Greater Goods Bluetooth Blood Pressure Monitor for Home Use, Upper Arm Cuff

I have been using the Omron 10 BP785N https://www.amazon.com/Omron-Upper-Pressure-Monitor-Standard/dp/B00KPQB2SS/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=omron+10&qid=1560386740&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1 daily for a while now. I have been overall satisfied with it, although I don't like writing down the results twice daily and keying it into my phone app. I was thinking about getting the wireless version Omron 10 BP786N, but there are a lot of complaints that the Bluetooth will not connect. Omron specifically listed my phone, the Samsung Galaxy S7 Android version 8, as not being compatible. (Only Android ver. 6 and 7, although I'm sure it would probably work with ver. 8.) Rather than take the chance of it not being returnable, and since I saw this unit on sale at Amazon, and since this unit has many positive reviews about Bluetooth successfully connecting with phones, I decided to give it a try. Not really thinking about the cuff, I am surprised at how difficult it is to tighten it with one hand. Using the right hand to tighten the left arm is doable. But it is VERY difficult to tighten the right arm with the left hand. The Omron 10 unit comes with a "Easy-Wrap ComFit Cuff" CFX-WR17 (which can be purchased fairly inexpensively) which is a "Pre-formed expandable firm arm cuff ". This cuff makes it extremely easy to connect to your arm. I decided to try it out on this machine. The Omron cuff fits perfectly into the Balance BP Monitor. I tested out both units with both cuffs, and the readings appear to be reasonably the same. I actually have 3 of these Omron cuffs (since one wore out) and I plan on comparing both machines for a while until I'm satisfied. https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00P6SATT8 If you are going to do this twice daily, you might as well be comfortable doing it IMHO. So, the setup with Bluetooth was extremely user friendly. You just open the app on your phone and follow the instructions. You hold the arrow up on the device until the pairing message comes up, and the app on your phone connects to it on its own. I always have Bluetooth active on my phone, so the app found the BP monitor within seconds. The app itself is rather limited, but it works. I found that it is best to have the app open when taking a reading. It will update automatically that way. OTOH, if you choose to take readings with the app shutdown, it will sync up the next time you open it. (Although, this seems to take longer than one would expect.) I had tested the app before I got the device, so I sent myself a history list via email, and it works fine. The only modification you can make to the app is to add a note. Of course you can always edit the CSV file. I am used to using a very detailed (paid version) app called "Blood Pressure Log - MyDiary" https://www.amazon.com/Zlamaniec-Blood-Pressure-Log-MyDiary/dp/B0178M2LDG - I may find it tough to break away from that, since it gives all kinds of averages for my Doctor. But, I ALSO like not having to key everything in, so we will see. The readings seem to be pretty much equivalent to my Omron 10. Seeing as I am reviewing this product just hours after receiving it, I can't say for sure how accurate it is. I can say it is not very far off. I can say that the Omron 10 is much more consistent than a couple of the wrist monitors I've tried. So, I am hoping that this unit will have the same consistency. Overall, so far, I am very satisfied. -------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE 7/17/2019 -------------------------------------------------------- So, about the cuff. I have been using the cuff that came with the device. Instead of trying to wrap the cuff around my arm for each use, I am leaving it velcroed at all times. Then I slide the cuff on and off. Not only does this make it easier to put on, but it also saves the Velcro from weakening. Further, I can safely say that this machine is pretty consistent. I have been using it side by side with the Omron 10 arm model. Last week's average for the Omron was 115/69 while the Greatergoods average was 120/68. So, I can certainly live with a few points here or there. The Bluetooth seems to work very well. For the best results, I recommend opening up the app on your phone before you start reading your blood pressure. I always test the left and the right arm, and this machine usually reads both readings to the phone (via Bluetooth) very consistently. For the price,. this is a very good unit.

