Renpho smart scale

xxzenabxx
xxzenabxx Posts: 948 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I just purchased the Renpho smart scale from Amazon after reading that it is the most accurate BIA scale out there. I was really surprised to see that when I turned athlete mode on then my body fat % was 25% and when I turned it off it was 37%! Such a huge difference. I know they aren’t as accurate as a dexa scan and I don’t want a lecture about their accuracy because I know that. I guess what surprised me the most was the difference between athlete mode and normal mode. Online my body fat % was 32% which seemed more likely. Now I’m confused because I do have more muscle mass and a higher bone density than the average woman so could the athlete mode be more accurate for me? I was expecting it to be different by 3-4 % but not by 12%! Has anyone else used it and should I use the athlete mode or the normal mode? I’m also using it to just track my weight trend on the Renpho app as well.

Replies

  • panda4153
    panda4153 Posts: 418 Member
    So I don’t have an answer for you, but your post did help me with my own question about the scale I’ve had mine about a year and while everything else seemed pretty accurate my BF% I thought was always way to low. I had no idea this setting even existed. If it helps I had a pretty big swing too when I just re-weighed without the setting on. I know It’s really hard to get an accurate reading for BF at home but I’d like to use it for trend purposes, is it going up or down.
  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
    Well, when you think about it, most of th we scales probably just take electrical impedance measurements and then compare those against a dataset of actually measured people to estimate BF. So athlete mode just uses a different dataset.
  • lianatherunner
    lianatherunner Posts: 45 Member
    I have the same scale and I've been confused about my reported body fat. It's very strange. I previously had a Weight Watchers scale and it would always say I was 30-33% fat. I lost 90 lbs and I stayed nearly the same fat percentage, according to my WW scale. That scale died, so I bought the Renpho, which says I'm at about 19%! Well, that doesn't sound right, either. If I were to guess, I'd say I'm 25-27% fat. I have a separate body fat monitor which is actually the same one my gym uses, but it's buried in my closet and I will have to dig it out.

    I don't recall how I set up my Renpho, but judging by this post, I probably said "athlete" as I am fairly muscular and I exercise daily.
  • lianatherunner
    lianatherunner Posts: 45 Member
    I just checked my body fat with Athlete Mode on and again with it off. 20.3% with it on...29% with it off!

    For me, at least, it seems more accurate with it off, even though I find that very disheartening as I have months of data with it on.

    I'm 5'1" and weigh 130.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited July 2021
    "So I just purchased the Renpho smart scale from Amazon after reading that it is the most accurate BIA scale out there."

    Does it measure upper and lower body or just run a current from foot to foot?

    That's a very bold claim for a lowly priced scale and would wonder what the basis is of that claim?
    Its competition for would need to include commercial quality and whole body BIA devices such as InBody and Boditrax.

    "should I use the athlete mode or the normal mode?"
    Are you an athlete or someone that trains with the same duration and intensity as an athlete and have done so for a long time?

  • anew45
    anew45 Posts: 17 Member
    Are you carrying a lot of athletic muscle mass? Use athletic mode. I am 14-15% body fat with visible abs and my scale say I’m 28% body fat. It’s so inaccurate it’s a joke.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    No matter how highly rated those scales are, they are notoriously inaccurate.

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