Health O Meter Glass Scale Weight Tracking Accuracy
Bathroom scales need to do one thing: consistently give you a weight measurement that you can trust. After stepping on and off a total of 23 scales since 2015 (accounting for more than 750 weigh-ins), we're confident that the compact, easy-to-read Etekcity EB9380H is the most accurate and precise basic digital bathroom scale under $50 (though, as with the vast majority of bathroom scales in its price range, the Etekcity is not perfect on those counts).
None of the scales we reviewed for this guide connect to your phone. If you want a smart scale—one that automatically tracks weight measurements and other biometric data—check out our guide to smart scales. Keep in mind, though, that overall we've found those connected scales to be more finicky and less reliable.
Our pick
The Etekcity EB9380H is one of the most accurate and precise digital bathroom scales we've tested. Many inexpensive bathroom scales respond reliably only to a weight change on the order of half a pound, or, as we found through our testing, will even pull your weight readings from memory without trying to measure you. This streamlined scale was one of the only models we tested that was capable of not only detecting change as small as a couple of tenths of a pound, but also consistently giving the same measurements for test objects of known weights on different days. The Etekcity's bright backlit display is small but easy to read, and the measured weight is displayed for an ample 10 seconds. And the scale has a 400-pound weight capacity, can measure in kilograms or pounds, is completely silent (no beeps), and turns on and off instantly. The Etekcity comes with a one-year warranty, which doubles if you register your scale on the company's website within two weeks of purchase. As with all bathroom scales, to get accurate readings on the Etekcity, you'll need to place it on a hard, flat surface, and you'll have to calibrate it regularly (by stepping on and off of it and/or temporarily removing the batteries).
Runner-up
The EatSmart Precision Plus is much bigger than the Etekcity and has an extra-large, 4.3-inch backlit display. It is almost as accurate and precise as our top pick, and it, too, gives fresh weights (not ones from memory) each time it's used. In our testing, the Precision Plus remained mostly consistent on different days and detected incremental weight gains and losses of a few tenths of a pound. It has a higher weight capacity, 440 pounds, and is much longer than our top pick, making it a solid choice for someone with a larger-than-average shoe size (men's 10½ and above). Like our top pick, the EatSmart scale is silent, can measure in kilograms or pounds, instantly turns on and off, and displays a person's weight for 10 seconds after they step off the scale. This scale comes with a two-year warranty.
Also great
The plastic-topped Tanita HD-351 is an impressively accurate option with a non-glass platform. It offers near-perfect precision, and, unlike our other picks, it can recall last-weight memories for up to five people. Although its display is not backlit, this scale turns off instantly, has a 440-pound weight capacity, can measure in kilograms or pounds, and comes with a confidence-boosting five-year warranty. It's not a true upgrade over our other picks, though, because it emits beeps you can't disable and takes, on average, 10 seconds to display a reading (roughly 5 seconds longer than our other picks).
Everything we recommend
Our pick
Runner-up
Also great
Why you should trust us
We interviewed several health and fitness experts, including Dr. Linda Everett, a bariatrician (a physician who specializes in weight loss); Beth Skwarecki, a health writer; and Rachel Pires, author of Diet Enlightenment and a weight-loss counselor. We also read hands-on tests and reviews and spent hours poring over individual scales' customer reviews on Amazon and at other retailers.
Who this is for
Many people can benefit from owning a good bathroom scale. There's a reason you're weighed at every physical exam: Being over or under healthy weight recommendations is linked with having a greater risk for certain health problems. Significant weight fluctuations can tip you off to health or lifestyle changes that need your attention. Even simply monitoring your weight could be beneficial in the long run: Several studies, including the one done at the comprehensive National Weight Control Registry, have found that regular (at least weekly) weigh-ins are one of the most common characteristics of people who lose weight and keep it off for years afterward. As the saying goes, you can't change what you don't measure.
That said, weight is not a perfect self-contained measure of overall health. Your weight fluctuates throughout the day (by up to 6 pounds), due to variances like your hydration, when you last ate, and even what you recently ate. "As long as you don't become overly fixated with the number on the scale, the advantages to using one definitely outweigh the disadvantages," Pires said. If you (and your physician) find your weight measurement helpful in progressing toward better health or maintaining the health you have, the bathroom scale can be a useful tool. The number alone, however, isn't something to obsess over, and it is just one metric of many that can inform your understanding of your body.
