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If you’re looking for a set of digital bathroom smart scales we’ve tested the best scales that sirelessly sync with your smartphone. Everyone\u2019s getting fitness trackers , walking more than 10,000 steps a day, donning the trainers and setting out on a jog recommended by RunKeeper or another of the many exercise apps. See: Best Fitness Tracker
Exercising to get fit is a noble aim for us all. Even if you don\u2019t live longer \u2013 which you are more likely to do \u2013 you should live better as you get older.
But for many of us exercise is as much about weight loss as it is general fitness. All those Fitbit steps go hand in hand with the 5:2 Diet or some other fashionable eating regime \u2013 because we realise we\u2019re overweight and need to shed a few kilos. You need to look for the best scales that will help you maintain a healthy weight and look at otherhealth metrics.
A fitness tracker can tell you how many steps you\u2019ve taken and even take a decent guess at the number of calories you\u2019ve burnt in the process but it can\u2019t measure your weight.
A standard set of step-on scales will do the trick, but in today\u2019s world of the quantifiable self we appreciate all our data to be digitally collated and presented to us in attractive graphs and charts.
For this we need a set of smart scales \u2013 digital weight-measuring devices that sync with a smartphone app, and keep us fully aware of how much we weigh.
Without a set of smart scales you have to enter your weight into other apps manually each time. Wireless syncing of weight and other health metrics takes away all that bother, and over time builds up a trend analysis of your weight (be it loss or gain).
Being overweight or obese can increase your risk of health problems such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure (hypertension), kidney disease and some forms of cancer.
Note that being underweight also incurs possible health risks, such as brittle bones (osteoporosis), and iron deficiency (anaemia).
Recent studies indicate that we need fewer calories than our parents, due to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Cutting down on unnecessary calories is an obvious start, but the benefits of getting more exercise into your life are even greater for your health and general wellbeing.
Smart scales measure a lot more than our weight. A decent set should also inform us of our Body Mass Index (BMI), lean mass and body fat percentage. These metrics help us understand what our own best weight should be, as it depends on your height as much as your actual weight in kilos or stones.
(When measuring the various health stats remember that these averages are just that, and an indiividual\u2019s best ranges may differ depending on various factors. If in doubt discuss these with your doctor.)
Body Mass Index (or BMI) is a measure that shows if you are a healthy weight for your height. 14 stone (89kg) might be an unhealthy weight for someone of average height (men: 5ft 9in or 175.3cm; women: 5ft 3in or 161.6cm), but perfectly acceptable for a 6ft 5in man.
Doctors suggest that an ideal BMI for adults is in the range 18.5 to 24.9.
25-29.9 is overweight; 30-39.9 is obese; and over 40 is very obese. Less than 18.5 is underweight.
Note that the term \u2018obese\u2019 is not a description of what you look like but a clinical term to describe your increased health risks.
(BMI is interpreted differently for children.)
BMI is not always a great indicator of health, because it does not take into account body composition \u2013 whether or not that excess weight is muscle or fat. Because muscle is denser than fat many physically fit adults and even athletes are mistakenly classified as overweight by the BMI measurement.
That said, BMI is a pretty good health-risk indicator for most people.
Body fat percentage is the portion of your body made up of fat cells.
For men aged 20 to 40, 10-20 percent body fat is considered healthy. For older men the range 19-23 percent is good.
For women aged 20 to 40, 19-26 percent body fat is healthy. For older women 23-30 percent is good.
If you’re after a device that measures body fat and muscle quality that isn’t a scale, then there are products out there like the Skulpt Chisel scanner. It’s the size of a smartphone and very easy to use — it measures how much high frequency current flows through your muscles, thereby determining how lean certain muscles are. Click here to view the Skulpt Chisel.
Smart scales measure body fat percentage by using a body impedance method, or Bioelectrical Impedence Analysis (BIA).
For example, the Fitbit Aria has four sets of ITO electrodes that shoot a small 180 micro amp current up one leg and down other to measure body impedance. The iHealth Core also uses four electrodes but at 100 micro amp. Of course, the current is pain free and harmless \u2013 although if you have an internal electronic medical device such as a pacemaker, you should consult a doctor before using such scales. In that case, look for the smart scales that measure just weight and BMI.
Electrical impedance is the measure of the opposition that a circuit presents to a current when a voltage is applied. The electrical current flows easily through muscle, which has a high fluid content, but less easily through fat. By measuring your body\u2019s impedence (that is, its resistance to the current) the quantity of muscle is determined. From this, the quantity of water and fat are estimated.
