If those numbers don't mean anything to you, swipe the app right to left, and a much more comprehensible chart appears mapping your blood pressure onto a color-coded graph. For this visualization alone, the app has been immensely valuable to me already. When you slide the band onto your upper arm and secure it, all you really have to do is sit still while the app and device take your reading. A large Start button in the app sends the go-ahead to the QardioArm via Bluetooth. You'll hear the device whir into motion and feel the pressure increase. On the screen, you see spaces for your systolic and diastolic readings, as well as pulse (heart rate). The reading takes less than 30 seconds, and your results appear instantly. The device turns off “after a few minutes” if not used. You won’t know if it is on or off. If it doesn’t respond when you trigger it from the App, you must carefully rewrap the cuff and then unwrap it. If you don’t trigger the device properly with the magnet, it won’t wake up. CONNECT DEVICES AND APPS – Qardio gives you the choice of using the app for manual entries, syncing data from other apps or connecting with QardioArm, QardioBase X, QardioTemp or QardioSpO2. Not that "cool-looking" should be your priority when shopping for a blood pressure machine, but it certainly makes home monitoring feel like less of a chore than it otherwise might be when you're working on preventing hypertension or managing heart disease. But on to the things that actually matter...

Your whole family can use it, too: This digital blood pressure monitor pairs wirelessly with up to eight phones or tablets at any given time (let's see a manual blood pressure monitor do that!). Each time you use the digital monitor, the QardioArm averages three readings; monitors and detects an irregular heartbeat; and stores all your measurements and notes in Qardio's HIPAA-compliant cloud. After setting up the Qardio App, you pair the QardioArm with the App. This requires the QardioArm be on and Blue Tooth be enabled on your smartphone. The app has a few other great features, such as a reminder to take your blood pressure, which you can adjust to be daily or just a few times a week. It also saves your history of readings so that you can plot them over time. The other smart blood pressure monitor I feel is worth mentioning is the Omron 10 Series, which admittedly falls more on the style spectrum of a medical device than a smartphone. For a little less money than the QardioArm, the Omron 10 Series offers both connected and standalone blood pressure readouts, meaning you can use the device without having to pair it with your smartphone. The Bottom LineUnroll the arm band. This will automatically switch on the QardioArm.Gently pull the tab, opening the arm band and slide your arm through. GET POWERFUL HEALTH INSIGHTS – Qardio App has more features and unique properties that any other health app so you get deeper, more actionable insights into your health.

I recently bought a QardioArm for my father and tested one myself over the last month, and herein are my findings. I compared it closely to my prior “go to” BP device, the Omron 10 (which I recommended as a Christmas gift here). I compared it to the Omron 10 (Consumer Reports highest-rated BP device), and found close agreement between the two. Simultaneous BP using Omron (above) and QardioArm (left) Overall the device seems well built, and once I found out how to correctly strap on the device, it was very easy to use. Based on build-quality alone, I feel safe recommending the QardioArm as one of the best smart blood pressure monitors available. QardioArm App ReviewPosition the QardioArm device on the inside of your upper arm, about an inch or 2cm above the joint of your elbow. The Qardio logo should be pointing down, towards your hand.

I took my own BP with the QardioArm on the left arm and the Omron 10 on the right arm. Multiple simultaneous measurements showed less than 3 mmHg difference in systolic blood pressure between the two. The blood pressure is displayed on the app instantaneously along with pulse. If the device detects irregularity of the pulse (a possible but not reliable sign of atrial fibrillation or other abnormal heart rhythms), it display an “irregular heart beat” warning. The readout from the QardioArm syncs automatically with the Qardio app, and additionally, the information can even be forwarded directly to your doctor if you would like. Despite an initial frustration with QardioArm, I ended up really liking this device a lot. This sounds a little silly but the QardioArm improved the esthetic experience of home BP monitoring for me. Because it is compact, sleek and attractive, patients may be more likely to utilize it on a regular basis. In particular, I see it as something that you would be much more inclined to take with you for BP monitoring at work or on vacation. The QardioArm encircling the beautiful arm of the eternal fiancee’ of the skeptical cardiologist. Note: when the cuff is wrapped around my unattractive arm, it fastens properly and does not hang down.

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Now that you know how to turn the device on and have paired it with your Cardio App, put the cuff over your upper arm with the cuboid over the inner aspect of your arm, QardioArm is faster. It took 30 seconds to complete a BP measurement, compared to 50 seconds for the Omron 10. The QardioArm is a dead-simple blood pressure cuff to use and has all the features one would want from a smart blood pressure monitor. QardioArm Device Review

I found the QardioArm BP measurements to be very accurate. My medical assistant, Jenny, recorded our patient’s BPs using the “gold-standard” manual technique, and with QardioArm (consecutively and in the same arm), and there was excellent agreement. In one man with a very large arm, she could not record a BP (QardioArm’s cuff fits the arm of most people, and is appropriate for use by adults with an upper arm size between 22 and 37 cm (8.7 and 14.6 inches). If your upper arm is larger than that, this device is not for you. In one patient who was in atrial fibrillation, the device properly recorded an “irregular heart beat.” An example of the profoundly negative review individuals give the device when they have not figured out the on/off process. This one on Consumer Reports An easy, accurate and efficient way to record BPs at home, and transmit to the doctor, is my Holy Grail for management of hypertension; QardioArm offers to improve on this process compared to more conventional home BP cuffs.

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Prior to working for PCMag, I was the managing editor of Game Developer magazine. I've also worked at the Association for Computing Machinery, The Examiner newspaper in San Francisco, and The American Institute of Physics. I was once profiled in an article in Vogue India alongside Marie Kondo.