I've been very satisfied with this device, and I think it's well worth the price, which is reasonable. I bought this because I had not gone to a doc for awhile (I am 62), and I had a very high (170's systolic) reading for my blood pressure. He put me on meds, but I wanted to track my BP at home; this was a big wake-up call for me and I wanted to take charge of my health. This BP monitor was recommended by WireCutter, and it lived up to the review: - Easy to use - Easy to read display - Remembers 50 readings, with timestamps - Has bluetooth to send readings to an app on your phone - You can use it without the app, but the app is well done - Can run on batteries (included) or AC I confirmed that the meds were controlling my BP, but when I went in for my next visit I still read high (around 150), but I showed my doc my readings, so he said I wouldn't need to change my meds. Some people's BP goes up at a doctor visit--he called it "white coat hypertension". About the only thing is that you are supposed to line up a line on the cuff with your brachial artery, but I didn't know where that was!

So I returned a wrist cuff that had blue tooth that was pretty unusable and bought this one instead (for i think $20 less) ... the unit itself: the display is EZ to read and backlit. I stuggle a little with getting the cuff just so, but maybe I'm making it more complicated than it is. Cons: if the 'start' button is bumped it will start inflating. perhaps an on/ off switch or some other method to prevent accidental activation of the unit? The App: the app is great as far as I'm concerned - it allows you delete faulty readings, it shows various graphs. and if you have the a/b user switch in the 'wrong' position it will ask if you want to sync the reading anyway - nice! The case - this is where I knock it down a star. It's barely big enough. and the bit where I mentioned the start button above? any idea how often the ac adapter pushes the start button? I put the unit in first, the cuff over the display (to protect it from being scratched by the AC adapter) . I put the ac adapter in the little pocket in the top of the case. and zip it shut. I'm not saying it hard to put away, I am saying with a tiny bit of changes there wouldn't be an issue. ... Maybe have the ac adapters prongs flip down so I wouldn't worry about the screen getting scratched? maybe have SOMETHING that prevents it from activating (and initiating a pressure test) by bumping the start button? Maybe have the case a smidge bigger so the cuff fits in easily? All that said, I do think it's a great unit - I purchased it after getting a Greater Goods Wifi bathroom scale that I think is fantastic, and I'm nearly as impressed with this item as well. the main reasons are bluetooth connectivity versus Omron and the phone app. Bluetooth connectivity: you have to have the app open during the test to get the reading to upload. I'm not aware of a way to get a reading uploading without it doing a bp test. BUT it is head and shoulders better than the omron app. The greater goods device itself shows a graphic indicating that it is trying to sync and a check mark once it has - this is way better than the Omron App The phone app -it's similar to the greater goods bathroom scale app, The app is simple, but it's simple in a good way. very straight forward to use. they both have ' week, month, year, and total' graphs. super ez to see your monthly averages. and by tapping on a month you can see the individual readings. Here you can delete a bad reading and or add note to a reading. final bit of advice - look at the online directions :)

This product was recommended by my doctor and is far better than the BP cuff I have used for many years. The bluetooth interface with the Balance Health APP is a very usefull feature allowing one to keep and electronic record that can be reviewed with your doctor.

The Greater Goods Smart Blood Pressure Monitor is an outstanding product, and the customer service is even better. The monitor is simple and straightforward, and the accompanying app is easy to use and great for monitoring your blood pressure over time. Regarding customer service, when I contacted Greater Goods with questions about the monitor, customer service responded immediately and helpfully, and then subsequently followed up to make sure everything was working well. Great product and service!

