A new meter review

And an apology.  I have been seriously lacking in this regard.  Work's been busy, which is a good thing. 

So, Review #2.

This time I'm reviewing the Verio meter.  Not the IQ or the Flex, but the regular Verio.

I like this meter.  There are parts of it that I like compared to the Flex, and parts of it I don't like as much as compared to the IQ.  But all in all, the OneTouch systems are really nice devices.  Maybe their next one will be an integration of all the parts of these three. (hint, hint, OneTouch/LifeScan!!)

So, one of the great things about these three meters, the Verio, VerioIQ and the Verio Flex, is that they all use the same test strips.  Which is nice, though pretty typical across the board for most monitors.

It's a bit hefty - though I haven't weighed it (and I think I might, in order to compare it to others), which is surprising.  I mean, it's not heavy by any stretch of the imagination, but it's actually got a bit of weight to it.  

As you can see in the photo, navigation is with the grey up and down arrow button and to go back is the bottom arrow.  In order to power on the device without a test, you hold down the blue OK button at the top, as well as when making selections in the menu.

The screen is backlit, which I like if I'm testing in a dimly lit place, or at night (or early in the morning) and I don't want to turn on a lamp.  The screen is colour, and the contrast is really nice.

The photo doesn't really do the display justice, but you can see that the contrast is quite nice and the readout is easy to read.

 The results log is great and easy to navigate up and down.  Of course, if you want to keep track of your numbers in a chart, you need to manually enter it into either the OneTouch app or into another monitoring app.

The best is the easy to read averages that lets you know what your averages are and over how many results.  Since I'll be testing multiple monitors for this blog, the number of results is not going to be very high for may of the monitors.







As you can see here, the monitor comes much like the Flex did.  It's in a vinyl carrying case, with the lancing device and test strips held in, and then all packaged up in a nice case.  I won't lie - there were a few times I dropped the monitor out of the case and onto the tabletop because the monitor isn't anchored into the case.  Something OneTouch/LifeScan might want to consider for the future is perhaps putting a small strap in for the monitor to hook on to in the case. 

In comparison to the Flex, the thing I like best about this monitor is the backlit display and the ease of navigation.  However, as I mentioned in the review of the Flex, one thing I find missing from the Verio is the light in the slot for the test strop that the IQ has.  When you insert a strip in the IQ, the light turns on and you can use that light to see to test your blood, and to place the drop.  With the Verio, I had to use my phone's flashlight in the dark. (yes, I test these things, too).

My ideal LifeScan/OneTouch meter would incorporate the backlit display of the Verio and the IQ, the light of the IQ in the test strip slot, and the Bluetooth technology of the Flex.

OneTouch/LifeScan make great products, and their strips are pretty average in cost to the other meters, (if slightly more expensive, but really not significantly) and work in all three Verio monitors.

With this monitor, the biggest problem I had with it was actually just the lack of light in the top.  I love the backlit display - as I do with any backlit anything.