5 Ways to Monitor Your Blood Pressure Wherever You Are
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They call it the silent killer. Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a condition that has few noticeable symptoms but which can lead to all sorts of unpleasantness in the long run. If your blood is pumped at an elevated pressure inside your body, it can cause vision and circulation problems and increase the likelihood of heart attacks, aneurysms, and other medical issues.
So how do you lower your blood pressure? That’s something to discuss with your doctor, but they will probably recommend changing your diet, engaging in more exercise, and possibly taking some medications. And they will ask that you start regularly checking your blood pressure.
That’s the key to treating hypertension: monitoring your blood pressure to see how medications or lifestyle changes are working to bring it down. Thankfully, the proliferation of mobile technology has made this easier to do. I tested five portable blood pressure monitors that can take a reading and send the data to health apps such as Apple Health or Samsung Health. These apps can show your progress over time, and when studied together with your doctor, they can chart a course for long-term heart health.
Our top pick is the Withings BPM Connect, a no-frills device that takes measurements quickly and can work with or without your mobile phone. This $100 device has a clean, simple design and a USB-chargeable battery that lasts a long time. My favorite cheaper option is the iHealth Ease. It costs under $40, and although it's larger and requires your phone to be running iHealth's mobile app while taking a measurement, it’s a great deal. Read on for the rest of my findings about these devices for keeping an eye on one of the most important measures of your well-being.
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- Photograph: WithingsWithings BPM Connect
The BPM Connect is the simplest of the blood pressure monitors, but since it does what you need without fuss, it's also the best. The electronics of the device are built into a simple white case with a single button on one side, with the cuff behind it. Wrap this cuff around your upper arm, hit this button, and an LED display above it lights up to show the status of the device. Press the button a second time, and it starts taking a reading by pumping air into the cuff. (This method of applying pressure to the upper arm to take a blood-pressure measurement is standard across all the devices I tested.)
The measuring process takes about 30 seconds, with the cuff getting a little tight as it expands. Once it is done, the measurement is displayed on the LED display and is transferred to the Withings HealthMate app over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. The app is available for iOS and Android devices, and there's even a web version.
There are also a number of options that can be controlled by holding down the button. You can set to device to take three measurements and average them, or share your measurements with your doctor automatically. The latter feature only works on the iOS version of the app, and the medical record system at your doctor’s office needs to be able to accept the input. The BPM Connect also supports up to eight users, although switching between them using that single button is a little awkward.
I was impressed with the Withings' extreme portability. When you wrap the cuff around the body of the device, it isn’t much bigger than a mobile phone, so you can easily take it anywhere. That’s essential for something you are going to use daily. Rating 9/10, WIRED Recommends.
- Photograph: OmronOmron Evolv
The Omron Evolv is a bit cheaper than the BPM Connect, but it is also larger and more awkward to use. The rigid cuff design of molded plastic is comfortable to wear, but it does make the device less portable than the BPM Connect, as it can’t be folded up.
It is easy to use, though. Just slip the whole assembly onto your arm and press the button, and it starts measuring your blood pressure. It is rather finicky about clothing; even a light T-shirt sleeve interfered with the measurement. An additional button syncs the data to the Omron Connect app, which is available for iOS and Android. However, this app has to be running to receive the data from the device. Contrast this with the Withings HealthMate app, which is quite happy to sync readings in the background. Rating 6/10.
- Photograph: OmronOmron Complete
As the name suggests, the Complete is more than a blood pressure meter. It also includes a single wire electrocardiogram (EKG) that can monitor the electrical signals from your heart to detect issues such as atrial fibrillation. It uses a similar system to the heart sensor found on the Apple Watch. It is larger than a watch though: a cuff fits over your upper arm to measure your blood pressure, while the EKG is taken by touching two pads on each side of the shoebox-sized base unit. Your phone sits on top of this base unit, showing the results. This means that you can take blood pressure measurements without your phone, but your phone has to be in place and running the app to display and record the results of an EKG reading.
The process of getting results from the EKG is also somewhat complex. The first time you take a measurement, the device sends it through the Omron Connect app (available for iOS and Android) to be examined by a cardiologist. Omron says that will happen within 24 hours, but my report only took a couple of hours to appear. While you are waiting, the app won’t allow you to take another EKG measurement. Once your report is done, you can take an EKG any time, see the waveform on-screen, and be notified if the app detects any issues. If you want a cardiologist to take a look again, it will cost you an additional $19. Rating 7/10.
- Photograph: QardioQardio QardiArm
The QardioArm takes the minimalist approach to the maximum. The device itself is a plain white box with only a single LED light on it. There’s no power switch—you turn it on by unwrapping the the cuff from around the body of the device, where a magnet triggers a switch inside the case. You use the QardioArm with the accompanying Qardio app (available for iOS and Android) to start a measurement and log the results. The app can also feed data to Google Fit or Apple Health. Unusually, Qardio also offers an Apple Watch app and an app for Amazon Fire tablets that can be used to take measurements and view trends. The Apple Watch app is limited to seven days of data though, so you’ll need the iOS app to see longer term trends.
While the QardioArm has an admirably simple design, usability is a casualty. You can’t use the QardioArm without the app, and not everybody has their iPhone with them all the time. The QardioArm is powered by four AAA non-rechargeable batteries, a less elegant and flexible solution than the USB charging used by competing devices. Rating 6/10.
- Photograph: iHealthiHealth Ease
At less than half the price of the others, the iHealth Ease is the cheapest of the blood pressure monitors I tested by a considerable margin. It still does a decent job though, because it relies on your phone to do most of the heavy lifting. The device is composed of a cuff that fits around your arm, a connecting air tube, and a base station. The base unit communicates with your Apple or Android device over Bluetooth with the iHealth MyVitals app. Your phone sits on top of the base unit when you are taking a measurement, but the base unit has to be separately charged with the included USB cable.
It’s not a bad arrangement. The cuff is fairly comfortable and the connecting tube is long enough that you don’t have to be sitting right next to the base unit when taking a measurement. The device isn’t very portable though, and you can’t take a measurement without the phone.
The measured data is also automatically uploaded into an iHealth Cloud server, where it can be accessed with a username and password. That might be useful if you want someone else to see the data, such as a family member, caregiver, or doctor.
I found that the Ease was—true to its name—quite easy to use. The app takes you through the steps to put on the cuff and take the measurement in a simple way. It is a little slower than the others to get a reading, and it did pinch rather more than the others. There is an emergency stop button on the base: a useful feature for the pain sensitive or those with skin conditions that might be exacerbated by too much pressure. Rating 8/10, WIRED Recommends.
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