Memory (M) and average readings
The numbers on the screen are not a new measurement: they are a stored reading, or an average of stored readings, recalled from the monitor’s memory.
Check your monitor’s manual — makers differ.
What it is for
Before you write a value down, check which one you are looking at — a single stored reading or an average — and which readings that average covers, because each maker averages a different set.
These pages report what each maker’s manual says and quote it wherever health is involved. They do not diagnose anything and are not medical advice; only your own monitor’s manual describes your model.
- What it looks like
- A letter M near the numbers, sometimes with an average mark such as AVG or A, or with a morning or evening mark.
- Names makers use
- Memory symbol and Average value symbol (Omron); M symbol (A&D); Memory display: average, morning, evening (Beurer); «M» and «A» (Microlife)
Where makes differ
Omron’s average symbol “Flashes when viewing the average of the latest 2 or 3 readings taken within the most recent 10 minute timeframe.” Microlife’s «A» “stands for the average of all stored values”, leaving out readings taken with a suboptimal cuff fit. Beurer’s BM 28 shows an overall average, then “the average value of the morning measurements for the last 7 days (morning: 5 am – 9 am)” and the evening one (6 pm – 8 pm). A&D shows the average data first when you recall the memory. Memory sizes differ too: 60 readings on the Omron BP7250, 100 per user on the BP7450, 99 on the Microlife, 60 per user memory on the Beurer BM 54.
What it does not mean
A memory average is not a new measurement, and two makers’ averages are not the same thing: a 10-minute Omron average and a 7-day Beurer morning average cover different readings.
Other symbols with the same shapes
Sources
No published standard we could check defines blood pressure monitor control icons, so this meaning is taken from 4 makers’ own manuals and support pages, each fetched and read on the date shown:
- Omron: Omron — Instruction manual, 5 Series upper arm blood pressure monitor BP7250 (PDF) — Display table: “Memory symbol — Appears when viewing readings stored in the memory. Average value symbol — Flashes when viewing the average of the latest 2 or 3 readings taken within the most recent 10 minute timeframe.” Up to 60 readings stored. Checked 2026-09-28.
- Omron: Omron — Instruction manual, 10 Series upper arm blood pressure monitor BP7450 (PDF) — The same memory and average symbols; “Stores up to 100 readings per user”. Checked 2026-09-28.
- A&D Medical: A&D Medical — Instruction manual, basic blood pressure monitor UA-651 (PDF) — “The M symbol in the upper left corner of the display indicates that you are viewing previous data stored in memory”; recalling shows “the average data” first. Checked 2026-09-28.
- Beurer: Beurer — Instructions for use, upper arm blood pressure monitor BM 28 (PDF) — Display item 18 “Memory display: average value, morning, evening, memory space number”; morning average of the last 7 days, 5 am – 9 am, evening 6 pm – 8 pm. Checked 2026-09-28.
- Beurer: Beurer — Instructions for use, upper arm blood pressure monitor BM 54 (PDF) — User memory: “The oldest measurement is overwritten in the event of more than 60 measurements”; display item 9 shows the average, morning and evening memory displays. Checked 2026-09-28.
- Microlife: Microlife — Instruction manual, BP B3 AFIB Advanced (PDF) — “The display first shows «M» and «A», which stands for the average of all stored values”; “Blood pressure readings with suboptimal cuff fit are not considered in the average value”; stores the last 99 values. Checked 2026-09-28.
Written in our own words; quotations are the makers’ wording.