For health reasons, or for fun, you feel you need to see everything! Not just the usual BMI, or body fat %, but segmental body composition, electrodermal assessment, atrial fibrillation detection, vascular age.
All. The. Things.
That all comes at a steep cost! And if you have the cash, er Apple Pay… as a Type 2 diabetic and fitness nerd, I think it’s actually worth it, and I’ll tell you why.
Withings Body Scan: Price and availability
There is pretty much nothing this scale won’t do, including show you the air quality index, along with the weather. You’ll pay for the privilege, to the tune of $399.95. The scale is Flexible Spending Account (FSA) eligible though, so your health insurance provider may pick up the tab.
You can buy the Body Scan directly from Withings.com, or if you’re in the US, walk into your local Best Buy location and pick one up. I’ve seen it on Apple’s UK site as well for £349.95. Although all of the features work with the initial purchase price, if you pay for one of a couple subscriptions, Withings adds deeper dives into how your fitness and health metrics influence each other, along with something they call your Health Improvement Score. 3 months free, then- either $9.95/month or $99.50/year. The Body Scan is available in black or white.
Withings Body Scan: Ease of use
Withings' Body Scan is the most feature rich scale I’ve used so far, but despite that, set up and ease of use is on par with most of the other units I’ve reviewed, though you’ll have to accept some terms and conditions with regard to some of the measuring processes. The only thing “extra” you’re going to contend with is bending down to pick up the attached handle. Oh wait! You don’t even have to do that! If you have a space that you’re going to place the scale with some permanence, Withings includes a wall mountable handle holder in the box so you can just step on the scale and grab the handle from the wall without having to bend over to do so.
Step on the scale with the handle in hand, make sure your feet are over the striped lines, et voila! It’s a simple process that takes around a minute and a half to complete all of the scans and tests.
To ensure you’re getting the best possible results with features which are more than just weighing yourself, like the electrodermal function, when you click on that card in the app and scroll to the bottom you can choose to do a “Guided Scan.” It tells you the optimum conditions to meet prior to taking the scan, then animations walk you through it. The app is going to require more of your time than setting up the actual scale because there is just so much to it, but if you paid this price, you’ll feel like you’re getting your money’s worth in terms of functionality and refinement.
Withings Body Scan: Build quality
Unlike most of the light, plastic-feeling scales I’ve tried, the Body Scan feels robust when you lift it out of the box. It’s heavy and feels like a product with a premium cost. That also shows up in its weight rating which outclasses most of the scales in my recent reviews, supporting users up to 440lbs. Generally, the smart scales I’ve reviewed maxed out at 400lbs.
The handlebar rests in a “holder” of sorts at the top of the scale and is attached by a woven cable which retracts when you set it back down. Everything just feels really solid. The scale comes in either white or black, with off-white or gray stripes on the deck and a glossy finish which you’ll have to wipe down from time to time because it does show footprints- if you’re a bit OCD like me. My only gripe here is that though the deck is long and accommodates my US size 11.5 feet, I wish it were wider. Standing naturally on the scale with my thighs trying not to touch as is necessary for any BIA scale, the blade of my feet and pinky toes kiss the edges. And I would NOT consider myself someone with thick thighs. You can overcome that though by wearing a lightweight pair of shorts when you weigh yourself so that your thighs aren’t touching skin-on-skin.
Rounding out the build, you get a beautiful LCD screen with an interface that places the text and icons on black like a “dark mode,” and USB C charging, which Withings says should last you a year per charge.
Withings Body Scan: Features
It feels like Withings was attempting to replace your doctor’s office visits with this scale. I’m only partially joking! The Body Scan takes measurements you’d see from other smart scales like overall body fat %, total body water %, or muscle mass farther by including an ECG which gives it the ability to detect heart arrhythmia aka AFib, and is FDA-approved so bank on this one. If it detects something “off” see a doctor right away. You’ll also get heart rate info every time you weigh yourself because of that ECG.
The scale also includes an electrodermal sensor which evaluates your sweat gland response to electrical stimulus, and gives you a score. Why is that important? I have Type 2 and one of the issues common to that is nerve problems in your feet if you let the disease progress. Along with other ailments, this EDA score will help you keep tabs on the healthy functioning of your body’s nervous system and blood flow, which is critical to having healthy lower body appendages, and can be an indicator of health issues if the numbers start trending in the wrong direction.
