Withings - ScanWatch 2 - Heart Health Hybrid Smartwatch - 38mm - Black/Silver - (2023)

The sleek and stylish hybrid design of the Scanwatch 2 is an attractive and comfortable alternative to my bland utilitarian looking smartwatch. The primary mechanical arms accurately stay in sync with the time of my smartphone and conveniently move out of the way whenever I need to view the OLED screen on the dial. A second dial at the bottom is used to track step goals. The soft silicone band is comfortable and has plenty of holes providing good adjustability for any arm size without requiring separate large or small bands.   To set up the watch, I had to download the Withings app, create an account, set app permissions on my phone, and pair the watch to the app/phone. The watch wakes by pressing the crown, which is also used for navigation. The crown was one of the first cons I personally encountered with the watch. It’s small and hard to grasp, especially with large fingers or long nails. It also frequently spins a little too much before advancing to the next menu item, requires multiple presses, and doesn’t feel as responsive as my other smartwatches. Battery life is phenomenal and easily one of the best features of the watch. The Scanwatch 2 is designed to run 30 days between charges. After a week of continuous use day and night, it’s nowhere close to needing a charge yet. This is a welcome relief from the daily or every other day charging I typically perform with other watches. Certain features that I use, like sleep blood oxygen tracking, can shorten battery life, but it is still excellent even with the feature enabled.   The SW2 can receive notifications for calls, texts, email, and other apps. Incoming notifications cause the watch to vibrate and an alert to flash on the OLED screen. The subject (if applicable) and body text of messages and/or email scroll across the OLED screen. Alerts and caller ID info for incoming calls also scrolls across the screen but calls must be answered on the handset. The scrolling text works well in most instances, but it can be a little fast to read in lengthier messages and I cannot reply directly from the watch. Despite these limitations, the notifications are still handy for alerting purposes. I seldom answer calls or reply to texts and email from my watch anyhow, even while wearing watches capable of doing so. Wellness features are my primary interest in a smartwatch and the Scanwatch 2 offers a bevy of useful wellness features that all work reliably. The step counter, mileage, and elevation tracking seem fairly accurate and reveal no major discrepancies when compared to my other devices. The heart rate monitor is also seemingly accurate, displaying the same pulse as other devices I used to confirm accuracy. The Withings app workout tracking is more in-depth than the standard fitness tracking options on my phone and other smartwatch. It provides a ton of useful data, including body temperature changes during workouts. One sore spot for me is that there is no built-in GPS tracking for running or hiking. The watch relies on the nearby phone for GPS tracking.   Here are my thoughts on the features I use most on the Scanwatch 2:   ECG: The ECG is my primary feature of interest in any smartwatch. The ECG function in the Scanwatch 2 is a little cumbersome initially. It requires covering the entire dial with my hand, so I don’t see any real-time countdown or pulse frequency.  Also, unlike other smartwatches and personal ECG devices, the Scanwatch 2 requires a review of my ECG results before the ECG feature is unlocked and fully activated. This supposedly varies by state. As part of the review, my name, DOB, state of residence, and first ECG reading were sent to a third-party health partner for approval. I was also given the option to provide a phone number for further discussions as well. I could take additional ECGs while awaiting the review to complete but was unable to see any ECG results until then. I submitted my ECG for approval in the evening and it was approved by the following afternoon. After approval, all ECG results were available. Like the other features, ECG results were consistent with my other devices.   Blood Oxygen: The SpO2 meter is another feature that I frequently use. Like the ECG, it requires covering the entire dial with my other hand. There is no live status displayed on the app, so I must wait for and trust the haptic feedback to indicate the start and finish of a reading. If a bad reading is measured, the watch will say try again, but I won’t know this until removing my hand to check. I tested simultaneously with a dedicated SpO2 meter on the index finger of the same arm as the watch. The results were consistent among multiple readings taken using the watch alongside two different dedicated SpO2 meters.   