When a blood pressure tracker landed on my desk for the first time, I was immediately intrigued. I’d recently been testing the Whoop MG, a new version of the fitness tracker that can be paired with a blood pressure cuff, and I’d also seen Apple roll out new blood pressure monitoring features for its watch.
It feels like the home medical testing boom has found a comfortable bedfellow in wearables. But I wondered, as someone whose blood pressure tends to run low, could a device like this actually be useful for me?
Health-tracking enthusiasts and biohackers seem increasingly keen on monitoring blood pressure as a marker of overall health. But unless you’re one of the millions in the UK living with hypertension, most doctors would agree it’s not a metric you really need to be tracking.
According to the British Heart Foundation, a normal blood pressure reading falls between 90/60 mmHg and 130/85 mmHg. For people over 80, the ideal target is below 150/90 mmHg. While Heart Research UK estimates that around 30% of adults have high blood pressure, the British Heart Foundation also suggests that a further five million people may be unaware that theirs is elevated.
If you’re interested in finding out what your blood pressure is and tracking it, I can see how a tool like an at-home monitor could come in handy. While a tool itself can’t reverse symptoms, it can be an indicator that your blood pressure is high.
Lowering high blood pressure can help reduce the likelihood of strokes and heart attacks. Blood pressure tends to increase with age due to a natural stiffening and thickening of arteries – a process known as arteriosclerosis – but this rise isn't inevitable and can be managed.
With the UK’s hypertension stats and my own health in mind, I put a brand-new tracker to the test to see how easy it might make home tracking. I wanted to explore how effective the biofeedback and data I gathered might be at supporting better health and lifestyle choices.
Read more: I’ve tested the best fitness trackers on the market – these are my favourite options
How I tested
I wore the Hilo tracker for two months, regularly monitoring my blood pressure levels and allowing the app to gather data and build a clear picture of what was going on with my BP levels. To test its accuracy, I cross-referenced the results with a traditional cuff-style monitor that I used at home, and with readings gathered at two separate doctor appointments. I also looked at the design of the band, the app’s user experience and the various options for tracking and recording daily behaviours, habits, food consumed, and how comfortable the device felt while worn.
Read more: Is Whoop 5.0 the best fitness tracker for runners? I wore it non-stop for a month
Hilo blood pressure monitor
Battery life: Up to 15 days
Charging time: Approx 90 minutes
Why we love it
- Comfortable and lightweight to wear
- App is easy to use and understand
- Accuracy
- Current cost includes one-year membership
Take note
- Isn't necessary for everyone
The Hilo blood pressure monitor is a compact device that claims to offer clinical-grade accuracy without the bulk of a traditional cuff. It’s worn on the wrist like a fitness tracker and links to an app via Bluetooth, taking readings up to 50 times per day.
It calculates your blood pressure using pulse wave analysis (PWA), following a calibration with Hilo Cuff. After that, it takes into account your behaviours, medications and readings to provide daily reports.
Hilo’s design is one of the first things that works in its favour. Lightweight and unobtrusive, it’s the kind of gadget you forget you’re wearing until you need it. The screen is clear enough to glance at mid-commute or while wandering around the kitchen, and the interface is refreshingly uncomplicated.
Setup takes minutes, and the companion app follows the same ethos as the wearable itself – it’s pared back. The user experience is simple and designed to deliver data without any unnecessary detours. The Hilo app doesn’t pretend to be a lifestyle platform or a digital health coach. In a market where every gadget is vying to expand its remit, this simplicity is quite satisfying.
The app logs data automatically, charts your numbers over time and offers jargon-free explanations about what you’re seeing. It is, by design, more of a storage system than an interpretive tool. There are no tailored insights, no behavioural nudges and no integrations with broader health ecosystems.
Hilo isn’t really about full-spectrum wellness analysis – it knows its audience and seeks to do one thing well, rather than falling into the trap of overpromising. However, if you want to wear it with another wrist-based fitness tracker, you’ll have to put one on each arm.
Accuracy is where wrist-based monitors typically lose their shine, so I tested Hilo against a GP-recommended upper-arm cuff across multiple readings. While there was a slight variation in the numbers , this highlights why it's important to take several readings to get an accurate picture when testing your blood pressure.
However, home testing is never going to be a perfect science and Hilo seems to offer reliable trend data that can be easily understood and shared with a medical professional if needed, rather than single-point perfection. For most people monitoring their blood pressure at home, you need a certain level of reliability as a basic entry point.
My doctor told me while taking a reading with a cuff that if you have diagnosed hypertension or rely on highly accurate readings for medication decisions, an upper-arm monitor remains the gold standard. So, although Hilo has been validated as a medical device, it’s best viewed as a daily tracker for patterns rather than a clinical replacement for readings.
It’s not suitable for everyone to use – Hilo isn’t recommended for people over 85 or under 18, those who are pregnant, or who have certain health conditions.
The current cost is also attractive with a year’s membership to the app included. However, be aware that an annual membership will renew at £119.99 a year. This is a similar model to the likes of Whoop and Oura ring so not surprising, but worth noting.
Buy now £199.98, hilo.com
Is the Hilo blood pressure monitor worth it?
In my view the Hilo monitor is a straightforward, competent device. It doesn’t promise transformation, and it doesn’t try to play doctor. Instead, it gives you reliable patterns in a friendly, accessible format and encourages healthy choices.
Used alongside – not instead of – clinically-approved monitoring, it’s an effective starting point for understanding your health. This, combined with the minimalist design and how easy it is to wear, could be a game-changer for some. As an intervention tool for early awareness, it seems like a worthy investment.
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
Emilie Lavinia was The Independent’s fitness and wellbeing editor. Having reported on health and wellbeing for more than a decade, she has extensive knowledge of wearable tech and fitness devices such as the Oura ring and Whoop. Emilie regularly reports on longevity, biohacking and ways to reduce stress and tests anything from yoga mats and sleep aids to the best health wearables for IndyBest.
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