Experience Report Aktiia

Aktiia offers a wristband with cuffless blood pressure monitoring around the clock. For hypertension patients, this is of course a perfect solution: Simply wear a wristband in the shape of a small fitness tracker and have an overview of your own blood pressure. We were curious and tested the device extensively.

Costs

The device cost 99.99 euros plus 8.99 euros per month for a subscription to use the app or 199.99 euros including 12 months of app usage. We opted for the monthly payment option because we only wanted to test the device for a few months.

After the test, however, the subscription could not be canceled, as the model has completely changed. Now the 99.99 euros plus 12 months of 8.99 euros is a kind of installment purchase. The app is now always unlimited in the "essential functions".
It sounds very much like further paid services are planned for later.

Current users are therefore a bit like guinea pigs and must remain flexible regarding additional costs.

Setup

The setup of the wristband is a bit fiddly and unfortunately not very accurately described. The wristband must still be on the charging station for pairing.

The wristband must be placed on this in a specific direction - unfortunately, it is not clear which one. Therefore, you always have to test for a while whether the wristband is positioned correctly.

Along with the wristband, a cuff for calibration is provided, which is not easy to attach. We turned it several times because we were unsure how it should be placed. A marking would be helpful here.

The calibration worked really well the first time.

Measurements, the First

From then on, we wore the wristband for a few weeks. We had a fantastic blood pressure of about 120/70 mmHg. The drops at night are clearly visible. A measurement value is visible every two hours. Thus, we had almost continuously twelve measurement values per day.

Measurements, the Second

Then a vacation was coming up. A perfect use for the Aktiia. The bulky cuff device can stay at home, and the travel luggage is relieved. Since the next calibration would have been necessary during the vacation, we simply brought it forward. That is not a problem.

This time we made a special effort and held five minutes of rest directly after waking up in the morning and then started the measurements for calibration: First, the wristband measures - all good. Now comes the cuff. No result. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Please wait a few hours and try again.

Later we tried again. At that point, the wristband produced no result. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Please wait a few hours. So later another attempt. This time the waiting message was ignored, and we fiddled for about an hour until it was calibrated.

From then on, the measurement values remained consistently at about 135/85 mmHg, which is 15 mmHg higher than during the previous calibration. There were also many days this time with significantly fewer than twelve measurement values.

This unfortunately shows the problem of the technology. Everything depends on the calibration. In our opinion, the interval of one month is also too long. This is okay for people with normal blood pressure, but for hypertension patients, it is clearly too inaccurate.

Measurements, the Third

During the vacation, the wristband malfunctioned. The battery was always empty after a few minutes. Probably due to water damage, as the wristband was accidentally not removed while showering. Aktiia sent a free replacement immediately - that is great service.

We recalibrated the wristband and compared measurements with the Aktiia to guideline-compliant home measurements for a week. The average of the home measurements was 118/83 mmHg, while that of Aktiia was 133/87 mmHg. That is too much deviation.

Conclusion

Besides the high price, the unreliable values are mainly the reason why we do not continue to use the device and do not recommend it either.

The wearing comfort is relatively modest. The wristband feels quite cheap, similar to a Chinese fitness tracker for a few euros. We experienced slight skin irritations, and the frequent putting on and taking off due to the lack of water resistance is annoying.

At the moment, the device may be something for people with normal blood pressure who are curious about fluctuations over time. For hypertensives, we see it as little suitable.

Unfortunately, the data can only be exported from the app as a PDF. There is no access to the individual measurements. For true Quantified-Self self-measurement nerds, this is also very unsatisfactory.

Note: This test took place in the summer of 2021. The product may have been improved since then.

This article is from BloodPressureDB – the leading app since 2011 that supports hundreds of thousands in blood pressure monitoring every day. Our content is based on carefully researched, evidence-based data and is continuously updated (as of 08/2023).

Author Horst Klier has been intensively dealing with high blood pressure since 2002 initially due to personal experience and since 2009 as a developer of BloodPressureDB; thanks to his widely used app and expert platform as well as numerous publications, he is now considered a recognized blood pressure expert. As the author of several health guides and specialist articles, he conveys complex knowledge in an understandable and practical manner.