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Are you on the hunt for one of the best fitness trackers on the market? In this Bellabeat Leaf fitness tracker review, you’ll hear from one of our Garage Gym Reviews experts on her hands-on experience with this piece of smart jewelry. The Leaf Urban is a screenless device with the ability to track activity, step count, sleep, and menstruation cycles.
There are pros and cons to this sleek, jewelry-style fitness tracker. Be sure to keep reading to find out what our tester enjoyed and what she found frustrating.
More Than Two Dozen Fitness Trackers Tested
Our experts at Garage Gym Reviews have tested over two dozen fitness trackers because we know there is no one-size-fits-all for wearable tech (not everyone wants or needs the same metrics). That’s where your friends at GGR come in: We’re out here testing fitness trackers day and night to see which ones are worth your investment.
For this Bellabeat Leaf fitness tracker review, Erin Chancer, CPT, CNC, and GGR senior editor, put the Leaf Urban tracker to the test. You’ll hear her honest opinion about what she liked and struggled with during her assessment. She was also tasked with using our in-depth fitness testing methodology to evaluate and score a variety of categories on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, including general wear, activity tracking, battery life, connectivity, ease of use, customer service, and customer reviews.
Bellabeat Leaf Urban
Product Highlights
- Wellness tracker without display or buttons
- Designed by and for women
- Wear as a necklace or bracelet
- Tracks activity, sleep, stress, meditation, and reproductive health
- Available in 5 color
Pros
- Free shipping and 30 day returns
- Shower safe
- Fashionable fitness tracker
- 3 free months of Bellabeat Wellness Coach app
- Stores data for 14 days
Cons
- No display – you’ll have to check data in mobile app
- Limited customer reviews
- No third party app integration
- No heart rate monitoring
- The Bellabeat App is poorly reviewed
The Bellabeat Leaf Urban is a fitness tracker designed to track fitness metrics without looking like a fitness tracker. It can be worn as a bracelet, necklace, or clip. You may like the Leaf Urban if you want a fitness tracker that doesn’t look like a fitness tracker. It doesn’t track heart rate and the Bellabeat app has mixed reviews. Customers shared the recent updates are making the app buggier and more difficult to use.
A Quick Look at the Bellabeat
Bellabeat started in 2014 with a fitness tracker designed specifically for people with female chromosomes. Bellabeat’s trackers focus on women’s health issues and can help with menstruation cycle tracking. Bellabeat’s trackers may help wearers make informed choices by collecting data on contraceptive intake, stress levels, deep sleep, and overall activity.
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Before You Buy
- The Leaf Urban fitness tracker does not have a screen or buttons. It syncs to your smartphone via Bluetooth.
- The Leaf comes with the pendant-style fitness tracker, bracelet, and necklace attachment.
- Be sure your smartphone is either an Android 4.3 and later or an Apple iOS device, 9 and later.
- Apple users have more trouble syncing with the Leaf Urban than Android users.
Is the Bellabeat Leaf Fitness Tracker Worth It?
The Bellabeat Leaf Urban fitness tracker is worth it to anyone who wants to track activity without a screen and constant wrist notifications. The Leaf tracker is less of an in-your-face tech experience. It’s a sleek, subtle, and elegant way to wear a fitness tracker.
But the Leaf Urban comes with some caveats. After our expert tester Erin had trouble pairing her iPhone to the Leaf, she went down an internet-sleuthing rabbit hole. It turns out that Apple users have a notoriously hard time syncing with the Leaf Urban device.
Erin thought the Leaf was going to be a piece of smart jewelry she could seamlessly wear in her daily life for fitness tracking with a fashionable twist. However, the trouble she had with the device (and the underwhelming free metrics it can track) led her to score the Bellabeat Leaf fitness tracker at 2 out of 5 stars for overall value.
“I’m not sure the $99 up-front cost, plus another $10 per month, is worth it because many of the metrics the Leaf can track are already trackable on your smartphone,” says Erin.
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Great for:
- Pregnancy, ovulation, and period tracking
- Anyone sick of charging fitness trackers
- Wearing a health tracker that looks like a piece of jewelry
Not recommended for:
- People who want to avoid subscription fees
- Folks who want real-time syncing
- Anyone who prefers on-screen notifications
- Apple users
Bellabeat Leaf Urban Fitness Tracker
| Price | $99 |
| Subscription | Limited free version of app; $9.99/month or $99.99/year |
| Display | No screen, no buttons |
| Materials | Hypoallergenic stainless steel, wood composite, hypoallergenic rubber |
| Colorways | Black Silver, Gray Rose, Rose Gold, Silver, Yellow Gold |
| Compatibility | Android (4.3 and later) and iOS (9 and later) |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth |
| Battery | Replaceable coin cell battery |
| Water resistant | IPX6 (safe in the shower) |
| Metrics | Activity, sleep, stress, meditation, and reproductive health |
Using the Bellabeat Urban Leaf Fitness Tracker
The Bellabeat Leaf fitness tracker is not for the faint of heart. Our tester, Erin, was baffled by how difficult it was to use and to connect to her smartphone.
