Withings Body+ smart scale review: A stylish companion to track your body composition
Setting fitness targets and defining a new, healthier routine isn’t too hard. What’s more demanding is staying on top of these goals and making sure you stick to your new lifestyle in the long run. Thankfully, there are different ways you’re able to ensure you’re following your new objectives with the help ofdedicated health and fitness appsandsmart fitness trackers.
Eventually, though, your activity will have an impact on your overall weight and body composition, which one of thebest smart scaleswill help you monitor. The Withings Body+ is one the most premium options available on the market, thanks to its eye-catching design, advanced features, and intuitive companion app.
Despite its higher price tag, Withings Body+ sets itself apart from the competition thanks to the countless measurements it provides, making it a great choice to keep track of your progress and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Withings Body+
The Withings Body+ prestigious scale is named the #1 best-selling smart scale in the US for obvious reasons. First, the BIA technology is integrated within the scale to provide a complete body composition analysis; the health metrics measured with this scale include weight, bone mass, fat mass, muscle mass, body water percentage, and BMI. These metrics can be automatically synced with the scale’s built-in Wi-Fi capabilities. Also, this scale pairs with the free Health Mate app available on Google Play and Apple Store. In addition, Bluetooth allows the scale to connect to smartwatches such as the Apple Watch and over 100 different apps for health and fitness.
With the option of having up to eight user profiles, this scale features three different modes for added versatility. Pregnancy mode includes personalized weight gain tracking with obstetrician-reviewed guidance; Baby mode allows infants to be accurately weighed and have their growth tracked; and Athlete mode can be activated to receive accurate and specific information critical for an athlete’s performance. Although the Withings Body+ scale can be used on most surfaces due to body position control technology, it is recommended to use this scale on hard floor surfaces for the most accurate readings.
Withings Body+: Setup
Since it’s a smart scale, the Body+ needs to know a few details about you before being used. Thankfully, the setup process is seamless, thanks to theWithings Health Mate app. The app will detect the scale and pair it with your Wi-Fi network — or with your phone using Bluetooth — before allowing you to customize the display with options allowing you to show your weight, body fat percentage, muscle mass, BMI, bone mass, water mass, weight trends, and even the weather each time you step on it. What’s more, the order in which these are shown is customizable, letting you personalize your profile to the fullest. Similarly, you can choose to display these measurements in pounds, stones, or kilograms and pick between absolute values or percentages.
To set up your profile, Body+ needs to know your age, gender, height, and…weight. The latter is relatively surprising, as it requires you to estimate your weight to create your profile instead of measuring it directly. Unfortunately, I ended up guessing a number that was a little too far off my actual weight, confusing the Body+ into thinking I was another person.
Speaking of other people, the scale can handle up to eight different users by trying to guess who’s on the scale based on their weight; each person can customize their profile and the information they see when they step on the Body+. Creating a new profile is as simple as having a new person step on the scale and associate the resulting “unknown measurement” with a new profile. Each user can decide to use the Standard profile, the Athlete option for people with higher-than-usual muscle mass, or the Pregnancy option.
Withings Body+: Software and measurements
Since the Body+ directly connects to Wi-Fi, it can automatically upload your weight and body composition and sync them up with your Health Mate app. It can even save up to 116 measurements in its memory, allowing you to take it with you when traveling and upload them back when you’re home or continue to use it when the Wi-Fi is down at home.
The app is intuitive and full of features. You can retrieve and analyze your body composition, get tips, set goals, and connect the app to other services such as Google Fit, Strava, RunKeeper, MyFitnesspal, and Samsung Health. When you connect the app to other services, information is gathered from your health measurements, such as your latest workouts and the steps you’ve taken.
A timeline feature lets you plot your weight, body composition, and BMI on graphs, enabling you to explore your trends over the past weeks, months, and even years. The timeline feature is particularly useful, as you can identify habits you should try to break, such as systematically gaining weight around Christmas.
The Dashboard tab will summarize this data and include your latest workouts and activities, as well as heart and nutrition information. This information can come from third-party apps connected to Health Mate, apps synced from other Withings devices such as aScanWatch Horizon, or it’s possible to manually enter the data.
As stated above, the scale can measure different information regarding your body composition, namely your weight, body mass index, body water, bone mass, fat mass, and muscle mass due to a bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) using an electrical impulse sent through your body, which is then analyzed to compute your body composition using specific algorithms. Although the Body+ is relatively accurate in its measurements, choosing the right mode is essential, as the Athlete mode will take into account the fact that the subject has more muscle mass than fat, which may be inaccurate for other profiles.
In any case, remember that the Body+ won’t be as precise as clinical body composition analyzers, which often use multi-frequency BIA going through the patient’s feet and hands, costing several thousand dollars. This means that instead of comparing your Body+’s data with your gym’s or doctor’s equipment, you should use your scale’s results to keep track of your body changes and reach your overall goals without worrying about the absolute numbers.
Withings Body+: Should you buy it?
Yes, if you’re interested in keeping track of your weight and body composition. The Withings Body+ is gorgeous, thanks to its premium looks and build quality, but it’s also fun and intuitive to use, which motivates you to use it daily to monitor your goals. It’s not the cheapest one you could get, but probably the one with the best value, as it offers reliable data and a seamless experience with both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.
The Body+’s biggest drawback is its high price, with an MSRP of around $100. Thankfully, it’s often discounted and sold for cheaper, with prices as low as $70 or $75. Of course, that’s still relatively high, but the Body+ is worth the bucks if you’re looking for a premium scale to track your body composition.
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Pixel 10 Pro XL charges faster wirelessly
From faster storage to better speakers
Carriers get the upper hand
Pixelsnap on a Pixel 9
I played the opening mission of The Outer Worlds 2 and really enjoyed what I experienced
Expanded dark theme is here
