How to Pick A Blood Pressure Monitor: The Ultimate 6 Guides and Best Buy
Table of Contents
All You Need to Know about Choosing a Blood Pressure Monitor
Wrist or Upper Arm Blood Pressure Monitor?
First thing first, we suggest deciding on using a wrist blood pressure monitor or upper arm blood pressure monitor before purchasing. Because the wrist type and the arm type are products that are in different levels.
Wrist blood pressure monitor
Pro: The wrist-type blood pressure monitor is small and portable for you to take anywhere.
Cons: requires nice and proper positions to get an accurate measurement.
The wrist type has a limitation when it comes to size. Usually, the band on the wrist type is attached and fixed on the monitor so the band is not replaceable. For people with a larger wrist or body shape, it would be better to choose the upper arm type because one can switch the size of the armband based on their needs.
Upper Arm Blood Pressure Monitor
Pro: The upper arm is closer to the heart and thus, technically they are more accurate than the wrist type. The armband usually comes in various sizes to fit everyone’s needs.
Cons: Taking up more space compared to the wrist-type. Not very portable and usually more expensive than the wrist type.
(It should be noted that AHA only recommends using the upper arm blood pressure monitor to track blood pressure on their official website.)
Conclusion: If you are taking medication based on the measurement of your blood pressure, better go with the upper arm blood pressure to always get a more accurate reading. If you only track your blood pressure for health concerns or awareness and you want a more convenient, portable device, you can choose the wrist blood pressure monitor.
Size
Size matters. If you are choosing a wrist type, make sure you read the specification of the product and make sure your wrist size fits that product because usually, the band for wrist type is not replaceable.
For upper arm type, AHA provides a chart for reference when choosing the band.
What happened when choosing the wrong size?
When using a band that is too small for your arm, you might get higher results ranging from 2mmHg to 10mmHg. In contrast, using a band that is too large for your arm might get you lower results.
Accuracy
In terms of accuracy, it is unlikely for ordinary customers to pick the most accuracy from a blood pressure monitor from its appearance and specification. The only thing customers can check is whether the product obtains an FDA-cleared certification. With FDA-cleared, manufacturers can demonstrate that their product is “substantially equivalent to another (similar) legally marketed device” that already has FDA clearance or approval.
Mercury sphygmomanometer is regarded as the most accurate blood pressure monitor. Unfortunately, it requires high observation and operation skills that often only trained medical professionals can obtain an accurate measurement by using a mercury sphygmomanometer. The second defect for mercury sphygmomanometer is the pollution and damage caused by mercury.
Many countries have acted on phasing out or taking measures to reduce mercury use in certain products such as batteries, switches, lights, cosmetics, pesticides, and measuring devices, and create initiatives to reduce the use of mercury in dental amalgam, including mercury sphygmomanometer.
So far, there’s no generally accepted alternative for the accuracy of a mercury sphygmomanometer.
The best practice for ordinary customers is to choose the FDA-cleared blood pressure monitor and remember to recalibrate your blood pressure regularly once in three years by professional manufacturers.
Bluetooth and Export Function
Some monitor nowadays has a Bluetooth function that allows the machine to connect to a smartphone or tablet. The useful thing about the Bluetooth function is that you can sync your measurement to their phone and take it to the doctor’s appointment.
Bluetooth itself is not complicated technology. The main point for taking into consideration is the APP. Which function or features do you need?
The best thing about the Bluetooth function is that you are able to collect the measurement and export them into an excel file, pdf, or jpg file, depending on the App design.
Price
If you don’t need a Bluetooth and export function that you just need a basic blood pressure monitor to learn your measurement instantly at home, you can get blood pressure monitors priced ranging from $17-$25 USD on Amazon.
However, if you’re determined that you need a Bluetooth function that can export data to other devices, the pricing varies from $30 to $69 or even higher.
Upper Arm Blood Pressure Monitor Comparison : Omron, MOCACARE, Withings
Omron : Silver Blood Pressure Monitor, Upper Arm Cuff, Digital Bluetooth Blood Pressure Machine
As one of the most renowned healthcare manufacturers, Omron did have a rather complete product line. You can find six types of blood pressure monitors, from the basic type to the advanced type on their Amazon store.
