Showing posts sorted by relevance for query heart rate monitor. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query heart rate monitor. Sort by date Show all posts

Saturday, March 3, 2018

Bozlun B15P fitness tracker with blood pressure monitor review

Read article : Bozlun B15P fitness tracker with blood pressure monitor review

Choosing a wearable fitness tracker isn’t an easy task when there are so many different devices on the market to pick from. You can go with one of the popular trackers from brands like Fitbit, Withings or Misfit if you’re ok with spending more than $60 for their lowest end device. Or you can check out the Bozlun B15P fitness tracker which costs less than $33 and has a lot of the same features including one feature that none of the others have which is a blood pressure monitor. But is this just another case of you get what you pay for? Let’s take a look.

What is it?

The Bozlun B15P is a wrist wearable fitness tracker that keeps track of your steps, distance traveled, calories burned, sleep, heart rate, phone notifications, and even your blood pressure.

What’s in the box?

Bozlun B15P fitness tracker
Wrist strap
USB charging cable
Instructions

The Bozlun B15P is a small plastic module that water resistant to sweat and rain, but can’t be used in the shower, or while swimming or diving.

On the top of the B15P is an OLED white on black display with a touch button next to it.

On the bottom side is the sensor which is used to measure heart rate and blood pressure.

There are two electrical contacts on the end. To charge the B15P, you have to remove it from the wrist strap and insert it into the included USB charging cable / adapter.

I noticed that the tracker is a really tight fit in the charging adapter. It’s almost as if the cable hasn’t been made for this tracker. The charger does charge the tracker though…

In my short time testing this tracker, I’ve found that it is lasting about

The Bozlun B15P snaps easily into the included wrist strap. Wearing the tracker is actually very comfortable. I usually don’t like wearing watches or anything else on my wrist but I forgot I was even wearing the B15P… even while sleeping.

The tracker has a really bright white on black OLED display. The display turns on when you lift and twist your wrist to look at it or when you tap the touch sensitive button.

Note that the touch button doesn’t work if you have gloves on unless they are touchscreen gloves like the Mujjo touchscreen gloves that I reviewed not long ago.

The default screen shows the battery status, time, date and day of the week.

Tapping the button a second time shows your accumulated steps for the day.

The next screen shows calories burned due to activity.

Tap the button again and you’ll see the distance that you’ve walked in the last day.

The next screen shows how many hours you slept the night before.

Another tap of the button takes you to the heart rate monitor screen.

The next tap brings up the blood pressure monitor display which shows an animated thermometer that you have to stare at for what seems like a year before anything happens.

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Finally, you will see your blood pressure reading if you’re lucky. Many times I would sit there for a minute or longer only to see XXX/XX on the screen.

How do the B15P blood pressure readings compare to other blood pressure monitors that use an arm or wrist cuff? Since I was unable to use two devices at the exact same time on the same arm to measure my blood pressure, I was never able to get the exact same readings with the B15P and another device at the same time. I did try using the MOCACare MOCAcuff blood pressure monitor on my left wrist and the Bozlun B15P on my right wrist and started the readings at the same time. The results were completely different. The MOCAcuff showed 100/70 while the B15P showed 120/77. So I really can’t tell you how accurate the B15P is when it comes to blood pressure readings. I would not trust the readings.

There’s also another screen that looks like a phone with a magnifying glass. I have no idea what it means though…

Using the Bozlun B15P fitness tracker

The Bozlun B15P fitness tracker requires a mobile app to take advantage of all the available features. When you launch the app for the first time, it will ask you to create an account. You can skip this step and still use all the features. Your data just won’t be backed up if the phone gets ran over by a tank or something.

The app reminds me of most fitness tracking apps from the big brands. You have a scrolling dashboard where you can see your steps, sleep, heart rate and blood pressure stats. Tapping on one of the blocks will then let you see more info.

The detail screen for steps is actually pretty nice because it breaks down the data into how active you were for each other of the day.

The app will also work with the GPS in your mobile device to track your runs and walks on a map.

The step data was within range of my other pedometer that I carry in my pocket. The step count wasn’t exactly the same because all pedometers are different and you’ll never find one that tracks each step individually and accurately. A difference of a few hundred steps + or – is to be expected.

I can deal with the step counter being a little off, but the Bozlun B15P’s sleep tracker was way off! The first night it tracked that I slept 0 hours and the next nights it didn’t detect when I got out of bed to go to the bathroom and said that it took me about 2hrs to fall asleep which is probably off by about 1.5hrs or more.

