Withings' Smart Body Analyzer Launches, Measures Weight, Heart Rate and Air Quality

I wouldn't use it...

jasondeno said:

Just note- these devices measure BMI, not body fat. I found out this distinction out after i purchased one of their scales.

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That's incorrect. Withings make three different models of scale with different features : Two are scales with 'body composition' measurements (i.e. they measure body fat percentage) and one is a vanilla scale. You probably bought the cheaper one without! Go read the model list on their website... and yes, I know this because I own one and track daily.

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JamesInLA said:

Emphasis on "rough." BIA measurements are very sensitive to hydration, so you'll get a different answer in the morning than in the evening as your hydration levels change, etc.

It's more accurate than not measuring your body fat, I suppose, but shouldn't really be taken as "truth."

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I agree - however if you monitor daily, the variation can be overcome by statistical methods such as moving averages (as the withings app does). Also, I get great results on my 1st gen one by measuring every morning just after getting up. I don't drink water through the night so this leaves me in a relatively predictable state. Looking at my history this gives me around +/- 1% accuracy on readings which is perfectly fine but really works best if you combine with weight to give you a fat mass reading not percentage! The moving average lets me see trend changes in a week or two (using daily readings). Bear in mind that the same accuracy caveats is true with raw weight - the contents of your digestive system will easily add +/- 1Kg to weight so I see as pretty similar accuracies and similar strategies to mitigate.

If you use it armed with some knowledge and understanding it's a great tool.

I have both the Withings (not this latest one, though) and a Tanita. the Withings seems much less susceptabe to variation of the reading due to hydration. The Tanita will display rather wildly different values at different times of the day.

As others have pointed out, these scales DO measure body composition. They also calculate BMI, which you could do with a calculator, ho-hum.

They pass an AC signal through your body at different frequencies (I suspect they do a sweep) and measure the response. Fat and muscle alter the signal in different ways, and thus they are able to estimate body fat %.

Is it accurate? Who cares. It's a relative number. The whole point is to make the number change over time. A mirror will tell you the absolute number, LOL. I suggest standing sideways...

The Withings seems much more precise than the Tanita.

Blood pressure by steping on the scale would be a Big Deal. But, alas, it's just pulse rate, which you can record using your phone's camera. But of course it is more convenient to get it automatically when you step on the scale.

Withings does have a blood pressure monitor, but you have to plug it into your iOS device to transfer readings. Why on earth did they do that? The BPM should be WiFi as well.

jtara said:

I have both the Withings (not this latest one, though) and a Tanita. the Withings seems much less susceptabe to variation of the reading due to hydration. The Tanita will display rather wildly different values at different times of the day.

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Indeed. Interestingly it's all a bit relative - I used an Omron handheld monitor before the Withings scale and it would read consistently 5% lower than the Withings...! Back the the old discussion about Accuracy vs Precision.

jtara said:

Withings does have a blood pressure monitor, but you have to plug it into your iOS device to transfer readings. Why on earth did they do that? The BPM should be WiFi as well.

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This always surprised me. Great idea poorly executed. Now withings seem to have got bluetooth technology in house (they use it on newer scales to set up directly from the phone) I'd hope to see a v2 of the BP monitor that utilises this...

OldSchoolMacGuy said:

Almost pulled the trigger on one of these a couple times but it's a lot of money for mostly novelty. Measuring body fat in this way isn't all that accurate. Having it on your phone is nice but only takes a second or two to type it into your phone from a traditional scale and track it with one of the million apps out there. Additionally there are few apps that support it anyways so unless you're using one of them it's not all that useful.

Air quality measurement? OK. They do realize that there can be large differences between different rooms and floors within a house right? So you may know what your bathroom air quality is like but that doesn't say anything about the rooms you spend most of your time like the bedroom and living room or kitchen. Seems like a random add-on they threw in there because heart-rate alone wasn't enough of an upgrade after several years of no upgrades or updates.

These things have been around for more than 3 years and we haven't seen any increase in developers making use of them or integrating them into their own products. I wouldn't count on the simple addition of air quality and heart rate bringing developers running either. At this point, I'd stick with a simple digital scale for 1/2 the price.

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Also, the Co2 sensor readings at floor level might be much different than the Co2 levels at sleeping, sitting or standing level.

phillipduran said:

Also, the Co2 sensor readings at floor level might be much different than the Co2 levels at sleeping, sitting or standing level.

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If the passive ventilation in your bedroom is so bad that the air isn't moving around enough to stop (what are really very light and easy to mix) gasses pooling then you've got a much bigger problem to deal with!

they are still selling the original

i agree with all this. They dropped the price of the original to $129 i think. For what you get, and the ability to watch your body comp change over time and being able to spot negative rends fairly easily, it's well worth the cost. (i.e. cheaper than having to get a new wardroom because 15 lbs crept up on you without you really noticing)

Trik said:

I have the original Withings scale, and there is something to be said about being able to watch your weight / body fat in an app over time. The body fat analysis isn't super accurate, but it is precise. (or is that accurate but not precise), whatever it is, it measures the change fairly well. So while it may not be getting the right %, as I do lose body fat, it does measure that change is happening. Which is very helpful.

Also, I now just jump on the scale, wait 5 seconds, then jump in the shower. Don't have to write anything down, don't have to remember anything. I can show my doctor my weight for every day (that I am home) since Dec. 2011, which you must decide if it is worth it. It also works with others in the household, so a family of 4 can all do the same. This is well worth the cost IMO.

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I'm thinking about buying one.

I've started preparing for P90X (its hard but so worth it)
I want an easy way to control my weight, heart etc. and not deal with writing stuff down all the time.

Is the WS-50 the best one on the market (in that price range of €150,-) or did another company create a better one?

I just bought the scale, I'm very impressed...many of the bathroom scales I've tried register a different weight every time you step on it, this one ismuch more consistent.
Just one question...sometimes the scale registers the weight and then cycles through the statistics. Other times it just times out (after 30 seconds).
Is this normal?
Thanks!