Thoughts on the ReliOn PremierBlu Meter

Tips, Tech & Gear
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I used the ReliOn Premier Blu meter along with and in place of my ReliOn Prime meter (which I love), for my daily testing, which covered a variety of situations (like pizza experiments!). The Blu was spot on with my Prime meter, and consistent with my Libre sensor as well. Overall, I believe it to be pretty accurate compared to the other tools I had to compare it to. For specific features of this meter:

I liked:

  • the test strips require less blood than my Prime meter, which is a big advantage for me, and would be even more so for someone like my daughter - she does not bleed easily.
  • it displays 7 day, 14 day, 30 day, and 90 day averages, which is more than my Prime meter (which displays 14 day and 30 day averages).

I disliked:

  • the size of the Blu meter is quite a bit larger than my Prime meter. I found it a bit cumbersome to handle as a result, and it was not easy to slip in and out of the case
  • The test strip bottle is much harder to pop open, which makes it difficult if I’m trying to open it one handed.
  • The app was not very impressive. While I could save a little time instantly uploading all of my numbers to the app, I realized I prefer pen and paper if it’s just going to be a simple list of the numbers for the day. It also was very glitchy, though I recognize that could likely improve with time with updates to the app.

I think I would be willing to consider buying more strips for the Blu meter to use it instead of my Prime meter if the app was able to take the numbers uploaded and display graphs for me to look at trends and compare to my Libre graphs (as my Libre is not always accurate lately). Perhaps in the future, the app may be expanded to include more features, and I might reconsider switching to the Blu.

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I’ve been meaning to get on here and review mine as well, so I’ll add to this same thread, if that’s ok!

The good:
it’s been very accurate on a variety of tests… within a few points of my OneTouch ultra mini and Dexcom nearly every time. There was one instance where my other meter read 55 and this one read 78. A second test on each fell somewhere in between, so I gave up and had a snack. That was the only time there was really any variance at all.

I love how little blood it needs… I feel like my OneTouch needs a TON. I literally never understood what people meant when they said they tested twice on the same drop of blood… this one takes so little I finally get how you could do that.

I think someone else mentioned this somewhere, but I like that it beeps when the strip is inserted and when it’s ready to read. For some reason it’s encouraging to hear a cue that you’re doing it right, lol.

The not as great:
The size is much larger than my other meter. For me I prefer something more compact, however, if you are someone for whom a large, easy to read lighted screen would be useful, that could be a good thing.

This is probably petty, but setting up the account for the app drove me crazy. Maybe I’m just impatient, but setting up 5 security challenge questions almost did me in. You could probably access some people’s bank accounts easier than my ReliOn app at his point. I had trouble figuring out how to enter the meter serial number in the setup, and I honestly gave up when I couldn’t get the Bluetooth to connect. Because Dexcom provides so much more robust data than my meter will, I personally wouldn’t use a Bluetooth connection and app in the first place, so I didn’t put any extra time into trying to get the Bluetooth to work. In the interest of an honest review, maybe I’ll give it a try again when I have more time.

Loooong story short, if cost was no factor I’d consider using this over my other one entirely due to the smaller blood drop required. That was seriously eye opening to me after only having used my OneTouch in the past.

However, my insurer prefers the others… I’ve met my insurance deductible and they’ll pay for the other strips at 100% at this point, so I have to stick with what I’ve got.

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The meter is larger but I like the Bluetooth option and the price of the strips. But the app is terrible, it is ok to track your daily number and can give your numbers to your physician.
However you don’t get a running A1C estimate from your numbers as you check your sugar like many other apps do. Also there is no charts or calendar or option to add your own comments.
I really hate not having this options, I used an app called sugar sense and it is great but the meter and that app are not compatible and that is a shame.

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The Diabetes:M app will connect to this meter, but apparently needs a subscription to use this feature. There may be a 2 week trial, but I haven’t verified this for sure.
Diabetes:M

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I haven’t seen an option to register anything. But if you could do the other features it might be worth it

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