Blood pressure watches and rings , are they worth it ?

Your blood pressure changes during the day. I check mine twice a day with an Omron.
I would be interested in an inexpensive wearable device to watch constantly for AFIB.

I can't comment for everyone, for every GP or cardiologist/nephrologist who is informed by their patients what their smart ring or watch says about their BP or cardiac rhythm, or for all the devices offered that purport to take these various readings for their wearer. I can only comment on what I've read and as a Galaxy watch user now for 9 years:
The watches, worn as they are instructed to be worn, reasonably snug, with regularly cleaned back where the optic sensor lives, and placed just behind the big wrist bone, do a pretty solid job. They have all been approved, if they have the BP app installed, by a governing body that ensures they do a reasonable job.

They'll almost never completely agree with your doctor's sphygmomanometer or their auto-cuffs if they use them. Because of so many of the variations between patients and doctor's devices, we should all anticipate this and accept it as a fact. What they are intended to do is to provide the wearer with a running 'commentary' of trends, of spikes or standout readings, as they are revealed by repeated measurements over days, weeks, and months. If the trend is rising BP, that should tell you, and your GP when you tell her, that something untoward is going on. You can take 15 readings all day long, every day, and never have quite the same readings, even in the same chair doing the same things. It's natural variation, something your GP's office device is also subject to.

Again, speaking only about my own experience, now on my third Galaxy watch (they change each year, and I really appreciate the rotating bezel, something Samsung seems to do away with every other year. When a new model arrives that once again boasts of the top rotating bezel, I buy one and stash it for future use...call me crazy...the Galaxy must be recalibrated with your own home cuff every 28 days. The app gives you a reminder for three days running, and then disables the app until you recalibrate. I don't know if this is empirically driven, I suspect so, but that's my experience; the watch must be recalibrated about once a month.

My electrophysiologist accepted, without question, and without asking me for a formal ECG at my hospital or cardiologist's office, my contention that my watch had found me in AF. I am symptomatic and know when my heart begins to do the 'floppy chicken'. I felt it one evening, took the ECG per the watch's app, and then called his nurse who would always take my calls. She asked me to upload my watch ECG and send it via an attachment. My EP took one look at the graphic display and agreed that I was back in AF, at which he agreed to ablate me again a few months later.

Cost is going to be a factor for some. Utility for others. Do they work? Yes, they work. Are you wearing yours the right way? Is the back surface cleaned regularly? Will your doctor accept the information your device imparts? Personally, while I love the idea of a ring, I haven't worn a ring of any description for 50 years. Including my wedding ring. They get in the way of work I do where I have to use a strong grip or to handle materials and items that may mar or otherwise damage it. So, I prefer the Galaxy watch, which is complementary to my Android phone.

I don't know what 'inexpensive' means. For some, even $30 is costly, while others can blow that at lunch every day. That's life. What you want, most importantly I would think/hope, is outright utility and quality. That generally costs.

@gloaming , I was thinking of a Samsung, butwasnt sure they would do bp... I too like samsung , had thier phones from when they first came out. (Hate iPhone) , checked thier price.. it's roughly 500.00. Don't know if I can stand that much. I was thinking 200... isn't calways c the way though, it's always more than you estimated.

@ronludington The thing is you need both the watch and the phone. The phone will have Samsung's 'Health' app, and also their cardio app...forget what it's called by it has the ruddy orange and bluish circle with the ECG squiggle in it. To calibrate, open the app, and have your watch on Bluetooth. The phone will also have the 'Wear' app for the watch and for earbuds, etc. If you open the app on your watch first, it will just ask you to calibrate it first. So, with the Health app open on your phone, Bluetooth between the two devices active, and a cuff on your opposite arm, opposite from the wrist with the watch, you activate the cuff three times and record all three sets of readings in the fields in the app. It's very straightforward and obvious when you go through it, takes maybe five minutes in all. Once the app accepts the three readgins, it says you're all set and you are good for about 28 days.

Note that, to keep costs down, you can look for refurbished watches if Samsung USA has them, or look on amazon and other sites for older Galaxies all the way back to V. 4, which is what I'm (still) wearing. I also have a 6, but 8 is out already, probably 9 in September, but they just keep rising in price. I'll bet you can find a V5 for maybe USD$200 or even less...new in box.

@gloaming so your taking your bp originally with your bp machine.. and letting the watch sync with that. Interesting.
Do you find the watch is accurate ? And good idea about an old new one.

@lenmayo I wear an Apple iWatch 10 which gives me HR 24/7. It has an AFIB feature but frankly doesn’t work for me as well as I’d like. Usually gives me an inconclusive reading - 95% of the time. Very sensitive to movement so I believe the only good readings I’m getting on AFIB are when I’m asleep. Mild case and says I’m in AFIB 4% or less on average. That concurs with what my Cardiologist says. I’ve reduced with “lifestyle” changes through weight loss, moderate exercise, 0 alcohol, 0 caffeine, etc. I still have about 40lbs to get off and hopefully that will eliminate it. I’m already off of Blood Thinner (Eliquis) which I took for approx 8 months. I have LBBB as well but it doesn’t seem to affect me in any way that I feel or function.

@ronludington The idea behind the mandatory calibration is so that the watch has a leash on it. So, if we can assume that any decent home cuff is 95% accurate for any one BP measurement, the watch calibrated once a month to the same home cuff should....SHOULD...be about 95% accurate. Further, if any patient feels that they have a personal, or physician-instructed, upper limit beyond which they would seek their physician's assistance, then the watch and the cuff should agree and let them know when to go to the doctor's office.

@4aces4me
Thanks for the information.
I had post op AFIB after 3 of my operations. I don't show any signs of it otherwise.
I wore a Holter night and day continually for a month twice and a seven day one also.
There was no indication of AFIB but I'm still on Eliquis!

Stay positive. God bless you!

If you want to use the Samsung watch, then you must have a Samsung smart phone. There's no current equivalent for Apple users.

There's an independent band from a company that used to be called Aktiia, now Hilo, that has a band specifically for blood pressure, and I believe it will work with either an Apple phone or anything Android. They claim to have recent FDA approval but it doesn't seem to be offered yet in the US. Cost is around $200 and I'm not sure if there's an annual charge on top of that.

@ronludington as far as I know, you need to be sitting still for about five minutes before taking your blood pressure (also sitting still and not talking). A regular blood pressure cut could do the job while you are sitting g on the couch maybe while watching TV and that costs less than $100. The expensive wearable blood pressure would give you results that could be all over the place if you are constantly moving about so hardly worth the price - for possible inaccurate readings while you move around your home.