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Posted by Steve in Blood Pressure Articles on July 24, 2007 | 18 responses | permalink

Omron M4 blood pressure monitor

In early 2004 I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, and my doctor told me to buy a home monitor. I bought an Omron M4. This is a review of the monitor, but firstly a disclaimer; I am not a medical professional, I am not an expert on blood pressure monitor machines … this is just a review by a user of the monitor.

blood pressure monitor

Above is a photo of my Omron M4 monitor.

Overall I have been happy with the monitor.

Accuracy

I believe the monitor is accurate. I have taken it to a doctor. He took my blood pressure on one arm, and I used the omron monitor on my other arm. The readings were very close.

I recently found a website, the dabl Educational Trust which rates different blood pressure monitors. (Click on the “Device Tables” link, then click on “Upper Arm Devices for Self Measurement of Blood Pressure”). It gets a “questionable” rating from them, while the Omron M5-I gets a “Recommended” rating.

Battery Life

I am only on my second set of batteries. I have been impressed, in fact surprised at how long a set of batteries lasts (It takes 4 AAs). Being mechanical, I would have thought that the pump would have drained the batteries very quickly, but they have lasted far longer than I would have guessed.

It has an indicator that lets you know when the batteries are low.

Usage

Using the monitor is simple. There is a green strip on the cuff which I line up with my elbow. It doesn’t seem overly sensitive to how the cuff is orientated.

Once the cuff is in place, one button turns the monitor on, and after a couple of seconds of warming up … I press the “Start” button.

It inflates the cuff, then deflates it, then displays the reading (alternating with my pulse reading).

The whole thing takes about 40 seconds. There is also a one reading memory. You can turn it on, press the “Memory” button, and it will display the last blood pressure reading it took (but not the last pulse reading).

Summary

Overall I am happy with the monitor. I beleive it is accurate, it has good battery life and is easy to use. It would be better if the screen was large enough to display both the blood pressure readings and the pulse reading at the same time, instead of alternatively flashing between them.

One last piece of advice. Do not pick the monitor up by the cuff. The cuff’s tube is only loosely connected to the monitor. I found this out the hard way!

Related Resouces

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18 Responses to “Review of my Omron M4 blood pressure monitor”

  1. Gene Grabowski says:
    December 23, 2009 at 9:30 am

    where can I check to see if my omron blood pressure kit is still giving correct blood pressure readings

    Reply
    • Steve says:
      December 23, 2009 at 11:13 am

      Hi Gene,

      I would take it with you to your next doctor’s appointment. My Dr. has me take a reading with my own monitor while she takes my blood pressure on my other arm.

      You could also try taking it to your local chemist/pharmacy/drug store, or other community event where you can have your blood pressure taken. My pharmacy schedules days when there is a nurse present to check people’s blood pressure. This is also a good opportunity to check that your monitor is still accurate.

      Hope this helps! Steve

  2. TOM STEWART says:
    January 22, 2010 at 1:49 pm

    Using a comparison between 2 arms
    to calibrate a blood pressure meter
    is not a good idea.
    It is often the case that people
    have different readings in their
    2 arms – by as much as 15 mm.
    Perhaps you could suggest reversing
    the measuring devices to the alternate
    arms and repeating the measurement
    to ensure a true calibration

    Reply
  3. Mick Berger says:
    May 23, 2010 at 7:54 pm

    I use an Omron Sem-2. I have just been diagnosed with high blood pressure. Can you tell me how many times a day and the time frequency when I should take readings.

    Thanks

    Mick Berger

    Reply
    • Steve says:
      May 24, 2010 at 11:32 am

      Hi Mick,

      We have a home monitoring guide, which answers lots of questions about blood pressure monitoring, on the following webpage:

      http://www.my-health-software.com/view/items/bp-home-guide.html

      As for how many readings to take per day, this can depend on what your Dr. is looking for, and I would recommend asking your doctor for advice on this. A common regime is to take one reading per day at the same time each day. While you are getting used to your monitor’s accuracy, you may want to take two or three readings at the same time, and take a note of them all.

