Withings has announced its latest smart scale, the Body Smart, and it includes an Eyes Closed mode that actually hides your weight reading.
In place of a weight figure, the Withings Body Smart will display “motivational” messages alongside the step count for the day, if that data is available.
While this may initially seem counterintuitive or pointless, the Eyes Closed mode encourages owners to pay attention to trends in their weight, rather than discrete data points. This is a better strategy than looking at single figures, which might change significantly within 24 hours.
Eyes Closed may also help people to avoid becoming fixated on stats. This has been raised as a potentially negative influence for those who struggle with eating disorders, as examined in a clinical trial published in 2022.
Withings’ Body Smart features
The Withings Body Smart has a bunch of these secondary features that put more thought into how a smart scale will actually be used. Baby mode lets you weigh your child while holding them, so you won’t need to put them on the scale and hope they don’t wriggle off.
In the months before that, you can use the Body Smart’s Pregnancy Mode. This offers tips and a distinct mode for tracking weight over pregnancy.
There’s also an Athlete mode for people who “work out more than eight hours a week” and have a resting heart rate lower than 60bpm. This tweaks the algorithm used when calculating the user’s body fat, resulting in a lower body fat reading and higher muscle mass.
This gets to the root of the kind of scale Withings Body Smart actually is. It’s a body composition scale, which passes an electrical signal through your body to estimate your muscle, fat and bone mass. It can even measure your heart rate as you take a weight reading.
Metrics recorded by the scale will be sent to the Withings app over Wi-Fi, and it can automatically recognise up to eight users. Withings claims it is accurate to within 50g.
Withings Body Smart vs Body Comp vs Body Scan
Despite having a load of features packed in, the Withings Body Smart is the new entry-level option in the company’s smart scale line-up. The step-up Withings Body Comp can additionally monitor your nerve health, looking for signs of peripheral neuropathy.
The top-end Withings Body Scan uses an additional body sensor held in the hands during measurements, for a more accurate body composition reading.
The Withings Body Smart costs £99.99 and uses four AAA batteries, which Withings says will last up to 15 months.
