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My most-loved tech: Fitness gadgets (pictures)

I believe in putting my fitness gadgets to the ultimate test, like using them to split my nighttime sleep schedule in half for a daring experiment to ultimately help me sleep more. So you can trust that my favorite gadgets earned their keep.

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Nic Healey
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1 of 11 Dave Cheng/CNET

A brief history of wearable tech

I've had a long love of fitness tech -- and especially wearable fitness tech -- as you can see. This is only a selection of what I've actually played with over the years.

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Jawbone

But it's the Jawbone range that's proven to be the keepers for me. I've had more than a few die a battery-related death on me, but the combination of formfactor and the app keep me coming back. That's my old Up24 next to the current Up2.

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Jawbone Up24

Yes, the Up24 was what got me through this strange split sleep experiment.

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It's all in the wrist

But that doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed other wearables, especially some of the newer ones with smartwatch-style functionality.

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Bluetooth headphones

Bluetooth headsets also proved invaluable for my nocturnal gym visits.

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Simple sounds

I found that, personally, at the end of the day I preferred a headset that was simple and easy to use, rather than coming with too many bells and whistles.

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Silent alarms

The silent alarm function has become one of the most indispensable features of the Up range for my day-to-day life.

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Sleep tracking

But my true love will always been the incredibly detailed sleep logger.

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Jawbone Up2

And now it's the newer Up2 that I'm using.

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Henty Wingman

One extra bit of tech I've added recently is the Henty Wingman. At first glance its a fairly unassuming suit bag that also comes with a gym bag as well.

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Henty Wingman

The whole thing, however, rolls up and feature semi-rigid ribbing that keeps all your gear from getting completely crushed.

It's a smart looking, smart-designed way to get gym and work gear around and it's perfect if you're bike riding to and from the workplace.

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