As for the heart rate monitor, you have the option to setup the fitness tracker to record a heart rate reading every hour. But by default, this option is not enabled.

With the blood pressure monitor, it only records the readings to the app that are manually initiated through the app, and not the readings started through the tracker itself.

As I had mentioned above, I’m not sure about the accuracy of the readings and what makes me even more unsure is that there’s a setting in the app where you can put in your normal blood pressure reading. The paranoid in me makes me wonder if the app uses that data to just guess what your BP is.

My advice is that you should not rely on the blood pressure readings of this device to self-diagnose any suspected issues with your heart.

Other features of the Bozlun B15P fitness tracker

The tracker has a notification feature that can be enabled to vibrate to let you know if there’s a call on your phone or a notification from certain apps.

You can setup 3 different alarms that will vibrate at different times.

You can set a get up and move time reminder between certain hours of the day when you’ve been sitting too long.

The B15P has a setting that you can enable that is supposed to alert you when you’ve walked off without your phone (I think). But I was never able to get it to work.

Last but not least, you can use the fitness tracker as a camera shutter button for your smartphone. Wait, what? Yes, you read that right. You go into the H Band app and navigate to the settings where you’ll find a Take Photo item in the menu. When you click that, a camera app will launch on your phone and a camera icon will show up on the B15P’s display. When you tap the B15P’s touch button, your phone will take a picture. You can continue taking pics until you exit out of the camera app.

Final thoughts

At the beginning of this review, I asked if the Bozlun B15P fitness tracker is this just another case of you get what you pay for? For less than $33, this fitness wearable has a lot of features. Some that the big guys don’t even have like the blood pressure monitor, shutter button and device loss feature.

Although I have serious concerns about the accuracy of the blood pressure monitor feature and the sleep tracker. And I wasn’t able to get the device loss feature to work correctly because there’s zero info in the instructions for this feature, I do like this tracker as a pedometer and heart rate monitor. It’s an easy to use entry-level level tracker that can help motivate you to get more active by letting you see your step count, distance and calorie burn on an easy to read screen. The alarm features, phone notifications, camera shutter and inactivity alerts are all features usually only found on pricier devices, so I do think that this fitness tracker offers a good bang for your buck.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Bozlun. Please visit Amazon for more info.

Product Information

Price:$32.99
Manufacturer:Bozlun
Retailer:Amazon
Pros:
  • Comfortable to wear
  • Easy to use
  • Tracks heart rate and blood pressure
  • Does not require that you create a cloud account
Cons:

Thursday, May 25, 2017

The best bathroom scales

Read article : The best bathroom scales

The humble bathroom scale has come a long way from those clunky old things with the red needles in doctors' surgeries. Today, scales look sleek and fancy – and they do more than just tell you your weight, too.

Key features

Putting aside extras like being able to tell you the weather (seriously) or sing you a lullaby (OK, not seriously, but who knows for how long?), the best bathroom scales will include the majority, if not all, of the following features.

Easy readability

While the analog scales are traditional, they can be difficult to read. A good set of scales should have a clear and easy to understand display.

Accurate weight measurement

The entire point of investing in bathroom scales is to have your weight accurately measured and relayed to you. Otherwise, what's the point?

Person standing on scales
Look out for some key features when shopping for scalesCredit: Jamie Grill/Getty

Size

Make sure the scales you eventually decide on are big enough and sturdy enough to accommodate you. Scales with little platform space for your feet won't be able to accurately measure your weight. And nobody wants scales that break after one use.

Humidity resistant

Most people keep their scales in the bathroom and it can get pretty steamy in there. Look around for scales that don't start malfunctioning when they come into contact with a little extra heat.

Accurate body fat analysis

Increasingly, scales are being used for much more than simply telling you your weight. If you're on the lookout for scales that can also relay your body fat back to you, ensure its accurate.

Fitbit Aria WiFi smart bathroom scales

Fitbit attempt to corner the scales market in addition to the fitness gadget one with the Aria, a set of bathroom scales described as "for the technologically-advanced weight watcher".

The scales are sturdy and have enough space for you to place your feet comfortably. The LED display is bright and easy to read. The Aria calculates your body fat percentage by passing a small electrical current through your bare feet, offering up accurate results.

