Blood pressure enthusiasts, you can count yourself among the lucky masses now served by wearable tech and Bluetoothed everything. If you're in need of regular pulse checks, or just really really like medical devices, you might want to check out the at home blood pressure monitor from Withings. This monitor is wireless, powered by AAA batteries, and operates using a small air pump contained in the attached cylinder. Its networked nature is a big selling point, immediately uploading and charting your data via an app for iOS 5, or Android 4 and higher, via Bluetooth or Bluetooth 4.0. The armband is permanently semi-curled (reducing some of the one handed wrapping on traditional models) and the read itself takes about 40 seconds.
For first time use, you download the app, put the thing on, power it up, and allow your tech widgets to discover each other. After that the heart rate monitor will default to the last used device, or you can use a separate app-equipped device—just disable Bluetooth for the one previously used or isolate it out of range so it won't notice it's been replaced.
Your reading is then cataloged, graphed, and made sharable so you can update your doctor with your stats or overshare with your friends. Sensibly, your personal monitoring charts can integrate data from other Withings products, like their scale or activity monitor. It is even, they'll have you know, "medically approved." Kudos, guys. Early reviewers report that the good-looking form factor is in fact user-friendly, and that the app is quick and makes data-crunching easy. If I had any mentionable need to check my blood pressure I would want one, though that might invalidate the one fun thing about visiting Walgreens.Create a Core77 Account
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