Do digital pregnancy tests really help?

Digital pregnancy tests are those that allow you to have the answer (pregnant or not pregnant) written on a display, or show the indication of the weeks of pregnancy passed since conception (1-2 weeks, 2-3 weeks and 3+ weeks ).

Are these digital pregnancy tests really useful? Are they worth the money spent? Or is it enough to rely on a normal “analog”/”manual” test that can be read by interpreting the output or otherwise of the lines?

We know that the classic pregnancy tests , even the cheapest ones, are positive when, in addition to the control line, the one that reads the beta HCG hormone also appears. The intensity of the second line depends on: the value of beta HCG detected in the urine, and the days passed since conception. The weaker a second line is, the lower the betas are, but they can be justifiably low if done too early (11 a.m./post ascertained ovulation is the limit for performing reliable tests, doing them before 11 a.m. makes no sense ) .

A disassembled digital pregnancy test

A tweet in which a digital pregnancy test is taken apart and analyzed has gone viral. Many have commented and wondered whether or not electronic tests are worth the money spent. In the tweet, the author posted photos of the dismantled digital pregnancy test by his wife who had recently taken a cheap pregnancy test, a Canadian pregnancy test .

After obtaining the positive in the Canadian test, he had decided to also take a digital test because it was considered more “reliable”. This fact of reliability is a theme shared by many women, it is also true that Canadian tests, if done too soon, can give very nasty ghost lines or evaporation lines that make them look positive when in reality they are not.

Many comments also asked about the impact of similar tests on the environment. What’s the point of putting a digital system to interpret two lines?

Advantages and disadvantages of digital pregnancy tests

If we take a good look at the contents of a digital test, we find a battery on the left, an integrated circuit, made of LEDs and photosensors, and a long strip of paper. If you look closely that strip is the same as a normal pregnancy test. In short, the little computer does nothing but read the same thing that our eyes connected with our neurons would do.

The purpose of the digital part, the battery, the integrated circuit, the LEDs and the photodiodes, is simply used to read the lines and print the words ” PREGNANT ” or ” NOT PREGNANT “.

Without forgetting that these digital tests are less sensitive than the cheap ones.

So are they really worth the money spent? The comments are clear, for some it is a real scam, in the sense that people in general think that a digital test is more accurate but it is not. In a digital test there may be manufacturing defects, low battery, in short, they may not always be as reliable as one is led to think. The human eye may be even more sensitive than the photodiodes used in the device. 

If instead we want to find an advantage, this could be represented by the presence of the weeks indicator.

If I take a test today and it shows me 1-2 weeks pregnant, then retest the next week and I get 2-3 weeks pregnant, that gives me a rough indication that my beta HCG has gone up.

But we can also have this indication with a very normal test, if today the hormone line is weak and in a few days it is much more intense, my betas have certainly increased (if I perform the test in the same situations, i.e. with the first pee of the morning).

In the end, therefore, the advantages are simply “aesthetic”. A digital pregnancy test is apparently “nicer”, “cooler” than a manual test. But in these cases what matters is the outcome, and the environmental impact should not be overlooked. Digital tests should be disposed of properly due to the presence of a battery. Have you ever thought about it?