Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale

"A scale that tweets your weight? No thank you!" The biggest misconception about the Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale ($159, direct)?that its signature feature is it posts your weight on Twitter, which it can do but doesn't have to?is how it miraculously landed in my hands for testing. No one else at PCMag was willing to risk public humiliation to try out a bathroom scale except me. And it's a shame that so much attention about the scale centers on Twitter, because the Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale has one of the best displays I've ever seen. Smart and intuitive slider bars demystify body fat percent readouts. Weight, measured in imperial pounds, kilos, or even stones, appears in large, easy-to-see numbers. And the companion Web account (free) makes understanding your weight and other personal health metrics easier than ever, particular because you can send them to your doctor in a few clicks.

The Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale costs almost three times what I paid for my own non-Wi-Fi enabled bathroom scale (a Tanita BF-679W), which gives me just as much information about my weight and body fat, but doesn't automatically log and track it over time. That's the real benefit of a Wi-Fi scale, and it's a must-have feature for people who need to get a firm grasp on their fitness, diet, or overall health. For 30 bucks less, the Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale ($129.95, direct, 4 tars) is nearly as good as the Withings scale, though the latter's display just can't be beat.

Design and Setup
Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale, available in navy or white, looks stylish, sleek, and sophisticated. The square glass slab has a thin profile and stands a scant 1.25 inches tall (0.9 inches, plus the scale's feet). The body measures 12.6 inches in other side. The underside contains a panel for four AAA batteries and a micro USB socket, used during setup.

Before you can use the scale, you have to set up a Web account with the usual information: email, username, and password. Then you need to download a small executable file onto your Windows, Mac, or Linux computer. After that, you connect the scale to your computer using a USB cable. The software walks you through connecting the Withings scale to your Wi-Fi signal. The whole process takes about five minutes.

The Web account is where you add more details about yourself?you can import previous weight charts, for example?and set up profiles for other users. Up to eight people can use the same scale, and each user can choose whether to make his or her information visible to other users.

When the setup is complete, just hop on the scale. The rest is automatic. Every time you weigh yourself, your weight, body fat percent, and body mass index (BMI) are logged in your Web account.

Withings Scale and Web Account Use
Every time you log in, the website shares tips and information about fat, lean mass, and other metrics the site records to help you better understand what they mean and why they're important. You can suppress the tips, but I found them surprisingly informative and presented in an educated way. It's rich information about personal health, not pop magazine tips for a flatter tummy in six weeks.

The scale itself is remarkably intuitive. Step on and it works, with no need to wake it up first. Withings' display is one of the best I've seen on a home bathroom scale. The scale indicates, visually, when it's busy calculating or sending information, the same way the Fitbit Aria scale does. It shows three main readouts, weight, fat percent, and BMI, but also includes a small bar below the number pointing to your point on that scale. The healthy range for your height, age, and sex appears highlighted. If the pointer hits within the highlighted area, you know you're relatively on target. The display demystifies all the numbers and percentiles that can otherwise be confusing to someone without much medical knowledge.

Another smart and intuitive feature in this scale is how it handles uncertainty regarding which user steps on it. If you have two users with similar metrics, the Withings scale may not know one from the other. So it asks by showing the two users' initials on the display, one to the left and one to the right, and flashing a foot icon above each. Stand on just your left foot to tell it you're the person on the left. That's pretty neat.

As much as the website has great customization options and loads of features, I encountered a few oddities and annoyances while trying to manipulate some of them. For example, to log in, you have to click through two or three pages before you actually reach the page with your stats, a minor nuisance.?

Configuring objectives, like "lose four pounds" or "decrease fat by 2 percent," didn't work the way I expected. When I opened the objective panel and typed in a target weight and hit Enter, the app changed the number to a different one, which I did not understand in the slightest. The same thing happened when I tried to set a target for fat percent. Hitting Enter radically changed the number I entered. Rather than risk messing up my account, I hit Cancel. Considering how effortlessly the rest of the scale works, I was surprised to feel I needed a long sit-down with a user manual for this section.

Interconnectivity and Sharing
Another awesome benefit of the Withings scale is that it can connect to an enormous array of other devices, apps, and health programs. It supports one of my favorite gadgets, the Fitbit Ultra ($99, 4 stars) and all its collected data from the Fitbit website. Withings also works with the weight management app Lose It! (free, 3.5 stars), health monitoring app Digifit (free to download, add-ons extra, 3 stars), the runner's app RunKeeper, and plenty of others. Withings also makes a blood pressure measuring device, which you can sync with your account as well.?

The options for sharing your Withings data are comprehensive. If peer pressure motivates you, you can have the scale tweet your weight daily, weekly, or after each weigh-in. You can also have your status published on a website, like a personal blog, shared via Facebook, or even sent directly to your doctor.

If your GP has a Withings account, she or he can access all your data directly through the site. Without an account, doctors (or anyone for that matter) can receive a one-time report via email. If you arrive at a medical appointment and the doctor asks if you've had any changes in your weight and blood pressure, you can log into the site and send the GP all that information in one shot.

Super Scale
Although it's quite expensive, the Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale packs a lot of value, particularly due to its companion website and ability to interconnect with other apps and fitness devices. That earns it our Editors' Choice. The Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi scale is very nearly as good and costs a bit less, but doesn't give you that gorgeous and intuitive readout display.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/XbvCbd2jTVc/0,2817,2406400,00.asp

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