Sleep: Sleep tracking is solid on the Scanwatch 2 and provides comprehensive sleep data, although not quite as comprehensive as my primary sleep wearable. I wore the Scanwatch alongside that other sleep tracking wearable device to test accuracy. My other device is my go-to sleep tracker and in addition to being the most comfortable wearable device during sleep, it has also proven to be rock-solid reliable. The sleep measurements for both devices are usually close or identical in most categories. Both reflect practically the same duration, sleep stages, interruptions, and sleep quality. The nightly sleep scores for both are also typically close. Where the Scanwatch falls slightly short of the other wearable is that it doesn’t differentiate between REM sleep and deep sleep. It lumps them both together as a single category. It also doesn’t track and record breathing interruptions that may indicate possible sleep apnea or other sleep-related breathing issues. It merely records the overnight average blood oxygen level. This could still possibly help reveal a potential issue, but I prefer being alerted to actual breathing interruptions that occurred during sleep. It also doesn’t currently record heart rate variance like the other device. I’ve read that HRV is a forthcoming feature on the watch in Q4 2023, but the feature isn’t currently implemented as of the writing of this review. Although I prefer my ring wearable overall for sleep comfort, the Scanwatch 2’s svelte form factor is more comfortable and less obtrusive than my other smartwatches during sleep. It never interfered with sleep once, even when I slept with my watch clad wrist tucked underneath my head as I often do. It is the next most comfortable sleep wearable after my ring.   App: The app is where the Scanwatch 2 shines brighter than a lot of the competition. The watch does not rely on a generic shared mainstream watch app like the numerous other differently branded watches I’ve tried in the past. As a result, the Withings app offers many useful features not typically found in generic watch apps, and the watch itself works fine with the app and has so far remained free of weird glitches and some of the other issues that plagued other watches in the past. The app is laid out nicely and has an intuitive and user-friendly user interface that is easy to navigate. It is similar in layout and presentation to the health app on my phone, which gave it a familiar feel and made it easy for me to navigate right from the beginning. A Withings+ subscription unlocks many extra wellness features, but the most important features are included and unlocked at no cost. That’s the one area where the Scanwatch trounces my other sleep wearable. The other device is practically useless without a paid subscription.   Cons: I previously mentioned the dial and lack of built-in GPS, but another con is the watch having no sort of built-in tracker or locator. I misplaced the watch briefly and had a tough time finding it. Aside from these minor cons, I don’t have any major issues or shortcomings with the watch.   The stylish Withings Scanwatch 2 is a welcome departure from my bland everyday smartwatch. I like my other watch and the useful wellness features it offers, but I don’t like the bland design. The Scanwatch 2 is attractive and unobtrusive enough to wear with formal wear or other nice outfits and offers a refreshing change of styling without sacrificing notifications and recording wellness data. It still handles all my usual smartwatch needs but looks a lot more stylish while doing so.

I was pretty excited to get my hands on the Withings ScanWatch 2. There are really two features that really stood out to me - battery life and styling. Obviously there are tons of features that this watch delivered well on, but these two were most important to me. Long Battery Life: The battery life of the ScanWatch 2 is impressive. I've used other smartwatches that needed daily charging, but not this one. It's refreshing to have a device that can keep up with my busy schedule without constantly worrying about battery drain. I’m on pace for it to last about 20 days with push notifications and quick look enabled. The reason I appreciate the battery life so much is because I am able to track my sleep without having to worry about charging every other day like I was with a competitor. Styling: Aesthetically, the ScanWatch 2 is a winner. It's sleek, stylish, and doesn't scream "tech gadget" on my wrist. It's versatile enough to wear in both professional and casual settings, which I appreciate. I do love how this looks just like any other watch. App Performance: The app is both functional and user-friendly. It does an excellent job of presenting data in an understandable manner. Tracking my activities, heart rate, and sleep patterns has never been easier. The insights offered are genuinely useful for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. One thing to note is you will have to pay for a subscription to get the most out of the app and watch. Features: The heart rate monitor, blood oxygen sensor, and sleep tracking features are standout aspects of this watch. I found the heart rate monitor to be remarkably accurate. The sleep tracking feature is detailed, providing insights into sleep patterns and quality, which has helped me make some beneficial adjustments to my routine. Minor Downsides: However, it's not all perfect. I've encountered some minor issues with push notifications. Sometimes they are delayed or don't come through at all. Also, the Quick Look feature can be inconsistent, which can be a bit frustrating when in low light situations. The hands do appear to glow in the dark but even after being exposed to direct sunlight, the luminescence quickly fades and essentially renders the watch useless unless you have quicklook enabled or press the crown. Additionally, I’ve noticed that some characters get cut off on the small display - for example, the 'W' in Wednesday often doesn't fully show, which, while not a deal-breaker, is a detail that could be improved. The Withings ScanWatch 2 is a fantastic hybrid smartwatch for those who are health-conscious and appreciate a blend of functionality and style. While it has a few minor flaws, they are far outweighed by its many benefits. I find myself relying on it more each day, and it has become an integral part of my health and fitness journey.

