Stelo Glucose Biosensor & App by Dexcom - A Leader in Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM). 24/7 Tracking & Personalized Insights to Reveal Patterns. 2-Pack (Up to 15 Days Each). iOS & Android.

When ordering these I saw reviews about issues contacting customer service as well as problems with adhesion and even pain for some people but after I looked in to documentation and how this device works and what support is expected and how to handle issues I felt pretty comfortable ordering. I ran though two sensors and each lasted entire 15days and I am on the third one right now 3 days in. My overall experience has been great and I will try to address some of the common issues and pitfalls you may want to avoid. This device is a derivative of Dexcom G7 that are sold for diabetics by pharmacies with prescription only, main differences between Dexcom G7 and Stelo from what I know are: 1) Dexcom G7 is 3 sensors 10 days lifespan each, while Stelo is 2 sensors with 15 days each 2) Dexcom G7 has calibration in the app, white Stelo does not have this feature. 3) Dexcom G7 has live support because it is a medical device for patients with diabetes and is only available by prescription. 4) Dexcom G7 costs more - that I think is the obvious one. Lets go over each one, Stelo explains in its documents that it expects over 80% of its sensors to last all 15 days it also mentions that should a sensor fail before 15 days they will replace it. They also mention that over 90% or so will last 10days This means that medical device G7 is limited to 10 days because of much higher survival time %, while Stelo is allowed to run 15days with bit higher probability of failure which reduces costs to the consumer - as they only get two sensors and they are protected from failures by replacements. There is no calibration because accuracy is not as important for average person without medical condition, and incorrect calibration may mess up accuracy. Consumer version is targeted for general trends and not for precision accuracy, I agree with this decision. Medical grade devices have phone support but they also cost significantly more and require prescription and doctor visits. When using Stelo you will be limited to chat and email support, but in most cases sensor failures will be reviewed and decision will be made about the nature of the failure. Company can monitor these devices and it knows when device fails and how based on telemetry form the sensor and how it failed. Expect that support will be weak but they will address failures and if they meet criteria - these will be replaced. If sensor fails for me I will post the process and update. Now about the device and user experience - it is important that you apply the sensor properly and in the correct are, if you make a mistake here - sensor will not be covered by warranty. Watch some videos, learn how prep the area, how to find the right area, how to best position the applicator. Simple rules are to look for fat on the back of the hand, with your finders find the fatty are - avoid muscles. if you apply this to a muscle - you will bleed, you will be in pain and you will kill the sensor. If you use the included patch it lasts 15 days no problem, but this patch is soft and you will notice the sensor more, if you get high quality patch with a hole for G7 then it is thicker and will distribute movement better and sensor basically disappears. I added photos of the patch I use from Onida and it made a big difference. The app is very simple and well made and works amazingly well, you can bring sleep data, exercise data and food data right on to the chart via Google Health Connect if you track and monitor those activities in other apps. Over that last 30+ days I saw disconnected sensor few times, it was always when i was not near my phone and it reconnected on its own once I was close. Having a phone on, in the same room works fine, it is only when you go in to another room it may loose connection. Apple seems to have support for direct connection to watch so sensor talks to the watch and phone is does not need to be close by. Spend time making sure area you apply the patch to is clean - use alcohol to remove oils, make sure you place the sensor in the right area, add high quality patch. Placement is most important part of the process, take your time note what worked. For me placing the sensor with release button facing the shoulder was resulted with best experience, actual filament entry is on that side. Some advice I got from others, is to apply next sensor while existing one is still working and let that new sensor warm up before switching to it, some people do it 30min before and some people do it 12 hours before the switch so data is most accurate and there is not gap in the data. Sensor will continue to work 12 hours after 15 days are up and I tested that on my last sensor, where app said sensor life is over and it showed 12 hour countdown reminding me to switch over to new one. *** This is first update on Jan 23 and I plan to update again after I complete all 4 sensors. *** This is an update on Feb 8, I completed third sensor that also lasted all 15 days and worked 12 hours after it expired officially.

