Smart Scales?

Author
Discussion

strudel

Original Poster:

5,888 posts

232 months

Wednesday 13th January 2021
quotequote all
Who has one and what do they think?

The reviews for all the models seem to vary a lot, between wildly inaccurate and best purchase ever. I'm not expecting perfect readings, but do they work well enough to give an indication of body fat vs muscle mass? I'm not brilliant at tracking my weight but if they'll help me exercise/diet right then I'm all for buying one.

What's worth paying for?

Radec

4,259 posts

52 months

Wednesday 13th January 2021
quotequote all
This is one of the hardest purchases I've ever tried to make as well, due to the varying degrees of reviews also.
Every other week I'll have a look on Amazon and then a couple of reviews will put me off and back to square one.
Even the ones from Withings/Salter etc go from amazing to piss poor for the same product.
The main complaint seems to be accuracy which kind of defeats the purpose if they can't even get that right.

I'll probably end up with a cheap mechanical one one day.

Edited by Radec on Wednesday 13th January 18:28

LotusMartin

1,116 posts

157 months

Wednesday 13th January 2021
quotequote all
Mrs LotusMartin stole my lovely Withings scales for her bathroom so i bought this. FUGLY but work a treat and sync with Apple health. £32

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08B4KWSM6/ref=cm_sw_r...

Paft Dunk

314 posts

263 months

Wednesday 13th January 2021
quotequote all
We went with the Renpho ones from Amazon. Had them for 3 months or so and use with iPhone app.

Works for me really well and has made me more aware of my weight, good to have targets to work to and I get the data pushed into Apple health along with various metrics from gym equipment.

As for accuracy. I’ve used them to weigh a few chunky parcels and they seem to match the post office scales!

anonymous-user

59 months

Wednesday 13th January 2021
quotequote all
Ray has some reviews - and he is a good reviewer of such things

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/product-reviews/weight...

egomeister

6,834 posts

268 months

Wednesday 13th January 2021
quotequote all
I have the Withings Body+.

It gives readouts for body fat / water / muscle mass / bone mass / BMI, but I can't comment on how accurate they actually are.

The app is nice and clear (and nicely consolidates info from other WIthings devices). Very happy with it and would buy it again.

They are often on offer at Amazon and the like, so don't pay full RRP. I think I picked mine up for 25-30% off.


giblet

8,898 posts

182 months

Wednesday 13th January 2021
quotequote all
Borrowed some Renpho ones recently to compare my weight against my basic Salter digital scales. Weight was the same but the Renpho did it in 0.05 i cremente and the added features were handy.

Granted there is a margin of error to take into consideration when it comes to measuring things like body fat and water weight using BIA but it’s a good measure to have to track things long term

MrGman

1,608 posts

211 months

Thursday 14th January 2021
quotequote all
I don’t think accuracy is the main problem, it’s consistency you want, I gave up looking as like those above, too many bad reviews put me off.

devnull

3,787 posts

162 months

Thursday 14th January 2021
quotequote all
I've had one of the original withins wifi scales for years. Surprisingly useful at showing me how much fatter I get. Got taken over by Nokia, and I think it's nearly 10 years old now, for which is an insane amount of time for a bit of IOT kit to still be working an supported.

strudel

Original Poster:

5,888 posts

232 months

Thursday 14th January 2021
quotequote all
That's actually a fair point - if the backend goes down am I left with a brick? I'm assuming it will still display a weight, just I'll lose all data recording.

Withings are offering 20% off at the moment (although be wary as post Brexit they show prices without VAT!). Amazon is £20 cheaper than usual so I might just go for it, given a reasonable digital scale is £30 on it's own (and my current mechanical one is allergic to zeroing)

Dolf Stoppard

1,341 posts

127 months

Thursday 14th January 2021
quotequote all
I've got the Withings ones and they're great. Battery lasts ages, data seems consistent and uploads to the app without any hassle. Would definitely recommend them.

otolith

58,302 posts

209 months

Thursday 14th January 2021
quotequote all
I have the Withings one, and after a few years it has gone haywire. Suspect the buttons on the underside. It constantly changes units, eats batteries and no linger syncs.

giblet

8,898 posts

182 months

Thursday 14th January 2021
quotequote all
MrGman said:
I don’t think accuracy is the main problem, it’s consistency you want, I gave up looking as like those above, too many bad reviews put me off.
Fair play. The Renpho ones seem to measure a number of different things which I’ve taken with a pinch of salt. I plan on checking in using them every month to see how the stats compare but also using a trusty inch tape

Scabutz

8,041 posts

85 months

Thursday 14th January 2021
quotequote all
I have one, cant remember the make. If you use it consistently you should get consistent results. i.e. always after a pee and or poo, before breakfast etc. Days that you are dehydrated or over hydrated will cause some strange results.

If you are hoping to lose lots of fat and are doing lots of strength work then you would overtime see a decline in the % Body Fat. If you're already at 12% and trying to get to 10% I dont think you'll get enough stable data to really see a size that small.

A cheaper and more reliable way is a tape measure. Measure your belly & neck regularly.