As a preface, I rarely write reviews and to date have never been paid to write one. I don’t know anyone at the company so this review comes without bias, written after a day using the product multiple times. I’ve had major health problems the past two years and the Apple Health app has been key to my recovery, with my Apple iPhone fed by my Apple Watch and over 9,000 health records securely fed by my health care providers. Many of those records have been clinical vitals and now that my updated Apple Watch can do FDA-approved ECGs, I was looking to be able to “automate” another component, blood pressure monitoring. The Bluetooth Blood Pressure Monitoring Cuff by Greater Goods is an absolutely wonderful product! From the initial query on Amazon Smile for a device that can feed Apple Health directly, the product page was informative and compelling with a price that was competitive with inferior non-Bluetooth products I could pick up at Walmart. Amazon ordering was of course simple and the product arrived along with two other unrelated purchases in the same container two days later. The Greater Goods packaging was compact and easy to open, albeit with a tad too much plastic inside (but I’ve grown fond of Apple’s absolute minimal use of plastic, even wrapping cords in paper ties). Setup instructions including app download from the Apple App Store were straight forward and a couple minutes later I was starting my first blood pressure measure. When it completed, it showed up in the Greater Goods Balance Health app on my iPhone. I then opened the Apple Health app and found the results there on the second tab along with my Health Records (in a separate category). I later had my partner install the Balance app on his iPhone and he synced as the “B user.” Very very nice. We of course need to remember to set the User switch on the device appropriately prior to pressing the Start button, but the readings are synced automatically at the end of each reading. The device has a large easy to read screen and comes with four AAA batteries, an AC adaptor, carrying case, and quick start card. Later in the day, I noticed an email from Amazon that contained a welcome message from a Customer Happiness rep at Greater Goods, reminding me about the app and online user manual. If I had experienced problems this message would have been handy as it also contained phone and email support options. But, as the message stated, their product was designed to work the first time and it did. If there was any negative aspect, it would be the one time registration process after installing the app. I question the real need for that but their privacy policy is reassuring. The registration process also fails to utilize Apple’s secure password creation process so I needed to create one myself, a bigger deal for me as I’m a stickler for not reusing passwords. Overall a five star product and one I will be recommending to friends and family.

I am a health care provider and recommend this model to almost all of my patients.* I find the accuracy of home BP monitors in general varies greatly, but I own two of these and periodically check its accuracy vs the machines at my work and manual blood pressure measurement, and find it continues to be very accurate over time. If anyone is having issues with this, I would encourage them to read the instructions re: arm positioning, cuff placement on arm, uncrossing legs, etc. Also, those with very large arms (>16.5") need to purchase a larger cuff size to use. *I do not recommend for those few patients who tend to have pretty elevated BP (like 180+ systolic) and also tend to complain about the cuff being too tight and hurting their arm. The same technology that makes it accurate also makes the inflation stage last just a bit longer and this part can be uncomfortable for those with marked BP elevation. (Cuff tightness is a function of the BP itself; higher pressure in the vessels requires higher pressure in the cuff to measure it.) As another reviewer mentioned, while this model takes a bit longer to inflate, as soon as it reaches its peak the BP reading pops up instantly (rather than the pump-up-fast-then-very-slowly-deflate technique used in older monitors). So although inflating takes longer, the total time from strapping it on to getting a reading is probably about the same as it would be with one of the more traditional monitors since its skipping the slow-deflation aspect of the measurement. I love how it connects to the Balance app so that you can trend your BP/pulse over time. I appreciate the app feature that allows you to add a note to the reading on (i.e. "had a ton of salt that morning.") and it's nice that there can be 2 different users. I also appreciate how it functions just as well in battery mode when a plug is not available, as I bring this cuff to Haiti and use for other medical volunteer activities that don't always lend themselves to electrical outlet access. I am also very impressed with their customer service. About 9 months after my purchase, I ran into an issue with my first model (my fault- I connected to the wrong charger, which had a different current)- and after writing them they had a replacement in the mail and on my doorstep 3 days later.

Just unpackaged it and got a chance to try it for the first time. What a failure of a product…. No matter what I tried, E1 is all I got for a response. E1 error says “the cuff is not secure” and they recommend to refasten and tighten the cuff. After retrying about 20 times with slightly moving the cuff a tiny bit just in case I got to the point I literally tightened it so much it was cutting off circulation. Guess what the result was?….E1!!! Just for fun, I pulled out the tube of the main device and blew into it….and the cuff finally inflated!!! Guess what the issue is????? Not that the cuff is not secure. The awful device’s pump is DOA.