Buying guide for best blood pressure monitors

For many, waiting 6 months to a year to get a blood pressure reading at your doctor’s office is too long. The best way to stay healthy is through diligence. A properly functioning home blood pressure monitor could save your life – we recommend taking it on a doctor’s visit to verify the unit’s accuracy. Regularly taking your blood pressure at home can actually desensitize you to the process and eventually produce lower readings in some individuals.

For the most accurate blood pressure readings, you need a monitor with the proper cuff size for your bicep – yes, bicep models are the best. You can purchase a manual or automatic model, but having a memory so you can compare previous readings is essential. Even better, purchase a wireless monitor that comes with an app.

We’ve listed some of our favorite blood pressure monitors. If you’d like to learn more about what these devices have to offer and how they can positively impact your life, keep reading.

How we tested our blood pressure monitors

When testing out blood pressure monitors in our labs, here are some of the main factors we considered.

Accuracy

The data you glean from your blood pressure monitor is vital, and precision is key. To ensure the accuracy of this review, we partnered with Dr. Tamer Fakhouri, a primary care physician for the One Medical Group in San Francisco. Dr. Fakhouri actively explores the use of digital technology in the treatment of hypertension, studying the effects of lifestyle coaching and home monitoring on patient outcomes. He evaluated the blood pressure monitors on our list the old-fashioned way: with a stethoscope and a manual sphygmomanometer (that thing with a dial that the doctor wraps around your arm and pumps with a rubber bulb).

We checked each device on two test subjects, a man and a woman. We took plenty of rests in between each test, as having your arm squeezed by an arm cuff several times in a row can get uncomfortable.

Ease of use

We evaluated the clarity of each product’s instructions, how quickly each device could be set up, and how easy it was for our subjects to read and understand the displays.

Starting with a closed box, we asked our test subjects to assemble each device. In general, that meant inserting batteries, plugging a tube into a console, donning the cuff, and taking a reading. Dr. Fakhouri made sure each cuff was positioned correctly before each reading was taken.

To achieve a balanced viewpoint, this review combines our findings with valuable feedback from owners – people who have used these devices on a daily basis for months, or even years.

Value

While it’s true that health is more important than money, most of us still need to keep the latter in mind when making a purchase.

Rather than looking purely at dollars and cents, we consider the overall value of each package and why you might pick a particular blood pressure monitor over its rivals.

Blood pressure monitor price

Just how much should you spend on a blood pressure monitor? Let’s find out.

  • A basic blood pressure monitor should cost between $20 and $40. For this price, you just get a basic monitor that takes your blood pressure reading and not much else. However, at the mid- to high-end of this price range, you may find models that can store data for two users.
  • A mid-range blood pressure monitor costs roughly $50 to $80. In this price range, expect a variety of cuff sizes, which may give a more accurate reading, plus the ability to store more data for multiple users.
  • A high-end blood pressure monitor costs about $90 to $150. These monitors usually connect to an app, and some can send your data directly to a physician via WiFi.

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