Bravo Twist Panel Review
Review updated:
Bravo Twist is an electronic anti-tremor utensil that uses advanced stabilisation technology to aid at mealtimes. Reviewers did not like the bulkiness of the device and thought it was very expensive.
Highs
- Can help avoid spills when eating soups and cereal
- Fork attachment works well with noodles and soft food
- Instructions are clear and easy to follow
Lows
- Bulky to hold
- Syncing to the app only works with wi-fi that has a 2.4GHz frequency
- Fork attachment does not work with dense or firm food
- Counteracting movements of the device can be hard to get used to
- Expensive
Meet our Review Panel
Our 6 reviewers are Angela, Jim, Joanne, Mel, Robin and Roy. They were asked to test out Bravo Twist for 4 weeks before sharing their feedback with us.
Symptoms: Our reviewers are living with a wide range of Parkinson’s symptoms, including tremor, fatigue, gait issues and speech difficulties
Tech confidence rating: Ranges from “fairly confident” to “very confident”.
Location: The 6 reviewers are located in Cumbria, Devon, Hampshire and Lancashire.
Gender
- Men: 4
- Women: 2
Age range
Years since diagnosis
Background
The Bravo Twist is an intelligent anti-tremor utensil designed to help reduce mealtime spills for people with conditions like Parkinson’s or essential tremors.
Created by Gyenno Science, the Bravo Twist uses what it calls an ‘Intelligent Servo System’ to detect tremor and counteract those movements with its own movements to provide stabilisation.
The Bravo Twist follows the Bravo Classic in Gyenno’s product line-up, introducing a rotating mechanism that makes it easier to pick up and twirl spaghetti and noodles with a fork. The Twist version also adds tremor data collection, allowing the cutlery to connect to a smartphone app and record tremor frequency and severity.
Gyenno has been working in the field of central nervous system diseases since 2013. They are also the same company behind the Skywalk motion assistance device.
First impressions
Set up
The device comes with both a ‘quick start’ guide with illustrations and more detailed instructions. All six reviewers found the instructions “fairly clear” and “fairly easy” to read.
Both Robin and Joanne added that they thought the accompanying illustrations were “useful” and “clear”.
Jim, 75, said: “I did not require my reading glasses but some text was quite small.”
Although he found the instructions “very easy” to follow, Mel also found the font too small. “The small print made it harder to read as I have poor eyesight.”
Before using Bravo Twist for the first time, the device needs to be fully charged. A charging cable is included.
There is one main on/off button at the base of the device and a button on the side to activate the rotational movement feature.
Syncing with the app
The cutlery has an accompanying app called ‘Gyenno Spoon’ which can record hand tremor data.
To use the app, you need to ‘pair’ the device with it. You need access to the internet to do this and the device only works with Wi-Fi that has a 2.4GHz frequency. This caused a big issue for the majority of the review panel who have faster broadband connections in their home.
Mel was disappointed by this and felt that the requirement should be made more prominent. He said: “I was unable to use the facility to measure and record tremor. This should be made clear as a limitation of the product, as more people move away from 2.4GHz broadband.
“On reflection, I’m not sure why I would ever want to measure my tremor frequency and intensity. It might be relevant for a Doctor or Consultant, but to an average user we know the answer! - we live with it!”
Only Jim was able to successfully sync to the app. On what he thought of the app, Jim said: “It’s very basic monitoring of tremor intensity and frequency, similar to free apps I have previously used. As it only recorded data during use for meals it was not very useful.”
Daily use
According to the manufacturer, the Bravo Twist electronically stabilises the attached spoon or fork, reducing shakes by up to 85% when compared to using a normal utensil. When it detects unintentional movement like a tremor, the device aims to keep the spoon or fork in an upwards position to avoid spills.
Mealtimes
All of our reviewers have various struggles when it comes to mealtimes because of their tremor, with spills and mess being most prevalent.
Both Joanne and Mel find that mealtimes can be noisy as well as messy.
“My cutlery rattles against the plate a lot which makes it very hard to eat in company. So far it’s manageable but embarrassing,” said Mel.
Joanne added that the “noisy racket” often disturbs conversations at the dining table.
Roy’s tremors impact how fast he can eat. “I am slow to eat and often the food gets cold before I finish it.”
For Jim and Mel, soup is difficult to enjoy as it gets “very messy”.
The majority of the review panel said it was either “fairly” or “very” difficult to both use and integrate the smart utensil into their daily life. Issues included the strength of the fork attachment and problems holding the actual device.
Jim said: “I had problems with it everyday. As an eating implement, it was worse than a conventional fork [or] spoon.”
The Bravo Twist also has a rotational function that can be used for twirling around spaghetti or noodles.
Mel said that “the swizzle setting for spaghetti and noodles worked well”.
However, along with Roy and Joanne, Mel found the fork attachment did not perform well for other kinds of food.
“It was difficult to push the fork into items such as meat,” said Roy. “You could only use the fork for soft foods.”
Joanne said the fork didn’t work well with “dense foods like meats and pies”. She also said that the device’s movements actually “hindered” her at mealtimes rather than made it easier.
She wasn’t the only one who couldn’t get used to the movements. Angela said: “It wobbles too much. I suspect that the designer thought it would counteract tremors but it makes it even more difficult.”
Robin added: “I could not get the spoon or fork into my mouth easily as it always seemed to be at the wrong angle. I was not comfortable using it, it felt awkward and didn’t help at mealtimes.”
Only Mel had a somewhat positive experience using the Bravo Twist and is the only member of the panel who said they would continue using it.
“It was good using the spoon attachment, it felt secure and was beneficial as I didn’t spill from the spoon.”
He added: “It’s just OK, not brilliant. Having said that, I will continue to use it for soup and cereals, and for spaghetti and noodles.”
Design
Bravo Twist is made from anti-bacterial medical-grade materials. It weighs 155g. The spoon attachment weighs 6.7g and the fork weighs 5.4g.
The attachments are connected magnetically and the reviewers had no issues removing them or attaching them. Both the attachments are dishwasher-safe, but you must not submerge the electronic handle in water.
The utensil comes with its own cover so that you can take it out with you in your pocket or bag. Though, two reviewers didn’t like the idea of using it outside of the house. Joanne said it was “quite bulky to carry around”, while Angela commented that she “would be embarrassed to use it in public”.
Mel also described it as “bulky”, as well as “unwieldy” and told us it took a while to get used to holding it. Similarly, Joanne said it took her over a week “to figure out how to hold the spoon and use it successfully.”
Roy had two suggestions on how to improve the product’s design. He said: “The body should be more textured to aid grip, and the wrist strap was loose and needed a slider to tighten it once on the wrist.”
Value
Bravo Twist costs £378 including VAT. For people who do not have to pay VAT on medical devices, it costs £315. Find out more about VAT exemption and see if you’re eligible hereopens in new tab.
Spare spoon and fork attachments can be purchased separately at approximately £20.
Everyone on the panel thought the device was too expensive. Angela told us that it’s “definitely not worth the price.”
Roy also said it was not worth the price “in its current state” He added: “It seems a good idea that could be further developed to make it a useful addition to my life.”
Mel suggested that a pricey product like this should be tried out before anyone decides to part ways with such a large amount of money: “It could be made available for people to try before buying, maybe through local support groups. It’s a lot to pay out.”
He added that the spare attachments were also “too expensive”.
All the reviewers said they were “unlikely” to recommend Bravo Twist.