Quite a few wearables claim to measure blood pressure. But only few of them are indeed medical devices that the regulators recognized to provide correct measurements.
Traditionally, checking blood pressure meant using a cuff at the clinic or home. Today, new wearables to measure blood pressure are on the market. They let patients measure blood pressure on the go. These devices use either traditional cuff methods or sensor technologies like PPG. It stands short for photoplethysmography, an optical method that tracks changes in blood volume in your arteries with each heartbeat. These devices can help people keep an eye on their blood pressure throughout the day and night.
Wearables to Measure Blood Pressure That Consumers Can Buy
Several wearables to measure blood pressure are now available for personal use. These devices are for consumers to purchase and use at home or on the move to help manage hypertension. We will only discuss devices, that regulators such as the EU Medical Device Regulation or U.S. FDA, cleared. So you can be confident in their readings. Each device uses either a traditional cuff that inflates or a cuffless sensor technology. We’ll explain how each works. Also, we will explain how accurate they are, compared to standard clinical measurements.
Omron HeartGuide
One of the first wearable blood pressure watches. It looks like a regular a bit bulky smartwatch. But it houses a small inflatable cuff in the wrist band. When you initiate a measurement, the cuff around your wrist inflates and uses the oscillometric method. The same method is in use in a doctor’s office blood pressure cuffs. Because it actually has a cuff, the HeartGuide’s accuracy is comparable to standard upper-arm monitors. In fact, it was the first smartwatch-style BP monitor to receive FDA clearance in the United States (in late 2018). It’s also clinically validated in Europe and other regions as a medical device. This means it passed rigorous tests for accuracy.
The watch can store readings and sync with a smartphone app to track trends. While it doubles as a basic fitness tracker, its primary function is blood pressure monitoring. The device isn’t cheap (around $499), but it is a proven tool. It’s available through Omron’s website and retailers in the US, Europe, and many other countries. If you have hypertension and want a wearable you can trust, the HeartGuide is a strong option (currently the only FDA-cleared smartwatch for blood pressure in the US).
HUAWEI Watch D2
Huawei’s Watch D2 is another wearable to measure blood pressure. This smartwatch measures blood pressure with a built-in cuff. Launched in 2022, it was the first smartwatch to earn CE certification in Europe for blood pressure measuring. This means it’s approved as a medical device in the EU under the strict Medical Device Regulation (MDR). It’s also registered as a Class II medical device in China.
The Watch D2 uses a tiny air pump and a double-layered airbag in the watch strap that inflates to compress the wrist artery. Essentially, it performs a miniature cuff measurement on your wrist. A validation study in 2022 found that the Watch D2 met the international accuracy standards (the AAMI/ESH/ISO standard), with mean errors around 1 mmHg, fully fulfilling the requirements for accurate measurement. In simple terms, it was as precise as needed to be recommended for self-monitoring.
It’s also listed by the European Society of Hypertension’s STRIDE BP initiative as a validated device for home use. Users can set up measurement schedules and get alerts via the Huawei Health app. The Watch D2 is available in Europe and parts of Asia; however, it’s not available in the U.S. at this time due to regulatory and marketing limitations.
Hilo (former Aktiia) 24/7 Blood Pressure Bracelet
The Hilo (rebranded Aktiia) bracelet is a novel wristband purely focused on blood pressure tracking. Developed by a Swiss company, it does cuffless, continual monitoring using optical sensors. It shines light into the wrist (PPG) and measures changes in the artery diameter with each heartbeat. Using this data and algorithms, it can estimate blood pressure repeatedly, day and night. The first generation Aktiia system requires an initial calibration with a regular cuff (and monthly recalibrations) to keep it accurate. After that, it automatically takes readings throughout the day; the user sees an aggregate of these readings (like daily averages and trends) in the Aktiia app, rather than on-demand single measurements.
Aktiia was CE-marked in Europe as a Class IIa medical device in 2020, meaning it passed clinical accuracy tests for approval. How well does it work? Studies have been promising. In one trial, Aktiia’s daytime blood pressure readings over a week were statistically equivalent to readings from a standard 24-hour ambulatory monitor worn by patients. The differences were only a couple of mmHg on average, which is very good. This suggests the device is accurate for tracking trends and could be used by doctors and patients to manage hypertension over time. The convenience factor is huge: you wear it like a fitness band, and it silently measures your blood pressure dozens of times without you noticing. The downside is that if it drifts, you need to recalibrate with a normal cuff periodically, and it doesn’t give an immediate “press a button, get a number”result like a traditional monitor would.
