have the budget I'd get them all). Good quality sustainable materials. Easy to operate. Easy to find inexpensive replacement CR 2032 batteries.

True to their company mission: Women are constantly under pressure about their appearance. They are expected to look and act a certain way, to be thinner, to look younger and sexier, to follow trends and look up to idealized forms of femininity. We believe that women need to focus on their own strengths, their own capabilities, and their own beauty.

The future of health care lies in prevention, not correction. By obtaining data from people, we can predict and improve their lives and prevent irrevocable consequences. The biggest challenge in preventive health care is changing the way people see health. Our future focus is to shape new mindsets and behaviors with the help of our products. Together we can change people’s perceptions about health and inspire them to live better, healthier lives.

Pros:

For a health tracker with all that features plus with a stylish and versatile looks, this would be worth investing if you are serious and diligent enough to use its functions. It is useful for an active woman who is concerned of her well being. It covers most essential health issues that should be aware of like exercise, sleep, meditation, menstrual period and stress management.

Cons:

However it's features would not be enough if, say, you're a professional athlete or an individual competing for a game. It doesn't provide a timer or count laps for swimming (it's not waterproof, it's just water resistant) or gather comprehensive detailed information of your other important athletic data like heart rating etc. You might be considering getting a Fitbit or other professional health tracker instead. (Fitbit doesn't have Period tracking by the way.)

It is pricey but considering of getting this or a Fitbit or an Apple Watch, this would be the least priced gadget with the basic health tracker features a woman might need. If you have the Apple Watch, forget about getting this. You would probably download a more complete set of health tracking apps than the Leaf, unless you really want one because it looks pretty on the wrist (compared to the bulky Apple Watch).

I would have wanted to have the heart tracker feature soon.
Make it waterproof with a secured strap for swimming.
I wonder if they can come up on how to track emotional stress too? Just a thought.

Let me know what you think.

Shop at https://webshop.bellabeat.com/

Lovely snapshots from their Instagram