Disappointingly, the Withings Body scale showed wildly different readings when compared with the professional body composition scales at the gym. They also recorded our tester as 3.1 kilograms (kg) / 7 pounds (lbs) heavier than their home Renpho ones. What is new with the S2 scale though is this little trendline chart seen on the scale. This is basically the pièce de résistance of the Index S2 scale, showing your weight over the last 30 days, as well as progress towards a goal line (in green). The saving of multiple data points per day certainly isn’t new in the Garmin Index scale world, it’s been doing that for quite a while with the older scale, but it wouldn’t show the change in weight.

To see how well the multiple user feature works, I tested it out with my husband, who was already one of my Garmin connections. Since he already had Garmin Connect on his phone, setting him up was as simple as sending him an invitation through the app (Garmin Devices → Index S2 → Manage Users → Invite People). Once he accepted the invite and answered a few questions, the scale started to recognize him and sync his data. It’s unsurprising that the scale consistently detected who was who between the two of us, given that there’s about a 60-pound difference between our weights, but I’d be interested to see how well it differentiates between more similarly-sized users. The emphasis on multiple daily weigh-ins sends the wrong message This is one of the smallest scales we've tested, with a platform measuring 28 x 28cm. That makes it handy for small bathrooms where storage space is at a premium, but if you sometimes struggle with balance then you might find one of the many Withings Body smart scales a better choice. For more fitness, fashion and technology releases delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our GQ Recommends newsletter. Shop GQ's edit of the best smart scales to buy 2023… It seemed to me that the last reading of the day is saved in Apple Health and that Apple Health only stores one reading per day. I’d also read that Apple Health gives priority to certain sources so it is possible that the Garmin S2’s reading can be inadvertently overridden by another source. That said the last Garmin result is kept in Garmin Connect. similarly, deleting an incorrect, historical reading in Connect will sync that deletion with the Garmin ecosystem but it will not delete the matching record in Apple Health from what I can see.Tanita RD953 varied from 57% to 56% with Garmin at 61.4/61.3%. Each seemed confident they were correct. At least one of them wasn’t. The BC-558 came in at 59.5%/60% which didn’t especially help to decide which was correct! Garmin Index S2 Review – day-on-day accuracy Manually link Garmin Connect to Apple Healthkit or Google Fit. You can then connect other apps to Apple/Google. This seemed to work OK for me but an Apple developer did tell me that “ Apple does not permit people to write to Apple Health without the user being present“. So bear that in mind. Behind the scenes, this data is saved on Garmin Connect, and thus accessible from Garmin Connect Mobile or Garmin Connect. There’s a widget you can add to the dashboard to show your current weight. Alternatively, you can view more details in the ‘Weight’ section under ‘Health Stats’ Now within the Index scales you can tweak your profiles Activity Class (seen above), which in theory improves accuracy for body fat measurements on more athletic people. Though, in my case it made no difference. Typically this would be for people closer to single-digit body fat %’s. There’s been too many late night Stroopwafels for me lately for that to impact my testing.

In the weight section you’ll see every individual weigh-in, as well as trending and even the variance of multiple weigh-ins on a single day (the little grey blobs indicated on certain days with multiple weigh-ins). Tweaked some algorithms related to body fat & other impedance-based measurements (based on increased sensitivity of sensors) Adding that body composition analysis along with weight data can give you a more comprehensive view of your overall health, helping to shape the type of exercise, nutrition and hydration decisions you make based on those insights. Measuring body fat and seeing it drop while your overall weight remains the same, for example, shows that you're putting on muscle while reducing your fat mass — something a traditional scale would never be able to show you. Do smart scales work with apps from Fitbit and Apple Health? In our tests, the measurements were very consistent across multiple weigh-ins, and (as expected), the muscle mass value was significantly lower than on other scales due to the difference between total and skeletal muscle. Most scales don't differentiate between the two, which is worth bearing in mind if you're switching from a different brand. Companion app On the plus side, the Body scale is super simple to use, teams with the decent Health Mate app and works with a lot of the other main health and fitness apps too. It’s also bigger than a lot of smart scales, making it a good choice for anyone with big feet or who struggles with balance.

Do smart scales work with apps from Fitbit and Apple Health?

In any event, after it’s done showing you that trendline, it’ll iterate through the following metrics: Body Mass Index (BMI), Body Fat Percentage, Body Water Percentage, Skeletal Muscle Mass, Bone Mass, and Weather. Another new feature with the Index S2 scale is the ability to customize which of these metrics it’ll show each time you step on it. So if you don’t want to see a particular metric you can disable it within the settings on the smartphone app: Smart scales are a relatively new way of looking at a person’s weight, by looking at a lot more,” Ramsay said. “The reason why someone may want to know a bit more about their metrics is because there are some limitations to just measuring weight when on a weight loss programme that includes exercise. Muscle weighs more than fat, so an exercise program — with a healthy diet — may elicit an increase in lean muscle mass and a reduction in body fat. However, if you are looking at just your overall weight, you may not see the reductions that you expect. This can lead to inaccurate reporting of progress and a drop in motivation.” Sadly, not all measurements are accurate, especially fat calculations. During our testing, both visceral and subcutaneous fat levels were reported as high, despite the overall body fat level being in the normal range. Even more strangely, this overall fat level was also much higher than expected; our reviewer had a DEXA scan done and been given a fat score of 12% three months prior to testing the Eufy P2 Pro, yet the scale said he had 21% body fat – and that's without any visible changes in physique.

The scales were straightforward to set up: install the four AAA batteries, open the Garmin Connect app and pair the device. Weight and body composition data was in line with that recorded by professional scales at our gym, and results were consistent across multiple weigh-ins.They provide consistent measurements, and for anyone who already uses Garmin products, these could be a good addition to complete their health monitoring within the Garmin Connect app. Likewise, if you do have issues around your weight or numbers on a scale are particularly triggering for you, a smart scale may not be the best option to keep you healthy. How we test smart scales While I don’t use it myself, a bunch of people seem pretty happy with it. Alternatively, for iPhone users, there’s also the HealthFit app, which can pull the data that Garmin Connect Mobile puts into Apple Health, and from there send it off to 3rd party platforms.