I'm looking at upgrading my Android smartphone from an aging Sony Experia Z to a mid price range phone, around £300 plus (unlocked and SIM Free). My criteria in this exercise, based on my needs - is little or no bloatware, long ish battery life, reasonable camera and a 5.5 inch screen. However, it has occurred to me to get some thoughts from Android users on how well Kardia works on Android smartphones or whether it devours the phones onboard systems to the exclusion of all else the phone has to offer.
Any thoughts (whether from Android or Apple users) on Kardia would be welcome.
The Kardia unit converts electrical signals from your fingertips into ultrasound which is picked up by the phone's microphone. The software on the phone processes the input and generates an ECG chart which is displayed on the phone and can also be stored on the phone. When you are not running Kardia it doesn't use any resources other than the stored ECGs which take up minimal storage space.
From me... I have never noticed any difference in my phone at all!
I've got an Apple iPhone SE and Kardia works fine, doesn't seem to drain the battery, but I don't use it much to be honest. Main thing to save the battery is I've got quite a few apps turned off. Can't remember them all but things like the Health app, which used to monitor every step I took. I already know how much I walk in a day, don't need a phone to tell me.Some of those apps can be so active in the background they can cause your phone to overheat. Had that a couple of times.
The Kardia seems to work well with my ageing Samsung Galaxy s4 mini. It doesn't take up a lot of space and, at least at the level I use it (use every 1-2 days) doesn't noticeably affect battery life at all.
Hi guys and gals,
just want to thank you all for your comments on Kardia and Android - in fact for your comments generally.
Yes, I agree what you are saying about turning Apps off and/or using a battery saver app, I'm already down that track but its not been very effective. Certainly my Sony phone is seriously overheating, and worringly, when recharging, so it only gets recharged at a time when I can see it.
At this stage my preferred replacement phone is a Motorola Moto Z2 Play which from research I've undertaken suggests this and one or two other brands have very minimal 'bloatware' (all the extra crap installed in a phone at point of manufacture which are running all the time and are difficult to turn off) thus pointing to a more sound quality of battery life and phone performance. Bit more research ahead though before I make up my mind and make a purchase.
I bought an iPod touch especially to use my Kardia. it was quite cheap from curry’s about 125 -145 I think. I would have loved an iPhone but they are too expensive and a second hand one I bought conked out after about six weeks so I cannot bring myself to buy another one.
The touch works great with the kardia and really it’s like the advantages of the iPhone but I use a Motorola g 2nd gen which does what I need phone wise. I can only figure out how to do basic stuff on it but I manage fine with these two.
I made the touch a little case that holds my kardia as well. I also have a fab app on it called stepz that I use as a step counter after my up move stepper died. It’s brilliant and free, it works with the touch as it has a movement sensor.
I would defo replace the touch if it conked but touch wood it’s been fine up to now (about 18months).
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