Those old-fashioned, spring-driven dial scales never seemed to be trustworthy. Step on them one time, get one reading. Step on it again a half-minute later, get another reading. Didn’t like that one? Try again.
They were single-taskers, too: Body weight was all they gave out. They didn’t remember from one day to the next what a previous weigh-in might have been.
Digital scales, which mainly use electronics to measure bending metal as it is put under pressure, tend to be more accurate and consistent. The results are displayed on a digital screen, and can include not only weight, but body-mass index, water percentage, and other measurements. Small wonder that digital scales outstripped the sales of analog scales years ago.
“In general, digital bathroom scales are more accurate than mechanical ones,” said an article from a 2018 Wirecutter article. That has become even more so in the past four years since that article appeared.
Not so obvious was the information contained in the sentence after that one: “But for the most accurate reading, any bathroom scale must be set up correctly and used consistently.”
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One of the advantages of digital scales is that they can wirelessly connect to a smartphone, storing the information from one day to the next and charting progress in graphic form.
One such is the Greater Goods’ Bluetooth Connected Bathroom Smart Scale, about $65 from Amazon.com. The scale operates off three AAA batteries, and records weight, body-mass, lean mass, water weight, and bone mass. Weight history is shown in graphic form, and other measurements can be laid over that chart.
The scale can track information for up to eight users. The scale has been rated nearly 9,000 times on Amazon and has an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
The scale had a problem connecting with the smartphone when I first started using it. A call to customer support (based at company headquarters in St. Louis, I was told), provided a workaround and the promise that an updated app for the scale would correct that problem when it came out in the next few weeks. It has since been updated; the problem has been fixed.
The Wirecutter article said that even a digital scale needs to be in the proper place to provide accurate readings. “First and foremost, you have to make sure you are weighing yourself on a hard, flat surface,” Tom Dorsey, e-commerce manager at Lifetime Brands, told the online review site. It also should be said that the scale should remain in the same place.
Several dietitians advised that scales should be calibrated each time they are used. Scales with an auto-calibrate feature takes care of that chore.
Summing up: Greater Goods’ Bluetooth scale provides easy connection with a smartphone (both Android and Apple). Customer support is knowledgeable and U.S. based. Its graphing capabilities provide encouragement for weight loss. Plus it supports up to eight users.
It’s an upscale scale.
For more information, visit the Greater Goods website at www.greatergoods.com.
Lonnie Brown can be reached at [email protected].