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Nokia Temperature
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On one of my regular visits, as a patient, to my local hospital, my temperature was taken as part of the usual procedure. While there was nothing strange about this particular visit, I was rather surprised that unlike all the previous temperature measurements carried out in the past, this time the measuring tool was a-fixed to my ear. I mentioned this incident as the lead-in to the next product under review – this is the Nokia Smart Temporal Thermometer.
As part of the Nokia range of health centric devices, this product consists of the Nokia Thermometer, known as Thermo, with a detachable rubber cap and a pair of AAA batteries plus a Getting Starting booklet. Do not bother searching for the batteries in the packaging as they will have already been inserted into the Thermo unit. Available in a choice of black or, as in the case of my review sample, white with a green collar, the Thermo has the appearance of a small handheld torch or USB flash drive that looked as if it had been indulging in massive body building courses. A single control button sits near the business end of the Thermo.
As with the other Nokia health devices, the Thermo requires a downloadable free app from the appropriate app store. However, unlike the other members of the Nokia health family, the Thermo requires the Thermal app rather than the Nokia Health Mate. Despite the change of app, you will automatically be connected to your existing Nokia health account if one exists, otherwise you will need to create one with an email address and password.
Following screens dealing with whole family use, automatic synching and high precision, the app will lead you through the process of logging in or setting up an account. You can then continue with setting up the Thermo device so it is ready for use.
As part of the initial set up process you will need to hold down the button on the device until a message stating “Setup” appears. This message appears on a cutaway section of the Thermo just below the device’s sole button. Unfortunately, as I quickly found out, by holding down the Thermo button, your hand can easily cover and conceal the message so you do not see it immediately.
Once I realised what was happening, I was able to continue with the set up process as the Thermo was updated with a percentage counter keeping me up-to-date. Following a Wi-Fi set up the Nokia device was activated and ready for use. The Nokia app then displayed a tutorial on its use.
Built around a 16-sensor array, the Thermo does not need to come into actual contact with the patient’s body when gathering data from the temporary artery running across the forehead. While not touching the skin, the Thermo does need to be within 0.5-inch of the patient. This is a fairly easy task to perform when taking somebody else’s temperature but a little more tricky when taking your own temperature. In such cases I tended to place the Thermo against my forehead.
With a claimed 4,000+measurements gathered by the Thermos’s infrared sensors, you are presented with a temperature reading almost immediately on the cutaway section. This temporarily reading is accompanied by two additional items. Using a colour coded system, an indication will appear as to whether the patient has no fever (green), mild fever (orange) or high fever (red). A touch sensitive area can be used to bring up a list containing up to eight patients from which you can select and assign the current temperature to a particular patient.
As well as recording temperatures assigned to different family members, the Thermo app can provide other facilities. A timeline feature allows you to check back on previous temperature readings. You can set reminders for taking further readings. There are also sections for recording notes dealing with symptoms, medicine treatment applied and taking a photo of the patient. This information can be shared with medical professionals should the need arise.
The Nokia Thermo device is an easy to use and handy device. Apart from the problem when covering the set up message, using the device was fairly straightforward. However it should be regarding as providing the initial diagnosis rather than the ultimate solution which should always be in the hands of a doctor. Pricing for this device has been set at £89.95,
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