you guys do realize that there are smart watches out there for dirt cheap that also measure blood pressure. I bought one for $37 and it seems very accurate. Went to CVS and checked and the watch measurement was almost identical within +/- 2 points. Looks identical to apple watch and the battery last very long over 20 days.
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I do monitor my BP every morning, sometimes later in the day.
@Kelman yup thanks. I just use a standard BP monitor.
@Beth citrulline is the precursor to arginine (without getting converted by the liver as arginine does), which boosts nitric oxide = vascular dilation. The effect isn’t really noted about 6g though, so maybe no worries. I would just wait until the telmisartan kicks in (2 weeks) and then proceed from there.
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Even high quality watches – such as Apple that spend an estimated $25 million developing and validating new versions of their watch – disclaim medical accuracy. Independent tests – after first calibrating calibration with standardized cuffs which all current PPG systems require – show 80-95% validity. Reliability is worse. A 2024 study found that PPG-based BP prediction has a high multi-valued mapping factor (33.2%) and low mutual information (9.8%), indicating limited inherent signal fidelity for accurate blood pressure estimation. It is a good fortune if you obtained a decent watch-to-cuff correlation with a cheap knock-off but I would not rely on it. Even Apple, whose health metrics white papers are well received in the medical community and which has the greatest level of medical product integration among common brands, recommends an external BT device linked to the watch for high stakes measures. Reading 10% high on a DBP of 63 as I frequently see in the afternoon could be medically significant.
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Did they give him Rapa? Acarbose? both?
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Nope, nothing… not even metformin… just, your bp is probably high because you are here…
Sigh…
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maybe it was a coincidence that when I measured at CVS sort of matched that of the watch couple times was within 3 points and then one time had a bit of a higher 8-point difference. @RobTuck or anyone do you guys know of a reliable BP monitor that has proven track record of accuracy, I’m not talking about smart watches though.
There’s only one and it’s not available in the US: Aktiia
Apparently you can get one shipped to Canada then reshipped to the US and use a VPN or some other series of steps to make it think you’re installing their app from outside the US as a workaround.
Recent Apple Watches don’t monitor BP exactly, but will alert if there are indicators of hypertension over time.
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I would like to find an external BP device that integrates with my smartphone ecosphere via BT, especially the health app, but I have not had time to comparison shop. On the other hand, the technology is improving rapidly. The rumor is that the next generation iPhone watch, and I assume the same for Samsung, will be much improved. Likely not medical grade but good enough for most home uses. I believe it was targeted for the current generation but Apple pulled some features off at the last minute because it could not meet their quality specifications.
That’s not an issue as it’s absolutely not usable for anything serious it seems from the study you linked.
That study has been 100% funded by Aktiia and done mostly by its employees.
The study was carried out with funding from Aktiia SA, the sponsor of the study.
Then they implemented none of the ISO standard’s method!
Then they cleaned the measurements
And after all that (and calibration!), they get rather bad measurements
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I agree it’s weak support. However, it’s the only watch that I’ve heard of having any support. The cheap watches claiming to monitor BP are completely unsupported though. The overall answer is there is no reliably watch or ring such to measure BP. You can have the same wrist cuff or arm cuff we’ve all known to use, but that’s it.
AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts.
The Omron HeartGuide is the only blood pressure watch currently approved as a medical device by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It uses an inflatable cuff integrated into the watch band to take oscillometric blood pressure readings, meeting clinical accuracy standards for a Class II medical device.
Other devices, such as the Hilo Band , have received FDA clearance as a medical device for over-the-counter use, with clinical validation and a planned consumer launch in 2026. The LiveMetric LiveOne device was also cleared by the FDA in 2022 as a smartwatch-like, cuffless blood pressure sensor, intended for use in clinical settings.
Review…
Ok I get it that smartwatches are not accurate, but I was wondering if any of you guys has a suggestion for a regular BP monitor since I’m considering buying one. I see so many versions on amazon with prices ranging from $30 to over $200 with reviews all over the place regardless of prices. In other words, I might buy an expensive one and still not be accurate so Is there one brand that is widely held as being accurate. Or maybe a better question would be do you mind sharing what brand are you using yourself? (assuming you monitor BP at home). Thank You,
Omron is generally well regarded. Personally I like and use Greater Good models, recommended by Wirecutter. I have their Bluetooth syncing battery sleeve and a plug in monitor. They’re consistent with each other and my prior models.
Here’s the AllInOne I got from GG, works a charm:
Wirecutter updated in February 2026, mirror’s my experience with models purchased about 3 years ago.
Their app sync’s easily with Apply Health.
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I like the Microlife brand. I have several spanning generations of their products. All are accurate and trouble free for a long time. I have one Microlife that is at least 20 years old. I do not know f any of their newer models integrate with smartphones but they have been in the business for decades. If they do not integrate with your smartphone health app, I would look for another brand that has been in the BP business for awhile.
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I actually may not care so much about integration. I’m perfectly fine with just looking at the screen couple times a day when i want to. I was even considering the manual ones thinking they might be more accurate but then read some reviews saying same as with the digital ones. For now I’m leaning towards Omron since it seems to be the one doctors recomend the most.
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I actually have 3 Omron models: new, old, and very old; two wrist and one armband models.
They are in agreement. When I go for my checkups, I take one of the wrist models with me and check it against the doctor’s electronic machine. They are always in close agreement. I feel much more comfortable with the accuracy of my BP measuring devices than my Contour Next blood glucose readings.
Next time you have a checkup, take your BP measuring device with you to check against the readings taken at your doctor’s office. No one has ever objected to this, and I don’t think that I am their first patient to do this.
The wrist models have good enough accuracy for tracking.
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I prefer going back to the basics. I’m confident in the numbers every time I take my BP and I don’t have to wonder if the machine is working or not. This set up from Amazon is cheap, and it holds the diaphragm of the stethoscope in place so your arm can be relaxed while you pump with your free hand. Works really well.
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yeah, I was considering these/manual ones also but surprisingly some reviews noted discrepancies with them also. I went with Omron simple one no Bluetooth as I don’t care for integration and it had good reviews 4.5 on 7000 isn’t too bad. Seems to be accurate though only have compared it to HIGI machines at CVS, and not sure if those ones are accurate either.
Decent looking cuff. I had a hospital quality set around for a long time and used it a little. What I didn’t like was calling the nuance in the transition boundaries. I think the algorithm of modern digital cuffs has become so refined that it outperforms humans in terms of standardized readings. What it doesn’t do as well is listen for many anomalies, which can be useful. Every now and then I see an old mercury system for sale in an antique store. It would be fun to try one of those.