It seems like there's a new digital health device announced every day. Last week alone, Melon finished a Kickstarter campaign for a wearable head band to track concentration and potentially sleep, Basis launched a mobile app to accompany its Basis Band and Glooko relaunched its mobile diabetes management device. Still, in an increasingly competitive market, a few digital health devices have gotten physical shelf space at some big name, big box, technology and retail pharmacy stores.
The MobiHealthNews team checked out local stores in the Boston area to see which of them carried digital health devices. Although this isn't a wholly comprehensive list of which digital health devices are in stores today, we think it serves as a helpful snapshot.
Read on to find out which stores had the most devices and what we found most often on store shelves.
Best Buy
By far, Best Buy had the largest collection of digital health devices, a likely effect of Best Buy's 2010 initiative to add mobile health, narrowly beating out the Apple Store. Fitbit Flex, a wearable activity tracker, was sold out at almost every store we went to and Best Buy was no exception. Some lesser known devices in the fitness and health section included Pear, a smart coaching device system (although it was out of stock), and Scosche Rhythm, an pulse monitoring armband. Displayed at the front of the store, large Fitbit and Jawbone displays bookended the shelves that held the other fitness products. Fitbit Zip tracks activity, while Fitbit One tracks activity and sleep. The Fitbit Aria WiFi Smart Scale tracks weight, body fat percentage and BMI. Other wearable activity trackers included BodyMedia Fit Link Armband, Jawbone UP, iHealth Wireless Activity and Sleep Monitor and Polar FT4. iHealth Wireless Body Analysis scale and Withings Smart Body Analyzer are wireless weight scales for adults, while Withings Smart Kid Scale monitors a child's growth. iHealth's Blood Pressure Wrist Monitor tracks and saves blood pressure data.
- Fitbit: Fitbit One, Fitbit Zip, Fitbit Aria WiFi, Fitbit Flex (out of stock)
- iHealth: Wireless Blood Pressure Wrist Monitor, Wireless Body Analysis Scale, Wireless Activity and Sleep Monitor
- Withings: Smart Kid Scale, Smart Body Analyzer
- Jawbone UP
- Striiv Play Smart Pedometer
- Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor
- Body Media Fit Link Armband
- Scosche Rhythm Armband
Apple Store
Securing shelf space at Apple Stores is something of an achievement for an iOS connected device, and one that MobiHealthNews has acknowledged several times in the past: iHealth's blood pressure monitor, one of the first health devices to be sold in the Apple Store, was not on the shelf when we visited, though it may have just been out of stock.
The Apple Store had a small section of a wall with a line of health devices was the only store with Lark's wrist-worn exercise, diet and sleep coach. While concentrated, the devices ranged significantly from glucose monitor iBGStar to the wearable tracker Nike+ FuelBand. Smart Kid Scale was the only digital scale that the Apple Store we visited carried. Another product that we only found at the Apple Store was Wahoo's Blue HR Heart Rate Strap, a fitness training device and Blue SC Speed and Cadence Sensor, a wireless odometer. Of the many stores we visited, we only found the Withings Smart Blood Pressure Monitor at the Apple Store.
- Fitbit: Fitbit One, Fitbit Zip
- Wahoo: Blue HR Heart Rate Strap, Blue SC Speed and Cadence Sensor
- Nike: Nike+ FuelBand, Nike+iPod Sport Kit
- Withings: Smart Kid Scale, Smart Blood Pressure Monitor
- Lark Silent Un-Alarm and Sleep Sensor Alarm Clock
- Sanofi and AgaMatrix's iBGStar
Target
On its website, Target offers a large variety of devices such as Lark, Scosche and iHealth devices, but in-store the options were significantly limited. A Reebok Fitness Dual Rate Heart Monitor, a wearable activity tracker, had hit the clearance aisle, while the only other fitness wrist-worn options were Fitbit Flex, Jawbone UP and Polar Watch.
- Fitbit: Fitbit Flex, Fitbit Zip
- Jawbone UP
- Polar FT4, Polar FT7
- Reebok Fitness Dual Rate Heart Monitor
AT&T
The MobiHealthNews team saw a rare bird of flight at the AT&T store, where the short-lived Fitbit Ultra was still on the shelves. As we predicted two years ago, health sensing baby clothes are still not on the shelves despite what other reports said in 2011.
- Fitbit: Fitbit Zip, Fitbit Ultra
- Jawbone UP
Verizon Wireless
Upon finding the fitness device section at a local Verizon Wireless store, an employee offered discounts for Verizon Wireless subscribers on the Jawbone UP, Fitbit Zip or Fitbit One, if we added them to a phone purchase. Yet again, Fitbit Flex was sold out.
- Fitbit: Fitbit Zip, Fitbit One, Fitbit Flex (out of stock)
- Jawbone UP
Microsoft
We didn't check what the Microsoft store had in stock for Xbox products, mainly because although Xbox could potentially make large strides in the evolution of digital health, it's not an outright digital health product. We did, however, find a few Fitbit products.
- Fitbit: Fitbit Zip, Fitbit One
Walgreens
As we expected, Walgreens stocked the iBGStar Blood Glucose Monitoring System from Sanofi. Although the pharmacy did stock some non-connected tracking devices like an Omron GoSmart pedometer.
- iBGStar
