How to track your blood pressure

Buy an upper-arm cuff from a validated list, in the right size for your arm. A model that costs around $40 can be on the list. Then take a home week and keep the numbers in one place.

Why buy a validated cuff

A high star rating doesn’t tell you much about accuracy. In a 2023 JAMA study, researchers tracked the 100 best-selling blood pressure devices on Amazon in 10 countries for a year. Here’s what they found:

Buyers couldn’t tell the two apart by the stars. Validation means a device passed a clinical accuracy test against a set protocol, and it applies to one specific model and cuff. Check the model number on the box, because a model with a similar name may not be validated.

The American Heart Association recommends an automatic upper-arm cuff, and it doesn’t recommend wrist or finger monitors. If you’re buying for someone who is pregnant, an older adult or a child, check that the model is validated for that group.

Before you buy, confirm your exact model number at validatebp.org. It’s the US Validated Device Listing, the one the American Heart Association points people to. We checked the sources in the tables below on November 1, 2026, and any list can change.

How to use the tables

Each row names the source that says the model is validated:

• Omron: Omron’s clinical validation page lists the model on the US Validated Device Listing, so here the source is the company that makes the cuff.
• STRIDE BP: the STRIDE BP list shows the model with a validation study in adults.
• NBC: NBC Select, updated April 6, 2026, says the model is on the US listing.
• AARP: AARP’s review, updated September 25, 2026, says the model is on the US listing.
• Medaval: the Medaval entry shows passed validation studies.

We list a price only where a source showed one, with the date it was seen. Prices change often, so treat them as a rough guide. We grouped the models below by price and features, and we didn’t look at how popular they are.

Cheap and simple

Any of these will do the job. The photo works with all of them, so you don’t need Bluetooth.

With Gyroscope One, you can turn any device into a smart device with just an iPhone and the app.

Take a photo of the monitor and your numbers go into your blood pressure trend, with no Bluetooth needed.

Connected

These sync by themselves through their own apps. Withings cuffs send values to Gyroscope directly. Omron and other cuffs get to Gyroscope through Apple Health, when they write to it. You can also use the photo with any of them.

The Omron BP5150 and BP7150 in the first table also connect by Bluetooth, according to NBC and AARP.

Spend more

Spending more gets you extra features on top of the blood pressure measurement.

An EKG can be useful if your doctor wants one, and it doesn’t change your blood pressure category.

Other people’s reviews

Reviewers test different things and pick different winners, so check a validated list first and look at reviews after.

AARP, Consumer Reports and NBC Select each name a different top pick. Consumer Reports also rates a wrist model highly, but the American Heart Association doesn’t recommend wrist monitors for home use. We go with the American Heart Association on this, so we left wrist cuffs out of the tables.

Get the cuff size right

Even a validated monitor can give wrong numbers if the cuff doesn’t fit. In a 2023 trial, researchers used a regular cuff on all 195 adults, whatever size their arm needed. Here’s how far off it was:

Measure around the middle of your upper arm, then use the cuff size tool before you buy. You can buy other cuff sizes for some models, but check that the size you need works with yours.

Check your cuff once

Bring your cuff to your next doctor’s visit, and compare it with theirs on the same arm.

Then keep a record

Take a seven-day home week first, using the steps on how to measure at home. Enter the numbers in the home average tool, then look at the result on the chart. Keep home and clinic numbers apart, since they can differ. A watch doesn’t replace any of this, and the smartwatch page explains why.

If you have chest pain, shortness of breath, back pain, weakness, numbness, vision change or trouble speaking, call emergency services, whatever the number.