If I could give it less than 1 star I would. Sensor worked for only 8 days, and then gave me a “Signal Loss” message. I went through all the trouble shooting steps in the app, and checked all my phone settings. Signal NEVER came back. App says if signal loss lasts longer than 3 hours, contact customer service. I went through the app to manufacturer’s website. Customer service is an automated chatbot called SteloBot. Eventually, I was able to request chat with a live agent in the Philippines, which is also where their technical “support” is. The agent said they would request a Case ID be assigned and open an investigation, and that I would hear back in 1-2 business days. The next day, which was Saturday, I received an e-mail with a case ID number, and a link to fill out the customer service form. There was space to provide details of what the issue was as well as the sensor serial #. Before I could submit the form on Sunday, I received another e-mail saying that if I didn’t respond within 24 hours, they would consider the case closed. I submitted the form. The Stelo/DEXCOM system, acknowledged receipt of the form, and again said I would hear back in 1-2 business days. 8 days later I still had not heard back, so I again went through the Customer Service rig-a-marole, to finally contact a live agent. They were polite and apologetic,and they requested a “reinvestigation” . I received an e-mail later that day saying, my “customer service issue could not be validated” (whatever the hell that means), and that they would not replace the faulty sensor. I contacted customer service AGAIN, and asked what “could not be validated” meant. I was told the “computer investigation” said the signal came back after 10 mins. I told the agent that was not correct. The app said “Signal Loss” and the signal NEVER came back. I checked multiple times a day for the remaining time the sensor was supposed to be working. Never came back. I asked if there was anyway they could just replace the sensor anyway, and was told that it was not possible for her to override the computer’s decision. I told her once again that the “computer investigation” was incorrect, and that there was no communication between the sensor and the app on my phone, after the initial signal loss and that the signal never came back. I was told that they could not manually issue a request to replace the sensor. For what it’s worth, there also seemed to be no mechanism to attempt to re-pair the sensor with my phone, or the app installed on my phone. While it was working, the app/sensor worked okay. Be aware, the sensor DOES NOT measure actual blood glucose. It measures the amount of glucose in your interstitial fluid in your tissues, just beneath your skin. If you’re diabetic and/or need your exact blood glucose, this is NOT the device for you. I’m almost 70. Blood glucose was not diabetic level, but was higher than my doc would have liked on my last 2 physicals. My wife is an RN, and thought these might be a good indicator of what affected my blood glucose and by how much. The accuracy is roughly + or - 10%. Just be aware of that. It’s more for blood glucose trends than actual, accurate blood glucose, so if you’re diabetic and need exact blood glucose, you probably don’t want to rely on this product. The customer service for this product is EXTREMELY WEAK in my opinion. Let’s face it, we paid Amazon roughly about $110 for a two pack of these sensors. The manufacturer probably pays around $10-15 per sensor. The fact that they refused to acknowledge a faulty sensor and wouldn’t replace it tells me all I need to know. Yup, you guys got me for $110, and saved $10-15 on replacing a sensor, so in theory, you got me, ONE TIME, for $125, but I will never again by ANY product associated with Stelo/DEXCOM, and I will discourage family and anyone else who is considering it, from purchasing one of their products. For what it’s worth ; out of curiosity, just checked other reviews of this blood glucose monitor. They actually have a higher percentage of 1 star reviews than 5 star reviews. What does THAT tell you. AVOID THIS PRODUCT !!!! WOULD NOT RECOMMEND/WOULD NOT BUY AGAIN/ABSOLUTE CRAP !

