WithingsBody Cardio- Wi-Fi Smart Scale with Body Composition & Heart Rate, White

It was time to get a new scale in our household. First of all we had to start looking after these WFH wight gains and secondly our former scale was just too old, inaccurate. We decided to try one of these new digital scales with wifi connectivity. And even though Withings wasn’t a familiar brand to us this seemed to be one of the more upscale brand to go to, after all it was one of the products suggested on the Apple site. This also implied a steep 600% premium in price compared to the average bathroom scale - we could have spent £20 on an average digital scale rather than the $130 we paid for this premium model in the Withings range. Was it worth such a mark up?Well the scale is stylish, and it feels quite durable and of high quality. Also its presentation, given the packaging is good. This simply makes it a nice, proper gift as well.Then in terms of ease of use and connectivity I would also rank it high. It works straight out of the box. And if you are willing to download the app and spend a few extra minutes to fill out a few basic data you are set up in just a few minutes. I should say that we found it a little hard to set up family profiles. The scale detects different family members bases on their body measurements, which is great. However only one person can keep these extra data on their digital device and as far as we understand you can’t share it in a family group. So we had duplicate profiles for our children initially before we erased the extra one, which was confusing to and the and the scale. For the rest the app is great and straightforward, its can share data with other health apps, and historic data can be manually added. If you wish to be confronted with the truth you can get weekly reports by email. The scale automatically sends new data to your mobile device within a few minutes. The battery lasts for months, we use the scale daily a couple fo times and we haven’t had to recharge for the past 3 months.Is it accurate? I guess so but I found there is a 300 - 400 gram bounce when you step on it before it pins down your weight and therefore daily variation depending on your posture, and time of measurement - I usually take my weight and body measurement once a day straigth out of bed.Now, this premium version of the scale is also capable to do a full body measurement. In fact is does the whole sequence whenever you step on it, including a weather report. I lost interest after using those functions once. Mostly because I’m in a rush in the morning and it takes about a minutes to go through everything. But there is a BMI, heart rate, body fat measuring ect. I still find that the BMI is off, or based on a different calculation that I would otherwise get to (its too high). On the other hand, one of our children has a heart condition, so the heart rate measure feature is a helpful addition. So looking back we probably shouldn’t have paid for these extra features, but its nice to have. And overall this is a good product that we like and would recommend.

The media could not be loaded. I bought this product in April 2020. Now May 2021. Yesterday the unit failed, with the screen continually cycling through multiple garbage. Attempting weight measurement produces result more than 20 kg out, but the displayed weight changes within a few seconds to a grossly different weight. There is no information on this fault within the dedicated app. Within the Withings Customer Forum, there are multiple reports of this method of failure, occurring after several months. No-one has been able to get any response from Withings Customer Support, which seems unbelievable for such a big company. But don't believe me, just look at the Customer Forum and spot the replies from the company - there aren’t any. So, I think the company does not care? The scales were great until they failed, but I won’t be getting a replacement for such a pricey item that only lasts a year. Withings need to fix the failing technology, and provide considerably better customer support.

The product worked as expected for either months. It suddenly stopped taking body scan readings. Essentially, any of the readings that rely on the handle now longer work. I suspect an issue with the cord. I have requested a replacement, but after an initial response from them via the online chat function, it's been nothing but silence for over a week.

I did a lot of research before buying these scales and I opted for the cardio version largely because I preferred their design, I thought it would be useful to have the heart rate and pulse wave velocity readings, and I was buying them with an Amazon voucher I received as a gift, so thought I would treat myself to the best ones. They are very attractive looking. The app, Health Mate, is decent and syncs well with the scales. We had a couple of early issues with trying to add two different profiles to the scales, but it was relatively easily fixed. I saw one reviews complain about seeing the weather forecast on the scales. I agree it’s pointless, but you can toggle within the app which measurements are shown when you step on the scales, and the order in which they are shown. They read as 0.3kg higher than my rather old basic digital scales over the course of 7 days, so I can’t complain about that. The body readings are useful (the scales show fat and muscle mass as an amount - the app shows it as a percentage; I didn’t realise this for a while and thought the numbers weren’t syncing correctly.) The biggest bug bear I know people have about these scales is the ‘cardio’ aspect of them. And I have to agree. It took me ages to work out how to get a pulse wave velocity reading and I’ve sort of cracked it. I now probably get a PWV reading 60-70% of the time. It involves standing on the scales with moist/wet feet and holding onto the basin/a wall to keep my feet stable. I now weigh myself after I get out of the shower. This may seem counter-intuitive as you would expect to weigh more, but again, if you weigh yourself after you shower each time, the trend will still be the same. After the weight reading has registered, I then stabilise myself by holding onto the basin to get a PWV reading. The moisture on your feet basically makes you a better conductor, allowing the scales to get a reading. The heart rate is wildly inaccurate when compared with my Withings Pulse HR activity strap, so it’s only really useful when looking at the stats as a trend, rather than as an accurate reading. But then all of the stats are useful in the context of trends over time, rather than a one-off measurement. I don’t regret buying these, but I wouldn’t recommend you invest the extra money for the cardio measurements, unless you are really concerned about keeping track of heart health via pulse wave velocity.

Love this performer so many measurements and the app keeps track of your data and trends.