I could not decide which new Withings ScanWatch to get (Light or 2). I've been using their Body Comp scale for about 6 months. I'm really impressed with it (especially compared to my previous Smart scale (F.....) that just would not stay paired. But I loved that their watches had 6-7 days of battery life. That being said, I have the latest fruit watch, and I have to charge it more than once a day, it's get about 20hrs on a charge. And I've never liked how it looked. When I first saw the Withings original ScanWatch I wanted it. But it was missing the heart rate, and O2 monitoring, and its sleep functionality seemed lacking. These 2 new watches (except for O2) both seemed to fit my requirements. Neither have GPS built in but both can pair with your smartphone to acquire GPS info, which helps reduce battery usage. That and the small round OLED on each watch uses much less power than a full face's display. And call me old (school), but I really want my watch to look like jewelry rather than technology strapped to my arm. Upon unboxing the two the Light has a perfectly flat crystal, and the "2" has a slightly raised convex crystal (made of Gorilla glass or Sapphire crystal, stronger and more scratch resistant than the Light). The "2" is 38mm wide and the Light is 37mm wide (you can't tell the difference). They ship with slightly different chargers, the "2" is expandable and could hold a wider watch, the Light is a fixed width, both can be used on either watch. They are both made of a shiny stainless steel, the "2" having a rounded case, the Light being more squared off. The "2" weighs 54g (1.9oz), the Light weighs 47g (1.7oz). For comparison my fruit watch weighs 69g (2.4oz) and has to be charged every 20h, and supports a 'special' magnetic wireless charger, the ScanWatch has a cradle it can be put into to charge. The ScanWatches both come with an attractive, comfortable silicone band. One issue with both ScanWatches that disappoints, is can you see the the time at night without touching the watch (you put it on your bedside table and turn out the lights), well the "2" has some bioluminescence, if the watch face has had sufficient light hitting it, before you turn out the lights, the watch arms glow for a few hours. The Light lacks this feature, really can't explain why besides their arms are more narrow. If you push the crown the date and time does show up in the OLED display for about 12s. One clever feature that both watches share is, when you push the crown the arms of the watch spread to 10 & 2 so the OLED face is clear of the arms. Are the functions accurate.... I compared the BPM data from the two watches to my fruit watch. The 3 were typically within 2 BPM of each other. The step counters of the two were within 100, after 3000 steps, with the fruit watch in between the two. After exercise, the Light recovered more slowly than the 2 or the fruit. but after 3-5m all were together again. The SpO2 level of the "2" was +/-2 of the reading on the fruit, the averages were essentially identical. The ECG data was also nearly identical, but the graphic presentation (see last image) from the "2" was better to "read" than the fruit's presentation. The body temp data I found very interesting, you again have to use to visualize, but the granularity of the "2" is much better than the fruit, this info is not available from the Light. This was most interesting when exercising, you can easily see how your body temp rises, to a point and then plateaus. And then slowly drops after you stop (as does your HR, but it recovers more quickly). Withings provides you ECG data to a health