Many bathroom scales can now do much more than simply weigh people. Some automatically record biometric readings in a wirelessly synced app. However, smart scales can be more than four times the price of regular digital scales. (Our smart-scale picks, however, cost only about $20 to $30 more than the traditional bathroom scales we recommend in this review.) Smart scales aren't necessarily better than all the other digital scales—they just have more connectivity features and more insights into your health, such as an estimate of body-fat percentage, now considered a better indicator of health than weight alone or BMI (body mass index), an estimate of body-fat percentage based on weight and height. Only a handful of basic digital scales offer body-fat or other body-composition (such as bone-density) readings, so if you want a body-fat percentage estimate, you'll need to invest in a smart scale.
There's another important reason you might want to spend more on a smart scale versus one that doesn't connect to your phone or sync your data online: effortless weight tracking. After jotting down weight readings for a dozen scales over a couple of weeks, we quickly realized the benefits of having a smart scale automatically do the tracking. Gathering that data didn't take any thought or leave room for error, and it's one less barrier to regularly monitoring your weight, which is already enough of a hassle for most of us.
How we picked
The two most important factors in a scale's ability to give a useful measurement are accuracy (the scale reads reasonably close to your true weight) and precision (the scale gives the same reading if you do two or more readings in a row). First and foremost, you want to be able to trust the reading. Precision and accuracy, however, are things we could measure ourselves only through hands-on testing, so to narrow the vast universe of digital bathroom scales before we got to that step, we turned to several sources.
Our survey of Wirecutter readers (more than 600 responses) helped us discover the features people want most in a scale—beyond accuracy and reliability—such as a large backlit display and an aesthetically pleasing design.
A great range of bathroom scales is available, from the no-frills scales that just show you your weight to ones that seem to want to measure everything possible. And, as we learned from stepping on scales hundreds of times in the past couple of months, not all scales feel the same when you weigh yourself.
After accuracy and precision, we looked at usability elements like maximum weight limits, platform size, display size, and what it was like to actually use the scale. Readability of the LED display is also important: A backlit display makes it much easier to read, as does a display time of more than 5 seconds.
We also preferred scales with weight limits of at least 400 pounds versus those that maxed out in the 300s.
We decided to eliminate analog or mechanical scales (the kind with a dial) from consideration entirely. Mechanical scales have been shown to be significantly less accurate and less precise than digital scales. Mechanical scales usually show weight increments of only 1 pound, can be hard to read, and need to be set to zero and recalibrated manually. They're also a dwindling category, with few analog scales left in the marketplace.
How we tested
In one room, we set up all the scales according to their manuals and calibrated them as instructed. Then over the course of a few weeks, we weighed ourselves a ridiculous number of times in a row, using books and dumbbells to add and subtract a few ounces of weight to see whether the scales could pick up on the differences.
During each round, the tester stepped on and off each scale 10 to 12 times, sometimes alone, and sometimes holding one book, two books, or a dumbbell, noting each time whether the weight changed appropriately, to test for the scales' precision (consistency between readings).
What we learned is that some scales offer a seemingly manufactured sense of precision and accuracy: They may calculate your weight based on the memory of your previous readings rather than actually weighing you each time.
For example, one tester—after weighing herself, and then weighing herself again while holding a 10-pound dumbbell, and then weighing herself yet again without the dumbbell—found that one of the scales said she weighed 10 pounds more than she did. Other scales would at first correctly show the additional weight difference when another tester was holding one book, but would then revert to her previous weight measurement without the book. Although some scales read the testers' weights nearly instantly, the downside is that they often seemed to be pulling from memory, whereas scales that took a few seconds to display the weight reading actually measured weight each time. We requested comment from the companies that made the offending scales, but they were not forthcoming with an explanation.
We gave each scale a 0.2-pound margin of error. So, for example, if a scale weighed one tester at 120.0 pounds and she then got back on the scale with a 0.4-pound book, we considered the scale to be accurate if it said she weighed anything between 120.2 to 120.6 pounds. That might sound like a lot, but as health experts point out, a margin of even a pound isn't enough to change your BMI. Many scales show weight in increments down to one-tenth of a pound, so it was surprising to see that most of them really weren't that sensitive. We considered a scale precise if it gave us the same number three times in a row with no margin.
Our pick: Etekcity EB9380H
Our pick
The Etekcity EB9380H performed nearly flawlessly, providing dozens of accurate and precise weights over the course of multiple weeks. It was the second-most accurate of the 11 scales we tested (bested ever so slightly by our also-great pick, the Tanita HD-351). The EB9380H not only instantaneously recognizes when you step on the scale with the addition or subtraction of a couple of ounces, but it also, out of dozens of measurements, gave the exact expected measurements every single time (except for one instance, which was still within our 0.2-pound margin of error). Whenever we weighed ourselves in succession, the readings were always the same.