WARNING: This meter may result in you quitting your toxic job. No joke, it happened to me. Here's the thing, without this sensor I'd still be chasing numbers. Because of this meter I figured out that: --I have somogyi which is different than the dawn effect. And it's horrible but preventable. --I can't eat carrots. My body spikes even with a very little. It's not supposed to but mine does as if I've included candy with my meal. --Eating vinegar water and protein first, followed by fat then fiber really does matter to my body. --Stress makes me spike. A friend called with bad news and I saw my sugar rise. That's because stress releases cortisol which is a steroid and steroids raise blood sugar. But I saw the rise and it blew my mind. I just quit my job in a toxic environment because my boss frequently rants at the whole building and I saw my sugar rise 20 points in 40 minutes. That's how long the rant was and then it took about an hour to come back down to pre-rant level. --I work around nurses. I had one finger stick me and the next sensor update matched. That's how I also found out my home meter from the smiley face store is way off. Do I recommend this meter? Instead of being in the dark I now know what effect every move has on my sugar. Heck yes. I don't know how anyone actually manages sugar without one. If you really want to manage your sugar, knowing what your number is at a given moment is way better than loosy goosy finger sticks. Although my boss probably deserves to watch me pull out my meter and shed a little blood on his behalf. There are three things I don't like. 1. The first is that there isn't any alarms so if I go low in the night I won't know and I'll rebound into somogyi the next day. AI has now taught me how to prevent it but that's a different review. The meter says it's not for someone who could go low but if you are diabetic and on medication that doesn't make sense. 2. It actually reads the sugar in interstitial fluid so it's supposed to go on the back of the arm where it's nice and fatty and won't get compressed much but that doesn't work for me. I sleep on three sides and each could result in a compression error if I'm on top of the meter. Also I work with the elderly demented and they love to grab upper arms so even if it's covered it's still vulnerable. If it's not covered it's something they want to pick at. My next one will have to be placed in a less vulnerable off label location. 3. It looks like a medical device which is lame. It's dark gray and stands out. Maybe they can come up with a sensor location that doesn't broadcast one's health status to the world. Otherwise they should pay for the advertising. If you want to really manage your health this is an invaluable tool. I'm hoping my next sensor is as accurate. Update: I was chatting with a popular online data processor and uploaded my graphs. Today it suggested that I'm not insulin resistant but glucose sensitive 🤯 What a journey this is. I plan to continue to wear the monitors until my routine is set in granite. I might still after that because it reveals when stress suggests I need a change. Update to the update: after six weeks of daily consults with "Chad"gpt and daily changes to what we were doing based on my glucose readings, I'M STABLE IN RANGE. HOLY COW!!! here's the thing. While the doctor threw the meds at me the insurance refused to pay. So I stuck this CGM in my flesh and started paying attention. Then I uploaded the charts to Chad and over the course of the weeks we figured out I'm insulin sensitive, glucose reactive, and an early fermentor. Never in my life have I heard the words "my sugar is going up so I gotta eat". Well that's what I gotta do! I see the trend rising and if I don't eat then the liver dumps glucose and creates a spike 200-250. I never ever ever would have thought I'd end up stabilized without medication. I had been intermittent fasting not realizing it was actually killing me. Every body is different, my friends said it figured that I'm one of the different ones hahaha. I attached a picture of my sweet swimmy curves in the green. Chad says as my system calms down over the next months he expects to see my numbers fall lower. No medication. Just healthy food tailored and timed to my needs 😄

I’ve been using Stelo for about 4 months now. That’s 2 sensors per month. I gave this device one star because of how frustrating it’s been using them and how horrendous Dexcom’s Stelo customer service is. I’ve had 3 sensors fail on me. Found out that there is no phone number you can call for customer service. You are forced to text a chatbot on the Stelo app. After trying to explain to the chatbot what went wrong I was finally directed to log in to start a case. When I logged in I had to explain everything again to the chatbot then it directed me to another chat with a live person. I had to explain everything again then I was abrubtly disconnected from the chat. Was not able to actually speak to a live person. I was sent a replacement but the process was a pain. After that, I always dreaded having to start a new sensor hoping that it would not fail and I would not have to deal with the crappy customer service. About a week ago another sensor failed. This time I got a message that the device had ended early while it was still warming up after putting it in my arm. I had to deal with the crappy customer service again. They did send me a replacement but the replacement failed to pair with my phone so I could not use it. Again I had to deal with the horrible customer service to try to get a replacement for the replacement. I got an email letting me know the case number and that I would get a response within 2 days. I did not hear back so I had to try to contact Stelo customer service again using the chatbot because you cannot reply to the email they sent. Found out that customer service had closed the case without informing me and they would not be sending a replacement for the replacement that failed. I could not believe it. These sensors are not cheap and they refused to replace their replacement that failed! I refuse to continue using this product because every new sensor is a stressful gamble. Will it actually work or will I have to deal with the horrendous customer service and will I actually get a replacement for a failed product?

