There was a time when choosing a set of bathroom scales was straightforward. Scales displayed your weight, and other than that it was mostly an aesthetic choice. The smart scales you can buy now, however, go beyond basic weight measurements and can be a useful health-tracking tool, even if you’re not aiming to lose weight.
Many of these modern marvels can measure body fat and tell you how much of your body is muscle, water and bone. Some can even check your heart health. Many scales will recognise which member of your household is stepping on the scale and send your results to an app.
Keeping an eye on those stats can be useful in a number of scenarios beyond knowing if your weight is trending up over time. And, indeed, down, as rapid weight loss can be a sign of illness or that you’re under-fuelling (when we interviewed Ali Nolan about women and marathon training, she mentioned that women often don’t consume enough calories to support their training). Knowing if you have a healthy body fat percentage can also help you from falling foul of the problems with BMI.
When deciding on a smart scale, it’s worth factoring in whether you own, or plan to buy, a fitness tracker. Many major tracker manufacturers make smart scales and combining your health data into one app is more convenient. With the limitations of Fitbit’s current scale offering, you may wish to shop for another of our best fitness trackers.
How I Test Smart Scales
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I’ve tested smart scales from brands including Withings, Garmin and Fitbit (the big names), as well as budget ones from Renpho and Xiaomi. During testing, I use each scale regularly for a period of several weeks or months, checking for accuracy and consistency, speed and ease of use, how useful any accompanying app is, and I compare it with other scales. I also look for, and test out, any special features that make the scale stand out from the competition. You’ll find links to full reviews for each of the smart scales I’ve tested.
The Best Smart Scales
The Body Smart is the most affordable of the three smart scales in high-end health tech brand Withings’ current line-up, and it provides all the body composition metrics you could want, without too many gimmicks.
The Body Smart looks the part, with a sharp color display and a sleek tempered-glass surface, available in either black or white. I found the weigh-in process quick and easy. The scale is Wi-Fi connected, so there was no need to have my phone to hand with the app open—next time I opened the app my data appeared, without fault.
I found the scale consistent and accurate, and the app easy to use. There was a good deal of information in the app about each type of metric and how to improve your lifestyle and therefore your score, yet I found the graphs lacking in context—in terms of how my data stacked up against others my age, sex and height. It was therefore less motivating than other apps, such as Renpho’s.
Withings has a range of excellent fitness trackers and smartwatches, including the ScanWatch and other devices like home blood pressure monitors. Even if you’re not tempted by any of those, it’s still worth checking out since the Withings app will share its data with Apple Watch and Apple Health, and Google Fit.
Read more in my Withings Body Smart review
Why fork out three figures for a smart scale when there’s a reliable and insightful set for a fraction of the price? I liked the Renpho scale for the extensive range of metrics it tracks, as well as its ease of use. Only weight is displayed on the scale, but the app does a great job of presenting data on the 13 metrics it offers, from body fat and visceral fat (the dangerous fat around your organs), to your basal metabolic rate and metabolic age.
There’s plenty of context to help you understand your data, such as color-coded results that show at a glance whether you’re in a healthy range. You need to have the app open in order for a weigh-in to register, but for more money you can invest in the Wi-Fi connected version, which will sync automatically every time you step on the plate. This scale is smaller than most, so could be a good choice if space is at a premium in your bathroom, but isn’t ideal if you have large feet.
Read more in my Renpho scale review
If you own a Garmin fitness tracker, this sleek-looking scale made with tempered glass offers convenience. It will slot your weight and body composition data in with your sleep and activity tracking in the Garmin app. The bright, clear display on the scale shows the most important body composition stats (plus, oddly, the weather) and the Wi-Fi connection means there’s no need to have the app open to log your weigh-in.
I found the app didn’t provide as much context for the body composition data as I’d have liked, such as what is considered a healthy range for your age group. If you’re not a Garmin user there are better-value options for you on this list.
Read more in my Garmin Index S2 Smart Scale review
If you’ve already got a Xiaomi device, maybe it’s time to add this budget smart scale that will work effortlessly with the same app. It provides all the usual body composition metrics and can even test your balance. As you might expect, the affordable price means there are drawbacks: I found the scale slow to perform a full weigh-in, and if you move it between uses then it needs a nudge to get it to zero properly. That said, I found it reasonably accurate and consistent, and the data it collects is presented in the app in a useful and insightful (if somewhat blunt) manner. You’re given a body score, and any of your metrics that need attention are listed first, with tips on how to improve your results.
Read more in my Xiaomi Mi Body Composition Scale 2 review
This smart scale can recognise up to eight users and plays nicely with other apps including Apple Health, Google Fit, Fitbit and MyFitnessPal. It measures all the usual body composition metrics, which the app then uses to calculate other stats, such as BMI, basal metabolic rate and metabolic age. It also has baby, pet, luggage, and pregnancy modes (this turns off the electrical current because it’s not known if this could cause harm).
Wyze includes heart rate measurements as one of the essential body metrics measured: this bypasses the scale, and the app instructs you to place your finger over the camera on your phone to obtain a measurement. The app shows weight trend graphs, gives some context so you can understand the stats shown, and highlights progress made towards your chosen goals. You don’t need to have the app open to register a weigh-in—the scale records your data and syncs automatically when you next open the app.
While it represents excellent value in the US at $33.99, the scale is not sold directly in the UK. It’s available from some third-party sellers, but at £83 on Amazon UK it’s well out of the budget category and you’ll find better value in other scales.
Huawei (along with sub-brand Honor) has moved into health tech with great-value fitness trackers, like the Huawei Band 7, and fitness smartwatches, such as the impressive Huawei Watch GT Runner. It continues in the same vein with this smart scale, which offers the full suite of measurements—weight, body fat, visceral fat, muscle mass, bone mass and more—for much less moolah. The scale looks slick and, while there’s no noticeable screen, numbers will appear when you step on the plate. It can automatically recognise up to 10 different people and an alarm can be set to help you weigh yourself at a consistent time. While it is much cheaper on Amazon, it’s worth checking the Huawei website because it has been bundled with a free fitness tracker in the past, giving you a great starter set-up.
If you’re a Fitbit user and you’re not interested in knowing your body fat percentage, consider this good-looking scale that does away with extra metrics for a simpler experience. It’ll measure your weight and send it to the Fitbit app via Bluetooth, where your BMI will be calculated and graphed. When I tested the Aria Air, I found the scale needed help to ensure it was properly zeroed after moving it, but was otherwise accurate.
Read more in my Fitbit Aria Air review
Link this scale to the Myzone app and if you also use the company’s chest strap heart rate monitor, you’ll have your weight and all your workouts in one place. Not just your weight, of course—the MZ-20 scale will also provide your body fat percentage and muscle mass, so you can see how your training sessions are affecting your body composition.
On top of these key stats, you also get visceral fat readings and an estimate of your basal metabolic rate—the amount of energy your body uses when at rest—which gives you a clearer picture of the calories you burn each day than you would get just from looking at those burned during exercise. The scale runs on batteries and comes in two colours—white and black, nothing too funky on that front. There’s also no screen so you’ll need your phone to hand every time you weigh yourself.
Although it’s less than half the price of some options on this list, the Tanita BC-731 offers all the body composition stats you’d hope for, including weight, body fat, muscle mass and BMI. It also goes beyond other scales in giving a visceral fat estimate (the more dangerous fat that builds up around your organs), your metabolic age and even a physique rating based on all of the above. It won’t send those results to a partner app but does allow for up to five user profiles to be saved on the scales.
