“The BACtrack C8 is very accurate, also gives me and friends a fun game of guessing each other's BAC. But it also ensures you that you know where you stand with how much you are drinking, thanks BTW I have two.”
“Fits in your pocket, glove box and lives in my vehicle.
the blue tooth function and recording are great.
Although I use it in stand alone mode.
As with all gen2 this is very acurate, as good as police devices.
I use it in mg per breath ie how the police record rather than BAC mode, it is just how I prefer, an awesome machine.
I also own an S80 and S80 gen2.
When friends come to visit, I will not let drive unless they test. 5 stars.”
“In just over a month's time, I've used it to:
- Space out the timing of my drinks
- Understand my tolerance
- Correlate withdrawal symptoms with my BAC level
- Test friends before driving (it's almost like a party game, everyone wants to try)
- See my BAC upon waking, before I hit the road
- Minimize alcohol's interractions with medications
- And ultimately verify my BAC with the team when doing a remote medically assisted detox program
I'd been receiving MAT where they used the Element model of breathalyzer and got curious about the C8's reading side by side. It was .004% higher than the Element, and the nurse considered it "the same." It's cool that it errs the side of caution.
When hanging out with friends, it was surprising how novel it is to test, almost like a game. People are genuinely curious when it's available, and I can only see that as a positive. The tips are non porous hard plastic and easily washable, so a 3 pack will last a long time. One caveat is when testing different people back to back, the reading will get skewed. It remains accurate if the same person blows twice in a row, but maybe the sensor is still wet from the previous sample when testing different people back to back? This is overcome by waiting 5-10 minutes before testing a new person, highlighting advantages of a more sophisticated model like the Element with disposable tips if it's to be regularly used for multiple people heavily in a short period of time.
The app is cool, but extremely simple. It's nice that the C8 can be used standalone or connect to the app via bluetooth, which was a huge selling point to me to make it accessible at any time. There's a "friends" testing page by swiping on the home screen of the app, to differentiate friends' results without losing track of your own. Results can be integrated into Apple Health.
It's about half the size of my palm and would easily slide into a pocket without being bulky.
Overall, I'm quite pleased with it's functionality, accuracy, portability, and ease of use. If regularly testing more people in a short period of time, I now see the value in a fancier model, but the C8 is just what I needed for understanding my own usage in an objective way. My sister is in her early 20's and I know what she's getting for Christmas!”
