Wireless blood pressure monitors and blood glucose meters don't measure up

Opting for a wireless blood pressure monitor or blood glucose meter may seem like a good idea. It's a high-tech way to keep tabs on your numbers, which you can easily send right to your phone or tablet and then share with your doctor. But the models Consumer Reports tested aren't quite ready for prime time.

Accuracy suffered in the two wireless blood pressure monitors we tested: the Withings Wireless BP801, $130, and the QardioArm, $99, which ended up at the bottom of our Ratings. People with hypertension or suspected high blood pressure should routinely monitor themselves, the American Heart Association says, and a home device helps them do just that. But the machine needs to be an accurate. Our tests did find several blood pressure monitors to recommend instead.  

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Wireless blood glucose meters had their own problems. The iHealth Align BG1, $17, plugs into a compatible Apple device, but it can be complicated: Users have to first scan a bar code on the test-strip vial with their iPhone camera, and that can be difficult, especially if they don't have a newer iPhone. And results appear only on their smart device; the meter does not have its own screen. Plus its accuracy score was the lowest of all of the models we tested. The iHealth Wireless BG5, $30,  was more accurate, but not enough to be recommended. Users must also scan the bar code with their phone, which can be difficult on older iPhones.

If you want to download readings to your computer so that you can share them with your  doctor, consider our recommended blood glucose meters. All except for the ReliOn Micro (Walmart), $15, provide that feature.

The Food and Drug Administration requires that all home blood glucose meters be accurate within 15 percent of lab readings. All of the meters we tested had average scores that met that standard. But the ones we recommend do even better: They had average measurements within 6 percent of lab results.

—Sue Byrne