Blood Pressure Monitor Reviews

Omron HEM-711AC Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor

Omron's top-selling HEM-711AC automatic blood pressure monitor is described at the company's website as follows:

The #1 selling blood pressure monitor in the U.S. is easy to use. Simply wrap the cuff around your arm and press START. In seconds, your blood pressure and pulse readings are displayed on the large digital panel.

The HEM-711 has been tested, evaluated and proven to meet the rigorous safety and accuracy standards set by independent organizations.

Automatic blood pressure monitors are affordable, accurate and simple to use. This monitor automatically inflates with the push of a button. And only Omron blood pressure monitors have IntelliSense technology to automatically determine the correct amount of pressure required to quickly and comfortably measure your blood pressure reading. The result is accurate measurements every time.

You can also see here a comparison table of the company's six automatic blood pressure monitors.

According to a lengthy report in Clinical Diabetes journal:

A recent Consumer Reports article tested 16 of the top-selling home monitors. The number one recommended automatic inflation monitor was the Omron IntelliSense HEM-711AC, which can detect irregular heartbeats in addition to accurate blood pressure.20 The IntelliSense monitors have incorporated design technology known as "fuzzy logic," which is potentially capable of calculating an anticipated systolic blood pressure so as to keep over-inflation of the cuff to a minimum. This feature has reduced the level of discomfort often associated with high cuff pressures and is now integrated by most manufacturers.

The About: First Aid website placed the HEM-711AC first in a report titled "Top 5 Automated Home Blood Pressure Monitors", but the only comment was:

This blood pressure monitor uses an arm cuff to measure blood pressure. Includes a memory to keep track of blood pressure trends and an AC adapter or AA batteries.

The same web portal's About: Alzheimer's Disease page placed the unit second in its report, "Top 10 Blood Pressure Machines", and the About: Men's Health page placed it first in its report, "Top 10 Automatic Blood Pressure Monitors".

Otherwise, however, it is unfortunately difficult to find independent reviews online of products like blood pressure monitors. Probably the best source comes from the user reviews at sales site like Amazon.com. Though hardly scientific, such reviews provide excellent insight into how the product actually works in a real-life home setting.

In May 2007 around 90 purchasers had reviewed the HEM-711AC at Amazon.com, with an average rating of four stars (out of five). Here is one review:

Nothing fancy here, just good functionality. The memory and average functions are useful for reviewing BP trends. The best thing about this monitor is its simplicity: just stick your arm in the cuff and switch it on--in a few seconds your BP is displayed. Note: If the circumference of your upper arm is more than 13 inches you will need the larger arm cuff. I have only had the machine for about a month so I can't speak to its durability.

And another:

I was struggling with taking my blood pressure with a manual BP cuff. The medicine I was on made it difficult for me to hear my heartbeat so I was having to pump numerous times. To reduce my stress I decided to purchase an automatic monitor. After researching various units on the internet, I chose the Omron HEM-711AC.

This unit has exceeded my expectations. It's very easy to use. It comes with a soft travel case which came in handy on a recent trip. I used the unit on the airplane and on the cruise ship as it comes with a plug, but also runs on batteries. The memory feature eliminates the need to have pen and paper handy. Just a great product.

I did check accuracy in the doctors office. The Omron reading was within 5% as long as the BP check procedures included with the machine were followed: you need to be consistent with the position of the cuff, your arm, etc.

* Get the Latest Price on the Omron HEM-711AC Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor.

May 17th, 2007
 

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