Withings Body Smart hands-on review

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Withings Body Smart scale: What you get /What’s in the box
When you unpack the box you're really only getting one thing; that's your Withings Body Smart scale. Fortunately the batteries are included, you'll need to remove a small battery protector from underneath the battery compartment lid and once you do you should be ready to get set up.

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Set up & First Use
I delayed the set up of my scale for as long as humanly possible because I was dreading it. Previous experiences with Withings products have resulted in literal hours long set up experiences and calls to customer service for help when things didn’t work correctly. I am both thrilled and flabbergasted to report that with this scale I was able to follow the in app sequence and had it connected to my phone in less than five minutes.
I did have one small glitch where once I entered my Wi-Fi network information I got an error message, but I simply clicked the try again button and it went through the second time. This is much easier than what happened to me in the previous reviews.
Then it was time to take the first measurement.
First measurement

The first time I measured myself I went to check it in the app, but I could not find any measurements under the “latest measurements tab.

Fortunately I’ve been here before so I knew what to do, but I still think this is a sad user experience that Withings could further streamline.
 
What you’ll need to do to begin recording your weight, is go into the small square scale icon in the top right corner of the app, known as ‘My Devices’.

Next tap Unknown Measurements. In here you will likely see the measurement you just took. You’ll need to assign this measurement to yourself as a user. So, select the measurement and then assign it to yourself, then in Latest Measurements, you should see that number.
 
Essentially you have to tell the scale who you are and what your weight is off the top so that it knows where to assign future weigh ins. I think this is tedious and extra steps, and is absolutely not how most other smart scales work.

Withings says that after a few measurements the scale should recognize you and begin assigning those measurements to your profile.

If you see a small person icon on the scale with an X through it it means your measurements are not being assigned to you.

I decided to take multiple measurements all in one day to try to hurry this setting along. But it didn't seem to have much effect until after about the sixth time… after that the unknown measurements tab seemed to vanish from my app and the measurements looked like they were being recorded automatically. I also got confirmation on screen with my name, so bottom line here is if it doesn't appear that your measurements are getting tracked in the app, monitor that unknown measurements section and weigh yourself a handful of times. That should do it.
 
 
Data & what it tracks
As one of the entry-level smart scales on Withings’ lineup, the Body Smart covers the basics you’d expect and a bit more. First off, it measures your weight, but it doesn't stop there. It also dives into your body composition.
It can measure your visceral fat index—yeah, that’s the fat lurking around your organs. While it may not show on the mirror, it’s still crucial to keep an eye on this data as a high visceral fat index could indicate higher chances of cardiovascular diseases. It will also check your water mass.
Then, there’s your BMI (Body Mass Index) which is a simple yet effective way to gauge potential disease risk. It’s a built-in formula that takes your height, weight, and waist circumference in consideration which are all accessible through your app and from the sensors on the Body Smart scale.
It also shows you an approximation of your basal metabolic rate or the rate of calorie burn you get at rest.
The scale will also give you your heart rate. The first couple of times I took a measurement I just got a heart rate error message on the scale and nothing showed up in the app. But after about the third time it started to display my data.
Again this just illustrates to me that the Withings scale is a bit glitchy. But in all honesty these glitches, while frustrating for myself and other users, I bet, seem to resolve themselves this time which was a huge relief.