New kit for keeping track of getting fit Clockwise from left: Jawbone UP; Withings Health Companion; Striiv Play; Fitbit One; Larklife Before Christmas gift cards are all spent and new year resolutions broken, why not pursue a healthier 2013 by trying the latest wearable fitness gadgets. The Nike+ FuelBand is the best known, but this week we look at four alternatives that offer more for less. Jawbone UP Rating: 4/5 Jawbone's Up went down for some consumers when it first went on sale last year, forcing the company to halt sales of the health wristband. But an improved version that won't, for instance, short circuit in the shower, has been launched, and I found the slim black band - one of eight available colours - to be comfortable, tactile and stylish. While it looks the same as its predecessor, it is $30 more at $129 (European prices and availability are to be announced). Slipping off the silver end cap exposes a 3.5mm headphone plug which fits an iPhone's socket and syncs the data captured by the band's motion-sensing accelerometer with the Up app. This shows how I slept and my activity levels in the day in terms of steps taken, miles covered and calories burnt. I can enter calories consumed by listing my meals, or scanning packaging to enter such details automatically. There are also tips and insights into how I am faring in my fitness regime and an option to be jogged awake or reminded to take a screen break with a vibration. A feature that shows how friends are using Up did not gee me up as I do not know anyone else with one, but the clear charts of my progress were encouragement enough. Larklife Rating: 2 /5 I wish I was as keen to wear the Larklife, a plain blue wristband twice the thickness of the Up, and rather ugly in comparison. I liked the original Lark, which monitors sleep and wakes users by vibrating, but this version ($149, not yet available outside the US), has not made an elegant transition to tracking waking activity as well. Larklife has two bands, one for day and one for night, and a small console that snaps in to them. The console has an advantage over the Up in that it connects wirelessly using Bluetooth to an iPhone app to upload its data, but swapping the bands and charging them daily with a proprietary charger was a chore, whereas the Up needs a recharge about every 10 days. The app shows details of sleep and activities similar to the Up, but meal recording is primitive in comparison. Fitbit One Rating: 3/5 Meanwhile, I've been more worried about losing the thumb-sized Fitbit One and Striiv Play than about losing weight; although they can be clipped to clothing. Their attractive displays show vital statistics for the day and they both link over Bluetooth to smartphone apps. The Fitbit One ($100, £80) is an advance on the previous Ultra model, in being smaller, more robust and having a better display. All these devices have accelerometers, but the Fitbit and Striiv also have altimeters to take account of gradients and steps. The Fitbit's app- and browser-based dashboard provides information and rewards achievements such as walking 15,000 steps in a day with badges. It also links to other devices and services, such as Fitbit's Aria WiFi scales. Striiv Play The Striiv Play ($70, £80 in UK for an older version) is the most fun. It makes a game out of activities, with the app issuing small challenges that earn points, which can be used to play a FarmVille-type game. These devices" strengths are motivational rather than computational as their sensors cannot match data gathered by more sophisticated devices - or even a regular GPS-enabled smartphone. But for encouraging us to exercise more and sleep better, this latest field of fitness aids can work out well. What it is: Withings Health Companion Why you should try it: This free app for the iPhone and Android devices assembles your vital health statistics from various sources, although it does require some kit to make the most of it. Your weight can be recorded automatically by the WiFi enabled Withings scale, and blood pressure details added from a Withings blood pressure monitor. Linked to the Runkeeper smartphone service it will track physical activities, and adding in details of sleep patterns is also possible.