Garmin Index BPM
Garmin today announced the Index BPM which is a smart blood pressure cuff designed to transmit readings when worn on your bicep.
When used correctly it is claimed to deliver accurate blood pressure and heart rate readings as a stand-alone device that includes an integrated display to quickly view measurements.
Household Wi-Fi can be used to link blood pressure readings to Garmin Connect where you can view measurement history and trends in 7-day, 4-week and 1-year reports. Reports can be exported and shared with your health care provider and you can allow Garmin Connect to remind you to take a reading with y our smartphone’s notifications.
Featuring an adjustable cuff, the Index BPM is made to fit a wide range of arm sizes – from 9-17 inches (22-42 cm) in circumference for 16 users.
The Index BPM has a battery life of up to 9 months and comes with four AAA batteries that can easily be replaced when necessary. Available now on garmin.com, the Index BPM has a suggested retail price of $149.99. It can also be purchased using Flexible Spending Account (FSA) or Health Savings Account (HSA) funds.
Garmin Index BPM Specs
The specs seem very functional with no bells and whistles other than the OLED display and even that’s black and white.
| Unit only Dimensions (WxHxD) | 2.3” x 5.7” x 1.6” (58 x 145 x 47 mm) |
| Display size | 1.3” x 0.8” (32.4 x 21.4 mm) |
| Display resolution (WxH) | 128 pixels x 64 pixels |
| Display | OLED Monochrome |
| Weight | 320 g |
| Arm circumference | 22 to 42 cm (9″ to 16.5″) |
| Storage & Memory | up to 100+ measurements on-device between synchronizations |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi & BLUETOOTH |
| Battery life | up to 9 months (user-replaceable batteries) |
Thoughts?
I had an ANT+ compatible blood pressure monitor cuff over 10 years ago and was interested in how they never took off amongst athletes. I could only get the data to read straight into SportTracks as no Garmin device (?) would take the readings directly.
Index BPM seems to be a product for those with medical conditions and the fact that Garmin is now releasing the Index BPM is a testament to how well they have done at penetrating the ‘mass market’ rather than their older markets for the athletically-minded.
Index BPM was first discussed on this site 2 months ago:
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I have a calibrated Omron BPM but it’s annoying to have to manually track readings in another app so the Garmin BPM, auto-syncing to Garmin Connect, is appealing.
HOWEVER… I’ve had mixed results with this style of integrated cuff+sensor. The others I’ve tried tend to be less fault tolerant. (say, if you move, or your arm isn’t at EXACTLY the right elevation compared to your heart etc)
This is one I’ll be waiting to purchase until there are a tonne of field reports on accuracy and reliability. Garmin screwed up with their Index smart scale (nowhere near the accuracy of the Withings/Nokia – I’ve tested them against full body DEXA scan data) so my dubious they’ve nailed this product.
I think it’s too expensive. Withings has their BPM Connect for $99 and other than the upload to Garmin Connect, I can’t really see anything that can justify it being 50% more expensive.
Seems to have disapeared again, although the news site still has it and there’s a training video on YouTube. Looks huge and ugly compared to the Withings.
yeah it seems a bit 1980s bricky.
there is a press release so I’m surprised its disappeared
It’s still there on Garmin US.
Will be it available in Europe?
claimed to be accurate in the same way as the garmin index sII scale claims accurate body composition? ie it will guess your BP based on population averages for your self-rated exercise level, height, age and weight? no thanks, i wouldn’t trust a garmin index product for anything with real health implications
This is an FDA approved medical device; the index scale is not.
aaaa this is a smartwatch for people above 60 yo? 😉
It seems bulky (80s mobile phone😅) but withings one is heavier. I dunno how.
I have had many problems with Index Scale 2 ..more that a year posting in the forum without any improvement but I assume that making an accurate cuff is much easier.
now it’s finally here 😀
what could be faulted, why does garmin still use batteries in their index products and not rechargeable like withings?
Will you then be able to enter a manual blood pressure measurement into Garmin Connect, like with weight?
there will probably not be an automated import from third-party providers, unless you find a trick like the Withings scale
Lets see how accurate it is in real life. For sure there are the same “tradeoffs” like the medical once we use on the ambulance:
-You have to sit still, movement will make the meassurement inaccurate. This is because the BP is meassured with an accelerometer sensor.
-Nothing else i know off (despite the price, a manuall cuff and a nurses stethoskop will cost around 25 € in total)
I think that a BPM is not only an approach in a wider, non sports focussed, market. I know a lot of people/athletes wich have a slightly higher RR. Take me for example, im permanantly around 15mmHg sys above average when i take a meassurement for fun but diastolysh is fine. Would be nice to track it without work stress. Im working out between 5-15h a week, we cant say i dont do sports.
Two thoughts.
First: garmin isn’t very accurate in their data. Keeping an eye on your blood pressure is a good thing, but not garmins implementation.
Second. Kudos for garmin marketing in making people believe they really need more data. (If your blood pressure is ok, a check once a year is sufficient, according to the dutch heart health organisation)
I see several references to the Withings monitor. I have one, and it reads consistently 20-25 mm high because it’s sized too small. I’d like to try one of these out before I drop $150 only to find out that their adjustable cuff just performs like a small cuff.