I wish I could be the type of person who is so on top of life that I would never even dare to miss one of my daily birth control pills. Alas, I am usually not that person.
Enter: the Emme Smart Case, which has kinda sorta, begrudgingly, turned me into That Person, albeit for a hefty price.
What is the Emme Smart Case?
Available for $99, the Emme Smart Case is exactly what it sounds like: a case for your pill pack that reminds you to take your pill at the same time every day. The reminders come via push notifications and/or texts, and the case pairs with your smartphone via Bluetooth on its own Emme app, available for both iOS and Android users.
I know what you're thinking: Almost $100 for a fancy little case to put my pills in? Can't I just set an alarm on my phone?! I, too, thought this. But after using the case for nearly a month and a half, I have transformed into a nearly perfect pill-taker. Honestly, I wanted to hate it. The Emme case is an expensive alternative to just setting that alarm on your phone like every gyno loves to recommend. But for some aesthetically-pleasing reason, the Emme case was entirely more successful than any alarm I've ever set. I must, unfortunately, report that the Emme case really might be worth it.
An attractive, aesthetic gadget
First and foremost, the Emme is cute. And I think the cuteness is an essential part of what makes it work.
When a birth control case looks like this, I don't mind leaving it out for everyone to see.
Image: jennimai nguyen
The case is a minimal rectangle shape just under five inches wide, with an understated line pattern throughout and a non-glaring, gold-lettered Emme logo in the middle. It comes in five different two-color combos, with one color on the outside of the case and one on the inside, all of which are in various shades of blue, pink, and purple. The rectangle shape means it only works with rectangle pill packs, or smaller circle packs, which slide under a little clip inside the case.
It almost looks like a little wallet or card holder, maybe from a trendy new brand you haven't heard of yet. Using it makes me feel weirdly put together, like I'm whipping out the latest iPhone. And If you want something that will conceal your birth control pills, the Emme certainly does so in a stylish and subtle way. It doesn't scream "pill container," which scores points with me.
My birth control pack has a small top edge, so it almost doesn't fit, but it just slips in.
Image: jennimai nguyen
But it also doesn't really look like anything else I have. Yes, it can pass as a wallet to someone happening to glance at it, but it's just different enough to psychologically trick my brain into remembering my pills exist when I do see it. And it really is a nice, designated place to put my medicine.
Here's where being cute is essential: Since the Emme actually looks nice, I WANT to use it. I actually like looking at it, so it just became easier to always put my pills inside and leave the Emme sitting out without bothering me. Suddenly, I made it through the whole month without losing my pills once. Let me tell you, that never happens around here.
In terms of other physical specs, the smart case has a small gold circle closure on the long edge, which is a slight annoyance. The closure covers the charging port, which looks nice for everyday use, but when you need to charge the case, you can't fully close it. Luckily, you don't actually have to charge it often at all. The battery lasts six months on a single charge (seriously), and you can easily check the case's battery status in the app's settings.
Annoying, but not entirely horrible.
Image: jennimai nguyen
The closure gaffe isn't a devastating design flaw, but just something to keep in mind so you don't push on the case while charging it, which feels like it could damage the charging cord. The Emme case does come with a USB to USB-C charging cable, but no wall adapter.
An app that does what it promises, and could go above and beyond
The required Emme app is free to download for both iOS and Android, and proved to be a simple and effective reminder app that could be taken further if the user chooses.
When you first download the app, you're prompted to set up your account with the typical email and password combo. Once you have a profile, the app asks you to pair the Emme case via Bluetooth by holding the case open nearby, with the blinking light on the case indicating its pairing status.
Overall, the Emme case found my phone extremely quickly, and has stayed paired with the app over the entire month I've used it. During setup, the app does prompt you to turn location services to "Always On" in order for the case to stay paired and send you your reminder notifications at the correct time. I don't love this, as I tend to leave my location settings turned to "Allow only while using app," but I understand the necessity in the case's function.
Users have ability to customize choices
Also during initial setup, the Emme app asks you when the first day of your current pack was, what kind of pills you use (combination or progestin only), how many active pills are in your pack (21/24/28), and whether you take your placebo week. This information is how the case learns to interpret what your pill pack looks like and personalizes how to track your data.
Being able to input your specific start date is a perk I especially liked, as it doesn't force you to start at the beginning of a month. Pill packs rarely line up with starting on the first of the month, or you may not choose to start it on the first Sunday of the month, as many packs are labeled. I started mine on March 7, and happened to start using the Emme case at the very start of this pill pack. But presumably, you could get the case while in the middle of a pack, input your correct start date, and the case would be able to read the current state of your pack and give you accurate data from there.
Indicating whether you take your placebo week is also important to the way the app and notifications work. At first, I chose that I didn't take my placebo week, because truthfully, I don't. I like to have a week off from popping a daily pill, so I don't take the placebos, but also don't go straight into my next pack.