“Setting this up was a nightmare,” says Erin. She followed the instructions precisely to activate the Bluetooth connection and enable pairing. However, it did not go as planned.
“To connect for the first time, you’ll select your Bellabeat product from a list within the app, and then it will search for it as you tap the Leaf twice to enable pairing,” she explains. “That’s exactly what I did, but the app kept giving me errors.”
Erin ended up using the screwdriver included in the packaging to take the whole thing apart. She used a replacement coin cell battery she luckily had on hand, but it didn’t make a difference after replacing it, so she ruled out battery issues.
She then proceeded to troubleshoot with her husband, who happens to be an IT specialist, and they found out you need to be connected to your Bluetooth before you can pair. “This tidbit was not noted in the instruction manual but you can find it on the website under support,” adds Erin.
“I hit another roadblock when my iPhone still wouldn’t recognize the Leaf and it wouldn’t populate at all in my Bluetooth discovery settings,” she says. Erin did some tech forum research and discovered that many iOS users have trouble with the Leaf Urban device. She notes it appears to be a known issue with the brand, but had no idea when she ordered it.
Connectivity and Ease of Use
While the Leaf Urban activity tracker does not have a screen or buttons, it has Bluetooth connectivity for both Apple and Android users. Our expert tester, Erin, found out the hard way that Apple devices are especially tricky—and in her case, not possible—to connect to the Leaf. For this reason, the Leaf earns a 1-star rating for connectivity.
Erin is a dedicated product tester and worked with her husband, an Android user, to see if they could connect it. Sure enough, his Android phone picked up the Bellabeat Leaf right away. Being the cooperative GGR spouse he is, Erin’s husband downloaded the Bellabeat Wellness Coach app and tested the pendant-style tracker on Erin’s behalf.
After further testing, both Erin and her husband were surprised to find that many metrics you can track through the Leaf are behind the premium membership paywall (sleep tracking, stress management, readiness scores, and wellness scores). Plus, you’ll have to add metrics related to your menstrual cycle manually.
Erin also notes that the Leaf does not automatically sync with the app. You have to double-tap the Leaf. “To get your metrics to populate in the app, you have to keep resyncing as they don’t appear in real-time,” says Erin.
For ease of use, Erin scored the Leaf 2 out of 5 stars. Although she likes the design and concept, she wasn’t thrilled about the execution with manual syncing, troublesome connectivity, and limited metrics. “It’s missing other familiar fitness metrics like your heart rate. Plus, you won’t get notifications from the app,” she adds.
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Bellabeat App
With a subscription to Bellabeat Wellness Coach for $9.99 per month or $99.99 annually, you’ll be able to access premium features like a workout library, guided meditation, breathing exercises, and nutrition information with the Bellabeat Leaf app.
Erin thinks it’s important to note the premium version of the app doesn’t have personalized coaching, but you will have a library of articles and workouts to choose from.
You’ll also be able to see personalized algorithms and advice based on your menstrual cycle, sleep data, and personal goals. Erin also notes there’s a social media page you can engage with if you use the premium version of the app.
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General Wear and Aesthetics
When it comes to the look of the Leaf Urban, Erin scored the pendant-style tracker 4 out of 5 stars. “I like how it looks and you have a few color options to choose from to match your style. You can also wear it as a necklace or bracelet,” says Erin.
Erin tested both the bracelet and necklace styles because the Leaf comes with both options, but she preferred the necklace because it was easier to wear. Overall, she scored the general wear 3.5 out of 5 stars.
“The silicone bracelet strap takes a lot of maneuvering because it goes around your wrist twice, and it never looked as good as the images on the website would lead you to believe,” Erin adds.
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Activity Tracking
If you’re looking for a device that can track heart rate, this isn’t the right fitness tracker for you. The Leaf does not monitor your heart rate or provide heart rate insights on the app. For this reason, it earns a 1-star rating in our heart rate tracking category.
However, it can track steps and general activity and earns a 4-star rating for activity tracking, which may be enough for some folks. A 2020 systematic review1 looked at 12 studies and found that using a wearable tracker is associated with moderate and short-term increases in physical activity for healthy adults.