Hilo’s bracelet is on sale in select European countries (for example, it launched in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland). It is not yet FDA-approved in the U.S. (the company is working on U.S. clearance).
Important Note on Other Wearables
You might see many other smartwatches and fitness trackers advertising blood pressure measurement. Be cautious – many of those are not medically validated. They might use some simplistic algorithm to guess blood pressure from heart rate or pulse timing, and their readings can be way off. Always look for evidence of clinical validation or regulatory approval.
Devices Only Available in Hospitals, Clinics, or with a Prescription
Not all blood pressure measuring devices are sold directly to consumers; some are used in clinical settings or require a doctor’s prescription. These tend to be more specialized or intended for short-term diagnostic use. They can provide highly accurate or continuous measurements in ways that home devices cannot, but they might be less convenient or more expensive. Let’s go through a few key categories of these clinical blood pressure devices, how they work, and where you might encounter them.
Continuous Non-Invasive Blood Pressure Monitors in Hospitals
In certain hospital settings (like during surgery, in intensive care, or in specialized autonomic testing labs), doctors and nurses need to monitor blood pressure beat-by-beat, continuously. One way to do this non-invasively is using a finger cuff device, such as the Finapres or similar systems. These devices involve placing a small cuff around your finger which tightens and loosens very rapidly with each heartbeat, using a method called the volume-clamp method. By doing so, the machine can measure your blood pressure curve in real time.
The Finapres system, for instance, provides accurate continuous blood pressure monitoring using just a finger cuff. You can actually see the blood pressure waveform (much like an arterial line tracing) on a monitor. This technology has been validated as an alternative to invasive arterial blood pressure measurements in many cases. However, it’s not something you would wear casually at home – the equipment is somewhat bulky and needs calibration, and it’s sensitive to movement and finger temperature. It’s mostly used in hospitals or research labs for short-term monitoring, such as during a surgery (when beat-to-beat blood pressure changes are critical to track) or during a tilt-table test for diagnosing fainting conditions.
Remote Patient Monitoring Wearables
A newer category in clinical use is multi-sensor wearable devices. Doctors prescribe them for monitoring patients at home (often as part of telemedicine or home hospitalization programs). These include devices like the Biobeat watch and patch.
Biobeat (an Israeli company) offers a wrist-watch monitor and a small disposable chest patch that can measure blood pressure along with other vital signs (heart rate, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, etc.) continuously. These were actually the first devices, that the FDA cleared to measure blood pressure without a cuff.
They use optical PPG sensors and sophisticated algorithms (including AI) to derive blood pressure from signals on the wrist or chest. The Biobeat system got FDA clearance in 2019 for cuffless blood pressure and has since also obtained a CE mark in Europe for its platform. How are these used? Typically, a healthcare provider gives the patient the device to wear at home for a certain period. The device will automatically collect blood pressure and other vitals, and send the data via a smartphone or a special hub to a cloud platform. On the clinician’s side, they can see continuous or regular updates of the patient’s blood pressure and intervene if something is wrong. This is particularly useful for patients with conditions like heart failure or difficult-to-control hypertension, where trends and early warnings are important. Because these devices are medical-grade and FDA-cleared, the authorities validated its accurace against standard methods.
Experimental and In-Development Blood Pressure Technologies
Finally, let’s look at some cutting-edge developments in blood pressure monitoring. These are experimental technologies or prototype devices that are still in research or awaiting regulatory approval. It’s important to note that none of the following are available for consumers or for routine clinical use yet – they are exciting, but still need to prove themselves. We include them here to give you a peek at what’s coming and to define some terms you might hear in the news.
Samsung Galaxy Watch (with Health Monitor app)
Samsung has added blood pressure monitoring capability to some of its smartwatches (Galaxy Watch series) via the Samsung Health Monitor app. This feature received a CE-mark in the EU in 2020, allowing use in 28 European countries and certain other regions. The Galaxy Watch measures blood pressure without a cuff, using an optical sensor. It relies on pulse wave analysis: after you calibrate the watch with a traditional upper-arm cuff (you typically input three cuff readings into the app), the watch’s photoplethysmography (PPG) heart-rate sensor can then estimate blood pressure by analyzing the pulse at your wrist. Essentially, the watch detects the pulse waveform and calculates an approximate blood pressure from it. In practice, you open the app and tap “Measure,” and the watch will use its last calibration and current pulse data to give a reading.
