Hilo by Aktiia Reviews 

A bit of bait and switch. If you look at the reviews, the reviewers have a nice band. When I bought my unit, the web page showed a nice band. What you get are two itchy velcro straps that are not very comfortable. When I approached the company on this, they first offered to provide me with the band shown in the order page. Over time, that offer was delayed until they finally said... forget the offer of making things right. That said, the thing seems to work. The app works 75% of the time (it often fails to connect to the iPhone... just waiting usually gets a good link). The battery life is no where near advertised. I get about 4-5 days. I cannot see this company standing behind issues and know that it will be ewaste if it ever breaks or the battery wears out. Two stars since it works as advertised...even if it is not the product advertised.

I purchased the Hilo band for my mother some years ago, we have been using it for at least 3 years.

It is an invaluable tool. We started at a point where her blood pressure was regularly in excess of 140/100. Using the band is easy, it takes the readings and we were able to adjust her lifestyle accordingly. It helped us manage her health.

After using the band as an information tool, we cross check using clinical blood pressure equipment, her normal blood pressure is about 125/80 (if often averages 120/70 which is excellent given her age).

I can’t recommend the product enough, you must use it correctly, and be disciplined, but it will be a game changer. For us, it has improved my mother’s health immensely and I thank Hilo for this.

The band itself is very well built, we have not had problems with the build. My only suggestion to the company is that it should offer a nylon material strap, I know many who find the silicon straps irate their skin.

When we have had to contact customer service, they have always been helpful.

The band told me I had dangerously high Blood Pressure twice and sent me to the ER for no reason. Upon realising the band was faulty, I have tried getting the product refunded however, it has been over 2 months since I have sent the product back and still have not received my refund. My emails are now being ignored and they do not seem interested in providing the refund as they advertise.

The Hilo app was working fine on my iPhone 16, I upgraded to the iPhone 17 and now I can’t do readings from my wrist band using the iPhone 17, I use the cuff to read and I don’t believe the readings are true, customer service is useless, £200 down the drain, seeking a alternative..

Useless. Has not synced or functioned at all since arriving. Chatbots on the website are not helpful. Don’t waste your money. $300 trashed….

My Hilo Band had been working ok for 4 months, then suddenly stopped charging.

I liked the 24 hour BP tracking. Although not totally aligned with my home BP readings, it works out the overall average and was close enough.

But, like others noted, the response from Customer Services is poor. AI chat bot has responded twice, asked for photos of the charger and band and told me I am in the queue for a real human to make contact. But no luck, so it’s now 5 weeks since my band worked. Pretty shocking customer service.

I am contacting you because I believe my experience with the Hilo blood pressure monitoring device raises wider questions about the accuracy of the product, the claims being made about it, and the level of due diligence undertaken by organisations associated with it.

I purchased the device in April, partly because of its association with and endorsement by the British Heart Foundation. That association gave me confidence that the product had been appropriately assessed and that its blood pressure measurements could be relied upon.

Unfortunately, my first device failed due to a sealing issue and I subsequently had to purchase a replacement. I then became concerned about the accuracy of the replacement and tested it over a number of weeks on my wife, comparing its readings with a conventional upper-arm blood pressure monitor.

Her blood pressure was consistently around 102/65, yet the Hilo reported an average of approximately 144/80, including a reading of 150/85.

These are substantial discrepancies for a device whose primary purpose is to monitor blood pressure. I am concerned about the potential consequences for consumers if such readings are not accurate or clinically reliable.

I raised my concerns directly with Hilo and was told I would receive a response within 3–5 days. That period has now passed considerably without a substantive response or explanation.

I am particularly interested in whether other consumers have experienced similar problems and whether the accuracy and reliability of the device have been independently assessed to an appropriate standard before it was marketed and associated with a major health charity.

I would be interested to know whether the Financial Times would consider investigating Hilo, its marketing and claims, its relationship with the British Heart Foundation, and the experience of consumers such as myself.

I can provide photographs, blood pressure readings, correspondence with Hilo and details of my testing if these would be of interest.

Kind regards,

Pete

I had problems with getting the band to work and had a complicated slow troubleshooting process for 2 weeks. They determined that I needed a new band but have continually said that they are waiting for administrative approval for the last 5 weeks. Customer service is slow to reply and disjointed. I have a non-working product and they do not seem to care.

Band just 10 months old and after not wearing it for a month tried charging up and it refused to do so, tried multiple methods of low power charging, trickle charging but nothing. Tried contacting customer support , live chat not working had to go through WhatsApp and afte4 pointless chats with an Ai agent, sent a direct email and sent photos and videos of the problem, no response, ai agent tells me there’s a 4 day backlog, a week later still no response. Very disappointing total lack of real human communication.

