Withings - Wi-Fi Digital Body Scale

I was sure it was going to be a beast to set up since it’s all up to-do date and techy, but not at all. Put the batteries (came with it) in the back, attach the feet if you will be using it in carpet, then take it to your computer, iPhone, iPad, whatever wireless device you use, and connect it with the USB. From there, you will set up an account on the Withings website, complete with a username and password. The whole process took less than 10 minutes. Here’s the cool thing: every time you weigh yourself, you simply step on the scale. You don’t have to push on, tap it once to get to zero, etc. In a few seconds, your weight will come up, then your BMI, then your % body fat. It’s sending it to your wireless device! You’ll see the little bar fill up and you’ll know that it’s sent to your wireless device where it’s stored safely. Then, it goes dark and no one will ever know your weight if you don’t want them too. If you see one of these scales at a friend’s house, don’t step on it when you are in the bathroom!! Because your weight will be sent to the owner’s online account. It will show up as an unknown user. BUT if you’ve always wanted to know how much your skinny friend weighs, ask her to test your scale to see if it’s accurate. bwahahaha :) My favorite things: * It graphs your weight so you can see your progress and determine what’s working and what may not be. You can choose to have it emailed to you. Whether you weight yourself weekly or daily, you can see the little trends and try to think about what may have influenced them? Tuxedo cheesecake? Lots of water that day? Maybe that exercise is finally starting to pay off in the weight department? If the weight is beginning to creep up, you can make changes that day: a salad for lunch may be in order. * I love how it looks. * It is so simple, and it tracks my BMI and % body fat as well. * Everyone who uses the scale can set up a separate account where they can track their progress as well. Drawbacks? * The price. It’s a healthy investment at $160. I would have never given it a second glance at that price, but now that I’ve used it, I’m thinking that it would be a fantastic gift for anyone that loves health/body stuff. * I don’t see how any scale can accurately test your % body fat from your bare feet? I’m tempted to take a real body fat test at my doctor’s and compare.

I was very happy with the easy set up of the scale. Within a few minutes of unpacking, the scale was ready to go. I've had the scale for about two months and so far I haven't had any issues with it. I have myself and my wife set up as users so we can both get our readings. We both have the app on our iPhones and its great to track our progress. I am very happy with this purchase and I would highly recommend this scale.

I bought this for the family as a Christmas present. Christmas day Withings had major issues with their web server and the set-up was very tedious and we actually gave up that day. Withings actually acknowledged the problems and when we went back the next day, we had no problem. Since the initial set-up issues though the scale has worked flawlessly. The web & app sync is very helpful and makes tracking weight and body mass very easy. My only wish is that their was even one great app out their that synced the scale, exercise and meals better than what I am finding.

I have always had a love/hate relationship with scales. Actually that’s not true. I’ve just had a hate relationship with scales. Because is there really a woman anywhere who wakes up and thinks, “MAN, I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE IF I PUT ON TWO POUNDS YESTERDAY!”? So I will go months without weighing myself. MONTHS. Maybe even a year. And I’ve always justified this approach by saying I can just tell if I’ve gained or lost weight (like losing ever happens without me knowing about it) by the way my clothes fit. If my jeans feel too tight? Then I’ll scale back on the Oreos. If my jeans feel too loose? Then I’ll get on my knees and say a prayer of thankfulness and celebrate with even more Oreos. But current fashion trends have created a problem with this approach. All of my jeans now have just a hint of stretchy material in them, which is much more forgiving than the Levi 501s of my past. This, combined with the fact that I tend to wear a lot of loose, flowy tunic things as opposed to the days of yore when I tucked shirts in and wore belts, gives me a false sense of security regarding my weight. Then I go to the doctor for my yearly checkup and realize I’ve been sitting on a throne of spandex lies. What I’m saying is I realized sometime over the last six months that I really needed to pay a little bit more attention to my weight. Not obsess over it, just keep an eye on it since my clothes are no longer an appropriate gauge. Anyway, all of this to tell you that I was excited when Best Buy sent me a Withings Smart Body Scale. It’s a scale that features Wi-Fi connectivity so your weight data can be sent directly to your private online account. Key word being PRIVATE. You create a PRIVATE account, the Withings scale connects wirelessly, and keeps track of your weight. And you can set up accounts for each member of your family. This is so much fancier than the scale we’d previously had in our bathroom, which was one of those really old, non-digital models that just gives you a weight range as opposed to an exact weight. When we first got our Withings Smart Body Scale I was a little obsessed and may have weighed myself multiple times each day. This led to contentment first thing in the morning when I hadn’t eaten anything yet and misery late in the day when all the water weight and cheese had set in. Obviously I needed a healthier approach. In more ways than one. So now I’ve cut back to just weighing myself once or twice a week. This gives me an idea of how I’m doing, and if I’m staying in my normal range. I love that I can keep track of it all online. And I love that the account is PRIVATE.

