Wello: A smartphone case that measures your heart rate and more - straight from your iPhone

Users press on built-in sensors to take various health readings, with a paired app keeping all this data available in one place

A new phone case has been launched that promises to protect more than just your mobile – it’ll also keep an eye on your body as well.

This is the Wello, a smartphone case with a range of sensors built into the shell. Every now and again you press on these to get a reading of various vital stastistics including your blood pressure, blood oxygen, temperature, heart rate, and an ECG (measuring the electrical activity in your heart). There’s even a plug-in spirometer for measuring lung capacity and air flow.

The Wello will all feed all of this data into an app that a can give you quick access to all your health info, and even look at trends to predict when you might be about to fall ill. If you’ve got one of the various wrist-bands that track your movement during the day, then this can feed into the app too – and users can also set up different profiles to track each member of their family.

Azoi, the makers of the case, say that it records all this with “medical grade accuracy” and with prices starting at £120 for an iPhone 5s-compatabile case it’s certainly much cheaper than anything else currently available. Azoi plan to launch Android cases in the future, and the Wello is available for pre-order from today.

“We believe that through improved self-awareness of key vitals, technology could very easily reduce the incidence and impact of a wide range of illnesses and diseases. Not only could this help ensure healthier, happier lives, but it could also ease the growing burden on healthcare services,” says Hamish Patel, founder and CEO of Wello.

Azoi isn’t the only company promising to make health data cheaply and easily available to the general public (the Scanadu Scout is the most well-known example, offering similar functionality in a separate device the size of a key ring), but it is the first to incorporate the sensors directly into your smartphone case – a move that is bound to make it easier to take regular measurements.

Any time you’re stuck waiting for the tube or in line for a coffee you can simply take out your smartphone and top up your health data. No doubt that having this sort of info on tap is hardly going to be good for hypochondriacs (and just wait until insurers ask to have a look at the data) but it looks like it could be a valuable tool for individuals who just want to keep closer tabs on their health.