This scale can accommodate weights of up to 400 pounds, and it measures in either kilograms or pounds. And it has a bright blue backlit display that's easy to read in all settings and stays on for 10 seconds, which is plenty long enough to jot down the numbers if you're tracking weights manually.
The Etekcity is also a completely silent scale—no beeps—and its slim and sleek black tempered-glass design is aesthetically pleasing and perfect for smaller spaces.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
At less than a foot wide and long, the Etekcity scale is rather compact, so if you have a shoe size that is larger than average (above a men's 10½), you may want to look at our runner-up or also-great picks, both of which have larger platforms and a 40-pound higher weight capacity.
Although we consider the lack of sound on this scale to be a benefit, since there's no beep to let you know when the scale has finished weighing, you'll have to continue looking down at the display to see when it flashes three times (or count to six in your head).
Like most modern electronic scales, our pick is made of tempered glass, which can be slippery when wet. And, terrifyingly, some customers have reported that their scales have unexpectedly shattered. This seems to happen only rarely, though it did happen to one of our testers when they dropped it from a distance of around 3 feet while transporting the scale. A representative for Etekcity told us that "due to the nature of tempered glass, shattering can happen." (If your scale breaks, contact Etekcity customer service.)
The Etekcity, like all bathroom scales, requires frequent calibration to remain useful, but some owners say that after a while, to get an accurate reading, they had to pop the batteries out and back in, and even then the scale sometimes still stopped working well.
The one-year warranty period for this scale is shorter than some of the competition's warranties (and some customer reviews allege that the Etekcity scale tends to conk out around the time this coverage runs out). You can extend the warranty to two years if you register your scale on the company's website within two weeks of purchase.
Runner-up: EatSmart Precision Plus
Runner-up
In our testing, the EatSmart Precision Plus was not as accurate or precise as the Etekcity, but it was among the most accurate and precise scales we tested, always within a 0.2-pound margin of error.
Like our top pick, the Precision Plus requires frequent calibration and is made of tempered glass, which can be slippery and, according to some customer reviews, can shatter. An EatSmart representative said that the company receives "one or two complaints of this happening" annually. "Tempered safety glass is specifically designed to cause minimal or no injuries to the users," the representative added. If your scale breaks, call EatSmart for a free replacement scale.
And, although this scale's extra-large display (4.3 inches) is backlit and weights remain on display for 10 seconds after people weigh themselves, the dim numbers are more difficult to read than the Etekcity EB9380H's numbers.
However, the Precision Plus scale is much larger than our top pick, and it maxes out at 440 pounds, far more than most scales' limits of 400 pounds. Whether you're near this weight maximum or you want to be able to weigh yourself with your luggage, capacity makes a difference. This scale is completely silent and comes with a two-year warranty.
Also great: Tanita HD-351
Also great
If you're willing to pay a hefty premium for unmatched weight precision and accuracy and a shatterproof plastic platform—and you aren't bothered by multiple beeps, a mandatory toe-tap, an unlit display, and a few seconds of additional waiting time during each weighing session—consider the Tanita HD-351.
When it came to accuracy and precision, the Tanita HD-351 could not be beat: Of the dozens of times we weighed ourselves with and without other objects, this scale gave a measurement that was inaccurate only once—and by just one-fifth of a pound.
It offers the same 440-pound weight maximum as the EatSmart Precision Plus and has a similar extra-large platform. And the Tanita can measure in kilograms or pounds and comes with a substantial warranty of five years—more than double that of our runner-up pick and five times as long as our pick's standard warranty period.
The Tanita HD-351 also recalls the last weigh-in and has storage capacity for five different users. But even though there are five different memory tabs on the scale, ostensibly for different family members, there's no way to label them or have a designated "guest" option. If there are more than five members of your family who would like to use this scale, you'll have to either render moot the retained weights of at least one tab or buy another scale. There's also no option to turn off the storage of previous weights, so individual discretion is not possible (anyone, including a nosy guest, can toe-tap your tab and see your previous stored weight).
There are other flaws, too, which some people may find to be dealbreakers.
