You probably get daily alerts from your wearable – ‘your HRV is low’, ‘you didn’t sleep well’, or ‘you may have high blood pressure’.
You glance at them.
You nod.
You move on.
But what do they really mean?
These days, wearing a device that can measure your heart rate, stress levels or tell you how well you slept is commonplace. However, the accuracy and origin of the data isn’t always clear, meaning one crucial aspect is missing: context. Several wearable devices now offer blood pressure (BP) monitoring as a key function, including the Apple Watch and Huawei G2. However, while these devices are able to give hypertension alerts, they don’t give context to the data by showing you the underlying measurement nor do they collect data continually, over an extended time period.
The Hilo Band is a medically approved and validated device that collects BP data continually throughout the day and night, and, importantly, presents it clearly, giving you both accuracy and context.
The Hilo Band is a clinically validated wearable that measures BP reliably and discretely.
Hypertension: the silent killer
High blood pressure is the world’s biggest cause of heart disease and early death.1
1.4 billion adults live with it.
Almost half don’t even know.
That’s why awareness – and accurate data – matter.
Getting an alert that you “may have hypertension” can be stressful. It pops up on your wrist, but offers no context – just worry. That’s because these alerts show risk, not results. To understand what’s really happening, you need reliable data collected over time.
What the Apple Watch hypertension alert actually means
If your Apple Watch displays “Possible Hypertension Detected” or that you may have high blood pressure, it means the device has seen pulse patterns that could point to raised BP – but it isn’t measuring it directly.
The Apple Watch doesn’t generate medical grade blood pressure measurements. It estimates risk using heart-rate and pulse-wave data. Doctors view this as a prompt to check your blood pressure properly, not as a diagnosis.
What to do when you see that alert
- Don’t panic – the alert is not a confirmed diagnosis.
- Sit down, relax, and wait before re-checking.
- Use a medically certified blood pressure monitor to get a real reading.
- Track your readings for several days.
- Speak with your doctor if they stay high.
The Hilo Band is the first over-the-counter, cuffless blood-pressure monitor cleared by both the FDA and the EU, and the only wearable that provides medical-grade, round-the-clock readings you can trust.
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Hilo App 2.6.0: Clearer BP Insights with Reliable Data
At Hilo, we’re continually looking to improve our app and data interpretation. In Version 2.6.0, we’ve made it even easier for subscribers to instantly understand their BP status, track progress week-by-week, and connect daily habits to outcomes. We’ve also simplified the user experience, enabling richer data insights in an easy-to-interpret way. Unlike wellness features in competitor devices, the Hilo Band delivers clinically validated BP data that you and your doctor can trust.
BP: Clearer at a glance
We’ve redesigned the BP view to make data clearer and aid interpretation. Average daily BP values are provided, alongside personalised insights. BP data are compared weekly, allowing you to see if your BP is tracking a healthy level, or whether you need to adjust your lifestyle to help your heart.
You can still see how BP varies over time; simply click the trending circle and you’ll have daily, weekly and monthly data at your fingertips, as well as a comparison between measurements taken during the day or overnight.
Time-in-Target Range: Available for all
The Time-in-Target-Range feature was once only available to users, but it’s now open to all users. Headline statistics show how much time your blood pressure stays within the healthy range, with a reminder of your ideal values should be. Colour-coded data points make it easy to spot any spikes or drops.
Why it matters:
Clinical research shows that the more time your blood pressure remains within healthy range, the lower your long-term risk of heart disease, stroke, and kidney problems.1
Heart rate data: As standard
Resting heart rate is also measured alongside blood pressure, showing you the correlation between the two. These are arranged into a daily, weekly and monthly format.
Lifestyle insights: Habits meet outcomes
New features include the “What’s having an impact” section, which is designed to help you see how lifestyle changes can impact upon your BP, and the “Monthly report”, which can be easily downloaded and shared with healthcare professionals.
In the monthly report, your data is shown in a simple summary table with your average blood pressure and resting heart rate. It also includes the standard deviation (SD), your highest and lowest readings, and the total number of measurements – all key for context. Daytime and nighttime results are shown separately, so you can see how your blood pressure changes across the day.
Trials: Simplified and aligned
Finally, we listened to customer feedback and simplified the trial experience to avoid confusion. We have simplified the returns policy to ensure you can build trust with your wearable.
Hilo: The wearable you can trust
Blood pressure tells a story.
About your heart.
About your habits.
About your future health.
The Hilo Band helps you capture that story — clearly and accurately. With version 2.6, the app moves beyond simple readings to show what your numbers mean day by day. By improving the user experience, expanding Time-in-Target-Range, and adding lifestyle insights, this update builds trust and keeps users engaged for the long term.
Ready to understand your numbers for real?
Explore the Hilo Band – the only cuffless wearable cleared by both the FDA and EU for continuous, medical-grade blood-pressure monitoring.
FAQs
Can the Apple Watch actually measure blood pressure?
No. It estimates risk using pulse and heart-rate data but does not perform direct blood-pressure measurement.
How accurate is the Apple Watch hypertension alert?
It can highlight possible risk, but it isn’t a medical reading. Always confirm results with a clinically validated device.
Which wearables are medically approved for blood-pressure tracking?
Currently, the Hilo Band is the only cuffless wearable cleared by both the FDA and the EU for medical-grade monitoring.
Footnotes
1 Hypertension is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease and premature death worldwide, with an estimated 1.4 billion adults aged 30–79 years worldwide having hypertension in 2024, representing 33% of the population in this age range. However, almost half of these patients (44%) don’t know they have it – because it’s often symptomless – and therefore can’t take steps towards controlling it.
Sources
J.-P. Choe, M. Kang (2025). Apple watch accuracy in monitoring health metrics: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Physiol. Meas., 46, 04TR01. https://doi.org.org/10.1088/1361-6579/adca82
Which wearable really measures blood pressure? Hilo vs WHOOP vs Apple Watch. Hilo. https://hilo.com/uk/art/hilo-vs-whoop-vs-apple-blood-pressure/ (Accessed October 2025)
Hilo Band. Hilo. https://hilo.com/uk/blood-pressure-monitor/ (Accessed October 2025)
How to use Hilo Band’s Time-in-Target-Range to understand cardiovascular risk. Hilo. https://hilo.com/uk/art/time-in-target-range-cardiovascular-risk/ (Accessed October 2025)
K. T. Mills, A. Stefanescu, J. He (2020). The global epidemiology of hypertension, Nature Rev. Nephrol., 16, 223. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-019-0244-2
Hypertension. World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hypertension (Accessed October 2025)
