Kardia problem with new (to me) phone.

[momist]

Hi everyone. I've long been a supporter of the Kardia device which I bought within two days of having paroxysmal AF diagnosed a few years ago. I'm on the list for an ablation, which would have happened next month if it weren't for the current crisis.

The Kardia worked fine with my old android smart phone at that time, a Samsung S4 mini (and the previous Vivacity). At only one year and a few days old - just out of warranty - that phone died on me. I replaced it with a Motorola G5, which at the time was available at a bargain price, and seemed to tick all the boxes for what I then needed. The Kardia worked fine with that, and also with the Huawei M3 tablet I bought to replace an old Tesco Hudl2 which had also worked without problems.

Last week my Motorola started complaining that it didn't have enough storage (8GB + 32GB SDCard), and I had to start being more selective about which Apps I kept on there. This problem escalated rapidly, I suspect that part of it's memory was failing. So, time for a replacement phone. Being a long time cheapskate, I chose to buy a 'refurbished' phone from one of the re-sellers of such equipment, EnviroPhone. Advertised as Excellent condition, and with 128GB of storage, I chose the OnePlus 5T which matched my wife's phone and which had impressed me greatly with it's speed and general abilities. Sadly, I didn't think to try the Kardia app on her phone first. You've guessed by now, the Kardia will not work with this Android phone, even with noise cancelling turned off in the 'phone' settings. I have no doubt that the new 6 lead Kardia will not have problems, as it uses Bluetooth for communication instead of the microphone to receive ulstrasound.

Now this is not too much of a problem for me, as I can still use the Kardia with my tablet, and during lockdown I don't need to take it with me anywhere. I also have a Withings Move ECG activity watch which can take an ECG for me, but the battery has finally run out and I'm still awaiting a replacement. Of course, you cannot get a jeweller to replace watch batteries just now.

I thought a quick post here might serve to inform others to be careful when replacing an old phone, and don't choose the OnePlus 5T, or probably any other recent OnePlus.

[Dodie117]

Oh dear. Have you checked with Roche to ask why?

[momist in reply to Dodie117]

No, but I doubt that I would get any response other than "use an Android phone from our list". The usual blame is given to microphone noise cancelling software filtering out the ultrasound, and that might still be the case. The only place I can turn off the noise cancelling is in the 'phone' settings, not an overall setting for the microphone when in use by other apps.

As I said, I'm not too worried, as my tablet gives me the access I need. The new battery for my Withings watch arrived today, so if I can open the watch and change the battery successfully, the Kardia (and FitBit) will be retired into a drawer again until needed in the future. I much prefer the convenience and appearance of the Withings.

[Dodie117 in reply to momist]

Interesting re the watch. Hadn’t heard of it. Do you know how it rates compared to kardia?

[momist in reply to Dodie117]

How it rates? I don't care. I prefer it. It gives me a totally satisfactory solution to activity tracking and also ECG available on demand at any time. No continuous heart rate or other health monitors, but it does track sleep quality and duration. It's attractive to look at, slimmer and more comfortable to wear than my FitBit and I don't have to have my phone with me to do an ECG scan, only need the phone afterwards to be able to see it. I can save the scan to my Dropbox and send it on to my doctor when I need to. I will say that it doesn't track ALL activity, only steps when actually walking, whereas the Fitbit shows steps for just waving your arm around. To me that's an improvement. Waterproof, tracks cycling and swimming activities, and runs off a coin cell which they say 'can last a year'. The one it came with lasted just over 6 months.

I replaced the battery just now successfully, so the Fitbit and Kardia are going back in the drawer.

There's a newer model coming out, which does continuous heart monitoring, but that's a rechargeable which probably doesn't last a week, and will be heavier and thicker - not for me!

[Dodie117 in reply to momist]

Thanks. Interesting