Eko: Digital Stethoscope + ECG

I wrote a review with some of the shortcomings of the stethoscope/app and promptly received a response from the development team. It turns out that one shortcoming (the phone speaker audio) can’t really be fixed since it’s a speaker issue and not really an issue on the app’s part. The other one I mentioned, which was a loud noise after a recording playback finished playing through the stethoscope, was fixed very quickly. It turned out to be a known bug with some older models of the Eko Core, and I was immediately sent a replacement. The replacement was shipped without my needing to send the defective unit back first, since I would be without a stethoscope until the replacement arrived. I received the replacement unit within a few days, and I’ll now be sending back the defective unit free of charge. The audio bug seems to be gone, which is great, and it was a very easy process to fix the issue.

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App is simple and interfaces nicely with eko duo but there are some major drawbacks: 1. Sound playback is really quiet, even when I connect my iPhone X to a Bose soundlink mini Bluetooth speaker or apple AirPods I can’t hear the recorded heart sounds at highest volume settings. Playing the sounds back through the eko duo is nice and loud. 2. Double clicking shortcut to record heart sounds and ekg only works when app is open. Would be nice if double clicking the eko duo automatic launches or sends recording to the app without having to pull out your phone and open the app.

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Stethoscope OK. Does amplify sound as advertised, noise cancellation could be improved but acceptable. Please continue to improve. I would also like more comfortable earpads, the Littmann has larger, more comfortable earpads. My main complaint is that the App is poor. Playback is very quiet when using any device except the stethoscope. Playback on iPhone speaker almost inaudible at max volume, playback on Bluetooth headphones just as bad. It’s not a problem with my ears, I’m in my late 20s with no hearing loss... playback is just quiet. Also the sound of the recording does not match the tracing of the heart sounds, it is off by a second or so. They should sync up to be useful. It feels like a cheap mistake. Finally, entering the pin to access recordings is annoying, I feel like it should have Face ID/touch ID like most other apps. Overall I’m disappointed in the quality to price ratio. $300 is a premium, you need to reflect that. You guys have potential, please fix the app.

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I agree with the previous reviewers comments. The stethoscope itself has great amplification but background noise is also high. I did have “play from iPhone” on. The playback is very very soft from the speakers. This would be a great teaching app if playback volume was fixed. Since this is digitally recorded I’m not clear why amplification is such a problem. Looking forward to app upgrades that address these problem before I recommend this product to my colleagues. Thanks

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The app seems very intuitive but the audio playback out of my iPhone speakers is horrendous. Even in a quiet room, the playback from the sample audios provided is barely perceptible and I can’t see how I would be able to share the audios with a patient or even save them in a chart. As an adjunct to a medical device, QUALITY is paramount and as of this time, the app gets a fail, period. If I can’t hear the audio clearly at least 2 feet away with my speakers all the way up, I consider that as horrendous quality. Not to mention that it does not even work with touchID or FaceID....seriously...!