We all love our tech, especially the ones that are constantly attached to our bodies. Many of us rely on our smartwatches or fitbits to keep us up to date throughout the day and track various health metrics like our steps taken or how long we slept. This has turned the wearable tech business into a lucrative one that brings in billions of dollars globally each year.
When we think of wearable tech, our minds usually go to household names like Fitbit or Apple watches. However, the Urban Leaf by Bellabeat, a San Francisco-based company, has beat out many top contenders to take the top spot of the best smart wearable product by Business Insider.
Why the Urban Leaf Is In
So how did the Urban Leaf beat out so many contenders for the top spot? First, the Urban Leaf is objectively pretty to look at. When we think of wearable technology, an image springs to mind of chunky smartwatches that beep every few minutes and look like something out of a sci-fi movie. The Urban Leaf defies this stereotype by looking like a simple piece of jewelry. It is activated by tapping on the face but otherwise, it has a stone-like exterior that is embedded in either a rose gold or silver clip.
It has hoops on both ends and accompanying straps that allow it to be worn as a necklace or on the wrist. However, with no context, it looks like a piece of minimalist jewelry and this is where one of its core strengths lies. Consumers these days want their wearable technology to fit into their daily life without being too obvious or distracting and the Urban Leaf does just that, fitting in with business-casual attire or as jewelry for a night out.
In terms of the actual tracking of metrics, the Urban Leaf goes above and beyond. Besides the typical tracking of calories burned and the number of hours slept, the Urban Leaf also offers guided meditation programs and helps track menstrual cycles for users. All these can be used by the Bellabeat algorithm to predict the users’ response to stress based on their vital signs and recent lifestyle habits. This data is made available for users through its accompanying app.
Speaking of Bellabeat, the company behind the Urban Leaf is all about ethically sourcing user data and using it to create custom wellness programs specifically designed to close the wellness gap among women in the world. They have created millions of custom plans and the Urban Leaf is yet another way that they are doing this.
The Changing Game of Wellness
The wellness industry is an evolving one and this applies to wearable tech as well. Consumers do not merely want technology that reports numbers of but technology that fits into their lives and make them better as a result. The Bellabeat Urban Leaf does this very well by being aesthetically pleasing while using data collected to make recommendations and plans for the user.
This is why it won out above all the rest and will likely be a mainstay within the wearable tech sector. Not only this, but it will actively set the trends for years to come.
As the Business Insider review said, “Bellabeat’s original Leaf Nature was the first piece of smart jewelry I ever tried, and I’ve been a huge fan of the company ever since. I’ve worn some version of the Leaf almost every day for the past three years, and the Leaf Urban is my favorite piece of smart jewelry — period.”
Based on articles from Forbes, TechTimes, and Yahoo Finance, Bellabeat is soon launching a new smart wearable product, called Ivy, which is set to trump all of Leaf’s benefits. While it seems incredibly promising, it remains to be seen whether Ivy will meet the high expectations that Leaf has set.
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