The Best Digital Blood Sugar Monitor for You

When you have diabetes, regular blood sugar monitoring is one of the most important things you can do to protect your health. But how you monitor your blood sugar matters. By knowing what to look for in a digital blood sugar monitor, you can set yourself up for success.  

What Is a Digital Blood Sugar Monitor? 

A digital blood sugar monitor is a handheld device that allows you to check your blood glucose levels anytime you choose and that displays your results on a digital screen. If the monitor has Bluetooth connectivity, it can also send the results to an app on your smartphone. Often, the apps associated with these monitors integrate with other health apps and will update your blood sugar values across your chosen applications and devices. 

When a digital blood sugar monitor is used routinely with its connected app, its benefits include:

• Allowing you and your healthcare team to assess how well your treatment plan is working
• Providing insight into how diet, exercise, sleep, illness, and medication affect your blood sugar
• Helping you determine if your blood sugar is too low or high to engage in certain activities, including exercise, driving, and operating heavy machinery
• Helping you reduce the risk of complications from undetected low or high blood sugar, including kidney disease, heart disease, nerve damage, and vision loss

A digital blood sugar monitor can give you a greater sense of control over your health and motivate you to practice healthy habits. With the right device, self-monitoring doesn’t have to be a hassle to get through. Instead, it can be empowering. 

Choosing the Best Digital Blood Sugar Monitor for You

While monitoring options have expanded tremendously in recent years, all digital blood sugar monitors aren’t the same. Traditional blood glucose monitors still require a multistep testing process using separate test strips and lancets. When you’re checking your blood sugar multiple times a day, keeping track of multiple components, finding a private location to test, and tracking down a safe disposal site for your used lancet can quickly become a hassle. All of this may discourage you from testing as often as you should. 

An automatic blood glucose monitor (ABGM) offers a better way. An ABGM is a digital blood sugar monitor that automates the testing process, eliminating the need for you to handle separate lancets and test strips. This innovative approach simplifies the monitoring process and makes it easier to manage your diabetes.

Automatic Blood Glucose Monitor	Traditional Blood Glucose Meter
Lancets and test strips are integrated into the system so you don’t have to handle them separately.	Prepping a separate lancet and test strip is needed each time you check your blood sugar.
To check your blood sugar, simply turn the monitor on and place your finger on the test port.	Checking your blood sugar is a multistep process that involves manually lancing your finger and applying the sample to the test strips.
It’s discreet. You can check your blood sugar virtually anywhere without everyone noticing.	Discreet testing requires finding a private location.
The simple testing process and self-contained cartridges may minimize the risk of user error and optimize accuracy.	Improper handling of test strips and insufficient or excessive blood samples may compromise accuracy.

The Right Monitor Simplifies Diabetes Management

A digital blood sugar monitor should make diabetes management easier, not complicate it. An ABGM like the POGO Automatic® Monitor is designed to do just that. 

POGO Automatic removes barriers to routine monitoring by offering an easy, fast, and accurate way to check your blood sugar. You simply load a 10-test cartridge into the monitor—there’s nothing else to carry with you. To check your blood sugar, just turn the monitor on and place your finger on the test port, and the monitor will automatically lance, collect blood, and give you accurate results quickly. When the test is complete, POGO Automatic retracts the lancet and test strip and queues up new ones for the next time you check your glucose. 

POGO Automatic features Bluetooth connectivity and comes with the free Patterns® for POGO Automatic app. When your results are uploaded to the app, you can easily see trends and share data with your healthcare team through the Patterns sharing circle feature. Patterns also imports data from many popular wellness apps, giving you the opportunity to better understand the relationships between your blood sugar and a range of health and lifestyle variables. 

Diabetes is complex, but with the right digital blood sugar monitor, checking your glucose levels doesn’t have to be.

Jaclyn Owens Jaclyn Owens is a product director specializing in diabetes management tools. She is committed to using technology to empower people with diabetes and help them take control of their health.

All content on this website is for educational purposes only and does not replace the guidance of your healthcare practitioner. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new healthcare regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.