If you’re diabetic, you may have to keep a tab on your blood glucose levels regularly. However, traditional methods of measuring sugar levels are intrusive, and you must prick yourself every time to get a reading. Having to do this every day or even multiple times a day can be painful. Thankfully, diabetic patients can buy some of the best smartwatches with a blood sugar monitor to gauge their health seamlessly.
Unfortunately, there are very few smartwatches for diabetics that are accurate. Nonetheless, we’ve zeroed in on the best glucose monitor watches that will help you determine your sugar levels without having to experience any sort of pricks or pain. But before we get to them –
- Keep a constant tab on your BP using smartwatches with blood pressure monitoring.
- If you’re prone to Atrial Fibrillation, consider getting a smartwatch with ECG support.
- Track your children’s activity metrics using a smartwatch for kids.
Disclaimer: While smartwatches can paint an approximate picture of your health metrics, they are not medical-grade equipment. Hence, you cannot rely on them for accurate readings. There may be discrepancies in readings obtained from the below-mentioned smartwatches and professional blood glucose monitors. If you feel unwell, it’s always best to consult a doctor for an accurate diagnosis.
1. TK12 ECG + PPG Smartwatch
- Compatibility: Android and iOS
- Battery life: 4 days
- Water resistance: Nil
If you want a basic smartwatch to track your blood sugar levels, the TK12 is the way to go. While its UI doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence, it makes up for it with plenty of health monitoring features.
Along with measuring blood glucose, the TK12 offers blood pressure monitoring and ECG support, making it a complete package to keep tabs on your health. Note that apart from the key features, the smartwatch’s ‘smart’ abilities leave something to be desired.
For instance, the watch doesn’t ship with a ton of built-in watch faces. Additionally, the notifications don’t reach the wrist in a prompt fashion. You will also miss out on some common features like a remote camera shutter that is available with much more affordable smartwatches. If you can look past these omissions, the TK12 serves its purpose well. Apart from blood sugar monitoring and EKG, features like the body temperature sensor and emergency alerts add more value to the TK12.
What We Like
- Lots of health features like EKG and BP monitoring
- Sends emergency alerts to relatives at the press of a button
What We Don’t Like
- Some basic smartwatch features don’t work well
- No water resistance
2. KS01 Blood Glucose Monitoring Smartwatch
- Compatibility: Android and iOS
- Battery life: 3 days
- Water resistance: IP67
The single biggest improvement the KS01 smartwatch brings over the TK12 is an IP rating. Thanks to the IP67 rating, you can use the KS01 smartwatch in the pool or while showering. The rest of the features are more or less similar.
In terms of design, the KS01 smartwatch has a boxier look compared to the TK12. Personally, we feel the TK12 looks more polished, while the KS01 has an industrial look. As for the health features, the KS01 also gets everything you need to keep a tab on your vitals. There’s a PPG sensor for glucose monitoring and the watch can also give you insights on your ECG and blood pressure.
Unlike the TK12, the KS01 is reported to work well with notifications and calls. Moreover, it’s smarter since it even has a built-in NFC chip. You can use this feature to make contactless payments or for commuting, which is a big bonus. Thanks to all the added features, you’ll have to charge the KS01 more frequently than the TK12, which is understandable. The UI is slightly sluggish, too, but the watch ships with a sizeable display that makes text more legible.
What We Like
- Good set of health monitoring sensors
- Built-in NFC for payments
What We Don’t Like
- The UI is sluggish
3. IntelliBP Smartwatch
- Compatibility: Android and iOS
- Battery life: 5 days
- Water resistance: IP67
One of the key factors why you should pick up IntelliBP’s smartwatch is its accuracy and precision. While there’s nothing different in how blood sugar levels are measured, the IntelliBP smartwatch reports the most accurate ECG thanks to physical leads that go onto your body.
Just like an actual ECG machine, the IntelliBP smartwatch connects to an external probe. This probe then plugs into a chest sticker that needs to be placed on your chest. As a result, you get a more accurate reading as opposed to a standard smartwatch that only measures ECG on your wrist.
The IntelliBP smartwatch then uses this data to analyze blood glucose levels better, too, since they’re related. As for the rest of the features, the IntelliBP smartwatch can monitor your body temperature, and SpO2 levels and even track your sleep. Most of the ‘smart’ features also work well, resulting in a well-rounded gadget.
What We Like
- Accurate blood pressure monitoring
- Reliable battery life
What We Don’t Like
- Only includes 10 sports modes
4. Huawei Watch 4 Pro
- Compatibility: Android
- Battery life: 4 days
- Water resistance: Up to 5ATM/30 meters
Undoubtedly, the Huawei Watch 4 Pro is the best standalone smartwatch among all the other options on this list. Then, why is it not the primary recommendation, you ask? Well, unlike all the other smartwatches mentioned above, the Huawei Watch 4 Pro doesn’t have a blood sugar monitoring sensor. Instead, it uses a workaround to estimate your glucose levels.
Huawei’s ‘hyperglycemic risk assessment’ feature measures 10 vital signs of increased blood sugar levels within 60 seconds. However, the watch does not give you a reading of your blood sugar levels. Instead, it notifies you of a possible fluctuation in your blood sugar levels whenever it detects something abnormal. There’s no official word on how Huawei is pulling this off, so if you need a reliable smartwatch to measure blood sugar levels, we recommend picking up any of the alternatives mentioned above.
Moreover, if you see the list of compatible devices, you’ll realize the Huawei Watch 4 Pro works best when connected to an Android device. While you can still pair it with an iPhone, most features, like the ability to reply to notifications and download apps, won’t work.
All said and done, the Watch 4 Pro is a good way to detect any early signs of diabetes, so if you ever get an alert, you might want to get tested. Additionally, the Huawei Watch 4 Pro is brimming with features and it even has an attractive design, which is excellent.
What We Like
- Has the ability to download apps
- Beautiful design
What We Don’t Like
- The blood sugar monitoring feature is not reliable
Stay Safe and Healthy
Unfortunately, non-invasive glucose monitoring still has a long way to go — at least on smartwatches. There can be accuracy issues with even the best smartwatches with blood sugar monitors, which might make them unreliable. If you still want an accurate blood sugar reading without pricking yourself daily, you might want to consider continuous glucose monitoring or CGM sensors that last for a few weeks.
