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You can now take testosterone tests with a stick, your phone, and some spit

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You can now take testosterone tests with a stick, your phone, and some spit
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Why it matters

At last year’s CES, Eli Health announced the Hormometer — an at-home hormone test for cortisol that utilized saliva and a smartphone.

Key takeaways

  • Eli Health says it expects individual tests will start at $8.25.
  • For this year’s show, the company is back and expanding into testosterone and progesterone.Eli Health isn’t changing up how its Hormometer works.
  • You still stick a thin cartridge attached to a wand in your mouth for about 60 seconds to collect saliva.

At last year’s CES, Eli Health announced the Hormometer — an at-home hormone test for cortisol that utilized saliva and a smartphone. For this year’s show, the company is back and expanding into testosterone and progesterone.

Eli Health isn’t changing up how its Hormometer works. You still stick a thin cartridge attached to a wand in your mouth for about 60 seconds to collect saliva. After, the Eli app uses your phone’s camera to analyze the results. The entire test takes about 20 minutes. The difference is you can now track three hormones on the same platform for a low price. Eli Health says it expects individual tests will start at $8.25. Compared to urine and blood tests — which are more typical for at-home hormone testing — saliva-based tests are also less messy, quicker, and more convenient.

Testosterone is most commonly known as a male sex hormone, though it’s also present in non-males and impacts muscle growth, bone density, hair, and energy levels. Progesterone is more commonly associated with menstrual health and pregnancy, as well as sperm production in men. The company claims its achieved over 90 percent accuracy against laboratory standards for progesterone and cortisol via third-party validation testing and is an FDA-registered product. (Note: FDA-registered isn’t the same as FDA-cleared or approved; it simply means the Hormometer is categorized as a low-risk, Class I device and doesn’t require the same level of scrutiny.) It should also be noted that there are differences between saliva, blood, and urine tests. Saliva tests, like the Hormometer for example, only measure the biologically available levels of these hormones compared to total levels like a blood test.

Hormone balancing, as well as “low-T” treatment, have also been viral wellness trends on social media. That could be one reason why demand for at-home hormone testing is on the rise. That said, experts have warned that influencers aren’t telling the whole truth with regard to either. So while a product like Hormometer may be helpful for people to monitor diagnosed hormonal conditions, it’s important to remember that wellness tech isn’t a replacement for medical advice.

Eli Health expects to ship testosterone Hormometer tests in Q1 2026 and is taking preorders for progesterone.

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Curated by Aisha Patel

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Published: Jan 6, 2026

Read time: 2 min

Category: Technology