DARIOSmart Glucose Monitor Kit | Test Blood Sugar Levels & Manage Diabetes, Testing Kit Includes: Glucometer with 25 Strips, 10 Sterile lancets (Lightning - For iPhones Up To 14 Only)

I rarely have the time or interest in writing product reviews. However, after some initial skepticism the Dario reader astounded me and has me convinced it’s the best on the market! It is designed and engineered so well, almost like a tiny flash thumb drive with everything you need to seamlessly use on the go. I can only imagine the case for it that I just ordered will heighten the experience.So just to be clear, I’m not diabetic nor in the pre-diabetic range. Since blood sugar is so important for weight loss and overall health I was interested in casual monitoring. I was looking at CGM (continual glucose monitors) like Levels, Signos, NutriSense but the cost of these programs really add up quick! Instead, I gave the ContourNext One a try. It’s also small and the test strips are similar. To be fair, I never synced it with the app but I really never got to that point. The design of this one is also compact and cute, however I had soooo many bad test strips and it constantly asked me to add more blood, which seemed weird being someone who isn’t used to all the finger pricking. I finally called them and they agreed to send me a replacement unit saying the one I had might defective. The replacement actually does work slightly better and I use it as comparison to the Dario to check that one of the units isn’t way off.Meanwhile, I decided to take a chance on Dario. From the get go the experience was fun interactive and light. It doesn’t have a clinical medical feel like the Contour, but in comparing the measurements they are both pretty spot on with each other. The app is super easy to navigate, and the reading takes very little blood and have had no bad strips. The lancet and pricking also seems more subtle but it’s consistent and I get the same amount of blood each time without feeling I have to stick myself again and again like with the Contour. I was just a tad off-put with how much personal info they wanted right away, however it felt more in a ‘startup tech’ kind of way not as an invasion of my medical privacy. Also, the app is full of useful tidbits of info and videos for regulating blood sugar and overall wellness without being too preachy. The A1c estimate after the first batch of readings is also helpful.Overall, great job Dario! I’ll probably be subscribing to get the unlimited test strips for at least a short while until I can really get a grasp of what foods spike glucose, my fasting glucose, glucose challenge/tolerance, etc. I may even try their BP monitor as well!

So found out that I'm a diabetic (no surprise, father is type 2 and found out in his 50s as well) so I immediately started looking for a tester that was pocket size, easy to use, and easy to read. I kept coming back to the Dario unit because I always have my phone with me and the fact that it just plugs into the phone and works with an app really impressed me. My only concern was how accurate it would be, and some of the reviews have been all over the place on accuracy. The only other concern was the proprietary nature of the strips themselves.I've not tried different strips in this, but since I've been using this for the last couple of months, the only real issue I've run into is sometimes, almost randomly, some of the strips read as having been used and they haven't been. It's maybe 2-3% total, so not significant but it always seems to happen at a bad time.Ease of use has been great, plug into the phone, open the app, insert strip, do the jab (the different settings are great, I have two fingers that only work on maximum so it's nice being able to adjust it) and then put a tiny amount on the strip. It doesn't take much blood at all, and the strips suck up the blood pretty quickly. I have to test on the run sometimes and it's nice that the bare minimum of blood is needed for a successful test.I got some test solutions to check accuracy and also compared it with the tester my doctor’s office uses and was quite happy to find that samples were generally within 5 points so accuracy hasn’t been an issue at all from what I can check.I got a case for it, but in a pinch I can carry it in a pocket without the case and still be able to test comfortably (I used it while at a basketball game in the stands without issue). It's so small even other diabetics see it and want to know what it is and how it works and get excited when I show them. For the price and simplicity of use and need for a tiny amount of blood I couldn't be happier with this device.