Why Aga Matrix’s Presto Glucose Meter Is a Great Choice

• Accurate results.
• Reproducible results.
• Environmental factors controlled for
• Small sample size. only 0.5ul
• Inexpensive test strips

Consumer Reports rated it the “Best Buy” in it’s 2013 comparison of 25 blood glucose meters. (You need to be a subscriber to see the report).  Aga Matrix sells the Presto meter to retail stores such as Target and Kroger who sell it as their particular store brand.  Target sells it under the name “Up & Up” and Kroger sells it as their Kroger brand.  That’s why you’ll see in the report, Up & Up instead of Presto.  But it’s the exact same meter.

The accuracy is the most important quality. It received the highest score of 5.  After that is repeatability. It received a very good score.  Below are my personal results for repeatability which are much better than the FDA’s standards.

If you’ve read “The Four Hour Body” by Tim Ferriss, you know that he has done a lot of self experiments with dieting and monitoring his blood glucose levels.  In that book, he says that he had tested a lot of meters and the best one was WaveSense Jazz by AgaMatrix.

This is, by orders  of magnitude, the best glucometer I found.  It’s small, simple to use, and incredibly consistent, as it accounts and corrects for environmental factors. For those who don’t want an implant but want an actionable glimpse of how they respond to foods, this is a great option.

WaveSense Jazz is now sold under various store brand names.  If you go to Kroger it will be the Premium Kroger store brand.  They now make a lower cost version, Presto.  It has all the same sensing  technology but can’t hold and manipulate as many data points.

Glucose meters are required  to be within 20% accuracy.  That means that a level of 100 could read anywhere between 80 and 120.

Read this interesting article about a lady who compared a lot of meters against each other.

I’ve been told by several people in the industry that Agamatrix’s meter and strips are closer to within 10% of a standard lab test. Indeed, Sanofi said they chose Agamatrix as the developers of their new iBGStar because of the company’s WaveSense technology, which is believed to be more accurate with hematocrits (remember, the volume percentage of red blood cells in blood). If you’re adamant about accuracy, you’ll want to look at the meters Agamatrix sells directly: the Keynote, Presto and Jazz meters.

I have found that the results are reproducible.  My recent purchase of this meter came with 10 free test strips so I put them to the test for precision of the meter with the control solution.  When testing precision, you need to use a stable control solution, not blood samples from a finger prick. You don’t want to have any type of sampling error added to the evaluation.  Blood from several finger pricks vary in time and might also vary in the amount of interstitial fluid. (Many meters come only with the meter itself.  Usually a “meter kit” will include a bottle of control solution, lancing device and lancets.  Make sure you know exactly what is included or else you’ll spend more time and money)

The meter readings for the control sample done ten times in a row:

133

131

136

136

133

139

136

136

138

142

average = 136

All reading were within 4% of the average.

Price varies dramatically from vendor to vendor.  You have to shop around.

You can go to Kroger and pay $18 for the meter and $36 for 100 test strips for a total of $54 or you can buy them online at my recommended supplier for $23.25 for the meter and 100 test strips.  The meter kit includes a lancing device and control solution.  This deal also includes an extra 100 lancets.

They are the exact same test strips.  The expiration date on them was fifteen months away which is way more than I expected. American Diabetes Wholesale gets their supplies directly from the manufacturer.

Be cautious about using  Amazon.com or eBay for buying glucose test strips.   There is a “grey” market for test strips.  Many people who get their test strips for free under their insurance plans,  instead of using them, sell them to companies who then resell them on the internet at low prices.  Most of the boxes are sealed and have good expiration dates.  The problem is that even though the box might be sealed, you never will know how the strips have been stored.  The strips need to be stored be between 46-86 degrees, otherwise they might give faulty results.

I would buy from a company who sells a lot of product and sources their product direct from the manufacturer.

AgaMatrix Presto Glucose Test Strips 100ct & 100 Lancets w/FREE Presto MeterAgaMatrix Presto Blood Glucose Test Strips are for use with the AgaMatrix Presto and Presto Pro Blood Glucose Monitoring Systems, and provide fast, accurate results. Give your fingertips a rest with alternate site testing and small sample sizes! Includes 100 test strips, 100 lancets and a FREE AgaMatrix Presto Meter Kit!