Home health devices
A plain-English guide to the devices people use at home — pulse oximeters, CPAP machines, sleep trackers and hearing aids. What the readings mean, which features are worth paying for, and when to stop reading and call your doctor.
Explore
Every guide on the site, grouped by the device in your hand.
Comparisons
Two devices, side by side, compared on the things that actually differ.
Fresh
Newest first.
The calorie number is the least accurate thing your fitness tracker shows you. In a Stanford study of seven wrist devices, the typical calorie error ran…
Method
Home health gadgets are sold on features that sound impressive and rarely matter. These are the five things I actually check.
A consumer oximeter has a margin of error. If a device cannot tell 94% from 90%, its readout is decoration.
Screen size, contrast and whether the display rotates. It is one of the most common complaints in owner reviews, and spec sheets almost never mention it.
Cold hands, thick fingers, nail polish, tremor. All of them change whether a fingertip device works at all.
Whether it needs an app, an account, or a subscription to show you your own readings.
Every guide here says plainly at what point a device is no longer the right tool and you need a clinician.