The Tanita HD-351 is not an "instant" scale like our top pick and runner-up. In order to use it, you have to toe-tap your designated tab, wait for the scale to calibrate and beep, and then get on and wait for the beep that signals the completion of the weigh-in. If you want to weigh yourself immediately after your first weigh, you have to either toe-tap the fifth tab (if it's not in use) or wait the 10 or more seconds for it to completely shut off. Then you can tap your preferred tab again, wait for the beep, again, and finally step back on.
Frustratingly, there is no way to shut off the two beeps.
Finally, this scale's display is not backlit and is hard to read in certain settings (like a room with dimmed lights), though its 10-second display gives you enough time to crouch down and make out the numbers.
What to look forward to
We're also considering talking digital scales, including the well-reviewed My Weigh XL-550.
The competition
The Tanita HD-662 is a compact, accurate scale with a backlit display and a plastic platform. But we found that it slides around on the floor easily, presenting a potential safety hazard. It is half the price of our Tanita also-great pick, but it is smaller and has a weight capacity of only 330 pounds, in contrast to the HD-351's 440 pounds. Further, the HD-351 can show the current and previous weight of up to five users, while the HD-662 cannot.
The EatSmart Precision Weight Tracker, a new scale from EatSmart, is accurate and typically around the same price as our runner-up pick from the company, but it has a much narrower platform (12 inches versus our runner-up's nearly 16 inches) and a lower weight capacity (400 pounds versus our pick's 440).
The EatSmart Precision CalPal scale we used to recommend did not perform as well in our 2020 testing as our new picks. It was less accurate and less precise overall.
The Taylor 73294072 is another option with a non-glass platform from a trusted brand. It does not have a backlit display like our top pick, and it has a smaller capacity than all of our picks (up to 330 pounds).
Neither the Taylor 7558 nor the Taylor 7506 scales performed well, and our previous runner-up, Taylor Glass CalMax, has received negative reviews in our comments section and from customers.
We liked the look of the Ozeri Rev Bathroom Scale with Electro-Mechanical Weight Dial, and we found it to be almost as accurate and precise as the Etekcity EB9380H. However, it's clunky and large, and the analog dial, while cute and retro, doesn't actually work if the electronic scale isn't powered up—it's purely decoration.
The Ozeri WeightMaster II gives your current weight, then cycles through your previous day, past three days, previous week, and previous 30 days, using red or green backlighting to show you whether you gained or lost weight. Some testers who tried it appreciated the scale's no-frills, anti-slip design. Though it detected the 0.4-pound change in one of the tests, more often than not the scale would detect only weight changes of 1 pound or more.
The BalanceFrom High Accuracy Premium Digital Bathroom Scale will remind you of your last weight measurement (mercifully, it shows you the last weight in green backlighting, rather than red for bad or green for good). However, it detected only changes of at least 0.6 pound and was inaccurate sometimes by 0.3 pound.
Sources
-
The National Weight Control Registry
-
Meredith Yorkin, Kim Spaccarotella, Jennifer Martin-Biggers, Virginia Quick, and Carol Byrd-Bredbenner, Accuracy and consistency of weights provided by home bathroom scales, BMC Public Health , December 17, 2013
-
Body Fat Scales: Step Right Up?, Berkeley Wellness , February 26, 2013
-
A. Bosy-Westphal, W. Later, B. Hitze, T. Sato, E. Kossel, C.-C. Glüer, M. Heller, and M.J. Müller, Accuracy of Bioelectrical Impedance Consumer Devices for Measurement of Body Composition in Comparison to Whole Body Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Dual X-Ray Absorptiometry, Obesity Facts
-
Albert Sun, Same B.M.I., Very Different Beach Body, The New York Times , July 7, 2015
-
Linda G. Everett, MD, MHA, medical weight loss physician, Everett Medical Weight Loss and Management, interview , April 17, 2015
-
Rachel L. Pires, Diet Enlightenment, Tate Publishing , April 15, 2014
About your guides
Nancy Redd is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter covering everything from Santa hats to bath bombs. She is also a GLAAD Award–nominated on-air host and a New York Times best-selling author. Her latest picture book, The Real Santa, follows a determined little Black boy's journey to discover what the jolly icon truly looks like.
Melanie Pinola is a Wirecutter senior staff writer covering all things home office. She has contributed to print and online publications such as The New York Times, Lifehacker, and PCWorld, specializing in tech, productivity, and lifestyle/family topics. She's thrilled when those topics intersect—and when she gets to write about them in her PJs.
Health O Meter Glass Scale Weight Tracking Accuracy
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/the-best-bathroom-scales/
0 Response to "Health O Meter Glass Scale Weight Tracking Accuracy"
Publicar un comentario