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First impressions

Frbky
over 2 years ago

Got it! My Index BPM arrived today, straight from Garmin. I was pleasantly surprised that it shipped ahead of Garmin's estimated schedule. I'm amazed that I'm the first to post here about actually having it, and that I haven't seen any reviews anywhere yet! I seem to be the first!

First impressions:

  • Normal Garmin gray box
  • Made in China, like the Index S2 smart scale, but unlike most of Garmin's products which are made in Taiwan
  • Included Duracell batteries are also made in China
  • Cuff is somewhat heavy and feels sturdy and durable
  • I'm a thin guy but not tiny. I was toward the smaller side of using the cuff, with a lot of fabric left over. You'd have to have huge biceps/triceps for the cuff to be too small.
  • Pairing with Garmin Connect via Bluetooth was quick and easy, as was setting up Wifi.
  • It was easy to take a measurement, but my very first measurement did not sync with GCM and is missing. The second measurement, a few minutes later, synced to GCM.
  • Like the Index S2, it syncs via Wifi. Unlike the Index S2, you can also reconnect to Bluetooth to sync and to change settings. (On the Index S2, after initial setup, sync is exclusively via Wifi.)
  • Settings in GCM include Appearance (just your name or initials), User settings (Gender, weight, height, birthdate), General (just Wifi), and Manage Users.
  • There's nothing on the device or in GCM about firmware version or firmware updates, and I wasn't prompted to do an update. GC Web says software version is 1.05.
  • In GCM, the blood pressure card showed in my My Day after the second, successfully synced measurement, at the bottom of the list. You can then rearrange the cards as usual.
  • Blood pressure is also available in the Health section of GCM, and in the Daily Summary of Garmin Connect Web.
  • I'm not using multiple users so I can't comment on that.

Honestly, I wasn't in the market for a blood pressure monitor - I got this because I always like putting more health data in Garmin Connect!

I'll add more later if I have more to add. Add your own thoughts or questions!

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Mine just turned up today. I agree the cuff is huge! If I follow the instructions and put the retaining bar at position 2 (as per instructions) the cuff is still too big for me.

    Other than that, I've taken a few readings and compared with my Omron IA2. This is not scientific or controlled, I will do some better testing tomorrow:

    Garmin 1st reading: 110/66; 51 bpm

    Omrom IA2 1st reading: 117/66; 56 bpm

    Garmin 2nd reading: 119/71; 57 bpm

    Omrom IA2 2nd reading: 111/66; 51 bpm

    Garmin 3rd reading:  115/66; 54 bpm

     

    The Garmin readings all synched to Garmin Connect fine. You can also add manual entries. The display of the Garmin does turn off quickly after the results, I am not sure how this will work if the person reading doesn't have a Garmin account (I haven't tested this yet)

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to TheSalamander

    Yeah, I think I put the bar at (unmarked) position 0!

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Another note: the BPM is entirely button-activated. It turns on by button press, you select a user by button press, take a measurement by button press, reconnect to GCM for sync and settings via Bluetooth by button press, etc. It will automatically connect to Wifi to sync your measurements that way if you've set that up, but everything else requires the buttons.

    It's not complicated, but you do need to pay attention to the buttons!

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    A bug: in GCM, the blood pressure card in My Day randomly disappears and reappears. This is similar to a bug regarding the HRV status card that has been around ever since that feature was introduced.

    Blood pressure data can still always be found under the Health section in GCM.

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Just received mine. Before setting it up did a quick single reading and I too had to use the smallest setting. I’m 6’ (1.81m) 160lbs (73kg) BTW.

    I found it odd that it asked me for my height and weight when setting it up on Connect even though those stats are already in my profile. I’ll wait until tomorrow morning before taking a reading to save to my profile since it’s midday and I just finished eating and going up the stairs a few times doing different chores. It’ll be interesting to A/B it with my Omron.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to R_Tellis

    Huh, it didn't ask me for my height and weight, just pulled those from what was already in Connect.

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Yesterday's comparison readings

    6:20am

    • Omrom IA2 reading: 116/68; 54 bpm
    • Garmin reading: 113/66; 53 bpm

    11:19am

    • Omrom IA2 reading: 111/68; 52 bpm
    • Garmin reading: 109/65; 53 bpm

    So seems to be fairly close to my Omrom, I wait about 1-2 minutes between taking the readings between the two devices.

    When taking a 3x reading, there is an automatic note added to the 'Notes' that says 'This is a 3X reading'.

    Unfortunately on the 3X reading it doesn't show the variation in the 3 readings, just the average.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to R_Tellis

    I don't recall my setup asking me for weight or height either as is in my Connect profile.

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    It says I have Stage 1 high blood pressure and while mine is higher, I am a young otherwise very healthy guy. If you were to go to a cardiologist and tell him my blood pressure he'd laugh at me. The chart needs to be adjusted some because it's going to cause a lot of people to panic like I did. 

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Josh

    Just to clarify - do you think that the reading (the actual numbers) are incorrect, or that the reading is correct but Garmin's interpretation of it as Stage 1 needs adjusting?