group: Heartbeat Health (with your permission) were they to see an abnormality (afib) they would apparently contact you. Kind of a cool feature I don't plan to utilize. Both watches offer min/max heart rate notifications, that you can set the thresholds for. The fruit offers only high notifications. Both watches also monitor your respiration rates; Breaths/min it does this at random intervals, but during your sleep it can indicate good/poor/restless sleep. Now my previous f....t smart watch could not monitor my sleep (which is why I stopped using it, it worked fine for my wife). My fruit watch consistently measures my sleep time about 2hrs less than actual, and rarely captures REM sleep,but does see deep sleep. The Withings watches gave me more credit for more Deep or REM sleep, but it lumps the two together, whereas the fruit watch identifies Deep and REM separately (not sure how either is accurately determined). The average Heart Rate is available from both and it is presented in the Withings app much better than in the fruits Health app, which shows the heart rate and an hourly range, where the Withings app shows continuous data. The Withings watches both support notifications tied to your phone. You get caller Id info (name and number) and you can select what other applications you want to get notifications from, you can select other apps like Calendar, Facebook, Gmail, and any other app that you might have installed on your phone. I've not found a way to decline incoming calls, or to force a message to be taken from the watch. Something I can do from my fruit watch. But other than that you can get a full range of notifications displayed on both watches. This is the feature I like/use the most on my smart watch. I rarely if ever pick up a call on my watch, I just want to know who's called or messaged, then I use the phone's bigger screen. Overall I'm very impressed with both watches. The feature I miss the most is the ability to see the time at night in a dark room without touching the watch (maybe add a shake feature that turns the OLED on for 10s). What surprised me the most was the comfort of both watches, the silicon bands have small ridges on the back, this prevents the watch from sliding around on the arm, staying where you put it is huge. With the stock band I spend 1/3 of the day realigning the fruit watch on my arm. I'm sure the lighter weight of the Withings watches helps. The Withings bands are easily detachable, so if you want different colors for different occasions it is easily done, in a few seconds. So it becomes a question of is the ECG, Body temp and SpO2 levels of a great value to you. I'm guessing if you're not an athlete, someone who's doctor has interest in monitoring this data (which can easily be shared with health professionals from within the app). It's a cost issue. I think the flat glass on the Light is more attractive/easier to read, but the scratch resistance of the Gorilla glass on the "2" is a nice feature if you're concerned with scratches (I've not tested the scratch resistance of the two, and don't plan to). I love the appearance of the watches, and would happily trade my fruit watch for either. One other interesting note, when you install more than one watch the Withings app tells you that "you successfully installed an additional tracker. You can switch devices anytime you want, we take care of the rest". It's good to know it also includes Nokia watches, Apple Watch data via the Health App and iPhone sensor data via the Health App. Very well conceived, I can only imagine that their excellent app will continue to improve.