We pick Omron Silver Blood Pressure Monitor, Upper Arm Cuff, Digital Bluetooth Blood Pressure Machine because this is the best seller on Amazon and the price is much more affordable compared to another advanced type.
| Features | Yes or No | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Hypertension Indicator | Yes | A “High” icon will display on the screen when detected |
| Integrated to Apple Health | Yes | – |
| Export Measurement | Yes | In CSV form. May require a subscription to get the pdf form. |
| Multiple User Mode | No | Allow only one user |
| Blood Pressure Averaged Reading | Yes | Displayed on the upper left corner |
| Heartbeat Detector | Yes | – |
| Memory Volume | Yes | 80 records |
| Price | 45.85 USD | Original price on Amazon |
MOCACArm : Bluetooth Blood Pressure Monitor (Black), MOCAArm Wireless Upper Arm Cuff,
MOCACARE used to have a wrist-type blood pressure monitor in the past. To meet people’s needs and serve a wider range of customers, MOCACARE added MOCAArm, the upper arm blood pressure monitor into our product line. Compared to MOCACuff, MOCAArm upgraded some of its features.
Frankly speaking, MOCAArm has almost everything essential compared to Omron and in some cases, with even more features compared to Omron.
| Features | Yes or No | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Hypertension Indicator | Yes | Reading level with different colors displayed on the right side. |
| Integrated to Apple Health | Yes | – |
| Export Measurement | Yes | In CSV or pdf and FREE of Charge. |
| Multiple User Mode | Yes | Allow three users (Choose user 1 2 or 3 before measuring) |
| Blood Pressure Averaged Reading | Yes | Display next to “A3” (meaning averaged last three readings) |
| Heartbeat Detector | Yes | – |
| Memory Volume | Yes | 120 records |
| Price | 49.99 USD | Original price on Amazon |
While MOCAArm is slightly more expensive than Omron in terms of the original price, we constantly offer discounts on holidays, festivals such as Christmas, Prime Day, or Black Friday!
(Follow us on FB and IG so that you don’t miss out on the first-hand information and discount!)
There’s no denying that MOCAArm doesn’t have the most comprehensive features like some other expensive products. But we try out best to offer the greatest value for your money.
WIthings : Withings BPM Connect, Wi-Fi Smart Blood Pressure Monitor
Withings has only one product among their blood pressure monitor. It goes without saying that the visual on its appearance is beautiful. It looks compact and smaller than both Omron and MOCAArm.
However, the price is much more expensive than the previous two and the logic and features on its main functions differ from the previous two either.
| Features | Yes or No | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Hypertension Indicator | Yes | Color-coded feedback will display on the screen immediately after measurement |
| Integrated to Apple Health | Yes | – |
| Export Measurement | Yes | In CSV only |
| Multiple User Mode | Yes | Allow maximum 8 users (use their Health Mate app to group users in the same account or set up 8 different accounts) |
| Blood Pressure Averaged Reading | Yes | Display in the Health Mate app timeline |
| Heartbeat Detector | See note | Only shows your BPM in APP |
| Memory Volume | See note | Unlimited in APP but no measurement storage on the device. |
| Price | 98.96 USD | Original price on Amazon |
There are some strong suits and eye-catching features for Withings:
- Wifi and Bluetooth connection : The measurement will immediately syn to App via Wifi or bluetooth, which means users don’t have to bring their phone or turn on their phone near to the monitor to syn the data.
- Rechargable with USB charger: Needless to say. it brings more portability when comes to traveling.
- Very comapact and small: Judging from some youtuber’s video, it’s even smaller than Omron’s Evolv. It’s almost like a larger version of wrist type monitor without the tube connected to the monitor set on the table.
- Advanced measuring: There is the function of taking consecutive three measurements by pressing one long press.
However, every coin has two sides.
Withings minimize the role of the monitor device by transferring all the data immediately after measuring. Therefore, users can’t see their recorded measurements on monitors only in their APP. (This is probably the reason why they can make the monitor so small.)
Putting too much weight on APP makes it very important when it comes to App design and maintenance.
If the App didn’t get a constant update or maintenance, the monitor itself will turn into a machine that takes measurements without other features.
Finally, reading Amazon’s review recently, one of the most critical and mentioned negative reviews on this product is accuracy.
(It should be noted that many things lead to inaccurate measurement and it’s not 100% the manufacturer to blame for. Click to see how to pose a proper positioning before taking blood pressure.)
As far as we know, the rationale for measuring blood pressure is pumping air into the armband. The machine then detects the pulse transmitted back and analyzes/calculates these pulse to reflect the blood pressure.
We are not sure why Withings blood pressure doesn’t seem to offer satisfying accuracy based on these results. One possible reason might be that the small air pump in the monitor and the attached armband don’t collaborate perfectly.
Conclusion
In the end, we hope you find this article helpful when choosing a blood pressure monitor. Follow the previously mentioned key points and do a little bit more research by yourself. In addition to a reliable blood pressure monitor, make sure you keep on a healthy diet and regular exercise for maintaining your heart health!
