Blood pressure, heart rate and sleep: The best iPhone and Apple Watch health devices
18 devices that sync with Apple health to give you a better picture of health.
These days you can buy smart scales, fitness trackers, exercise bikes and even thermometers that track your progress and health over time. But all of the data those devices collect isn't very helpful on its own.
That's where Apple's Health app comes in. It serves as a picture of your health, with dashboards for activity, sleep, nutrition, mindfulness and more. The more devices you connect to Apple Health, the better that picture gets.
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Here I outline some of the health and wellness devices that sync with Apple Health on your iPhone and the Apple Watch and help you move more, manage health conditions, get better sleep and keep your skin healthy.
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Workout equipment
Mirror offers a massive collection of workouts on-demand and live.
Mirror
How it works: An interactive home gym system, Mirror employs an LCD screen to stream everything from cardio to weightlifting to yoga classes taught by professional instructors. Its impressive immersive technology offers real-time instruction and personal shout-outs during class.
Mirror is controlled via an iOS app, which fully integrates with Apple Health . You can also sync your Apple Watch via Bluetooth . When you sync Mirror to your Apple devices, you can enable heart rate-based training and track progress metrics, including workouts completed, calories burned, time spent in heart rate zones and more.
Who it's for: Anyone who wants a wide range of workout types (bodyweight, yoga, pilates, HIIT) and a home gym that takes up virtually no space, plus doubles as a sleek body mirror when not in use. It's also best for people who have a large enough living space to complete a full-body workout in front of the Mirror.
Price: $1,495 with optional financing
Rookie Smart Jump Rope
How it works: This smart rope from Tangram Factory uses magnetic sensors to count your jumps. Your workout stats then show up on the SmartRope app on your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch. Give the SmartRope app permissions for Apple Health, where your data will integrate alongside all of your other Health data.
Who it's for: People who like to jump rope, especially as an entire workout, and may not have a wearable device that tracks their heart rate.
Retail price: $49.95
Peloton
A Peloton bike allows you to cycle at home, and you can sync your workout history with Apple Health.
How it works: Peloton's bike and treadmill only sync to heart-rate monitors that use ANT+, so that rules out Apple Watch, but a recent update to the Peloton Digital app allows you to sync your Peloton workouts and history with the Apple Health app, where it will show up as part of your daily activity.
Who it's for: Anyone who loves streaming live workouts and cycling, and wants the luxury of cycling from privately at home, instead of in a class.
Price: $2,245 with optional financing
Heart-rate and fitness tracking
Spire Health Tags
How it works: Spire's health tags are tiny fitness trackers that you attach to the insides of your clothes. They're impressively washer- and dryer-safe, and they never need to be recharged (Spire replaces them for free via Spire+). To sync with your Apple products, download the Spire Health Tag app and give Apple Health permission to collect its data.
Who it's for: People who want to track their health and fitness, but don't like wearing a watch, chest strap or even a ring.
Price: $49
KardiaMobile EKG Monitor
The Kardia Mobile takes your ECG via small finger pads, which you can attach to the back of your iPhone.
How it works: This tiny medical device attaches to the back of your iPhone and captures electrocardiograms (ECG or EKGs) via finger pads, storing them on your iPhone in the Kardia app. Kardia integrates with the Apple Health app to monitor your heart rate during exercise, and its SmartRhythm technology collects your heart rate and activity data from Apple Watch during workouts.
Who it's for: People with heart concerns could benefit from KardiaMobile, because it measures more than just normal and irregular heartbeats, which is where the Apple Watch is limited. The KardiaMobile can detect atrial fibrillation, tachycardia and bradycardia, which gives users an additional layer of security.
Price: $99
Wahoo Tickr X
How it works: The Tickr X is a chest strap monitor with Bluetooth and ANT+. It tracks heart rate, calorie burn and rep count while monitoring both motion and intensity for accurate reporting. Connect the band directly to your Apple Watch and iPhone via Bluetooth, and it will send data to the Apple Workout and Apple Health apps, respectively.
Who it's for: Anyone who wants accurate heart-rate reporting from a chest strap sent to their iPhone or Apple Watch. Chest straps work well for runners, cyclists and other endurance athletes because they tend to be more accurate during exercise.
Price: $80
Scales and body composition trackers
Naked Labs Mirror
How it works: The Naked mirror is an at-home body scanner that uses infrared light to capture a 3D model of your body, which you can visualize on the Naked app. It fully integrates with Apple HealthKit, so you can see your body fat percentage, lean mass, waist circumference, and weight in the Health app.
Who it's for: People who want to track body composition, including muscle mass and body fat, as well as their weight.
Price: $1,395
Withings Body+ Body Composition Scale
The Withings Body+ scale measures body composition and connects to any Apple device with iOS 8 or higher
How it works: This scale uses bioelectrical impedance analysis to measure body fat percentage, total body water percentage, muscle mass and bone mass. It connects to any Apple device with iOS 8 or higher, and the Withings Health Mate app can sync with Apple Health.
Who it's for: Anyone who wants to track body composition and needs a scale for more than one person -- Body+ can recognize up to eight users.
Price: $99.95
Withings Body Cardio Scale
How it works: Track and visualize body composition and cardiovascular health with this WiFi-connected smart scale.
