I remember how a weighing scale was one of the first things prescribed to me after being diagnosed with diabetes. For diabetics like me, it is important to keep our body weight and other vitals under control. For this, constant monitoring is important. These days a weighing scale can tell you much more about your vitals than just the weight and the Withings Body Scan and Body+ fall into this category. The Body Scan for instance has everything from ECG to vascular health readings, justifying its cost to a large extent.
Withings Body Scan
The handlebar on the top helps the scale to get accurate readings. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
The moment you see the Withings Body Scan you realise this is more than a regular body scale. There is a handlebar on the top with an elastic chord below it for the scale to get some extra reading off your hand. For setting up you need the Withings app and have to choose the Wi-Fi option so that all data is synced with your smartphone and the device itself can stay up to date. Interestingly, you can share the device with multiple people in your family and they will all be able to see the data on their app, though you will not get access to the same. I liked this little focus on privacy.
But since this is a device used by multiple people, Withings manages the user personas on the device too. Once you stand to weigh yourself, after the initial measurement, it shows a user name. At this point, you have to take one leg off the scale, so that the device starts showing other names on it. When it gets to your name, you need to bring the other leg back and select the profile. This can get a bit confusing for older users especially since the onboarding for this aspect is not that clear.
Of course, the scale shows weight and even nudges you to get your posture right. After that it shuffles through the other readings like Body Composition, Vascular Age, Heart Rate, ECG and Nerve Health — there are many more on the all from BMI to average heart rate. Since you have your thumbs on the sensors of the handlebar, the Withings Body Scan is able to give a good ECG reading in about 30 seconds, and also alert about Afib if detected. The nerve health and vascular age readings too use this sensor as well as sensors on the scale where you place your feet. The vascular health score needs at least five readings to start showing. The Body Scan is also recommended for athletes as it has a dedicated mode for this lot.
The app offers a lot of insights. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
I was happy to note that while my weight kept moving about by 1.5 kg on a daily basis, the scale said this was normal. Also, my body composition showed that gradually I was gaining muscle and losing fat, a result of my constant walking efforts maybe. The app can even show where your fat is more after a few extra readings. Every morning that I stood on the scale it showed my heart rate to be a bit higher than normal, though my Apple Watch did not show the same number. I think this difference could be because of how both these devices calculate HR. By the way, the device also shows the local temperature and air quality, which is an added bonus when you are starting your day in a place like Delhi.
My only grouse with the scale is that it takes time to update the data in the app as it is doing this via Wi-Fi. Often you have to wait for up to 15 minutes to see your weight and other trends on the app. So do pay attention when the data is showing on the scale also. My suggestion to Withings would be to offer more onboarding screens on the app that explain this and other peculiarities of the device to users so that they don’t feel that something is off, especially since this is a scale that costs Rs 39,999.
Withings Body Scan can also measure ECG, Vascular Age, Visceral Fat, and AFib Detection. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
Withings Body+
The Withings Body+ is a Wi-Fi-powered smart scale. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
The Withings Body+ is a simpler wi-fi scale meant for regular use. It has a similar setup to the Body Scan and also works for multiple users in the same way. Along with your weight, this device can show weight trends, fat mass, muscle mass, body water, BMI, Bone Mass, steps of the day and, of course, the weather. The app lets you configure what of the above can be shown on the device and in which order. The entire cycle of measurements here takes just about 30 seconds. The readings are easy to understand and you can see the weight trend on the scale itself.
Rs 9,999
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An average household does not need to invest in the Body Scan and can easily manage with the Body+. But for users like me, who anyway deep dive into a lot of quantifiable self data, the Body Scan is a worthy investment that will give extra insights to your medical support on your condition.
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