Putting the hardware together

hartk001
hartk001 Posts: 51 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My old scales (20 years plus) have reached their sell by date and are ready for the scrap heap !

As a replacement I thought it has to be a Smart Scale and as a treat to myself I thought I’d buy a Fitness Tracker but when I started to do my research it didn’t seem that easy. Generally speaking all the scales were pretty accurate as far as weight was concerned. However how they treated, displayed that info, and how they shared it was pretty confusing

Then there was the tracker itself. Would it pick up information from the scales, how accurate would it’s tracking information be

Perhaps I’m getting carried away with all this jargon but I would want to tie it all into my iPhone Health App (Maybe that’s not necessary that it’s only Apple’s marketing team at word - I just don’t know !)

The question really is - which to buy first the scales or tracker - I’m thinking budget here. At a fit 70 all I want to do is keep an eye on my health and shift that two stone my sweet tooth has given me ! :)

Kevin

Replies

  • autumnblade75
    autumnblade75 Posts: 1,661 Member
    edited July 2019
    I'm turned off of "smart" scales because of their programming. As a feature, many multi-user scales will pull your weight from memory instead of weighing you, until you've crossed whatever their "change" threshold is (usually about half a pound) which seems to defeat the purpose of a digital scale that is capable of displaying an accuracy of tenths of a pound.

    Personally, I just want to know how much I weigh. All the other numbers a scale throws at you are kind of questionable, anyway. I even tried one of those nifty bluetooth scales that sends your weight to an app on your phone - but the bluetooth connection never seemed to work and the scale "remembered" my weight, so I'd get identical readings every day for 3 weeks in a row. I don't believe there were no weight fluctuations, but they were hidden from me. Now there are fancy scales all over the house, and I'm back to the Spring scale with a dial on it's face.

    OTOH, you'll pry my Fitbit from my cold, dead hands.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    edited July 2019
    Smart scales aren’t so smart. The way the estimate body fat is completely unreliable. Get the tracker you want, get a basic $20 scale, and spend the rest of the money on some good shoes or other equipment!
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,464 Member
    I didn’t know other people felt that way. I bought a smart scale. It broke. I was glad. Bought a regular scale.
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    I have a smart scale and love it, just because it sends my info to my trending site and MFP. Not much price difference between not smart vs smart either.
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
    I have a normal scale. I also have a Fitbit Inspire HR (which I love). However yo my knowledge there is not a way to connect it to my Apple Health in my phone. That annoyed me some but not enough to give up my Fitbit. It’s my favorite health gadget.
  • drmoravia
    drmoravia Posts: 13 Member
    I use a Fitbit Aria scale. I like it because it automatically records my weight to Fitbit then syncs to MFP. The weight seems to be accurate, and it uses that to ID the user. (I'm the only user, so I can't speak to how well it IDs users.) It also seems that the fat % is wrong.

    I'm looking for a new tracker now. After at least 5 Fitbits, I can't justify another if I can find something that covers my needs. Fitbit tracker quality has been horrible, to be polite.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    I have a semi smart scale. I ignore everything it has to say about body composition. I charge my phone overnight near the scale, and enter the number manually. I do this one a day and it might take 30 seconds. It's less of an inconvenience than brushing my teeth. You can't get a dumb scale for $10, in my opinion a smart one isn't worth the premium.

    I really like my Garmin. These tracker things, some people love them and some people aren't impressed. It's more to do with what kind of person you are. If you're a numbers person, or if having a device nag you when you've been sitting too long, or if tapping into a community that will have friendly competitions is the kind of thing you go for, then it's likely to work.
  • Terytha
    Terytha Posts: 2,097 Member
    We bought a fancy dumb scale. It does body comp stuff but isn't bluetooth so it doesn't communicate that info or anything. I wouldn't want that. While I do watch and accept fluctuations, I only record loss so I can use my constantly falling graph line as a boost to my morale.

    The cheap scales lose calibration too easy imo. I got four different numbers in one minute from our old $15 one. Frustrating when you just wanna know what you weigh.

    I love my Garmin Vivosmart. So useful. I walk way more and have less joint pain cuz it reminds me to not sit still so much.
  • hartk001
    hartk001 Posts: 51 Member
    Interesting replies, thanks to all who have replied so far

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