Some of the scales I’ve reviewed don’t provide a visceral fat score, and for those that do, this one should be more accurate because of the handlebar. That’s important because visceral fat is different from the fat layer which sits just below your skin. Visceral fat accumulates in your abdominal cavity around your organs and the more fat you have there, the more stress you begin to place on those organs. You do NOT want to crowd out your liver, or pancreas, or intestines for that matter.
Another standout feature that you’ll actually see not only on the Body Scan but other Withings scales is Position Control Technology. When you’re weighing yourself, if you see arrows on the bottom right of the display, that means your balance is off and the measurement isn’t optimal. Lean in the opposite direction of the arrow displayed until you no longer see an arrow and you’re good to go!
In addition to these features, you’ll also get an Athlete mode so you get better readings for your activity level, pregnancy mode so the scale provides customized data for you, baby mode which allows you to weigh your baby while holding them, and an “Eyes Closed'' mode which turns off specific numbers, instead letting you focus on trends. You also have the option to put the scale into a “weight only” mode which turns off the BIA, making the scale safe for those with pacemakers.
Body Scan also includes something called Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) technology, but the charting of that feature is only active if you're in the EU. Stateside, you have Vascular Age metrics. Long story short, PWV measures the stiffness of your arteries. The Body Scan computes Pulse Wave Velocity based on a person’s age, height, and the time it takes for blood pumped from the heart to go from the aorta to the vessels in the feet. You get a speed value for that in the app if you’re in the EU. The lower the number, the better. For the Vascular Age feature, Body Scan actually uses the PWV values it records, compares them against its global database of PWV values of users of the Body Scan and Body Cardio smart scales then returns an “optimal,” “normal,” and “not optimal” value, along with an age range.
It’s important to note that other than the FDA, medically approved features like the AFib detection, BIA is about consistency more than accuracy. It’s really about seeing if your health and fitness efforts are trending in a positive direction, or if you need to make some changes. And you won’t know that if your numbers fluctuate greatly from weigh-in to weigh-in. Which is to say, don’t stress over the exact numbers, rather pay closer attention to the trends.
The most accurate body scan you can get is a DEXA scan (pictured above). I visited XEELA Fitness in Santa Monica, CA for my scan. Big shout out to DEXA Plus and XEELA for making that happen!It may cost hundreds of dollars to go to a facility and get a DEXA scan. That said, the body composition was off on some metrics by a few points, though the weight measurement was consistent and pretty accurate. My DEXA scan showed me having a BMI of 28.3, Body Scan was 28.6. DEXA total body fat % was 23.6, Body Scan was 22.1. DEXA lean mass showed 165.20, Body Scan was 164.5lb. DEXA fat mass was 51.14, Body Scan showed 45.5.
Withings Body Scan: Competition
At this price point, there are only two other options I’ve found and I’m working hard to get them into the lab for testing and comparison. One is from the manufacturer who makes the industry standard clinical BIA scale, InBody. They have a consumer version of their $11,000 smart scale which retails for $349.99. The other is from well known Japanese health and fitness brand, Tanita. The RD-545 InnerScan PRO, which also has some FDA clearances and retails for $479.99 on Amazon.
Withings Body Scan: Should you buy it?
You should buy this if...
- You want the most accurate BIA info money can buy
- You’re just a data nerd who wants all the bells and whistles
- You need to track the broadest range of cardiovascular metrics
You shouldn't buy this if...
- You’re on a budget
- You want a simple app and simple scale
- You want a scale which uses removable batteries
Verdict
Need to get a handle on your health metrics? Pick up the handle on this scale, step on the scale’s platform, and gather a plethora of health metrics. Some of which you may not have even heard of before. I’ve found it to be consistent, and a joy to use with its premium build and premium features. Withings packs a lot into the Body Scan scale, and you’re going to pay a lot to get it, though it is FSA/HSA eligible, so you may be able to purchase it using your pre-tax health insurance dollars. I highly recommend this scale, if you have the budget for it!
Bottom line
The Withings Body Scan might not be cheap, but it's incredibly accurate and makes a great case for the money in your wallet.
