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Weigh to go, these are our favourite bathroom scales for tracking all your body metrics
Ah, the humble bathroom scale – an enemy to many. No one really enjoys stepping on the scale, waiting for the numbers to flash up but for those looking to gain, lose or maintain their weight, bathroom scales are a necessary evil, and now they’re smarter than ever.
The best bathroom scales don’t just measure your body weight, they also detect a range of metrics, from your BMI, body fat percentage and muscle mass to your nerve health and heart rate. The good news is, these days, entry-level smart bathroom scales cost roughly the same as traditional analogue or digital scales.
Smart scales use something called bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to send a safe (and pain-free) electrical current from your bare feet through your body, encountering different levels of resistance when it travels through your muscle, fat and bone. This electrical current provides you with a huge amount of valuable data about your body. Although, manufacturers advise that people who are pregnant or have a pacemaker shouldn’t use these types of scales.
Although scales that use BIA won’t give you precise measurements, they will still give you a good trend-line indication of whether your body fat and muscle mass is going up or down. “Should I expect BIA to give me an accurate value on day one? No,” says Jonathan Wells, professor of anthropology and paediatric nutrition at University College London. “But would I expect it to give me a good indication of whether I am gaining or losing muscle and fat? Yes,” he adds.
We’ve been testing a bunch of smart (and digital) scales over the past year, and have rounded up our favourites below.
We’ve been testing bathroom scales for several months, looking at how they track data, what smart features they have, how they look in our bathroom and how easy they are to use.
We’ve considered their design, cost and usability. Can you add profiles to each scale? Can you weigh objects and pets? Is the app informative and easy to navigate? Keep reading to find out which ones are worth their weight in gold.
Smart scales help to give you a clear picture of your health and fitness by offering additional metrics besides weight, including body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, muscle mass and more. They do this by sending a small, non-harmful electrical impulse through your body to measure the resistance, or impedance, your body gives against the current in bone, fat and muscle. They must be used barefoot and it is important to note that they should not be used by anyone who is pregnant or anyone who uses a pacemaker.
While mechanical and digital scales can give you a basic reading of your weight, smart scales can provide you with even more information about your body, allowing you to log your weight and track changes remotely on your smartphone. They are the most accurate of all the options and also offer the most comprehensive view of the composition of your body.
As well as tracking your weight, smart scales can calculate everything from body fat and muscle mass to BMI, water percentage and even your resting metabolism. These measurements can help give a better overview of your general health and knowing how much fat, water, muscle and bone your body is made up of can give insight into whether you are achieving your health goals. However, it's important to remember that these values are estimates and that you should always consult a doctor for the most accurate measurements and advice.
Some smart bathroom scales also give users the option to measure objects and babies, and the best ones have simple-to-use apps with goal-setting features to keep you on track.
The Eufy smart scale P2 pro is our favourite smart scale of the lot. It’s cheap, syncs with Bluetooth and wifi, provides thorough body composition measurements and looked the sleekest of the bunch. If you want a detailed look at your body’s metrics, we can’t fault the Withings body comp smart scale, which is so comprehensive, featuring a pulse wave velocity sensor. If you don’t mind the hefty price tag, the Withings machine is the one to get.
For more bathroom gadgetry, take a look at our guide to the best electric toothbrushes