But indicating that I don't take my placebo week made the app think that I immediately started a new pack at the end of the first three weeks, which was also not true. After messing with some settings, I discovered that if you have the same habits as me, the best option is actually to indicate that you do take the placebo pills but turn your notifications off for that week, which is a specific, available option, just not in the setup phase.
You can find the placebo week reminder option buried in the settings after initial setup.
Image: screenshot: Emme app
I set up my reminder preferences for a 9:30 p.m. push notification, which automated the app to set up two subsequent notifications at 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. if you haven't taken your pill by then. You can also choose to get reminders sent as text messages, or both if you really want an extra kick in the butt. When you look at your monthly data, you can see that there are icons that indicate whether you took your pill on time, late, or early, depending on the times you set for your reminders.
I particularly loved that the push notifications paired with my Apple Watch, so I got my reminder even when I wasn't looking at my phone. This feature made me feel much less reliant on my phone, and further integrated Emme into my life without me having to think about it.
Tracking my pill habits and getting reminder notifications was the extent to which I used the app in my everyday life, because that's all I really wanted it for. But the app does offer more to dig into, like a cycle tracker where you can record flow levels, bodily symptoms, sex drive, when you're having sex, and emotions. I haven't used an in-depth tracker like this in ages, but having one integrated into the Emme app does make me curious to pick it back up, and I like the idea of consciously checking in with my body more as a result.
The app also offers a blog section with birth control-centered articles hosted by Medium. This section is a nice resource guide for the casually curious, featuring stories about pelvic exams, period hacks, endometriosis, and more. Again, not my main use for the app, but a nice add-on that definitely feels relevant and useful.
Emme made me into a different pill-taker
For context, I'm not entirely hopeless at remembering to take my pills. But I do hate taking them, and put it off, and therefore sometimes forget altogether. After a month of using Emme, I had a basically perfect track record, with my one mess-up not really the case or the app's fault.
A month of my pill-tracking data.
Image: screenshot: emme app
I happened to be moving across the country this past month, and in a chaotic turn of events, had to make the 12 hour drive overnight. In the general unpleasantness of the situation, I didn't take the pill that I was reminded of at 9:30 p.m. This was an active choice. I was too busy grumbling at the road to pop the pill, and I told myself I'd just do it in the morning. The three reminders pestered me about it on time, and the app logged my late pill the next day when I eventually took it, just as promised.
I will note that the cross-country drive unlocked a feature I wouldn't have thought to test: time zone settings. The Emme app noticed that I moved from Central to Eastern time zones, but rather than adjusting my preset 9:30 p.m. notification to 9:30 p.m. ET, it moved all three reminders an hour back. When I was mildly annoyed and dug into the settings to manually change it, I was met with a message saying that I shouldn't change my time zone if I was just on a trip, to keep my schedule consistent. Huh, I thought. Makes sense, wouldn't have thought of that. It did allow me to still change the time zone after the message, though.
Errors can happen, but it's easy to manually fix
There was also an instance during the month that the Emme case must have scanned (sensed?) my pill pack incorrectly, because I had taken a pill and it recorded it as missed. Luckily, I could go in and manually change this. It didn't affect how the case or app worked, since I still got my reminders sent to me at the correct time for the next day's pill, but for peace of mind and accurate data tracking, I appreciated the flexibility.
By having my pill-taking data automatically logged, I did learn about my own habits without having to try very hard at all. For example, I set my reminder for 9:30 p.m., but I mostly didn't take my pill until my second or third reminder later in the evening (big procrastinator here.) By establishing that kind of rhythm, I subconsciously learned to anticipate when I should take my pill, sometimes happening to glance at my phone right before the reminder came in. It made me aware of my laziness, but also in tune with my body.
Add to cart?
Probably one of Emme's best traits is that it's almost totally unique. The only competitor I could find that accomplished a similar task was the Aavia, a case and app combo that also tracks pills taken and general menstrual health. The Aavia version costs $75, but the premium version of its sister app also costs $8/month or $65 annually.
While $99 is not the smallest price tag, Emme's cost is comparable to Aavia, especially considering the one-time nature of the purchase and full app access. And personally, I think the Emme is a more sleek version of the Aavia, which looks a lot more like a typical birth control pill case.
If I'm doing a personal evaluation, I think convincing myself to spend the near-$100 would have been a hard hurdle to clear, but after using Emme, I do feel like my life has been enriched by nearly $100 worth of ease and consistency. I'm frugal by nature, but ultimately, Emme is an adorable, health-altering tech gadget that I genuinely appreciate using.
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April 20, 2021 at 10:28PM
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Emme smart birth control case review: I didn't miss one pill - Mashable
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