How accurate is it? The accuracy can vary – it’s generally good for trends, but less so for exact values. Clinical validation is still ongoing. The FDA did not clear this feasure yet for use in the U.S. (so Samsung disables it on U.S. sold watches for now). The countries who validated it for wellness monitoring include the EU countries, the UK, and South Korea.
Samsung advises users to keep the wrist at heart level during measurement for best results, similar to how you’d use a wrist cuff device. It’s important to note you must recalibrate the watch with a real cuff every few weeks to maintain accuracy. In summary, the Galaxy Watch BP feature is an innovative cuffless solution that is convenient but not a replacement for a standard monitor if you need highly accurate or critical readings. Still, it’s a glimpse of the future and can be useful for day-to-day monitoring, with the convenience of being in a full-featured smartwatch.
Cuffless Optical and Sensor Technologies
Many large tech companies and startups look into wearable to measure blood pressure. They are racing to crack the problem of truly cuffless blood pressure measurement. The goal is to measure blood pressure using sensors like photoplethysmography (PPG) or other signals, without ever needing an inflatable cuff. Fitbit, for instance, has conducted studies on using the Sense smartwatch’s PAT to estimate blood pressure. So far, these methods need more refinement, as early research showed correlations but not enough accuracy for standalone use.
Big players like Apple are also working on wearables to measure blood pressure. Rumors suggest Apple might introduce a blood pressure monitoring ability in a future Apple Watch (possibly by the end of 2025). Notably, Apple’s reported approach might not give precise systolic/diastolic numbers but rather detect trends, for example, flagging if your blood pressure seems to be rising over time or if you might have hypertension, and then prompting you to see a doctor. This indicates how challenging cuffless accuracy is; even Apple might initially focus on detection of high blood pressure rather than exact readings.
Smartphone Camera and Other Novel Methods
A very intriguing area of research of wearables to measure blood pressure is using smartphones themselves as blood pressure monitors. Scientists have experimented with transdermal optical imaging – essentially using your phone’s camera to record a short video of your face and extracting blood flow patterns from it to estimate blood pressure. Some studies showed it’s possible to get a rough BP reading this way, but it’s far from ready for clinical use. Another approach in wearables to measure blood pressure is using the phone’s camera and flash on your fingertip.
For example, in 2023 engineers at UC San Diego developed a cheap plastic clip that attaches to a smartphone; when you press your finger on it, the phone’s camera and flash, together with the clip’s design, measure blood pressure at the fingertip. Impressively, their prototype does not require calibration with a cuff. The user just presses for a short time as guided by an app, and it produces a blood pressure reading. The clip costs less than $1 to make in their tests, and the idea is that such ultra-low-cost devices could make blood pressure monitoring accessible anywhere in the world. It’s still in testing, but early results are promising.
Other ideas of wearables to measure blood pressure include patented ones, for exampleusing the phone’s vibration motor and sensors to measure blood pressure by pressing the phone against the chest or wrist. There are also experimental wearable ideas like earbud sensors (imagine your wireless earbud measuring BP from the ear) or even smart rings that could check blood pressure at your finger using optical or pressure sensors. All of these are in development stages. They have to undergo clinical validation and regulatory approval before they’d reach the market as medical devices.
Sources
Here’s your list of references formatted clearly with clickable hyperlinks:
- American Heart Association – Advice on accurate readings and device types
- MedTech Dive – Omron HeartGuide FDA clearance and design
- Huawei Official Announcement – Watch D certification and validation
- PubMed – Validation study of Huawei Watch D (ISO standards)
- Samsung Newsroom – Galaxy Watch BP app CE marking and method
- Medical Device Network – Aktiia continuous BP monitor and PPG explanation
- Hypertension Research – Aktiia cuffless monitor compared to ABPM
- Fierce Biotech – Biobeat FDA clearance for cuffless BP watch and patch
- NICE Guidelines (UK) – ABPM gold standard for hypertension diagnosis
- Harvard Health – Explanation and benefits of ABPM
- Finapres Medical Systems – Continuous finger-cuff BP monitoring
- TechRadar – Caution about uncertified wearable BP trackers
- MacRumors – Apple’s plans for BP monitoring in future watches
- UC San Diego News – Smartphone camera clip for BP monitoring (research)
- Huawei Watch D Review – Mini-cuff integrated in strap
