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Despite the improved forum search I can't find a previous thread on this, so here goes...
The family bathroom scales have packed up - thought it was the battery but it appears they've become tired of life and telling me month after month 'one at a time please' 🙂
I've been looking at new ones, and there are plenty to choose from. But is it worth getting a set that measure stuff like bodyfat percentage (or at least display a random number or one based on the cycle of the moon) and then send it to Google for their campaign for world domination?
Anyone care to share their experience of unnecessary complication and connectivity issues associated with smart scales? Or are they 'sliced bread'? (ooo - maybe I'll go and see if there's an episode about this on that podcast)
Have had Withings scales for ages - we are on a second one now as we(?) wanted newer model with some extra features and could sell the old one.
Main features for me are automatic user recognition and saving the weight to web service and app. It also tells weather forecast (nice!) and displays some additional data but I don’t have too much faith in those measurements (body fat, vascular health etc).
I have a cheap one mate by 1byone from Amazon from memory. Bought it for the novelty of it being able to link to Fitbit and hence, Zwift. Accurate when compared to my GP's machine in their surgery. 🙂
The body fat lark is balls on smart scales from what I've read, though it does have that metric too.
Oh and my scale told me I am going to be at my target weight by June 1st 2035. That promise was made 3 years ago.
I too have a cheaper set. It needs it's own phone app, but that will link to Fitbit and thence to Garmin/Zwift. The only data sent to these is weight though.
If you're into looking at your fitness and health holistically then I reckon they're a good thing. As usual, I regard all the numbers as relative rather than accurate - i.e. an indicator of change rather than absolute
I'd like the Garmin version but I'm not convinced I want to spend that much for a (very) marginal gain.
We had a very old set of FitBit scales that also committed electronic suicide - possibly brought on by weighing dog and scrambling it's tiny 'who just got on' brain 🙂
I like Garmin stuff (have Epix2 so the scale would have made sense) but couldn't bring myself to pay £100+. Ended up buying Withthings scale and it's been excellent. The app is actually pretty good (other than the silly challenges) and as @scotroutes was saying, even if the weight adjacent stats are hooky, they do provide a baseline.
Have no issue with it connecting to Garmin (via Apple Health or MyFitnessPal I think).
Although the real reason I like it is I've lost over 2kg in six weeks on the 100 days challenge!
Garmin for me used Scale 1 & 2 find it really helps, not sure why anyone would moan about price they last a life time my current scale is 2 years old.
I use the Garmin scales plus an app called MacroFactor to track diet and weight. I find it useful. I'm making more informed choices about what I eat, recovering from exercise better and managing a bit of weight loss.
OMRON scales here - loads of use less metrics but I bought it for the ability to save the readings on my phone so when I am on a mission I don't have to keep writing it down. Works well although the graph in the app is a bit pants as the scale goes from 6 stone to 18 stone or something daft so any readings basically just create a straight line. You can view just the readings themselves though which is enough for me.
I have had a garmin scale since it first came out which I guess would be 6 or 7 years, I also have the blood pressure monitor. It just makes it so easy to have it all in the same eco system, it isn't the most economical option but I have years of records now in one place, can easily show my doctor if current trends are not my normal baseline etc
I think that for me making it easy was part of making it a habit, if you are the sort of person that will take the extra steps to consolidate different sources then the cheaper options would probably be more attractive.
I think they are random number generators designed to extract ££s from the health data needy*. Anyway, mucking around with one after a few and it claimed that I had a far lower body fat % than my mate who climbs 8s (hard stuff) and is ripped to bits. I am more 1-pack/ bulk for the winter territory. This is clearly bobbins.
*I do have a separate blood pressure device, but one recommended by the Drs. Not sure a scale is at the same level for this sort of thing.
I've had the Withings scales since 2012 I think. Would kinda like them to die so I could buy ones with all the new bells and whistles. I've tracked my weight since 2001 and do find it useful. Last month I realised I was the heaviest I've ever been! Now I'm on a diet.
B******d indestructible Withings scales.
I've got the Withings blood pressure and ECG unit - really good. However, I'd really like the Garmin one as I'm already bought into the Garmin solution. I'm not going to buy it as it is £155 and the unit I've got works brilliantly - I just need to do a manual entry into Garmin as it won't sync up.
I got some Renpho smart scales....I got them, not cos they're smart, but because they give a consistent reading. My previous supposedly accurate ones would give a variance of up to 1.5kg in consecutive readings seconds apart.