The Withings Body Smart is a Wi-Fi scale whose distinguishing feature is a mode that refuses to show a number. Reviews range from 3.5 to 4.1 out of 5: PCMag and Tom's Guide rate the body-composition detail and the app's explanations of it, The Verge spent three months with Eyes-Closed Mode and found it changed the daily ritual, and Tech Advisor is blunt that bioelectrical impedance analysis is inherently flawed. It suits people who want trends and context, not a precision instrument.
Full review
Eyes-Closed Mode hides the weight and shows the weather
Eyes-Closed Mode replaces the numbers on the display with smiley faces, animations and context such as weather and air quality, and syncs the real figures to the app instead. The Verge, which used it for three months, describes the effect as a scale that most days does not tell you what you weigh, by design. The point is to take the daily emotional hit out of stepping on for anyone with a fraught relationship with the number, while still recording the trend.
Body fat, water, muscle and bone, all from bioimpedance
PCMag lists what it reports: body fat, body water, muscle mass and bone mass, plus a visceral fat index and resting heart rate, which is unusual on a scale at this level. Tech Advisor supplies the counterweight, and it is the important one, that bioelectrical impedance analysis is inherently flawed, and flawed for every scale that uses it rather than this one in particular. What the app adds is explanation: each metric arrives with a reason it matters.
Four AA batteries and no USB charging
Power comes from four AA cells. Tech Advisor's complaint is that at this price USB charging should be included, and that Withings reserves it for the pricier Body Scan. The 13-by-13-inch glass platform is large enough to feel secure for a bigger person, and wide feet for carpet are in the box, but the glossy surface takes fingerprints and marks immediately. The colour screen is crisp and shows several metrics on the scale itself rather than forcing the app open.
Switching between users is annoying
The scale carries several profiles, with pregnancy, athlete and baby modes toggled in the app, and Tech Advisor found both that switching between users is annoying and that the scale can have trouble telling them apart. That is a real problem in a household where two people weigh something similar, because the wrong profile quietly corrupts a trend line. The modes also do not compose, since athlete mode and Eyes-Closed Mode cannot run at the same time.
Trend tracking, not a measurement device
Taken together the picture is consistent across all five reviews. Gadgets and Wearables and Tom's Guide both land on a scale that is well built, quick to sync over Wi-Fi and pleasant to use daily, and PCMag credits the balance of features, price and design. The honest framing is that the weight figure is accurate and everything derived from impedance is directional. Anyone buying it for a precise body-fat percentage will be disappointed; anyone buying it to watch a line move will not.
Strengths
- +Accurately measures multiple health metrics including weight, body fat percentage, and muscle mass
- +Seamlessly syncs data to smartphone app and Withings Health Mate platform for easy tracking
- +Provides detailed body composition analysis with visual progress charts and trends
- +Durable construction with non-slip surface and clear digital display for easy reading
Watch-outs
- −Requires manual user registration for each person using the scale
- −Limited compatibility with third-party health apps outside of Withings ecosystem
- −Battery life reportedly decreases significantly after extended use
How it compares
The Withings Body Smart provides accurate body composition tracking like the Wyze Scale X but lacks the RGB lighting and compact design of the Renpho Elis Chroma Aspire Smart Scale. While it offers detailed analytics and seamless smartphone integration, it doesn't include the cardiovascular health metrics or nerve health assessment found in the Withings Body Comp.
Rating sources
Our 3.8 score is the average of these published ratings. More about methodology.