The scales connect to your WiFi network and upload your weight and body fat percentage to a private online profile which can be accessed through the Fitbit website or app, where you'll be able to see graphs showing the progress of your weightloss and fitness regime.

Rating: ★★★★

Buy now

Digital glass bathroom scales

£18, John Lewis

Digital glass bathroom scale

For a great value set of digital scales, this glass set from John Lewis should do the trick. Made from a toughened glass, these scales are sturdy and provide enough platform space for you to stand on comfortably.

It has an easy to read LCD display revealing your weight in numerical form. Extremely accurate, the scales go the extra mile and are fitting with carpet feet to reduce any chance of inaccuracy due to uneven floors.

Unlike other scales, these scales do not analyse BMI or any other additional measurements and cannot connect to WiFi. 

Rating: ★★★

Buy now

Withings Smart Body Analyzer

£95.69, Amazon

Withings <a href=Smart Body Analyzer " />

The Smart Body Analyzer from Withings is another set of scales that would be ideal for the technologically inclined. It connects to your WiFi and links to your Withings account, automatically uploading your weight to your profile every time you step on it. Use the app to look at your weightloss/gain graphs and set a target weight.

The scales record your body fat percentage by passing a small electrical current through your body to ensure optimum accuracy and also allows you to read your heart rate. For homes with multiple people, the scales are smart enough to analyse the weight of the person standing on it and correctly guess who it is, sending the information to the correct account.

Bizarrely, these scales also monitor temperature and CO2 levels in your home, notifying you of any unusually high readings.

Rating: ★★★★

Buy now

Beurer GS80 glass bathroom scales

£53.06, Amazon

Beurer GS80 glass bathroom scales

This bright white scale set from Beurer boasts a range of features, displaying to you not only your weight, but the time, indoor and outdoor temperatures, and the local weather forecast. Simply attach the weatherproof outdoor sensor on a wall and get temperature readings in either C or F and a weather forecast each morning.

The LCD displays are clear and easy to read, though it can get a little busy and differentiating between the five first thing in the morning might be tricky for some and just plain annoying for others.

Despite offering extras such as temperature and a weather forecast, the scales don't measure BMI which is surprising given its other capabilities.

Rating: ★★★

Buy now

Collection bamboo digital bathroom scales

£15.99, Argos

Collection bamboo digital bathroom scales

These bamboo scales from Argos are a great budget option for people looking for a cheaper set of scales without compromising on accuracy. Made from natural bamboo the scales can withstand weights of up to 180kg and have enough space to comfortably stand on.

It accurately calculates your weight in real time switching between imperial and metric measurements and is battery operated.

Rating: ★★★★

Buy now

Qardio QardioBase

£129.99, Selfridges

Qardio QardioBase

Stylish and smart, the QardioBase measure not only your weight, but also your BMI and full body composition (fat, muscle, water and bone). It connects to your WiFi to work seamlessly with the free Qardio app to collect, store and analyse your measurements.

It measures in kg, lb and stones to offer a precise and accurate measurement even on an uneven surface. Like other scales, this one is smart enough to recognise the profiles of up to 8 users automatically after been stepped on.

The bright LED display is simple to read, replacing numbers with smiling faces and the scales even have pregnancy mode, measuring progress week-by-week with a photo diary.

Pricey, but well worth it for the results.

Rating: ★★★★

Buy now

Omron BF511 family body composition monitor

£61.95, Amazon

Omron BF511 family body composition monitor

More than just a set of scales, the Omron family body composition monitor also gives you precise and in depth body fat measurements. It reads not only body fat percentage, but also visceral fat, resting metabolism and skeletal muscle percentage to help you meet your fitness and weight goals.

It uses both feet and hand sensors to accurately analyse and display your measurements.

If you don't mind fiddling around with the various buttons to get the measurements you need, the Omron is top tier for the kind of accuracy you'd receive at your GP.

Rating: ★★★★

​Buy now

Salter 145 mechanical bathroom scale

£23.19, Amazon

Salter 145 mechanical bathroom scale

If you'd rather keep things traditional, go for the trusted Salter 145 mechanical scale. Sturdy and with a generous amount of foot room to keep you balanced, the scale can hold weights up to 150kg.

It doesn't have any of the bells and whistles as any of the above machines, but for a simple set of scales that'll tell you what you want to know without any hassle, the Salter 145 mechanical scale is a great choice.

Rating: ★★★★

Buy now