Withings Body Scan Review: High End Data, High End Price

The Withings Body Scan can tell you things about your body you’ve never even considered before, but its high asking price will be a barrier for nearly everyone.

Score: 3/5

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In this review

Withings Body Scan Design
Withings Body Scan Performance
Withings Body Scan Conclusion

Design

Withings has made a number of smart scales over the years, and I’ve reviewed more than a few of their products over that time.

Look, here I am reviewing a Withings Wifi Scale at CNET all the way back in 2009!

Some time later, I also reviewed the Withings Body Cardio scale and Withings Scanwatch for Finder in 2021, though those reviews are no longer online, sadly.

Withings’ whole system for scales is built around the promise of delivering more than just a weight measurement, and its latest device, the Withings Body Scan really is a device that promises to do it all in terms of body measurements — hence the name, really.

However, all of that does start with a scale, and the $799 Body Scan mostly looks like other Withings Scales I’ve reviewed in the past.

It’s a relatively bulky and somewhat heavy 4.4kg scale with light bands across the main face of the scale, which ships in either white or black hues. Withings sent me the black model, and I think that might be the one to go for if you’re interested, given that you’ll be placing bare feet on it a lot of the time.

A white scale in those situations over time can’t help but get a little grubby, something that won’t show up quite as much on a black surface. Either way, the use of a tempered glass top means that it will collect dust rather obviously, plus a little pet hair if you have furry family members.

At the top end of the scale it has a 3.2 inch colour LCD that’s used to display your metrics as they’re measured, and above that sits a handle that attaches to the Withings Body Scan with a fairly robust cable. The handle has a number of electrodes on it, used to capture more advanced body metrics including ECGs when it’s held as part of the measuring process.

With the thought in mind that some users might find reaching down for the cable a chore, the Withings Body Scan also comes with a wall mounting bracket, so you could keep it at chest height as long as you don’t mind the Withings Body Scan sitting in the same place all the time.

Then again, reaching down for the Withings Body Scan handle does provide me with a little extra yoga-style stretching every time I do so – which is my way of saying that I haven’t wall-mounted the handle just yet.

The Withings Body Scan is nicely constructed, with a tempered glass top that feels robust, but it should well do given the rather hefty asking price that Withings wants for it.

Performance

A scale typically only measures weight – and for what it’s worth, Withings says the Withings Body Scan can handle up to 200kg with an accuracy as low as 50g – but you wouldn’t pay that kind of money for just a scale. Or if you did you’re mad, because basic human weight scales cost a lot less than the Withings Body Scan does.

Setting up the Withings Body Scan involves pairing it to your smartphone through the Withings App, at which point you can choose which metrics you want to measure and track over time. Weight is an obvious one, but you can also choose to view (deep breath) Weight, Weight Trends, Fat Mass, Muscle Mass, Visceral Fat, ECG, Heart Rate, Vascular Age, Nerve Health, Weather, Air Quality, BMI, Body Water, Bone Mass and Steps within the Withings App… though naturally it’s not measuring all of those things all of the time.

Also read:
Fitbit Charge 6 Review

Weather and Air Quality will come through it knowing your location, while steps will be based on what your paired device (or smartwatch) shares with the Withings App if you choose to let it do so. It’s a quite smart setup in most respects – though it’s interesting to note that contentious scores like BMI aren’t enabled by default unless you choose to view them.

One very nice step here to get you to use the Body Scan and think about what its measurements mean within the App are a series of challenges that guide you through some very nicely written articles that explain a lot about each score, what it means and how you could modify your lifestyle to improve them when needed.

The Withings Body Scan supports up to 8 on-device profiles for users, with a simple leaning mechanism used when you step onto it to switch between users if it doesn’t detect you correctly first time. It’s well implemented and quick to do so, which is nice.

I’ve been testing out the Withings Body Scan for a few weeks now, taking daily measurements to gauge its effectiveness. It’s an interesting process that can be equal parts very fast – for example, it grabs my weight very quickly and quite accurately based on double-checking with a nearby analogue scale (old school!), though other measurements can be a little more tricky to get right.

The ECG and Vascular Age measurements often failed for me, and without giving me much in the way of guidance as to why they were failing. It seems to be some of kind of measurement quirk with the handle not detecting me correctly some of the time, though at least it’s not giving me an alert that might cause some level of panic.

It is important to note that while the Withings Body Scan will have had to pass TGA approval for features like its ECG, it is not strictly speaking a medical grade device. If you did (or do) have concerns about any score or metric coming out of it, consulting with a qualified medical health professional – your GP would be a good start – would be wise.

On the battery front, the Withings Body Scale charges over USB-C with the claim of up to year’s usage before needing a power top-up. From out of the box and after several weeks, my review scale is sitting nicely at 64%, which does lend credence to those claims.

Withings Body Scan: Alex’s Verdict

I’m someone who loves to analyse data, and the Withings Body Scan gives you a lot of it, using those scores to give me detailed metrics about everything from my heart health to muscle mass, fitness and more. Data is great.

However, it is pretty hard to get past the Body Scan’s $799 asking price.

You would have to be seriously committed to wanting to and needing to know a whole lot about your body on an ongoing basis for any $799 scale to make sense.

Well, unless it was a $799 scale that also made me coffee. But the Withings Body Scale would probably tell me that I was drinking too much coffee anyway…

Withings Body Scale: Pricing and availability

The Withings Body Scan retails in Australia for $799.

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