Instructions Not Included

I've been holding off on this a little while, because I wanted to give it my full attention. I didn't want to rush into a review without considering what I was going to say.

Overall, I'm impressed with all the great features that the meter offers, and I'm going to try and be pretty thorough in this review! You might want to grab yourself a drink before you start reading.

I have been extremely excited about the release of this meter. From everything I'd heard from those in the US, and those who had seen advance versions, I was expecting great things. So when Bayer contacted me and asked me if I would like a complimentary one in exchange for an unbiased review, I jumped at the chance.

I will say that I haven't been using the meter long, and that my opinion might change as I use it long term, but these are my impressions at the present time.

Opening the box, I will admit that I was expecting the meter itself to be smaller. Possibly because I hadn't really seen it pictured in relation to anything. Yet, it's still markedly smaller than my Contour, which love it as I may, I have always found to be a touch on the bulky side.

Appearance wise, it's very sleek, and if you were conscious of bringing out your meter in public, this would be a very sensible choice of kit for you. Streamline and smart, you could easily mistake it for an MP3 player or similar. I would have liked the option of a covering film for the screen, to prevent scratches, or a silicone 'skin' to protect it in a similar vein to what I use on my MP3 player. It's not a drawback to the meter, but perhaps it is something Bayer could think about offering further down the line - I'm sure that there would be a market for it - everyone likes the option of making thing customisable.

Along with the meter, you get a case, which looks as though it will be hard-wearing. I have found it difficult to zip up without the meter popping out, but that could just be me, more than a fault in design! Along with the case, you get a pot of strips, testing solution, a USB extension lead, which is a nice extra touch (you can also register for a free wall charger), and the Microlet 2 lancing device. It also comes with multicoloured lancets, which excited me more than should be appropriate for a twenty-five year old woman!

I've not exactly been shy of complaining about having difficulties with my lancing devices as of late. When I upgraded my old Contour to a newer version, I got a Microlet 2 lancer. At first I was extremely impressed with it, but it got more and more painful to use as time went on. I think the spring action it broke down, and lost the initial power that it had. Perhaps I have a faulty unit, because this new one has been excellent so far. It's not painless - I don't think lancing ever will be. However, it has been pretty consistent in getting blood. If this continues, I can keep this as my primary lancing device, and keep the One Touch Comfort in reserve for lancing emergencies.

One thing you can't say is that you're not provided with enough literature. I was slightly overwhelmed with the amount of paperwork that there was included. If I had been someone else, I might have found that a touch intimidating, I think. However, if you're fazed by the amount of potential reading, there is the option of a 'Quick Reference Guide', which is mostly one sentence style instructions, each illustrated. If you're just wanting to get started before delving any deeper, or just want to test with no other features, then this is really helpful. Yet, I have to feel that if all you wanted to do was just test and turn off again, then this is a huge waste of such an intelligent meter.

Testing is pretty straightforward. Insert the strip, and follow the instructions on the screen. There's a backlight function, which will inevitably be very useful. I haven't tried testing in the dark yet, so I'm not sure whether the point of strip insertion lights up as well. If it doesn't, I may well find putting strips in when it's dim quite difficult, because I've missed a couple of times in broad daylight. That's more to do with rubbish hand-eye co-ordination than anything else though.

The meter is notably polite! It explains everything in a nice manner, even if you're doing something wrong. I'm also impressed with the ability to 'mark' your results, not just with pre and post meal markers, but with options such as 'don't feel right', 'stress', and 'activity'. The number of times I've tried to scribble notes like that against my logbooks in the past make that a very attractive feature.

The instruction manual lets you know that if you get an error code whilst testing, you'll still get the error code on the screen, but you'll also get an explanation of what the code means, rather than having to go look it up. What a fantastic idea! The only ones I can ever remember are that I've put the strip in the wrong way, or that I've not given enough blood, so anything other than those completely stump me. Should you also get a particularly high or low reading, the meter tells you to wash your hands and retest, and then should you get a similar result, it will tell you that you need to follow medical advice. I really like this, as it gives room for error. You can also delete any false readings, which is great for not messing around with your averages.

It comes pre-set with standard targets for pre and post meal levels. Personally, I found the levels to be on the high side of where I'm comfortable. Not a problem though, as I can change them quite easily. Alarm wise, you can customise your post meal testing alarm. What's really great about this is that you can set the alarm per test, in increments of fifteen minutes. I love that, I really do. The alarm also repeats itself in a kind of 'snooze function' - great for when I'm at work and I frequently don't hear the alarm going off.

You can see trends on the meter, which is useful for a quick view, but you're far, far better off taking advantage of one of the meter's biggest selling points - Glucofacts Deluxe.

The press release I was sent describes how the software 'translates up to 2,000 individual blood glucose readings into meaningful trends and patterns, giving users an unprecedented level of access into their own unique diabetic profiles and empowering them to become 'experts' in their diabetes'.

I'm not suddenly wowed by the figure of 2,000 results being so huge. Actually I'm more curious at what happens with result 2,001 - I'd really like an answer over that. Perhaps someone from Bayer can enlighten me? Yet I would say that even with limited data uploaded onto the software, I can definitely see that having my results translated into graphs and trends automatically is a going to be a huge help. I've been doing this up til now with my logbooks and spreadsheets. Having this done by the meter as standard is a huge time saver, and takes the pain out of it for me!

The software lets you see standard days, weeks and months. You can customise your 'time periods' in the day, which is great for me, as I'm much more nocturnal, so my morning starts later than the standard settings, and I can change that (although it is rather frustratingly fiddly!) to reflect how I actually live, rather than how the default person does.

Charts also show you your percentages of time spent within your chosen targets, and on either side of the boundaries. By hovering over results on the logbook, you can also see any notes you made on the individual result, as well as the time and date. I haven't found a way of making more than one note against each result, which would be a great feature - if I don't feel right, and it's also before a meal, the ability to mark both would be great.

There are also features I haven't explored yet, such as the ability to send results to my team. I think the trends and graphs will also become a lot more useful once I have more results stored.

So on balance, what's my verdict? I like it an awful lot. For me, I think it is as close to a perfect meter as I can expect from what's on the market today. There are some features that I would like to see expanded on: multiple markers for results, a light on the point of strip insertion, but these are mostly minor gripes that I can see being ironed out for the mark two of this model. The only major downside I could see would be for someone for whom this much information would just be 'overload'. For those easily 'blinded by science', this might be terrifying. For those people, I'd point them towards the earlier Asencia Contour, because it has some customisable features, but not as many as to be off-putting.

Personally, I think this will revolutionise the way I manage my blood sugars. I like to know what's going on, and this shows me in a way that I can digest. If you're not sure whether this meter would be for you, I'd seriously think about giving it a try, but only if you're planning to use the features, otherwise you might be better off with a simpler meter. I do agree that this has the potential to help people by 'empowering them to become 'experts' in their diabetes'. If it does, then that can only be a good thing. We all need a bit more empowerment sometimes. So all in all, I say well done Bayer. I can't wait to see what you come up with next.