Abbott continuous glucose monitor
Ranked 2 of 3 continuous glucose monitors by recommenders
Recommended for phone-based glucose tracking and sharing readings with doctors; critics point to a recall, false readings, and a 15-day disposable sensor.
Recommended for phone-based glucose tracking and sharing readings with doctors; critics point to a recall, false readings, and a 15-day disposable sensor.
18 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 10
- approval share
- 44%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Improves quality of life
“it was a huge quality of life improvement when I was able to control them all from my phone”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Seven Diabetes Patients Die Due to Undisclosed Bug in Abbott's Glucose Monitors” “Using a CGM was a truly life changing experience for me”
Comment from 11 Jul 2026 in “Weightlifting beats running for blood sugar control, researchers find” Readings shared to phone and doctors
“it was a huge quality of life improvement when I was able to control them all from my phone”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Seven Diabetes Patients Die Due to Undisclosed Bug in Abbott's Glucose Monitors” “Part of the benefit of CGM's is you can automatically load your readings to your doctor.”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Seven Diabetes Patients Die Due to Undisclosed Bug in Abbott's Glucose Monitors”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Inaccurate readings reported
“the notification brief in germany specifies false-high glucose readings”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Seven Diabetes Patients Die Due to Undisclosed Bug in Abbott's Glucose Monitors” “they'd report highs as lows, and lows as highs”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Seven Diabetes Patients Die Due to Undisclosed Bug in Abbott's Glucose Monitors” Recall and QA failures
“3 million glucose meters are being recalled”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Seven Diabetes Patients Die Due to Undisclosed Bug in Abbott's Glucose Monitors” “their QA missed the issue”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Seven Diabetes Patients Die Due to Undisclosed Bug in Abbott's Glucose Monitors”
Other continuous glucose monitors people recommend
The two most recommended other continuous glucose monitors, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbott FreeStyle Libre | 9 | 10 | 47% | 4 | — | — |
| Abbott continuous glucose monitorThis page | 8 | 10 | 44% | 3 | — | — |
| Dexcom G7 | 5 | 7 | 42% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it's eye opening how some of the foods you'd never think of, are spiking glucose levels”
“Abbott's are only mediocre at best”
“I’ve tried CGMs multiple times and didn’t have any life changing experiences.”
“Using a CGM was a truly life changing experience for me”
“A sizeable, single-use coin cell with a total useful life of 15 days, after which the entire unit is discarded.”
“Closed systems embedded in humans without proportional transparency, auditability, or downstream accountability.”
“good is increasing lifespans and reducing bad outcomes”
“any user of these devices who don't have an actual medical issue that requires the device to work”
“their QA missed the issue”
“3 million glucose meters are being recalled”
“the notification brief in germany specifies false-high glucose readings”
“they'd report highs as lows, and lows as highs”
“7 people dying is nothing really, how dare they report this”
“CGMs, the on-body instrument in question here, are both flakey and amazing.”
“Part of the benefit of CGM's is you can automatically load your readings to your doctor.”
“it was a huge quality of life improvement when I was able to control them all from my phone”
“I have not entered into any agreements of any kind with Abbott. You should not either.”
“I highly recommend that any user of these devices do the same.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.