What scale do you use ?

[crazycats]

What scale would you recommend ?

      I have read a few bad reviews about the fitbit aria scale shattering and it makes me nervous. The scale we currently have now likes to increase and decrease each time you step on and off. If I could drop 5lb every time I stepped off the scale and back in I would spend my day doing just this instead of at the gym.

[Dominique]

I use the Fitbit Aria and the Withings WS-50. Both can sync to a Fitbit account (the Aria directly, via WiFi, and the Withings indirectly, by syncing to the Withings account and then connecting the Withings and the Fitbit accounts). Both give almost identical weight and body fat values. These are the only smartscales that integrate with the Fitbit ecosystem AFAIK.

Note the Aria can be difficult to set up, partly because it only supports an older WiFi protocol (802.11b), which is no longer commonly found or enabled on modern WiFi routers. If you have a compatible WiFi router and manage to overcome the hurdle of the setup, everything works just fine. Withings scales support more WiFi options as well as Bluetooth.

Having a scale at home is a big advantage IMO, as it allows you to weigh yourself always in the same conditions (first thing in the morning) and naked (at least for me!). If you do it at the gym, your readings will be affected by what you have been eating during the day, your hydration level, the clothes you are possibly wearing etc.

[HZlauer]

I have a Withings Smart Body Analyzer scale. I have had it a few years. I has worked fine for us after the initial hassle of getting it set up to the home wifi. It tracks my weight and my husbands and our body fat %. If I stay on it long enough it will tell me my heart rate, too. I never stay on it long enough for that. I don't see the value of that from my scale. 

I use their app to retrieve the information later. I like it because I can be half asleep in the morning when I wake up and use it without paying any attention to it. Later, when I'm sitting with my coffee I can see what the scale had to tell me. It knows when it is me or someone else on the scale too, so I don't get my husband's info on my phone app unless I want to. So anyone can use it. 

Another feature is that it tests something in the air quality automatically at regular intervals. Again, not a big selling feature for me, but my husband looks at that data occasionally.

[betpchem]

I have had no problems with my Aria. I like it because the data complements the information I get from the rest of my Fitbit devices.

[A_Lurker]

I have an Ozeri Touch.  I find it quite consistent as long as I don't move it.  It's not wifi capable, so I have to manually log the results, but that's not a big deal.

[SunsetRunner]

I have the Aria scale. I like how it syncs automatically to my FitBit account, got it in April of 2016, so coming up on 1 year. Seems to be fairly accurate, the body fat% is a bit of a guess as it is with all of these impedance based scales but it seems accurate enough for me.

[WendyB]

I have  the Aria and a Withings scale. I find both to be accurate

[Dominique]

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@HZlauer wrote:

I have a Withings Smart Body Analyzer scale.[...] I use their app to retrieve the information later.

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@HZlauer: just in case you are not aware of these possibilities: 1) you can link your Withings and Fitbit accounts so that your weight and body fat data also shows up on your Fitbit Dashboard (as a benefit, you will get more accurate calories burned in Fitbit, since it will be able to use your actual weight), 2) you can link your Fitbit account to TrendWeight, a free service that displays your weight and body fat data in a more legible way (IMO) than both Withings and Fitbit.

[smwcbrie]

I have an aria because I'm lazy and I forget to write things down/have a poor memory. It's ridiculous what aging has done to me, LOL. I love that it just automatically does its thing and I can move along.

I bought mine at Best Buy and got a warranty because I'd read about the shattering thing. I'm careful with it, and haven't had any issues.

[TNWCH]

I have the Aria.  I've had it now for about 2 years, and it is still using the same set of batteries I put in when I bought it... they're about half charge now and it seems accurate to me.  Hasn't cracked or shattered...  I have to clean it every couple weeks or so but that's because otherwise it gets a layer of dust on it.  I'll test it every now and then with a 20lb weight.. I've even used to weight small shipments that I need to mail...  

[blondie3384]

I've just got the Aria scales, and set them up this morning.  I like how it pings everything onto my fitbit account, and being a stats nerd, I can't wait to see the graphs over time! 

[SunsetRunner]

I got  balance beam scale because the digital scale I had would give me a 5# difference a minute apart.  The one I've used for several years now looks like this:  

[SunsetRunner]

Another vote for the Aria plus https://trendweight.com

I love the trend line approach used by trendweight... 

The Aria keeps me accountable... it is consistent and seems to work well.

I do wish the wifi were stronger / had better range but that's my only complaint.

[Dominique]

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@IW1206MT wrote:

I do wish the wifi were stronger / had better range but that's my only complaint.

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... or it would support WiFi repeaters (my Withings does).

[Dominique]

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@IW1206MT wrote:

Another vote for the Aria plus https://trendweight.com

I love the trend line approach used by trendweight... 

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For those not familiar with it, here is what it looks like:

In this case, it’s for 3 months weight, but it’s possible to change the period and the metrics via the tabs on the top.

Black dots are actual scale readings (in my case, daily), grey dots are interpolated readings when no scale readings are available (for instance in early November, when I was travelling to the US) and the red curve is what TrendWeight makes out of the individual data points.