The Leaf device can track and sync the following metrics:
- Activity tracker: Steps, active time, energy burned, distance, and activity duration
- Sleep tracker: Tracks patterns and identifies light, recovery, and awake periods
- Mindfulness: Tracks meditations and helps reduce stress with mindfulness exercises
- Menstrual cycle: Tracks periods and menstrual cycle phases; has the ability to manually log moods, symptoms, and weight; provides guidance based on your hormonal cycle
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Bellabeat Leaf Fitness Tracker vs Fitbit Inspire 3
Fitbit Inspire
Product Highlights
- Affordable fitness tracker
- 3 default colorways with other bands available for purchase
- Up to 10 days battery life
- Water resistant up to 50 m
- Tracks heart rate, steps, blood oxygen, sleep, and more
Pros
- Under $100
- 10 days of battery life
- Water resistant
- Color touchscreen
- Multiple colorways
Cons
- Small screen
- Needs to be connected to your phone for GPS
- Syncing to phone requires internet connection
The Fitbit Inspire 3 is an affordable fitness tracker that still tracks a variety of activities and metrics—although the data is more basic than some more robust trackers. The Inspire 3 improves upon the design and aesthetic of the Inspire 2 with a streamlined look and color touchscreen. Additionally, it’s added a blood oxygen measurement feature, something that the Inspire line didn’t have up to this point.
The Fitbit Inspire 3 may not be as aesthetically pleasing as the Bellabeat Leaf pendant-style activity tracker; however, for about the same price, you can track more metrics and potentially have an easier time with Bluetooth connectivity.
We’ve tested the older version of the Inspire for our Fitbit Inspire 2 review, but we’re confident the new model delivers a similar experience. When comparing the Bellabeat Leaf to any Fitbit, it’s noticeable that the Fitbit offers exceptional tracking with the ability to monitor heart rate, heart rate variability, and oxygen saturation. The Fitbit Inspire also automatically tracks your metrics, so you don’t need to tap the device to sync it.
| Bellabeat Leaf Urban | Fitbit Inspire 3 | |
| Price | $99 | About $80 on Amazon |
| Subscription | Free version; $9.99/month or $99.99/year | Free version; $9.99/mo or $79.99/year |
| Display | No screen, no buttons | Small LCD screen |
| Battery | Replaceable coin cell battery | Rechargeable lithium ion |
| Water resistance | IPX6 (safe in the shower) | Up to 50 meters |
| Metrics | Activity, sleep, stress, meditation, and reproductive health | Heart rate, steps, activity, sleep, stress, menstrual health, oxygen saturation |
Bellabeat Customer Experience
Bellabeat earns a 2.5 for overall customer experience. Erin couldn’t find a phone number or email address on the website. When she was bombarded with error messages during her iPhone sync attempts, the Bellabeat Leaf app populated an email for her to contact. However, Erin notes that it took a few days to get a response and then the line of communication went cold.
Your purchase of the Leaf Urban fitness tracker comes with a one-year warranty and a 30-day return policy. Keep in mind that you’ll have to contact the brand to initiate a return.
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Customer Reviews
On the Bellabeat website, the Leaf has a 4.6-out-of-5-star average rating based on 376 reviews. However, you aren’t able to expand and read the reviews. On Google reviews, the Leaf has a 4.1-star rating based on less than 100 customer reviews. Several customers have the same thoughts as Erin: It’s basically a pedometer as jewelry.
Final Verdict of Our Bellabeat Fitness Tracker Review
Based on our experience with the Bellabeat Leaf Urban fitness tracker, it’s not going to be a broadly recommended wearable fitness product. We think it’s ideal for anyone who wants to track basic fitness metrics without adding another high-tech screen. It’s also a stylish way to wear a pedometer, which may be intriguing for some.
For Erin, our expert product tester, the Leaf missed the mark for her expectations. “I could see this being OK for an Android user or someone who really wants a stylish step counter. But personally, I had a rough time trying to make this work,” she says.
Bellabeat Leaf Fitness Tracker Full Rating
Bellabeat Leaf Fitness Tracker
Our Bellabeat Leaf fitness tracker review details our hands-on experience and provides insights on the pros and cons of this screenless device.
Product Brand: Bellabeat
Product Currency: $
Product Price: 99
Product In-Stock: InStock
Bellabeat Leaf Fitness Tracker: FAQs
What is the difference between Bellabeat Ivy and Leaf?
Bellabeat Ivy has a rechargeable battery and can track additional metrics including temperature, active heart rate, resting heart rate, and cardiac coherence.
What does Bellabeat Leaf do?
The Bellabeat Leaf is an activity tracker without a screen. You can manually sync your data from the Leaf to the Bellabeat Wellness Coach app and track other metrics related to menstrual cycles.
Do you have to pay for the Bellabeat app?
You can track basic metrics like steps without paying for the premium version of the Bellabeat Wellness Coach app. However, additional resources and metrics are not available without a subscription.
References
- Tang MSS, Moore K, McGavigan A, Clark RA, Ganesan AN. Effectiveness of Wearable Trackers on Physical Activity in Healthy Adults: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2020;8(7):e15576. Published 2020 Jul 22. doi:10.2196/15576
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