Withings has a new offering in their watch line with the ScanWatch 2. It looks much better than most smart watches and works with the Withings app. There are many features to the watch including tracking physical activity, measuring blood oxygen levels, taking an ECG, body temp, heart rate, number of steps taken, floors climbed, etc. The only things that seem to be missing are outdoor temperature and weather. Withings can add that in at some point in the future, but as of now, I don't see a way to get that information to be displayed on the watch. That is minor though given what all this watch has to offer. It also shows my text messages and incoming call numbers. In addition to the many smart features, it has a long battery life and mechanical hour and minute hands. The hour and minute hands also glow in the dark. You can get the date and time by pressing in the crown. You press in the crown to wake up the watch and turn the crown to go through the smart features. All of the health data the watch tracks becomes available in the Withings app on your mobile device. On an iPhone, it will also make the data available to the Apple Health app. The ScanWatch 2 is stylish. Much more so than other smart watches. The metal case is well made as is the crown. The watch band can be replaced whenever you need to replace it. It's light weight and comfortable to wear. I've enjoyed it so far and really like the additional health information I get from it compared to the limited information I was getting from my previous smart watch. Regarding the battery, I've first charged the watch when I received it. It took 1hr 15min to charge from 23% to 100%. The runtime for the batter will vary by use, but I wear it during the day and when I'm sleeping and after a few days, I'm down to 90% battery remaining. With my previous smart watch, I was only able to use it during the day and had to charge it at night because the battery would run down before I went to bed. The ScanWatch 2 tracks your sleep as well and can check your blood oxygen levels during sleep. The insight you can get about your health from being able to see if you are getting a good nights sleep is critical to good health monitoring. If you don't get a good nights sleep, you won't have a good day. All of the information from the ScanWatch added in with the information from my Withings smart weigh scale gives me a very good overall picture of my health. I can also generate a .pdf of my health readings from the ScanWatch 2 plus my other Withings devices and show that to my doctor each time I visit. I like the piece of mind I have with the Withings products that I already had and now even more piece of mind given the additional health monitoring and information I get with the ScanWatch 2. The performance of the ScanWatch 2 has been great. I haven't ran into any problems with it. Adding the data from the watch into the data from my weigh scale gives me a good picture of my health. If you are looking for a reasonably priced smart watch that has a long battery life or you have other Withings health devices, then consider taking a look at the ScanWatch 2.

Regarding health monitoring, we can either rely on "afterthought features" on a traditional smartwatch or depend on a watch that is a health monitor first, and the clock is the "afterthought feature." That's where Withings separates itself from other brands. Some have this device with an Apple Watch, Pixel Watch, Samsung watch, or many other traditional smartwatches. If you order this watch expecting it to be close to one, you'll be disappointed (as some of these reviews suggest). Withings has been my favorite health device company I've used. I have their SmartWatch Light as well (for my wife), their Body Scan scale (weight scale), Thermo (digital thermostat), and their Sleep (sleep pad tracker). Every one of these devices carries the quality Withings is known for. These are elite health metric devices; you can trust their consistency trickles down throughout their entire line-up. I also have a Pixel Watch 2 that I use often. That device scratches my traditional smartwatch itch, where I can customize it to fit the style I'm going for, but it needs to be more accurate and thoroughly thought through as the Withings health watches. For one, the battery life on the Withings SmartWatch 2 is unbelievable when compared to any other smart watch out there. There are many reasons, mainly because the SmartWatch 2 is a partial digital watch. It's a hybrid. I can't tell you how nice it is to have a battery listed at 720 hours! Yes, you read that right! That's 30 days of battery life. Very impressive! This device is outstanding as a health monitor. It's not only accurate in its readings, but it's very detailed in them as well. The app associated with the watch (which also connects to the rest of your Withings devices) is one of the most well-thought-out apps I regularly use. Best of all, a subscription is optional in many cases. The Body Scan scale is the only device that benefits the most from a subscription. As far as the watch goes, you do not need a subscription to get full benefits. As a watch, this thing is super classy. I love the look of it compared to my Pixel Watch 2. Yes, I love my Pixel Watch, but the ScanWatch 2 gives me a classier look and escapes from another "smart" screen to scroll through. I love interchanging these two watches. I use this watch when I work out or know I'll be super active. When I'm working, I use the Pixel Watch. I still get notifications on this SmartWatch 2, but again, it's meant to be something other than an extension of your phone like a traditional smart watch is. What I love about this watch is that it's as minimal as you want. You can choose what apps on your phone you want to receive as notifications on your watch. For $350, I'd like to this watch have more customization. When comparing apples to apples with other smartwatches, $350 is not a price that will get many people to purchase (outside of Withings fans).Getting one of these on sale would be a better value for most of us. However, for someone who has a Pixel Watch 2 and this ScanWatch 2, I adore them for different reasons. I stay up on my health metrics, and this watch helps me confidently do that.