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The 14 best smart scales for monitoring your fitness progress
Smart scales do more than just measure your weight, also recording body composition and storing information on dedicated apps. From Garmin to Fitbit, shop GQ’s edit of the best smart scales you can buy right now
All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.
For many, a new year brings aspirations to lose a bit of weight, get fitter or generally be more active, but truth be told, not everyone manages to hold onto the momentum to actually achieve any of their goals - it’s hard to get up off the sofa when you’ve spent the Christmas period devouring your own bodyweight in cheese, right? To keep this dip in commitment away from your own goals, you need a guide that holds you accountable and helps you see exactly what you need to do to keep the fat off and become a healthier version of yourself, and the best way to do that is with one of the best smart scales.
Sure, you could buy a fitness tracker with in-depth metrics on your daily heart rate or your step count for the day, but so far as we know, no wearable can keep track of your weight, body mass index or body fat percentage while also giving you actionable guidance on how to stay strong on your weight loss journey. We're far past the days when you'd have to gaze sadly around your belly at your weight on a physical scale: now, you can have your metrics sent straight to your smartphone with measurable guidance on how to improve your training, adjust your diet and plan ahead to become a healthier version of yourself.
Ultra-advanced scales can track everything from bone density and metabolic age to how much fat you have tucked in the sub-layers of your skin. But which one is worth buying? There are all sorts of models from top fitness tech makers like Garmin, Fitbit, Withings and a few other options over from Amazon, so it can be a little complex to know which is worth your time. Don't worry though, as we've laid out all you need to know below.
What are the best smart scales to buy 2024?
It's not often we'd say that a set of bathroom scales catches our eye, but this one from Withings, the maker of attractive smartwatches and fitness trackers is seriously slick. It also does all the basics absolutely well, with body fat metrics, smartphone connectivity and the capability to store trackings for up to eight people at once.
Enjoy your Fitbit smartwatch but hate that you can't track your weight along with all your other metrics? The Aria is the next step to completing your entire fitness-tracking goals on smart devices, with useful metrics to help you manage expectations, set targets and smash them through the year.
When it comes to weighing yourself you want to make sure it's as accurate as possible ("I didn't put on that much weight this week, did I?"), so if you want precision, check out the FitTrack, which uses an independently verified measuring system of the Dexa scan, a verified standard in the measurement world.
- Best overall smart scale: Withings Body+ Smart Scale, £89 at amazon.co.uk
- Best for smartwatch users: Fitbit Aria Air, £49 at amazon.co.uk
- Most accurate smart scale: FitTrack body weight scale,
£59£49 at amazon.co.uk - Best affordable smart scale: Salter Compact Phantom, £49 at amazon.co.uk
Skip to: Do I need a smart scale that measures body fat? | Do smart scales work with apps from Fitbit and Apple Health? | How accurate are smart scales? | Are smart scales worth it? | How we test smart scales
Do I need a smart scale that measures body fat?
All smart scales are formidable gadgets in their own right, with Wi-Fi and mobile app compatibility, slotting into your smart home setup with ease. They come with the basic ability to measure weight, with many also able to take body composition measurements as well, thanks to bioelectrical impedance analysis (AKA, the metal strips you stand on which use an electrical current to estimate your composition). It's technical wizardry at its finest, but it somehow results in a complete picture of your body's weight makeup: muscle, fat, bone, and water, all collected into your overall body mass index (BMI).
And believe us when we say, there's nothing quite like taking a look at your BMI and body fitness age to motivate you to work harder in the iron jungle. These smart scales are an underrated and versatile tool in any fitness fiend's arsenal, so long as you take advantage of the stats they give you.
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?
Once you’ve stepped off the connected scales, measurements usually get fired over to a fitness app on your phone. That’s also the place to get everything set up and view detailed information like graphs, health data, and trends over time.
There are smart scale options that will also let you push data to apps such as Apple Health, Fitbit and Garmin Connect, which you might already be using if you own one of their smartwatches or fitness trackers. As an added bonus, being able to push your stats to those other apps can show you how those measurements relate to the exercise you track too. Many also let you create profiles for different users, which is handy.
Disappointingly, there's no way to connect up to the Apple Watch app just yet, so for anyone rocking one of Tim Cook's wearables and hoping that weight loss tracking can be synced up to your three rings, you're out of luck and will have to resort to manual calculations.
How accurate are smart scales?
In terms of measuring your weight, smart scales are just as accurate as any other scale, though the quality of modern tech means that your reading will largely be more accurate than they have been in years gone by. When it comes to measuring your body composition and stats such as body fat percentage, they're not going to match up to medical-grade tests but will still give a good indication to go off. Besides, you can still use all the metrics to track your progress over time. So if your body fat percentage rises or lowers, you'll know that you need to step things up or carry on with your routine accordingly.
Are smart scales worth it?
Smart scales offer way more than just simple weight tracking which, frankly, is not a good indicator of your health overall. Your weight fluctuates fairly wildly throughout the day (depending on the number of HobNobs you've sneaked in your lunch break) and even if you're working hard in the gym, you might not be noticing a drop in your weight as you pack on more muscle. However, a smart scale contextualises your fitness journey by adding much more detail to your metrics, arming you with more knowledge on how to tackle your next plateau.
Inputting info on your muscle mass, BMI, and bone density, then tracking it all in an easily viewable chart that you can marvel at any time on your smartphone can go a long way to helping you navigate through to a lighter, healthier version of you. Given that it can do all that and will cost less than £100 in most cases cannot be overstated.
Partner all this with the smartwatch of your choice – there are many – and you've got yourself a robust personal trainer for considerably less cost to you that will be there in your bathroom with you every morning guiding you towards a healthy lifestyle. It's a win in our eyes.
How we test smart scales
Worried about the quality of these machines? Understandable, but our fitness experts are well adept at figuring out exactly what you need for the most gains in 2024, having tested the below scales in our own fitness routines. We test for how easily it is to set up with smartphones and watches, as well as the depth of the health tracking, assessing how useful and accurate the data is, as well as how comprehensive the analytics and coaching systems are. All the below have been selected based on this info, so check out exactly what we think of each. Now all you need to do is kit yourself out with the best gym gear, dumbbells and running trainers to get yourself active.
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