Somatics

Withings WiFi Body Scale

Wireless weight tracking

I’ve been using my Withings WiFi-enabled scale since 5 Dec 2009, at which point I weighed 246.9 lbs. Today, I weigh 183.5 lbs, and this scale helped me reach my goal. It shows weight, percentage or lbs of body fat, and BMI. Because it’s WiFi-enabled, the readings are picked up and displayed graphically on my Web page (password protected) at their site with the option to share it with other web-based weight loss sites. Moreover, I can use the data locally by downloading the readings in a format suitable for a spreadsheet.

I weigh daily, and the graph has greatly helped in my weight-loss efforts. Now I can easily see the trend, which helps manage it. I’ve had a series of scales that measure both weight and percentage body fat, including a couple by Tanita. As part of my weight loss effort, I did have some professionally administered body-fat measurements, and the Withings readings were consistent with that, within the limits of accuracy with respect to one’s daily weight fluctuations. If you have multiple people using the scale, it’s easy to set up multiple accounts (it has a maximum of 8 users).
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One warning: I got a Roku, and in trying to get it set up with my router, I changed from G to N format, and for a few weeks lost readings from the scale because I wasn’t checking so regularly at that time. I used their support forum to diagnose the problem and reconnect my scale to my router. I would rate their support as excellent: they monitor the forum and respond immediately with answers.

The Withings was the first WiFi-enabled scale I found, and other than my own error in changing the router without thinking how it would affect my bathroom scale (you can understand that oversight, I hope), my experience with it has been uniformly positive. Highly recommended.

-- Michael Ham 06/1/11

(Note: Withings recently released the WiScale application for iOS and Android that allows for remote viewing of data.--OH — editors)

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