Bide Panel Review

Background

Bide is a bedside alarm designed to prevent falls at night. The device detects when you’re getting out of bed using discreet sensors. It then automatically plays a pre-recorded message that prompts you to move more safely.

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The device was created by Dr Tom Adler. He worked as a GP for 30 years and witnessed the often devastating effects of accidental falls on his patients and their families. He also had experience of caring for his own mother who was living with dementia and was a frequent faller. 

From his research, Dr Adler found that more than half of falls occur at night and these often have the worst outcomes. However, he noticed that most solutions on the market aimed to detect falls rather than to prevent them. He wanted to do something to actually help prevent falls. So he started working with local entrepreneur, Rob Eavis, to develop his idea of a simple bedside device to address these challenges.

In 2024, Dr Adler won the Midlands Randal Charitable Foundation Entrepreneur of the Year Award in recognition of this innovation. He told the Tech Guide: “I am proud that Bide now has the potential to alleviate stress for both the user and their loved ones by helping to reduce nighttime falls.”

First impressions

The Bide device comes with a 2 meter power cable, UK plug and instructions. To get started, you just need to plug in the device. No internet nor Bluetooth connection is needed.

All the reviewers thought the device looked “very robust” and “solid”. They felt it was made from “good quality materials”. 

The device has 5 big control buttons that are “large” and “very easy to press”.

Instructions

Reviewers liked that there were two instruction books: a quick set up guide and more detailed instructions. The instructions were “fairly easy” to follow. 

A 63-year-old reviewer said: “The manufacturers have complemented the simple hardware with good, easy readable instructions. I found the instructions were quite complete and explained the workings of Bide very well indeed.”

This was echoed by other reviewers, with one saying the illustrations were “helpful” and “assisted me to set up the item quickly.” Another reviewer added: “The instructions were in a clear, large format and everything worked the first time.”

However, one reviewer found the quick set up guide hard to read. “A pale grey font on a purple background was a bit difficult to read in some areas. The full instructions are easier but again, black text on grey does not provide enough contrast.”

Voice recording

Next, you need to record your message. To record a message, you press the red recording button and follow the voice guidance from the machine. A short video on how to record a message can be found here on Bide’s website.opens in new tab

The machine can store several messages, and will play them at random. Some of our reviewers chose to record their own message, while some asked loved ones to contribute.

Here are examples of the messages our reviewers recorded:

• “Take care at the top of the stairs.”
• “Hello, I sense someone moving in the bedroom. Please take care and I’ll see you in the morning.”
• “Just be careful, take it easy and be careful.”

Some reviewers had some minor issues recording the messages. A reviewer who falls once or twice a year and is becoming increasingly concerned about falling at night, said: “The voice recording worked pretty well throughout the time I used the device, but it took several attempts to get the recording quality up to a standard to be clear. It wasn’t a major problem at all, but possibly tinkering with the recording levels and improvement of voice quality would greatly enhance the product.”

A reviewer, who uses a torch and a toilet bowl light at night to prevent falls, didn’t realise there was a limit on how many messages they could record. “I got a message saying that the recordings were full and I had to delete one to record any others, this was unexpected so some information on this might have been useful too.”

However, the instructions do say that you can record up to five messages.

Daily use

Positioning and sensors

For the device to work, it needs to be in a suitable position close to your bed. Bide recommends a bedside table but elsewhere in the room may also work.

Once in position, the Bide will sense when someone in bed has woken up. It then lights up in a traffic light sequence and plays the pre-recorded message. The sensors are only active when it is dark.

Two reviewers found the sensors too sensitive. A reviewer from Hertfordshire, who experiences falls a few times a month said: “It was very difficult to integrate into my daily life. I found it very sensitive to movement and light and despite trying in several different places couldn’t find an ideal place."

Another reviewer added: “It lit up when I moved slightly, even though I did not intend to get out of bed.”

Two other reviewers had a contrasting experience, with the sensors not being sensitive enough in their chosen position. 

One said: “It’s very intuitive, effective, and does what it says on the box, but it took me three nights to get it to work, and then it would only work intermittently.

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“I really tried to get the siting of the Bide right, trying the top of my bedside cabinet, the shelf in the cabinet and the top of my dressing table. These were the only real options available to me but none of them really worked. The Bide would sometimes pick my movements up but not always.”

The other reviewer also said it took “several attempts” to find somewhere suitable to place the device.

One reviewer had a very positive experience with the sensors. “The device performed extremely well from the outset. It really is a ‘plug-in and play’ device that has been designed with compassion and care and with a full understanding of the needs of Parkinson’s sufferers.

“I have to say that it was much easier to use than I imagined it would be. It did everything it promised to do so well. After some minor adjustment to the positioning, the detector detected my movement of getting up out of bed with remarkable accuracy.” 

Fall prevention 

All the reviewers in our panel have experienced a mix of daytime and nighttime falls, and at different frequencies, ranging from a few times a month to once or twice a year. 

One reviewer has fallen at night several times, often due to having very vivid dreams. To avoid falling and hurting themselves, they’ve moved their bedside table further away from their bed and bought a super king-size bed to reduce the chance of falling out.

They told us: “There are many benefits from the product such as the light it emits when you’re moving to the bathroom. But in terms of preventing a fall, I do not feel that the response time of the vocal alarm would happen quickly enough to prevent a fall. However, it provides a level of assurance against incidents during the night.”

But another reviewer from Eastbourne, who has suffered minor cuts and bruises from falls in the past, had a very positive experience testing Bide. “I unfailingly responded to the warning message during night time, which was extremely useful and reassuring. Hearing such a message prompted me to be more vigilant and careful.  

“The Bide is giving me reassurance and I think this is the biggest difference it would make to my life. Parkinson’s is a degenerative disease and I will get worse as time goes on. What this clever device did for me is to offer me enhanced background reassurance that it’s watching my back when I do get up in the night. 

“The clever messaging, which can be changed as frequently as I want, the helpful background lighting that is pitched at just the right level of intensity and the automatic nature of being dormant during the day, all come together to make this device so powerful and worthy.”

An 80-year-old reviewer agreed that the device was reassuring. They said the Bide gave “a certain amount of feeling safer that it will stop nighttime falls”.

Unfortunately, one reviewer did not like the Bide and decided to stop testing it after a few days. They told us: “I cannot see how this product would be of any use to the average Parkinson’s sufferer.”

Value

Bide costs £239. None of the reviewers thought the product was worth the price tag, describing it as “steep” and “out of budget”.

The reviewer who found that the device only worked intermittently for them said: “Even if it was 100% effective I think this is a fairly steep price.”

Even the enthusiastic Eastbourne-based reviewer was concerned with the price. They said: “I hope this is not the Achilles heel for the device. It is extremely useful and many users would appreciate the advantages it gives them in daily life. But £239 strikes me as being a bit steep and would be beyond the budget of many.”