Cheaper Alternative: A comparison between BMC GII APAP and Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset
My Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset (for Him) is already 3 years old and it is still performing as great and as silent as the day I first bought it. Recently I bought a BMC GII Auto CPAP Machine E-20AH-O Smart Home APAP machine as a back up to my Airsense.
Previously I gave a review of the Airsense 10 Autoset – All you wanted to know about the Resmed Airsense 10 - below:
http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...irsense-10
The BMC GII is sold by BMC Medical Co Ltd an established china company located in Beijing through AliExpress.
Cost Comparison (in USD)
Airsense
I bought my Airsense in the first week when it was launched (about USD923 then) and the price was much higher. So in my comparison, I have extracted the current price from the market.
ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet CPAP with Humidifier and ClimateLine Tubing Hose $879
Philips Respironics Nuance™ Gel Nasal Pillow Mask with Headgear $89
Transport $64 (original price I paid for it) – FedEx from Ohio USA to Penang, Malaysia
Total Cost - $1,032
BMC GII
BMC GII Auto CPAP Machine E-20AH-O with Humidifier $470 (with store discount $30)
Fealite Nasal Pillow Mask – free
Tubing Hose - normal host (no climate line) – free
Transport from Beijing China to Penang, Malaysia by UPS Expedite (Under AliExpress) - free
Filters – 1 + 2 spare – all free
Total Cost - $470
Speed of Delivery
It took me 5 days for FedEx to deliver my Airsense from Ohio, US to Malaysia. It took almost about a month for the BMC GII to be delivered from Beijing, China to Malaysia. I think the delivery time could be shortened if not for the documentation glitch faced with the Malaysian customs. To be fair, delivery was the responsibility of AliExpress and not under the control of BMC. But, hey, who’s complaining? It’s free delivery.
Appearance
The BMC GII is boxy and is about 1.5 times bigger than the Airsense. It is strikingly similar to the Phillips Respironics (no longer in production presently) except that it has a bigger and more colorful LED screen. It comes with a free bag and all the items are hygienically packed and sealed. The nasal pillow masks, filters and the machine itself look made from quality materials and not like other flimsy china-made machines.
It comes with a separate humidifier unit which is as big as the machine unit itself. The plastic material of the water tank looks like made from quality material although a wee bit thin (but lighter).
Aesthetically, the Airsense looks more pleasing and refined than the larger and boxy BMC GII.
Performance
Noise
I have used the BMC GII for about 3 weeks now and it is as silent as my Airsense. I could hear only a faint air blowing sound coming from the air tubing hose but my Airsense is an electronically controlled, heated climate line air hose compared with a normal air tubing hose of the BMC GII.
Functions and Reports
The BMC GII has a rather large colorful LED screen. It even has a useful air humidifier level screen where you can adjust off the fly from the knob, a useful feature when you feel you need to adjust while you wake up feeling a dry throat lying on the bed. I would rather that the LED screen be on the front side like in my Airsense rather than on the top where I have to sit up on the bed to read the daily reports. It is more convenient to read the screen while lying in bed.
Just like the clinical menu in the Airsense, the BMC GII has a doctor menu where you could access by pressing the middle knob and right button simultaneously for 5 seconds. Once in the doctor menu you can adjust the minimum and maximum pressure, the expiratory pressure relief, ramp time and a host of other adjustments just like in Resmed. But unlike Resmed, you can easily request for the doctor access menu and the English manuals by asking them and they will readily give to you.
The expiratory pressure relief (term as ResLex in BMC) works great by the way.
There is little to choose from between the reports generated by both machines. It has all of the essential reports of AHI events (including Central Apnea), mean pressure, leakages, etc, presented in hourly/daily graphs/charts and summaries. BMC provides a software similar to ResScan for a more detailed analysis of the sleep report on a PC. However, the data cannot be translated by using SleepyHead software at the moment.
But the BMC GII has a nifty feature over the Airsense. The LCD screen can generate a daily QR screen image where you can use your hand phone (app called “BMC Plus iCode” downloaded from android Playstore) to scan the QR image and it will give the basic reports like events AHI per hour, central apnea, mean pressure, hours of usage, leakage, etc, showing up on your hand phone. I think this feature works on iPhone as well.
Breathing Mask
BMC gave Fealite Nasal Pillow mask with three S, M and L size nasal pillows for free. They do give you the choice of a full face mask, nasal mask or nasal pillow masks for free when you purchase the BMC GII. They sell masks and other medical sleep diagnostic devices separately and they are a lot cheaper with free delivery.
It is made of quality silicon and their parts are modular and abled to be dismantled. I reckon you can buy the parts individually to save cost later on. Quality and performance wise it is as good as my Philips Respironics Nuance™ Gel Nasal Pillow Mask.
