iHealth Blood Pressure Dock review

The iHealth Dock is the perfect accessory for any iPhone or iPad owner who wants or needs to measure their blood pressure or heart rate.

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The iHealth Blood Pressure Dock works with any iPhone, iPod touch or iPad to help health conscious individuals or families better and more easily keep track of their blood pressure and heart rate. It consists of both the accessory itself, which includes the dock, a cuff, and charging and connecting cords, and an App Store app, iHealth BPM, that allows you to test, track, graph, and share your blood pressure and heart rate.

Setup is easy. You plug the dock into to charge, and either use it while plugged in, or let it charge and then take anywhere you need to go. The mobility is excellent. Once you've downloaded the app to your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, plug your iPhone into the dock and place the cuff around your arm. You want the cuff roughly at the level of your heart. (I do my ZEN and TECH-style deep breathing whenever I take measurements to make sure my stress level doesn't overly affect the results.)

Just tap the button on the app to start. The iHealth Blood Pressure Dock will tell you the range of your results, and it's very easy to share the information if you so choose. It's also very easy to review your history and you can even graph the results to help you better visualize them.

Setting up iHealth is incredibly easy. Just plug in the dock, wrap on the cuff, and tap the button on the app.

The cuff measures using the oscillometric method, with automatic inflation up to pressure levels of 295mmHg, measurement ranges of 45-250mmHg, and with an accuracy of ±3mmHg. Pulse range is 40-180 beats per minute with an accuracy of ±5%. That's good enough for me for home use (but if you have any concerns, please check with your doctor).

As with any accessory, you only get out of it what you put into it. I left the iHealth Blood Pressure Dock in the bathroom so it was easy to see and I was reminded to use it before I brush my teeth. Creating good habits is important.

For anyone that's hypertensive or has high blood pressure or a heart condition, it's a wonderful accessory.

The iHealth BPM app lets you effortlessly run tests, track results for you and your family, and share with your health-care professional.

iHealth also shows just how powerful our iPhones and iPads can be, opening up access to technology that used to be only available at health-care facilities. Their ease of use and their ability to display information enables us to do more right at home than ever before. I'm really, really excited to see just how far these types of accessories can be taken, and how far our iPhones and iPads can take us.

The good

  • Easy to setup, easy to use
  • Companion app is excellent
  • Measures heart rate as well
  • Warns you if measurements are in unhealthy range
  • Dock doubles as charger

The bad

  • Cuff cord is too short

The bottom line

The iHealth Dock is the perfect accessory for any iPhone or iPad owner who wants or needs to measure their blood pressure or heart rate. If you have a medial condition or stress-related issues, or you know someone who does, the iHealth Dock and its companion app are definitely something you should consider.

$89.23 - Buy now

Georgia

Senior Editor at iMore and a practicing therapist specializing in stress and anxiety. She speaks everywhere from conferences to corporations, co-host of Vector and Isometric podcasts, follow her on Twitter @Georgia_Dow and check out her series at anxiety-videos.com.