Whether you’re tracking your own medications or you’re a caregiver for someone else, using a reliable pill dispenser can help ensure that medications are taken on time and correctly, so that no dose is missed.
CR previously tested pill organizers that keep medications and supplements streamlined and provide a travel-friendly way to transport your pills. But these pill dispensers serve a different purpose. They store medications—usually up to one month’s worth of them, depending on how many daily doses you take—and also dispense them at the exact time you need to take them.
They feature alarms and blinking lights that serve as cues, and sometimes verbal recordings to alert the person when it’s time to take their pills. Depending on the pill dispenser model and your personal needs, some even provide more personalized services, such as phone call reminders if a dose is missed.
We tested five automatic pill dispensers by Hero, EziMedPil, Betlife, Livefine, and e-Pill. For each, we looked at how many pills (of various sizes) fit in the compartments, how easy the devices were to set up, how reliable they were in terms of dosage timing, and how easy it was to retrieve pills (because messy pill dispensing is a deal breaker, as far as we’re concerned).
Notes: We also ordered the Windtrace Automatic Pill Dispenser from Amazon to test, but we found it identical to the Betife dispenser in every way (including packaging). For that reason, we omitted it from our evaluation.
One of the five devices we tested—the LiveFine Pill Dispenser—comes with the option of connecting via WiFi to an app. The Hero Smart Dispenser requires WiFi and its app to operate. But like some other smart devices, both can only connect to 2.4-GHz. Many modern routers support both 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz WiFi, but it’s worth checking before you make your purchase. For testing, I switched to 2.4-GHz and received complaints from my teens that their devices were running slowly. The outcome in your home, however, will rely heavily on your router’s capabilities. CR tested the best WiFi routers and included options that enable devices across multiple bands (including 2.4-GHz).
Here are our top four most efficient and easy-to-use pill dispensers.
