Keeping tabs on blood pressure usually means sitting down, rolling up a sleeve and strapping an inflatable cuff around your upper arm. It works, but it’s hardly something most of us are going to remember – or want to do – several times a day. The Hilo blood pressure monitor takes a rather different approach, using a lightweight wrist-worn band to automatically monitor blood pressure throughout the day and night.
The first thing we noticed is just how unobtrusive the Hilo Band is. It has no screen and doesn’t constantly buzz, beep or demand attention, so once it’s on the wrist, we can largely forget about it. That’s particularly useful overnight, as Hilo is designed to be worn while sleeping and can capture readings when we’d otherwise have no idea what our blood pressure was doing. The band is also waterproof and has a battery life of around 10–15 days, depending on the version and usage.
Rather than inflating a cuff every time, Hilo uses optical sensors and pulse wave analysis to estimate blood pressure. The important thing here is that it isn’t simply a fitness tracker making an educated guess. The Hilo system has undergone clinical validation, with the original Hilo Band certified as a Class IIa medical device and tested against the ISO 81060-2 standard.
There is, however, still a cuff involved. We need to use the supplied upper-arm cuff for initial calibration and then periodically afterwards – currently every 30 days. That does slightly undermine the appeal of having a completely cuff-free system, but it’s an important part of maintaining the personalised measurements. It also means we can take a conventional, on-the-spot reading when required.
The companion app is arguably where Hilo becomes most useful. Instead of throwing a pile of numbers at us, it presents trends and averages, allowing us to see how blood pressure changes across the day and night. We can also add information about things such as sleep, meals, medication and activity, helping us identify potential patterns. Reports can be exported and shared with a healthcare professional, which is a genuinely useful touch.
There are some caveats. Hilo isn’t a replacement for medical advice, and we wouldn’t use a single wearable reading as the basis for changing medication or making an important health decision. If precise, point-in-time measurements are required, a validated upper-arm cuff remains important. There’s also the ongoing subscription to consider, which makes Hilo considerably more expensive than a basic home blood pressure monitor.
Ultimately, Hilo’s biggest strength is convenience. It turns blood pressure monitoring from something we have to remember into something that happens quietly in the background. For anyone who wants to understand longer-term patterns rather than simply collecting the occasional reading, that’s a compelling proposition. It isn’t cheap, and the monthly calibration and subscription may put some people off, but the combination of discreet hardware, automatic monitoring and a well-presented app makes Hilo a particularly interesting approach to keeping an eye on our blood pressure.
£199.99
Visit hilo.com