I have to admit, once I pulled this scale out of the box, I knew it was fancy and had cool features but thought it looked similar to a few of the other scales I have owned. Except a little more shiny. But then I put the batteries in and linked the cord from the scale to my computer, and I began to see a huge difference. First of all, the Withings Smart Body Scale is isn't your ordinary bathroom scale. It measures your weight as well as your lean body mass and body fat composition. It is WiFi enabled so once you hook it up the first time, it automatically transmits all of your information to your private account online (if you wish to do so). You don't have to tell it to transmit each time, it just does. Automatically. You can also enable your scale to transmit your info to your smartphone and many other programs. (If your WiFi connection is down, the scale will save the last 16 measurements and will send them to your account once your connection is restored.) So how do you make it work? You don't have to turn it on or tap it to start. You just step right on. And then it begins its magic. It weighs you first and then your BMI pops up for a moment and then your fat mass. The bar along the bottom below the weight (on the left), shows that the scale is finalizing your actual weight. And then the bar below the BMI and the fat mass show where the "normal" range would be for your weight and then the arrow above it shows if you fall in that normal range or if you're above or below it. The surface of the scale has very tiny sensors on it and while standing on it, sends a very low intensity current (absolutely safe and painless) into the feet (called bioelectrical impedance analysis), and then determines body fat and mass. Though some may argue its exact validity, it's a great reference point and, if used correctly, can really monitor your progress. In fact, over the past week and half that I have used it, I have already seen a drop in my weight and my BMI and fat percentage. Yay! If you're concerned about having 5 scales lined up in the bathroom for all the members in your family, you can actually have up to 8 users on one scale, with 8 different accounts. The scale recognizes each user by weight. If two of you are similar in weight, both of your names will pop up once you step on, and you just select your correct name with your foot. (The scale can also be used as a normal scale, without having a subscribed user.) Within seconds, your information is sent wirelessly to your profile. Then you can start analyzing your data, watch your weight, BMI, and fat mass increase or decrease, and also set goals for yourself. And you can easily switch between users (over on the left) and analyze your own data. It has sure motivated my husband and me to stay on track and monitor our progress. In fact, my husband weighs himself in the morning and then leaves for work. He checks his progress later on in the day using the Withings App on his Android phone. It's perfect for him. Since our accounts are linked, we can check in on each other and encourage one another. I love that!

A buddy of mine told me about this wi-fi scale who is committing to lose the 30 pounds he gained in the last couple years of a troubled marriage. (I've gained 30 pounds in a mostly good marriage.) Scale also measures body fat by pounds and percentage. My old scale - a good one - and this one produce identical weight readings. Although you only need a computer to set up a Withings account to track your numbers, the iPhone and iPad apps for this scale are just great. Absolutely love them. The software allows you to share your numbers with anyone you want, so I can check my pal's progress and he can check mine. In my initial excitement, I made the mistake of giving my mother (a doctor) access to my numbers; now not sure how to do the equivalent of un-friending her in Withings without her noticing. My biggest concerns about anything I buy are always sturdiness and reliability. This scale is elegant and attractive, and I can only HOPE, long lasting. If it busts even a day after the warranty expires, I'll just buy a new one because I like this thing sooooo much. 10 pounds off in 4 weeks so far.

It is awesome to use this scale. It captures your Body fat and BMI and weight. It knows it is you so it keeps analysis data and graphs within its website. This way you can visibly see your progress. You can share you weight loss with facebook or other apps like myfitnesspal. It automatically sends by email your info to your doctor in case you were medically keeping track. It is worth the money and investment when you are serious about a lifestyle change.

A few months ago, I bought a less expensive body scale but was not happy with the inaccuracies in weight and body fat percentage and returned it. I was hopeful this high tech scale would be more accurate. The set up for the scale was very easy and I liked that the batteries were included. Connecting the scale to wi-fi, then setting up my user account took about 5 minutes total. Then I was off to weigh myself! I stepped on the scale and within 30 seconds, my weight, body fat percentage, and bmi appeared on the screen. I was happy with my body fat percentage but thought it was too low so I wasn’t sure how accurate the scale really was. Within a couple minutes, all of my information was on my Withings account and I played around with the site to see all the different options. I’m not losing weight right now but if you are, you can set up objectives to help reach your goal. Over the next week, I weighed myself every morning to see if the scale was consistent and accurate. I found one pretty big drawback of the scale. My official weigh in was in the bathroom on a hardwood floor. My weight was always consistent when I put the scale in the exact same position. However, when I moved it to even a different area of the floor or on a rug, my weight could be about 5 pounds different. That is a huge difference for someone that is trying to lose weight. My advice then is for the most accurate results, to put your scale in the same spot every day. I would say that the body fat percentage is a good gauge but I don’t know how completely accurate it is but that’s just the nature of these scales, they aren’t the most accurate way to determine your body fat. Over 10 days, my body fat percentage has ranged from 20% (from the first day which I thought was too low) to 25.3%. I definitely take those numbers with a grain of salt. In the middle of the week, I added an account for my husband and when he weighed in, the scale recognized him and sent his numbers to his account. Being able to have multiple users on the scale is a huge plus and it’s great that the scale recognizes each user just by stepping on the scale. I really enjoy seeing all of my numbers on a chart on the site (and on my iPhone and iPad after I installed the apps). I like that you don’t have to do anything at all but step on the scale and it does all the work for you. One time set up of the scale and users makes every weigh in so easy and quick. Overall, I happy with this scale and the software and plan to use it for many years to come!