The band itself works fine and seems accurate. I can only give three stars however because of two issues. The strap supplied is too small and customer service is in my case non existent.

A.I. Just states the obvious, then passes you on to WhatsApp where I haven't had a reply in a week.

Looking at other reviews, both these issues seem quite common. Regard the strap I've had to order a bigger one so thats another thirty pounds spent, which seems to be their answer to this common issue anyway with " take a look at our accessories page". Would it be too much to ask for customer service to a) Respond in the first place b) Compromise on supply of a bigger strap with a better price out of good will?

So overall, the product is fine, after sales support is very poor.

Poor customer service

I returned a faulty Hilo cuff after it was consistently giving blood pressure readings around 20 points higher than my normal/traditional cuff. This is apparently an issue other customers have experienced as well.

Hilo provided a return label and I sent the faulty cuff back expecting a replacement. Instead, due to an administrative error on their side, they refunded my entire order.

After delays in getting responses and updates, I was then offered 20% off a new Hilo kit — essentially asking me to pay again to resolve an issue that wasn’t my fault.

Having now seen the number of similar reviews and complaints, I honestly think I’ve dodged a bullet. I’m disappointed with how the situation was handled, but ultimately I’m glad I received a full refund and won’t be relying on the product going forward.

I’ve still got an open case with them which they’re trying to resolve, However communication is around a week between emails.

I would recommend this product but unfortunately when I do try and refer a friend it never works. The company have terrible customer service and poor communication. Come on Hilo you'd sell much more if you upped your customer service, it's not hard!

The product solves a real problem and has a lot of potential, but it still needs significant improvements.

In my case, the estimated measurements from the wristband have never matched either the Hilo cuff or my Omron cuff, consistently showing much higher values.

I reported this issue several times, but I never received a clear explanation or a solution. Instead, the support team suggested the problem was with my Omron device, which is one of the leading blood pressure monitors on the market.

I hope the team continues improving both the product and the post-sales customer support, as I believe that is what will make it a truly solid solution.

Fatal flaw was that their cuff consistently read 15-20pts above my (doctor's office calibrated) home device. Further, their pricing locks you into a permanent subscription, for which there is little continued need (this should be a one-time purchase). Finally, the wristband only reads your BP when you're motionless, so completely useless for watching BP spikes when exercising or moving. Also, despite what you might think from their marketing materials, you can't get the wristband to give you an instant read at that moment. You have to wait a few hours and then look back (assuming you were motionless at the time). This feels like a good idea, marketed too soon.

I have been using the Hilo for just over two months. I have continued with my Omron measurements which I have used for 5+ years and it may only be 3 times per day (unlike the multiple Hilo measurements per day) but they differ significantly. The Hilo measurements are more favourable so I am questioning whether I need my medication and therefore which system to believe!

My partner has the Hilo and really likes the product. He referred me so I could buy one at 20% off plus he’d receive a reward voucher- referral code doesn’t work and customer service is non-existent for assistance with the above.
Do you want the business or not?

The Hilo export function does not actually export any data. It only exports a summary of the results. Other Blood Pressure systems, for example Oxiline, allow the user to export all the data via a .csv file. I've paid for 1 year; however, if the ability to export all the data is not enhanced I will not be renewing. There is little other benefit for the Hilo system if I'm only going to get a single data point for 1 day for my Cardiologist to review I can do that with Oxiline, without any subscription.

I have had a bracelet for a number of years and it seems to work very well, but the customer service if you have a problem is awful, it took ages to replace a broken wristband. Recently I left my charger in a hotel overseas, I ordered a new one from Hilo, it arrived later than expected, but once it arrived it failed to work. They do not reply to email, whatsapp, all you receive is, a member of the team will be with you. This is day 4

No one has got in touch with me, so the message below 8 days later is false..

My hilo band which ive been using 3 months has stopped taking readings after trying all troubleshooting options still not working.
Have messaged automated chat over a week ago and still no reply . Can't seem to get replacement band when looking online
Paid for year subscription what a waste of money and time . No support or communications won't recommend .

I received my Hilo band 3 days ago and was forced to enter a credit card for a year subscription although I already paid for the first year. Metrics I paid for were locked until I did so. Their cancellation policy will charge you for a full year if you forget to unsubscribe after a year and go 2 days into the new subscription. Returns essentially do not exist as you have to pay for return shipping and if a seal is broken on the packaging it is not returnable. Customer service is a chatbot that provides useless responses. The band that comes with the Hilo (S/M) is too large for me. I inquired about it and was advised to buy a L/XL? You have to wait 4-5 business days to speak with live support. Not what I expected for such a pricey device. Since it takes 4 days to calibrate I am not yet certain about the accuracy.