Don't be surprised if your Body Cardio reports a higher heart rate than other devices. It reads the pulse in your feet, so it takes a standing heart rate rather than a sitting heart rate like a fitness watch does. It also uses Withings' Health Mate app to collect data, which you can integrate with Apple Health.
Who it's for: Anyone who needs or wants to track their heart rate, while also measuring body composition.
Price: $149.95
Thermometers
Withings Smart Thermometer
How it works: Withings' Thermo reads temperatures quickly and accurately, and automatically syncs with the Thermo app to keep logs of temperature readings. You can also log symptoms in the app, and uses those symptoms, plus your age and fever history, to offer advanced health advice, such as "Take 160 milligrams of ibuprofen every six hours."
Who it's for: Anyone who wants helpful care advice when they are running a fever, and wants a more sanitary thermometer -- the Thermo reads temperatures from the temporal vein in your forehead, so no need to stick it under your tongue.
Price: $99.95
Sleep trackers
Beddit Sleep Monitor
How it works: Beddit measures your bedtime, wake time, heart rate, breathing, snoring and bedroom temperature all through a flat 2-millimeter sensor strip. Sync the Beddit device with the Beddit app, and your data will get stored there and in the Health app. You can also sync Beddit to your Apple Watch to receive sleep report notifications and bedtime reminders.
Who it's for: Anyone who wants to track as many metrics about their sleep as possible in order to get a better night's rest.
Price: $149.95
Eight Sleep Pod
Eight Sleep's Pod delivers sleep stats to your iPhone and Apple Watch.
How it works: A step up from sleep monitors, Eight Sleep manufactures the Pod, a smart bed system that tracks biometrics and temperatures throughout the night. Out of many powerful features, my favorite is the thermo alarm, which wakes you up gradually and naturally by cooling the mattress temperature.
Who it's for: Anyone looking to improve sleep and performance, but especially high-level athletes. The Pod tracks over a dozen metrics that can be extremely useful for improving athletic performance, such as respiratory rate and sleep staging, and offers sleep coaching to further improve sleep. The Pod is also a good choice for people who want a temperature-controlled bed.
Price: Starting at $1,995
Read more: How to tell if you have sleep apnea
Blood pressure monitors
Omron Evolv Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor
How it works: Compact and clinically accurate, the Evolv wirelessly connects via Bluetooth to the Omron Connect app.The app logs blood pressure readings over time, so you can see a history and identify patterns.
Who it's for: Anyone who needs a portable blood pressure cuff with multiple features, including an irregular heartbeat detector and blood pressure risk monitor.
Price: $100
Withings Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor
How it works: Slip on the Withings cuff, turn it on, and the Health Mate app will automatically launch on your iPhone after you've connected the two devices via Bluetooth. Set reminders in the app to develop a routine to check your blood pressure and email PDFs of your readings to your doctor with just a few taps.
Who it's for: Anyone who wants or needs a portable blood pressure cuff that offers easy-to-read feedback and the ability to share readings with their doctor.
Price: $99.95
QardioArm Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor
The QardioArm blood pressure monitor offers advanced statistics, such as geotracking for blood pressure readings.
How it works: Another sleek and portable blood pressure monitor, the QardioArm connects to the Qardio App, which can fully integrate with Apple Health. This monitor does what every other blood pressure monitor does, but with a few advanced features: triple measurement and geotracking, so you can see how your blood pressure changes at work, at home or on vacation.
Who it's for: Anyone interested in deeper analytics about how their blood pressure changes overtime and in different situations.
Price: $99
Glucose monitoring
One Drop Chrome Blood Glucose Monitoring Kit
How it works: The One Drop Chrome starter kit comes with a Bluetooth-connected glucose meter, lancing device, carrying case, 25 test strips and 10 lancets. Once connected, the monitor automatically sends your glucose readings to the One Drop mobile app, which analyzes blood sugar, medications, daily activity and diet – available on iPhone and Apple Watch.
You can tag readings as pre-meal, post-meal or fasting; schedule reminders to help you stay on track with readings; get personalized recommendations to keep your blood sugar in check; and receive predicted future blood sugar trends from One Drop's AI technology.
Who it's for: Anyone who needs a portable and organized way to measure blood sugar.
Price: $69.95
And so much more
My Skin Track UV
How it works: A tiny clip-on sensor, My Skin Track UV and its companion app measure everyday factors that affect our skin, including UV index, heat, humidity, pollution and pollen. It then delivers personalized skincare advice based on your skin type, tone, conditions and concerns. Download the app, create an account and sync the sensor to your iPhone.
Who it's for: Anyone who wants to track their sun exposure and create healthier skincare habits.
Price: $59.95
Masimo MightySat Fingertip Pulse Oximeter
How it works: An oximeter measures the oxygen levels in your blood, also called your oxygen saturation. The MightySat measures this plus a few other markers, including pulse and respiration rate. It collects this data in the Masimo Personal Health app, which integrates with Apple Health. Based on your oximeter measurements, Masimo will recommend changes in diet, activity, sleep and more.
Who it's for: Anyone who wants or needs deep insights into their breathing patterns or a different (other than heart rate) way to measure health and fitness.
Price: $299