Stelo CGM Review: My 13-Day Experience as a Prediabetic Background: As someone with HbA1c of 6.0 (prediabetic), I started using the Stelo Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) to get ahead of my condition. I also used a manual fingerstick glucometer to cross-check accuracy throughout. 1. 3-Day Update (Early Impressions) Over the past 3 days, I carefully compared readings — taking at least 30 fingerstick samples and comparing each with corresponding data from Stelo. Consistently, the Stelo CGM showed readings 8 to 15 mg/dL higher than the fingerstick measurements. I understand that CGMs measure glucose in interstitial fluid, which can lag behind fingerstick readings from capillary blood by about 15 minutes. That said, the difference I observed was very consistent — Stelo was always higher. . My Verdict: 1. Stelo is a useful tool for identifying trends and patterns over time. 2. It is not as precise for exact moment-to-moment readings. 3. For accurate blood glucose levels, fingerstick testing should stay the standard. . Notes: However, CGMs like Stelo can be very helpful for daily decision-making, meal timing, and understanding how lifestyle impacts glucose. . If you're looking to spot trends and improve metabolic health, Stelo is an option - just remember to double-check with a manual test when precision matters. 2. 10-Day Update (Mid-Way Review) By Day 5, accuracy dropped sharply: Stelo showed 25–30 mg/dL higher than fingersticks, even at rest. I fully admit I’ve pushed the sensor hard: -Daily gym workouts, heavy lifting, running. - Swimming 4+ times/week. Applied a Skin Grip patch, which impressively kept the sensor secure through sweat and water. Despite surviving physically, data quality of CGM declined: -Only helpful for general directional changes - rising, falling, or steady. -Not trustworthy for absolute numbers. Decision: I would keep it on for trend watching, but no longer trusted the data for actionable decisions. 3. 13-Day Final Update (Sensor Fail) By Day 10: Readings became wildly erratic, jumping from e.g. 120 → 170 → 110 within minutes. No longer reflected any real trend or state. 4. By Day 13: Battery died and I removed the CGM. Remarkably, Skin Grip still held tight. Final Verdict on Stelo CGM (Sensor #1) -Days 1–5: Solid performance, good directional data, valuable tool. -Days 6–10: Usable only for trend direction (rising/falling). -Days 11–13: Garbage — data was erratic, unreliable, and eventually the device died. Conclusion: If you're prediabetic and want to learn how your lifestyle affects your glucose, Stelo may provide short-term. But: -Don’t trust the exact numbers. -Be wary if you're physically active — sweat, motion, and water appear to impact accuracy over time. I’ll test the second sensor, but my expectations are modest.

DOES NOT WORK ON SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 like it says as it it also notes that the operating system must be Android 13 or above and the S10 only allowed updates till Android 12. I had to use someone else's phone which sucked and didn't get the most out of it that I could have. It only lasted 8 of the 15 days which sucked but did provide enough in that week for me to get a much better insight on knowing what was going on so to me it was worth it. I wouldn't wear it constantly though maybe once every few months just to check in to see if my changes made any difference (also note I don't have diabetes and my A1C & Glucose are normal but they wont give me a referral to endo so I bought a fasting insulin test from labcorp as I previously had full blown insulin resistance & do again which this biosensor also helped confirm my blood sugar leves are not right so I can get to the right doctor so I have to give it stars as it did what I needed it to, actually showed it was a worse than I though.)

