Hypertension, which is also known as high blood pressure, is a silent killer. According to the W.H.O., more than a billion adults have the condition, and almost half of them are unaware they have it. Fortunately, technology has once again come to the rescue in the form of the Hilo Band, a discrete tech-packed wristband that monitors your blood pressure levels while you are awake or sleeping. Given our penchant for all things relating to health and wellness, we decided to put it to the test.
The Staggering Numbers
The most recent estimates reveal that as of 2025, there are likely 1.376 billion people with hypertension, and a staggering 619.2 million of them have gone undiagnosed. It’s a frankly scary set of numbers, given that hypertension or high blood pressure can lead to heart failure, a stroke, vascular dementia, kidney disease and even blindness.
Although some readers may think that the high number of people with the condition is likely due to modern life’s fast, unrelenting pace and the stress it is putting on our minds and bodies, they’d, at best, only be partially correct. Although stress can be a factor, the leading causes of hypertension are a person’s lifestyle, genetics, age, and ethnicity.
When we look at the above primary factors, the simplest one to address is lifestyle.
An unhealthy diet, tobacco use, which also includes vaping, a lack of physical activity, being classed as obese, excessive alcohol consumption, and experiencing chronic stress can all lead to developing the condition.
In an ideal world, it would be great if all you needed to do was make sensible lifestyle changes. Sadly, this isn’t the case, so having something like the clinically validated, regulatory and peer-reviewed Hilo Band is vital to help you understand what your body is telling you.
About The Hilo Band Test Subject
My wife and I take our health very seriously, which has led us to make dramatic changes in our lives, from what we eat and drink to exercise, focusing on our mental health, and much more. Through these lifestyle changes, I am confident I am in good health; however, the only way to know is through expert analysis.
As luck would have it, my Doctor recently offered to perform a complete health check-up on me, and the results showed that I had nothing to be concerned about and the chance of me developing something debilitating in the future was negligible. With the vast numbers of people suffering from high blood pressure, I should consider myself lucky.
Although my staying out of the statistics is partly due to my lifestyle, it is likely more down to my genetics. Plus, I have thousands of hours of meditation practice under my belt, dramatically reducing my ability to get stressed or anxious.
However, just because my doctor has read my blood pressure and informed me it was in a healthy range, and although I maintain what some would consider an uber-healthy lifestyle, what my research revealed took me by surprise:
I discovered that people like my wife and I who engage in a healthy lifestyle, such as eating all the right foods, taking supplements, avoiding alcohol and exercising daily, can still unknowingly have hypertension. The condition is often asymptomatic, showing no symptoms, hence the high number of undiagnosed cases.
Also, having an annual health check-up, which includes taking one’s blood pressure readings, will not rule out hypertension, as the reading could have been taken on what one could consider a ‘good day’.
The only way a medical professional can accurately determine whether you have the condition is by taking multiple readings on different days throughout the year, which is impractical.
An alternative would be to purchase a traditional blood pressure cuff similar to what a doctor would use; however, I’m sure anyone doing this would soon find putting it on and sitting down multiple times daily a time-consuming chore. Clearly, the most sensible option is to invest in a device like the Hilo Band, which constantly monitors blood pressure. This will undoubtedly bring peace of mind and help one stay ahead of the curve.
Hands-on with the Hilo Band System
When the Hilo Band system arrived, the box it came in was considerably heavier than I had expected. I thought I would get just a band, a charger cable, instructions, and a guide to downloading and using the app and system. I was surprised that alongside what I had expected was the Hilo Cuff, which is similar to the blood pressure monitoring system used on me during my recent health check-up.
After reading through the instructions, installing the app and charging the band and cuff, I was ready to proceed with the initialisation process.
I placed the cuff on my upper arm, checked that it was connected to the app via BlueTooth and clicked start. With me seated in a comfortable position and my arm placed as per the instructions, the wireless cuff started to firmly inflate and deflate.
After a few minutes, the Hilo Band software had the necessary blood pressure readings to be used as the benchmark numbers. I was pleased to see that it aligned with my Doctor’s recent reading.
After packing the cuff away in the box, all that was left was to strap on the Hilo Band, which is positioned a couple of centimetres below the wrist, and I was ready to go.
The Data
The Hilo Band uses optical sensors to detect signals from the wrist and calculates blood pressure using Pulse Wave Analysis. It tracks the wearer’s blood pressure and heart rate automatically twenty-four hours a day and provides detailed feedback (see images below).
When clicking on the hourly markers on the daily chart, I saw that the Hilo band had taken readings up to seven times, perhaps more during the hour.
The app is super simple to use and understand. The initial screen shows the user’s average blood pressure, how long they have been in their target range and their average resting heart rate.
Another feature on this screen is the option to share or download a comprehensive blood pressure report, which can be forwarded to friends, family, or even your Doctor.
At the top right of the home screen is the ‘Details’ option, which, when clicked, displays a graph and the option of viewing daily, weekly, and monthly data and the average day and night readings. In addition, it also has a notes section that the user can fill out to help track what could’ve caused a higher reading.
I found this feature to be very handy. On my second day of using the system, I found a queen wasp walking along the floor in the corridor. Fortunately, I was able to get my hands on a clear plastic container, which I planned to place over it, which would allow me to carefully put it outside. What I didn’t expect was for it to start flying before I had a chance to use the container, with an agitated buzz at and around me!
What followed was some frantic ducking and diving before we came to a mutual accord. After many minutes, it finally decided it had more than enough fun with me and flew out of the open door.
When I next opened the app, and after it synced with the Hilo Band, I saw that during ‘wasp-time’, my blood pressure and heart rate were above normal, which was a very positive sign. It’s the same when I go hiking with my wife, etc.
After two weeks of use, I barely noticed that I was wearing the band; it’s out of sight under my sleeve and weighs practically nothing. Thanks to its excellent battery life, I still had 30% capacity left after a fortnight’s use.
The data has been super-helpful, and when delving into it, patterns have emerged, such as 2:00 to 4:00 a.m., when my blood pressure readings drop the most.
Although the Hilo Band is a CE-marked Class IIa medical device, I am not in a position to verify how accurate the readings are. However, based on my recent health check-up and the readings I get from my Muse EEG meditation device, which also measures my heart rate, I am in the confident camp.
Final Thoughts
My research has uncovered that hypertension is far and away the most common threatening medical condition globally, ranking ahead of obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, Alzheimer’s, dementia and even depression. Yet, given how common it is and its dangers, it doesn’t get anywhere near the coverage from the mainstream press when compared to the less common medical conditions I’ve listed above.
Hypertension is rightly called the ‘silent killer’, reinforced by the ‘fact’ that approaching half of the world’s adults with it are undiagnosed. At under £200, I view the Hilo Band as an ideal early warning system that could help put you on the right path before it’s too late.
Even if a medical practitioner has given you a clean bill of health, I’d still consider getting one, as age and modern-day lifestyle choices are putting pretty much everyone at risk of joining the billion+ people with it.
Hilo Band – Where and How?
The Hilo Band is currently being offered at a discounted price of £188.99 and can be purchased directly from the website www.hilo.com.
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