Because this measurement can be subjective, the body fat reading may not match other scales or the results of manual methods such as calipers.
You might get more accurate body fat readings after a shower and light foot towelling as the humidity on feet makes for better contact.
You won\u2019t get any reading if you\u2019re wearing socks or shoes!
Lean mass is a measure of muscle, organs, bones and water, rather than essential or storage fat. Having a high percentage of lean mass boosts your metabolism, making it easier to maintain an overall healthy weight. It can also help reduce inflammation.
Measuring Lean Mass is another way of determining \u201cgood\u201d and \u201cbad\u201d excess weight, and is the other side of body fat percentage.
A healthy body fat percentage is between 15 and 20 percent for men, and 20 and 25 percent for women. The remaining percentage is made up of lean mass, meaning that a healthy lean mass percentage for men is 80 to 85 percent for men and 75 and 80 percent for women.
Other metrics measured by some smart scales include:
Visceral fat \u2013 this is fat that exists around your vital organs, and is one of the main risks to long-term health. This is measured by the iHealth Core and Salter Curve Analyser Pro.
Body Water Percentage \u2013 the rate of water in body composition. This is measured by the iHealth Core, Withings Body Cardio, Salter Curve Analyser Pro, and Koogeek Smart Health Scale. Aim for a body water percentage just over 50 percent. It depends on age as well but men should try to get to a total body water percentage between 50 and 65 percent. The ideal range for women is between 45 and 60 percent. Drinking more water, and eat more fruit and vegetables to improve your body water percentage.
Bone Mass \u2013 bone density is an important health metric because, like muscle, bone is a living tissue that can become stronger with exercise, as well as a healthy diet (calcium and vitamin D). For most people bone mass starts to reduce after the age of 40, and regular exercise can prevent this loss. This is measured by the iHealth Core, Withings Body Cardio, Salter Curve Analyser Pro, and Koogeek Smart Health Scale.
Pulse Wave Velocity \u2013 PWV measures the elasticity of the aorta arterial wall, and so arterial stiffness. High speed (v= 9.2m\/s) indicates risky high blood pressure and stiff arteries. Low blood pressure and soft arteries result in low speed waves (v= 5.3m\/s). Body Cardio measures the time difference between blood ejection by the heart in the aorta and the arrival of the blood flow in the feet. The time it takes for the pressure wave to travel along the arterial tree is called the Pulse Transit Time. You can improve your PWV through lifestyle changes: losing weight, exercising more, and limiting salt and alcohol intake. Only the Withings Body Cardio measures PWV.
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) \u2013 an estimation of the energy (measured in calories) expended by the body at rest to maintain normal body functions (heart beating, respiration, maintenance of body temperature, etc). This is measured by the Koogeek Smart Health Scale and Salter Curve Analyser Pro..
All of the scales reviewed here allow for more than one person to sync their data with the relevant app. This is great if the whole family or flat share want to use the scales. The scales take a good guess at who is standing on them based on previous weight, and this general works well. The only problem can be if some people\u2019s weight is very similar to anothers, which will confuse the scales.
Where you place your scales is important, as you\u2019ll get different readings (sometimes out by a few kg or pounds) depending on where it is on the floor. Put it on a flat, hard surface (bathroom tiles work well) if you can, and not on carpet, which will trick the scales into understating your weight. Some of the scales (for example, the Salter Body Analyser Scale) can be adapted for use on carpet.
And try to position the scales in exactly the same place each measurement \u2013 another reason why tiles (with their straight lines) are a good choice.
It\u2019s still fine to use the scales on carpet as long as you measure yourself the same way each time.
Your weight and body fat percentage (and therefore other metrics) will change throughout the day so it makes sense to weigh yourself at the same time each day. You should be at your lightest as soon as you wake up.
Some of the scales tested here can connect wirelessly with its mobile app via both your home’s Wi-Fi and\/or Bluetooth. Others just connect via Bluetooth. The advantage of Wi-Fi is that you don’t need to have your smartphone amywhere near the scales when you step on, as you would with Bluetooth-only scales.
That said, most of us are rarely out of range of our smartphones, and connecting via Bluetooth ensures ach user registered to the scales gets his or her own weight recorded. Over Wi-Fi the scales (accurately in our tests) guess who you are deoending on recent weight measurements.
Now let’s take a look at the range of smart scales available today and tested in our labs (ok, our bathrooms).<\/p>\n