Aria 2 fat percentage is way off!! >10%

[Yasss]

I've been using the Aria 2 since December now - and was so shocked with the first reading (36%) that I sent it back and requested a new one from the store - because I believed it must've been broken. When I got a new Aria 2, I got the same reading. Being shocked by the reading I started taking a whole lot of measures - working out more, having a much stricter diet, cutting out on meats, pasta, bread and alcohol. Going to the GP for blood testing, and started taking a nutritionist. I'm 174 cm, weighed 69 kilo at the time, and am 34 years old. Since then, I've lost about 3 kilo's weighing 66 kilo's now. And the fat percentages goes up and down between 27-30%. 

I've tried lean mode, regular mode and resetting the scale multiple times over a period of 6 months now. I just couldn't believe the reading so I went to a specialist to do a reading on a Tanita Body Composition Analyzer and a Bodystat Quadscan 4000. I did the two readings back to back on the same day and got 17.6% and 17.8%. And when I got back home I tried the Aria 2 again and got 30.4%.

Obviously this is a huge difference and I believe it could be very harmful to one's diet and way of living if you take the Aria 2 reading very serious - which you should with those percentages. I've also tried a friend's Aria 2 and got more or less the same reading (in the 30%).

Is there anything I can still do to get an accurate reading ... or should I just quit using the scale and get my money back? 

[bnoe]

I am having the same issues.  I am 5'9' tall and weigh 160 lbs, definitely NOT obese.  But the Aria @ puts my body fat at 35 to 36% definitely OBESE.  I have tried to recalibrate (take out the batteries, wait 15 minutes, put them back in and weigh 5 times in succession).  Still, it reads 35% body fat.  I am, like you, ready to return my scale and go back to using the regular bathroom scale.  For the amount of money this scale costs, I should be able to expect a greater degree of accuracy.  I am VERY disappointed, to say the least.  

I would be very willing to try other fixes but have not been able to find anything else to try.  

[JAK6722]

Same issue here. I just got my Aria last week. I freaked out when I saw 33% body fat. I'm 5'4, 121 lbs, my waist is 28.5" ... according to what I read the 33% is considered obese. I tried the reset and a slight change has occurred (31%). I'm thinking that this scale is too expensive to not be able to trust and I'm just going to ask for my money back.

[MSterling]

Very similar experience here. I've had my Aria 2 for a couple years now and while it's more accurate in Lean Mode, it's highly variable in either mode. I'm also no where near the "athlete" described in the "Who Should Use Lean Mode" articles.

I'm 5'9, 190lbs, athletic-ish but still carrying quite a bit extra. I did a proper EI scan at the gym yesterday (with feet and grips) and clocked in at 18% and 18.3% respectively. Despite weighing in on an empty stomach first thing in the morning every morning, my Aria 2 has routinely put me near or above 30% for the majority of the time I've had it in Normal mode. 

It's a bit of work, but if you're willing to make the effort, a quick formula in google sheets will tell you what your lean mass and fat mass are and you can (roughly) calculate your body fat percentage from that. To keep things simple while cutting, I assume my lean mass is constant. Once I have the new body fat percentage, I go onto the fitbit web app and edit the number manually. As someone in this thread has already said, we should expect more accuracy from a scale at this price point, but /shrug