      Hope this helps!
      Steve

    • Harry Stuber, MD says:
      February 3, 2011 at 8:49 am

      I just took my Omron HEM-711 out of the drawer where I put it back in the fall, thinking my BP meds were doing a good job (they were- then). But a recent elevated reading at a specialist’s office suggested I re-evaluate. So today I started readings just as I got up, and through the day I have already collected 7 of them. Took my morning meds at the time of the first one, plan about another 5 or so until I go to bed. The idea is to average them out, weekday, weekend, bad day, good day, and not get too excited about any single one. That average should be, like, 140/90 or lower, 130/80 if you have high risk conditions, like diabetes. Keep a log is a good suggestion.

  4. Chatree Sittigul says:
    June 27, 2010 at 1:11 pm

    I also have been using Omron M4 for many years. I measure my blood pressure everyday before taking a medicine in the morning. After I bought this Omron and used it and I told the result to my doctor. My doctor did not believe it. So I took it to him and monitored it with his device twice. The results of both measuring turned out the same. Then the doctor finally told me that Omron M4 worked alright. So, I am very happy to have Omron M4 with me.
    Chatree
    Chiang Mai, Thailand.

    Reply
  5. John P says:
    November 19, 2010 at 7:05 am

    I have been using an Omicron M4 for a few years. Recently it has been regularly coming up with “EE” and then descending numbers rather than the BP readings. I don’t think it’s the batteries but it must be some sort of error message. All ideas welcome.

    Reply
    • Steve says:
      November 19, 2010 at 12:17 pm

      Hi John,

      I occasionally see the “EE” error. Usually I just reposition the cuff a bit, try again and get an actual reading.

      Have you tried it on your other arm?

  6. John S. says:
    November 20, 2010 at 6:50 am

    There are many causes for an ERROR message. See page 9 of the owner’s manual

    http://www.bloodpressuredirect.co.uk/OmronM4.pdf

    Reply
  7. Pete Reynolds says:
    June 9, 2011 at 1:34 am

    Been using the M4 for five years since being diagnosed with kidney failure and requiring dialysis three times per week.
    Take my BP regularly. I endorse all Steve’s comments, it’s a great little machine. Only recently (2 months) replaced the batteries for the first time.
    Incidentally I have my BP taken prior to and after dialysis treatment and the readings are almost always comparable to those I take at home.

    Reply
  8. Kaps says:
    August 7, 2011 at 2:59 am

    Hi. I am using Omron Sem-2. It inflates to 138 and always give ~=20 less than the actual BP. Please suggest if i can do something to correct this……

    Reply
    • Steve says:
      August 8, 2011 at 8:30 am

      Hi Kaps,

      Have you tried contacting Omron? If it is still under warranty they should replace it for you.

      Good luck!
      Steve

  9. Alf, Essex says:
    December 10, 2011 at 4:51 am

    Hello,
    I have just bought an OmronM2 Basic and been trying it out to get used to it. At the moment after about 14 readings (2 per day) I get average results of 177 over 58. This seems to contradict expected norm of 140 over 80. I am sure I have it working properly. Could there be a reason for this?
    Thank you.

    Reply
    • Steve says:
      December 10, 2011 at 3:36 pm

      Hi Alf,

      Your best bet is to take the monitor with you to a Doctor’s appointment. They will be able to check its accuracy with you.

      If the monitor is accurate, your doctor is the best source of information on the reasons for it.

      Hope this helps!
      Steve
      My Health Software support

  10. Alf, Essex says:
    December 12, 2011 at 4:50 am

    Thanks, Steve.
    I will do as you suggest.
    PS: will my e-mail address remain on your webpage, as it is now (prefer not to).

    Reply
    • Steve says:
      December 12, 2011 at 1:57 pm

      Hi Alf,

      > will my e-mail address remain on your webpage, as it is now
      > (prefer not to).

      Your email address is not showing on the webpage. What you may be seeing is your web browser auto filling the comment form with your email address, but this is only visible to you, no one else can see it.

      Steve
      My Health Software support

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