These things aren't cheap... But hey... quality has a price. I can't speak to the Support Level other people are talking about... I did not yet try to get any support. I've had pretty much NO MAJOR PROBLEMS with the unit at all. Well, other than my own shortcomings of not quite getting it installed correctly the first time. ANd with a couple inexplicable spikes. So when i went to slip my shirt over my head at night, the shirt got hung up on my sensor's patch/tape and I almost ripped it out of my arm... Oops. Luckily, two things: 1) I felt it in time, and now know better than to rip off my shirt too vigorously 2) I had purchased OVERPATCHES at the same time ( Skin Grip patches: https://amzn.to/3X8Nilv ) which I was able to grab and add TWO MORE of them on top of my already patched sensor. So I ended up with THREE patches in place to be sure I could hold the sensor in place. Whew! (see my pic... actual patches, then a second showing the overlapping patterns I made... works well) One thing that totally surprised me about this thing was that I FELT NOTHING... when I pushed the applicator button to shove the thing into my arm... And I don't mean "not much"... I mean literally NOTHING. It was completely uneventful and painless... TOTALLY EASY to apply, insert, activate. It's a really tiny little thing... about the size of a quarter dollar... (well, maybe 3 stacked quarters) surrounded by a moat of sticky adhesive to press it onto the arm. But as long as the arm is clean and dry when applied, then it it is very durable, well-fitting, stays in place without a problem. This is an amazing product design. I don't really understand 100% how it works, but it definitely does work well, dependably and stays in place just fine (with my extra pads applied.) Maybe eventually I'll learn how to apply it so that I don't need a second and third layer of patches applied.... But for now... this is how I have it. And it Works GREAT! VERY EDUCATIONAL, FUN way to learn about the patterns of blood sugar fluctuation. I should note: Over the period of two weeks, I noticed THREE instances of totally inexplcable spikes in the middle of the night, when I was deep asleep. And I don't mean just minor spikes, I mean +30-40 pts spike.... VERY WEIRD. Then, one occurred during the DAY and I immediatelly went to my finger-prick tester to confirm. I knew it must be wrong, because the sensor said ~ 165, and I knew there was no event that could have spiked like that. Finger prick sensor showed, as expected, ~ 92... So... YES: The sensor DEFINITELY has some kind of GHOST readings from time to time (thus I will deduct one star)... but overall... it seems to work predictably well. In general. : ) One other really good thing: It also has the ability to DOWNLOAD all the data to PC another device and/or export it to Excel or other formats, via their web site. That makes this Stelo device really COOL! All in all... I tell you: This is a FASCINATING journey!!! I highly recommend! taking a look at it! ( I was at first cautioius about some spikes in the data, and didn't quite trust it fully! But that turned out to be more just a matter of ONE SENSOR I had apparently not perfectly installed. When I went to the next one, things were fine. )

I have been using Stelo for 5 months. I am shocked by the negative reviews, which I admit gave me pause before I went ahead and took the plunge. Perhaps some are not carefully reading or following the instructions. The app includes step-by-step instructions for applying the sensor, and it is not difficult at all, although I do need assistance from my wife to get the overpatch stuck on well. True, for the first few hours after applying the sensor, the readings are all over the place and not accurate. The instructions warn of this. I have gone through 10 sensors and have not had a defective one, nor have I had one that did not last 15 days. I have tested the Stelo against my glucose monitor using finger- prick and it is very accurate. Keep in mind that the Stelo reports readings every 15 minutes, so you have to compare your meter reading to what Stelo says 15 minutes later. I have also checked Stelo against blood glucose lab results, and again Stelo gives the same result as the lab test. Finally, I just got HgA1C done and the result was dead-on with what Stelo says my average blood glucose has been for the last 90 days (in addition to the Stelo app, there is also the Clarity app, which gives you more data, including something called GMI, which is not the same as HgA1C, but seems to have some equivalence. My 90 day GMI was 6.6, and my lab result for HgA1C was also 6.6).So in my experience Stelo is highly accurate. The most important thing I can say is that, by giving you almost instant feedback as to how what you are eating or doing affects your blood sugar, you can make adjustments and see if they help keep you in range. For example, I have been able to figure out how much pasta I can eat without causing a crazy spike, and that adding some protein and a little fat to the carbs smooths out the rise in blood sugar. So more pasta if I have a sausage or meatball with it! I can have ice cream, just less of it. You can experiment with amounts until you get it right. A pleasant side effect is that all this awareness of what I’m eating has caused a 14 pound weight loss in 5 months, without feeling like I’m dieting. I highly recommend Stelo. As I said, I’ve had no issues with it (other than the price), but if the negative reviews make you nervous, I would still recommend trying any brand of CGM you’re more comfortable with. It really is a game -changer!