However, I felt that my Philips nasal pillow mask is more comfortable to sleep with. But Philip masks do not last long and I have been to my 3rd masks in 3 years.
Therapy Results
Here is the crucial part.
I have used the BMC II for three weeks now and the therapy results between the two machines are about the same. BMC GII produced a AHI events hovering from the range of 0.8 to 1.5. I used to have an AHI of 58 before I started my journey of CPAP therapy. This range of 0.8 to 1.5 AHI is also about what I got from my Airsense.
But there is one peculiar thing which I couldn’t figure out yet as I am not a technical person. To get that result of AHI 0.8-1.5, my Airsense exerted an mean average pressure of about 12-14 cmH2O. But my BMC GII exerted an average mean pressure of about 8-10 cmH2O to get the same results. Less pressure exerted would mean less discomfort to sleep. I sleep just as well as just every other night so I hardly notice the difference.
However, it pleases me to know that this BMC machine is exerting less pressure to get the same results every night.
Technical and Sales Support
I must say that BMC has wonderful good support and their staffs were great. I had a glitch with the Malaysian customs on the importation document. BMC staffs were there supporting all the way from China to deal with the transportation company, UPS Expedite, to get the item delivered to me. I had many daily communications with the staffs of BMC and they responded quickly and politely in English. The thing that most impressed me was that they took responsibility for their fault in the glitch and acted accordingly and politely. How many online sellers do that nowadays? It is no wonder they chalked up good 5-stars ratings from many of their large international customers’ base.
Conclusion
I initially purchased the BMC GII as a “backup machine”, a term, normally synonymous with cheaper price and lower quality machine. But after using it for 3 weeks, I found that it could give my Airsense a run for its money. It gave equally good results and quality but is a lot cheaper.
By analogy to hand phones, it may not be as well-known and famous hand phone as a Samsung or an iPhone but it is a marked down priced Huawei. China’s technology and quality are catching up. It may be important to have a Samsung or iPhone brand because we show them off to our colleagues, business associates and friends. But we hardly need to show off our sleep disorders of CPAP machines like we do for hand phones or cars.
I reckon that if we want a cheaper alternative for CPAP therapy which is less than half the cost of a branded machine without breaking the bank or insurance, this may be a good alternative. I am happy with my Resmed Airsense. BMC GII is not a Resmed but it is close to it. I have no experience with a Philip.
You can google Aliexpress and BMC GII and read the comments and reviews on this machine by users by yourself. That’s how I got to know about this machine in the first place. BMC has garner many honors and awards for innovation in sleep disorders study and research in the Eastern world and you can read about them in their website.
Previously I gave a review of the Airsense 10 Autoset – All you wanted to know about the Resmed Airsense 10 - below:
http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...irsense-10
The BMC GII is sold by BMC Medical Co Ltd an established china company located in Beijing through AliExpress.
Cost Comparison (in USD)
Airsense
I bought my Airsense in the first week when it was launched (about USD923 then) and the price was much higher. So in my comparison, I have extracted the current price from the market.
ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet CPAP with Humidifier and ClimateLine Tubing Hose $879
Philips Respironics Nuance™ Gel Nasal Pillow Mask with Headgear $89
Transport $64 (original price I paid for it) – FedEx from Ohio USA to Penang, Malaysia
Total Cost - $1,032
BMC GII
BMC GII Auto CPAP Machine E-20AH-O with Humidifier $470 (with store discount $30)
Fealite Nasal Pillow Mask – free
Tubing Hose - normal host (no climate line) – free
Transport from Beijing China to Penang, Malaysia by UPS Expedite (Under AliExpress) - free
Filters – 1 + 2 spare – all free
Total Cost - $470
Speed of Delivery
It took me 5 days for FedEx to deliver my Airsense from Ohio, US to Malaysia. It took almost about a month for the BMC GII to be delivered from Beijing, China to Malaysia. I think the delivery time could be shortened if not for the documentation glitch faced with the Malaysian customs. To be fair, delivery was the responsibility of AliExpress and not under the control of BMC. But, hey, who’s complaining? It’s free delivery.
Appearance
The BMC GII is boxy and is about 1.5 times bigger than the Airsense. It is strikingly similar to the Phillips Respironics (no longer in production presently) except that it has a bigger and more colorful LED screen. It comes with a free bag and all the items are hygienically packed and sealed. The nasal pillow masks, filters and the machine itself look made from quality materials and not like other flimsy china-made machines.
It comes with a separate humidifier unit which is as big as the machine unit itself. The plastic material of the water tank looks like made from quality material although a wee bit thin (but lighter).
Aesthetically, the Airsense looks more pleasing and refined than the larger and boxy BMC GII.
Performance
Noise
I have used the BMC GII for about 3 weeks now and it is as silent as my Airsense. I could hear only a faint air blowing sound coming from the air tubing hose but my Airsense is an electronically controlled, heated climate line air hose compared with a normal air tubing hose of the BMC GII.
