“I bought my first BACtrack Mobile device over a year ago when a friend got a DUI. Thankfully he didn't cause an accident, and everything is ok with him now, but it got me thinking that I don't know how many times I drove home from a dinner out and assumed I was okay to drive, but did I really know? Having this in my car gives me the peace of mind to test my BAC before I drive. My wife has the S80, which is great, but I love the BACtrack Mobile because I can see a graph on my phone showing when my BAC will return to 0%, the only truly safe way to drive. I also love that I can send a text from the app showing the result. I don't use that feature myself, but I intend to have my teenagers use it when they borrow the car.
This review is coming long after my first purchase because my device was stolen out of my car recently. I doubt the thief knew what he was taking (along with my GPS, sunglasses, etc.) but this is something I knew I had to replace. In addition to the Mobile and my wife's S80, we have purchased several keychain models as gifts for friends.
Sometimes I get funny looks when I tell people I have a breathalyzer in my car. Perhaps people think I'm a drunk or that it was court ordered. The truth, and what I explain to them, is that a simple speeding ticket becomes a life changing disaster if a police officer tests you and you're over the legal limit. I don't keep BACmobile because I am a drunk. I keep BACmobile because I am smart.”
“Device seems to work well and is fairly consistent. First few times I did a BAC test, it failed apparently because I wasn't breathing right (not quickly enough). The instructions were vague, although better than a competitive device (Breeze). The measurement clearly depends on how long you hold your breath and how fast you breathe. It's annoying that it needs to "warm up" for like 15 seconds even if you just did a test. (Doing it with friends, so have to wait each time.) Not sure if that's really a technical requirement or if it is just sloppy UX design.
App is very basic and a little unintuitive to navigate. You get to "guess your BAC" which seems like it's built as a core feature, but I'd like to turn it off and just make the whole process faster.”
“I've had this for a few weeks now and I have learned a tremendous amount about how alcohol affects me in various situations. It's been fun making up experiments. Also a bonus to know when I've had enough so the next day will not be a problem. The prediction to becoming sober feature has been right on. The only thing I disagree with is that to track your habits, you have to agree to send your data anonymously. It's not a big deal really but for legal reasons I am a little wary about that. I wish you could save your results on your device directly. But that's not enough to bring down the rating! I can always just write it down of course.
This thing is great. Not only may it save a life one day, it's honestly kind of fun. Become a more responsible drinker and get one!”
“I bought this unit a month ago to replace the BACtrack Vio which had QC issues and would shut down the unit upon requesting a test.
The BACtrack Mobile is a far cry from the Vio and worth the extra when you're about to make a critical decision by assessing you BAC before turning the key. The tests are consistant and accurate as measured against a (LEO) friend's device carried in the line of duty.”
