Living the quantified life
If you read our review of the Withings Body Cardio smart scale, you know how much I enjoy the fantastic stats it provides. Withings was kind enough to send over some of the other health products in their awesome lineup, and I want to do a quick rundown of each of these as our family has been enjoying them this spring. If you’re interesting in living a more healthy lifestyle, each one of them is worth your time.
Thermo Smart Thermometer
If your kids run away every time you take their temperature, this is exactly what you need.
Thermometers are one of those things you wouldn’t think to upgrade until you use a product like this. Unlike other products, the Thermo is nearly contactless, requiring just a quick swipe across the forehead that’s so gentle it wouldn’t even wake a sleeping child. The way it works is cool (measuring blood vessels just below the skin), but the smart functionality it supports is even cooler; it can automatically track temperature measurements for each member of the family, which is surprisingly awesome if you have sick kids (and helpful when you visit the doctor).
If you’re looking for something helpful to put on your baby registry, or have kids that react to regular thermometers like you’re trying to exorcise a demon, I think you’ll find the Thermo to be the most helpful device in your medicine cabinet.
Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor
This was the Withings product I had the least amount of interest in at first, but then my dad had a triple-bypass earlier this spring. Heart disease is hereditary, and as I described in my Body Cardio review, I may be skinny, but I’m not in the best shape.
I’ve been using this Blood Pressure Monitor a few times a week ever since my dad’s surgery, and there’s a certain sense of assurance that comes with having an established baseline in my medical history (especially since I’m reasonably healthy and rarely have to visit the doctor). It syncs quickly to my iPhone 7 via Bluetooth, takes about a minute to complete its cycle, and all of the data goes right into my health apps with my other stats from my scale and Apple Watch.
If you have a health issue where blood pressure is a concern, or just enjoy having a wealth of stats about yourself like I do, this blood pressure monitor is fantastic.
It retails for $130 (or less).
Steel HR Smart Watch
If you want most of the features of a smart watch without, well, having to use a smart watch, the Steel HR is a great fit.
I actually gifted this one to my dad (who, as I mentioned above, just had heart surgery), and he really enjoys feeling connected without looking like he’s wearing a computer on his wrist. It tracks steps and heart rate, and notifies you of phone calls and texts, but it keeps the smart functions limited to a small OLED screen on a classically analog watch face. Also, it’s just a great looking wrist watch. I do have to mention one small feature: when you’re setting the time via your smart phone, the analog watch hands move along on the watch instantaneously, which is just stupid cool. It’s a surprisingly great smart watch option.