Functions and Reports
The BMC GII has a rather large colorful LED screen. It even has a useful air humidifier level screen where you can adjust off the fly from the knob, a useful feature when you feel you need to adjust while you wake up feeling a dry throat lying on the bed. I would rather that the LED screen be on the front side like in my Airsense rather than on the top where I have to sit up on the bed to read the daily reports. It is more convenient to read the screen while lying in bed.
Just like the clinical menu in the Airsense, the BMC GII has a doctor menu where you could access by pressing the middle knob and right button simultaneously for 5 seconds. Once in the doctor menu you can adjust the minimum and maximum pressure, the expiratory pressure relief, ramp time and a host of other adjustments just like in Resmed. But unlike Resmed, you can easily request for the doctor access menu and the English manuals by asking them and they will readily give to you.
The expiratory pressure relief (term as ResLex in BMC) works great by the way.
There is little to choose from between the reports generated by both machines. It has all of the essential reports of AHI events (including Central Apnea), mean pressure, leakages, etc, presented in hourly/daily graphs/charts and summaries. BMC provides a software similar to ResScan for a more detailed analysis of the sleep report on a PC. However, the data cannot be translated by using SleepyHead software at the moment.
But the BMC GII has a nifty feature over the Airsense. The LCD screen can generate a daily QR screen image where you can use your hand phone (app called “BMC Plus iCode” downloaded from android Playstore) to scan the QR image and it will give the basic reports like events AHI per hour, central apnea, mean pressure, hours of usage, leakage, etc, showing up on your hand phone. I think this feature works on iPhone as well.
Breathing Mask
BMC gave Fealite Nasal Pillow mask with three S, M and L size nasal pillows for free. They do give you the choice of a full face mask, nasal mask or nasal pillow masks for free when you purchase the BMC GII. They sell masks and other medical sleep diagnostic devices separately and they are a lot cheaper with free delivery.
It is made of quality silicon and their parts are modular and abled to be dismantled. I reckon you can buy the parts individually to save cost later on. Quality and performance wise it is as good as my Philips Respironics Nuance™ Gel Nasal Pillow Mask.
However, I felt that my Philips nasal pillow mask is more comfortable to sleep with. But Philip masks do not last long and I have been to my 3rd masks in 3 years.
Therapy Results
Here is the crucial part.
I have used the BMC II for three weeks now and the therapy results between the two machines are about the same. BMC GII produced a AHI events hovering from the range of 0.8 to 1.5. I used to have an AHI of 58 before I started my journey of CPAP therapy. This range of 0.8 to 1.5 AHI is also about what I got from my Airsense.
But there is one peculiar thing which I couldn’t figure out yet as I am not a technical person. To get that result of AHI 0.8-1.5, my Airsense exerted an mean average pressure of about 12-14 cmH2O. But my BMC GII exerted an average mean pressure of about 8-10 cmH2O to get the same results. Less pressure exerted would mean less discomfort to sleep. I sleep just as well as just every other night so I hardly notice the difference.
However, it pleases me to know that this BMC machine is exerting less pressure to get the same results every night.
Technical and Sales Support
I must say that BMC has wonderful good support and their staffs were great. I had a glitch with the Malaysian customs on the importation document. BMC staffs were there supporting all the way from China to deal with the transportation company, UPS Expedite, to get the item delivered to me. I had many daily communications with the staffs of BMC and they responded quickly and politely in English. The thing that most impressed me was that they took responsibility for their fault in the glitch and acted accordingly and politely. How many online sellers do that nowadays? It is no wonder they chalked up good 5-stars ratings from many of their large international customers’ base.
Conclusion
I initially purchased the BMC GII as a “backup machine”, a term, normally synonymous with cheaper price and lower quality machine. But after using it for 3 weeks, I found that it could give my Airsense a run for its money. It gave equally good results and quality but is a lot cheaper.
By analogy to hand phones, it may not be as well-known and famous hand phone as a Samsung or an iPhone but it is a marked down priced Huawei. China’s technology and quality are catching up. It may be important to have a Samsung or iPhone brand because we show them off to our colleagues, business associates and friends. But we hardly need to show off our sleep disorders of CPAP machines like we do for hand phones or cars.
I reckon that if we want a cheaper alternative for CPAP therapy which is less than half the cost of a branded machine without breaking the bank or insurance, this may be a good alternative. I am happy with my Resmed Airsense. BMC GII is not a Resmed but it is close to it. I have no experience with a Philip.
You can google Aliexpress and BMC GII and read the comments and reviews on this machine by users by yourself. That’s how I got to know about this machine in the first place. BMC has garner many honors and awards for innovation in sleep disorders study and research in the Eastern world and you can read about them in their website.
