[Product Review] BMC WNP Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask "Fealite"

[Sheepish]

BMC WNP Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask "Fealite"


Prompted by the very good review of the BMC (Breathing Machines from China? ) GII APAP machine by member sharp56 (http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...10-Autoset), I thought I'd order the above mask individually and try it out. BMC also sells some nasal masks and full face masks, in case anyone would like to give those a try.


Availability and Cost

It's available from the BMC online store at AliExpress for about US$40, though I got mine for about $35 on Nov. 11, popularly known in China as Singles Day, which has apparently become the single largest day for online sales in the world, outpacing even Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

This is probably the most attractive feature about this mask, its very reasonably low cost, which makes it ideal for anyone on a budget and/or with no or limited insurance coverage.


Quality

Low cost would mean very little, however, if the mask were of low or inferior quality. This is not the case. The Fealite appears to be made of quality materials and well-designed, and carries a 3-month warranty. Some specs from the product description:

• Pressure Range: 4-20 cmH2O
  
• Certificate: CE FDA ISO
  
• Warranty: 3 Months Assurance
  

This does not appear to be some knock off product. It has its own original design, and feels well-made. Of course, time will be the ultimate test of durability.

Eighty-five customer feedback rating votes currently give this mask 4.9 stars out of 5 on AliExpress.


Comfort and Convenience

The mask is as comfortable as any decent nasal pillow mask, such as the Philips Respironics Nuance™ Gel Nasal Pillow Mask, as sharp56 points out. The front nosepiece is a little bulkier than most models, however, and I initially thought that it was because this model might have a exhalation diffuser like the Resmed AirFit P10, rather than a vent that produces an air stream, like most masks do. Unfortunately, this mask also has a traditional vent which blows out a stream of air. IMO, the future of exhalation ports should be diffusers, like the P10 or the Brevida (which I've also ordered to give a try), since it reduces noise when the airstream hits your bed linens, and reduces an unpleasant blast of cold air that hits you or your sleeping partner.

There is a smaller, lighter hose which connects in the standard way to your machine's main hose, just like the Nuance Pro or the AirFit P10.

Despite this mask's slightly bigger bulk up front, it did not feel heavy or unbalanced, and the Fealite's hose can be channeled through a loop on top of your head, so it is conveniently out of the way. It feels balanced and comfortable. The headgear is relatively comfortable, fits well after adjustments, and stays in place overnight. The nasal pillows themselves are a comfortable as any others I've tried. I used the mediums, but the package includes small and large nasal pillows as well.

Also included are fleece wraps to pad your cheeks from the headgear.

One slight inconvenience is that the headgear does not come pre-assembled. You have to put it together yourself and it is not entirely intuitive. The multilingual user's manual could do with some better photos and illustrations for assembling the headgear, although by and large the manual is well written and clear.


Performance

AHI with this mask is par for the course, in my case <2. A few weeks of additional testing will eventually provide a greater sample of data, so updates will be made to this review if there is any significant variation in the future.


Value

Value for cost is probably this mask's best quality. It will most likely not unseat king-of-the-hill popular masks like the Respironics DreamWear or the Resmed AirFit P10, but it is a good quality nasal pillow mask at a fraction of the cost. For about $40 you get a good quality mask, with no additional charges, including free shipping, which itself is relatively fast considering it was shipped from China to the eastern part of North America, in my case.

If they make a version with a smaller nosepiece that consists of a exhale diffuser, it will earn a full 5 stars.

[Apnea Infant]

Looks good.

Will interrogate further another time-a bit busy this weekend. Am sure they are like Chinese phones - One Plus and Huawei - really good value for money and yet really great phones.

[Sheepish]

Here are a few small updates to the review.

• The comfort level remains very good, both for the headgear (although I may need to use my cheek crease mod again) and the nasal pillows, which fit comfortably and produce no irritation -- even less less than the P10 for some reason.
  
• The noise on the inhale half of a breath is quite loud, louder than any other mask I've tried. It really makes me feel like I should be telling Luke I am his father.
  

• Here's last night's SleepyHead with this mask. One night does not a significant data sampling make, but it's a start. I notice there's a bit of a leak over the redline, so maybe I need to tweak the headgear adjustment. It was a long night, nearly 9 hours, but the previous night with no leaks was only a bit under 4 hours (work).
  

[Sheepish]

Last night's SleepyHead with this mask. No leaks over redline.

[Sheepish]

Latest update: Switched from the medium pillows to the large ones, since the mediums were just a tad too small and were creeping up into my nostrils a bit rather than sitting on top of them. Much more comfortable now + feeling of increased airflow, and so will be staying with the large from now on.

How to replace the pillows was not at all intuitive , so I broke down and resorted to RTFM (Read The Fine Manual) .  Then it went fine.  

This gets me thinking I might try the same with my P10, for the same reason.

[Marillion]

Thanks for this review and your updates.

[Sheepish]

If they make a version with a smaller nosepiece that consists of a exhale diffuser, it will earn a full 5 stars.

Looking at their site on AliExpress, I came across a new nasal pillow mask, this one with what is seemingly a diffuser.





This mask is named the BMC P2. It says it goes for about US$100 on their site but says...



The US DME cartel seems to have "reached out" to them, because...



Oddly though, it seems available on both US and Canadian eBay, and for only AU$79.99.  

For the time being, I'm good with my current masks listed in my profile, some of which seem pretty close to this BMC P2 ,  so I'll leave the fun of trying it out to someone else. I'd give it a try if I weren't already all set, though.