Accuracy of readings?

Today I visited cardiologist and we did multiple comparisons to both automated unit and manual sphygmomanometer.  The Garmin was consistently much higher.  Cardiologist said, "it's not accurate, stop using it".

I really wanted to like the Garmin, but I am sending mine back while I can.    I can only assume Garmin is having QC calibration issues as these go out the door.

Interesting side note.  I wrote an Amazon review where I gave it 3 stars.  I noted mine was reading high while acknowleding that others report high accuracy, so perhaps i got a defect.   My review was removed and I am apparently blocked from reviewing this item.  I can only assume that either Garmin or the seller complained about any less than 5 star ratings.  Had they not pulled that stunt, I would have requested an exchange and given them another shot.

Well, based on this I am sending mine back today. Thank you for sharing

I am getting 20-25 points higher on the systolic and 12-15 points higher on the diastolic, consistently. Compared with two OMRON devices: One upper arm cuff and one wrist cuff, and manual reading. Customer service was no help, and their product complaint department would rather lose you as a loyal customer than fix the issue. I filed an official FDA medical device complaint instead of going through the less-than-satisfactory standard operating procedure of Garmin. I requested a full refund from Garmin and will be making sure no one else makes the same mistake I made. Amazon is not allowing for product reviews unless you are a verified purchase. This means that Amazon has been flooded with complaints.

Sending mine back as well. Same issues. Customer service is horrible

Yep...posting the same rant in two different threads is an indication that your blood pressure is probably on the high side. Good luck with that.

Sorry, but these units should be recalled. All of them! My BP stays in the 104/64 to 126/78 range depending on the time of day. With the Garmin INDEX BPM, I was getting anywhere from 130/80 to 156/89. Sorry that the truth is troublesome for some. If you are an employee of Garmin, you should have to disclose that bit of information.

Don't recall mine...it works. I don't have an issue with the truth, by the way, and I'm not a Garmin employee....lol. I am, however, a 25 or so year Garmin customer who finds your overly generalized and unsubstantiated accusations completely incredible. Your issue with your blood pressure monitor, if there is an issue, has morphed into an indictment of Garmin and its customer support personnel. Believe me when I tell you that you are in the very small group of customers who feel that way about them. You have every right to be honest, but you should also be fair. 

I am being more than fair. Customer service is horrible, and their standard operating procedures for handling FDA medical device complaints are unacceptable. For instance, Insisting that it is an error by the operator that is resulting in consistent inaccurate BP measurements is a violation of standard FDA product complaint reporting by a medical device manufacturer. As far as Garmin loyalty, up until now, we have recommended Garmin fitness watches to countless individuals. And that may still be the case as long as Garmin does something to rectify their horrible customer service and product complaint reporting.

I am not having any issues with my Index BPM accuracy, but clearly based on some responses on this forum others are. A couple of points:

FDA Cleared - The Index BPM is "FDA Cleared" rather than "FDA Approved". "Class II and Class I medical devices are usually "cleared" by the FDA, which means the manufacturer can demonstrate that their product is "substantially equivalent to another (similar) legally marketed device" that already has FDA clearance or approval. Those already-cleared products are called a predicate."

Garmin has done a clinical validation - " Index BPM Clinical Validation
The Index BPM was validated in a clinical trial with 85 subjects with an age range of 18 to 75 years with an arm circumference of 22 to 42 cm. The trial results were within an acceptable margin as defined by the internationally recognized evaluation standard for blood pressure monitors, ANSI/AAMI/ISO 81060-2:2018+A1:2020. The Index BPM has an accuracy of +/- 3 mmHg or 2% of readout value for blood pressure value and +/- 5% of readout value for pulse. Index BPM is an FDA-cleared, Class II medical device.

Index BPM is a stand-alone medical device that measures and displays blood pressure and pulse rate. Index BPM is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, and it is not intended for use by children under the age of 18. Index BPM is not available in all regions; see Garmin.com/IndexBPMregions for availability."

While I personally would like to see a trial with more than 85 subjects, the above summary information is available on the Garmin website. I have not looked further to find whether there are specific trial results indicating whether any users had issues.