Price: $33.99
The weight loss world can be confusing with all the fad diets and weird exercise equipment on the market. However, by accurately tracking your progress, a smart scale could take a bit of weight off your mind as you attempt to take some weight off your body.
Wyze claims the Scale X is their “most advanced smart scale yet.” It tracks 13 different body measurements, includes functions that allow you to weigh pets or luggage, and can even estimate the weight of a pregnant woman’s baby. Alongside the standard setting, there’s an “athlete mode,” which tweaks the readings so they’re more accurate for someone who exercises regularly. I didn’t test this particular feature out as I’m a slob.
The scale will estimate your weight, body fat percentage, muscle mass, body water content, lean body mass, bone mass, heart rate, protein percentage, visceral fat, BMR (the daily number of calories you need), metabolic age, and muscle mass percentage.
The Whole Household can Use It
This isn’t praise, and it would be a significant downside if Wyze demanded everyone had their own personal scales. But yes, your entire household can be linked together through the Wyze app, and each individual can use the scale. Wyze will record and track users’ stats separately on their own apps — so there isn’t any downside. The number of users that can be added to the scale is unlimited, though the number of people who will be automatically recognized is limited to eight. It is important to note that the app will only record one daily measurement per user. So if you hop on multiple times before midnight, only your last set of stats will be noted.
This leads me to the app itself. There isn’t a dedicated app for the Scale X; it’s a component of Wyze’s overarching smart home app, which functions very well. It’s easy to add extra users, and you can choose which devices that user has access to. So if a friend is coming round and wants a reading of their body fat percentage, adding them to the scale won’t give them the ability to control your house’s lighting at 2 AM. You can use the device without the app, but it will only function as a digital scale. You won’t get tracking or access to the multitude of metrics the Scale X offers.
It Doesn’t Work With All Apps
Wyze claims the Scale X is capable of syncing with popular fitness apps. For the most part, this is true. It will easily sync with Apple Health, Google Fit, and Fitbit, which are arguably the three biggest health management apps in use. However, one notable absence from the list is Samsung Health.
You can sync Samsung Health with Google Fit, but then you’re probably on your way to creating a nightmarish, unmanageable web of health apps. It’s better to have one central one; everything else links to. As this is a software issue, there is every chance Wyze will provide an update if enough demand is there.
The Tracking is Accurate and Consistent
While I can’t gauge the measurements’ overall accuracy, they seem very consistent. Of the two people using the test scale, the one who was dieting showed steady weight loss over the testing period, and the individual who ended up eating and drinking more than usual (me) gained around two pounds. Alongside my weight, my body fat percentage also went up, and my lean mass increased slightly. So I can deduce I’ve gained mostly fat, which makes sense when glancing at the number of Wendy’s visits on my credit card statement. What the scale tells me matches my lifestyle choices over the testing period, so I can only assume it is very consistent with its measurements.
The scale performs as well as any other scale, and inconsistencies are usually down to user error. For accurate results, you must weigh yourself at a similar time and under similar circumstances daily. Like habitually weighing yourself when you wake up, after your first bathroom trip but before breakfast. Equally, users must place the scale on a flat, hard surface. Something as minor as a napkin underneath one of the scale’s corners can skew a reading by over 10%. Again, this is the case for all scales.
It May be Overkill in Some Respects
Wyze has done its best to cram as many features as possible into this scale, and it does hit the point where things get a bit gimmicky. The luggage and pet weighing features are handy, as a dog would need to be a very good boy to sit on a scale, and cats are just furry chaos. While luggage scales aren’t expensive, they are one of those items you lend to a friend and never see again. So having a backup in a pinch is convenient.
However, these features are just the Wyze app doing some incredibly basic math for you. You can probably open a calculator and subtract your weight from your weight while holding the dog in the same amount of time it takes to select the pet setting in the Wyze app.
Then there are measurements like bone mass and protein content. I have no idea how accurate these measurements are, how I would check, or why I would want something that isn’t a doctor even estimating.
How Does it Compare to Wyze’s Other Scales?
The fact that the Scale X’s closest competitors are probably other Wyze scales is a testament to how well Wyze has been doing scales over the past few years. The Wyze Scale X isn’t the company’s only weight measuring device. It joins the standard Wyze Scale and the Wyze Scale S, both of which work with Wyze’s app and track multiple other metrics in addition to your weight. They also both retail for under $20, which is significantly less than the newer Wyze Scale X. So what is the extra money getting you, and is the X your best option?
On the face of it, there isn’t much of a difference between the three scales, and all three scales are still available to buy as of the time this article is being written. They all track the same major body metrics and record the results in the app. Like the X, the S will also help you work out how much your pets, luggage, and fetuses weigh.
So what does your extra $10 get you? A few things. You get an additional metric in the form of muscle mass percentage. The heart rate monitor uses the X’s ITO-coated glass surface, which is less finicky than the S’s pad-based system. There is also a “pregnancy mode” option that turns off the metrics that rely on electrical currents if those were a cause for concern. Battery life on the X stretches out an extra four months compared to the Scale S. Arguably, the biggest new feature is the Scale X’s ability to recognize up to eight individual users automatically, and this may be enough to tip the balance in larger households.
Then there’s future-proofing. All three scales are available as it stands, but if Wyze is going to remove one from production, it’s unlikely to be their newest model. You could be browsing this in a year, and this whole section could be irrelevant. In my opinion, if you opt for an original Wyze Scale or a Wyze Scale S instead, you won’t be disappointed. You’ll have a very good scale. If one of the X’s features stands out, maybe it’s worth the extra $10. Personally, I’m sharing the scale with my wife, so the extra money is worth it for the user recognition feature alone.
This is a Very Good Smart Scale
If you want the truth, I’m not the most fitness-obsessed person on the planet. My diet is awful, and I’ve not stuck to an exercise routine since my early 20s. Even then, I was more concerned about performance than weight. Therefore, I have based my assessment of the scale on ease of use and whether it functions as well as Wyze claims. The Scale X passed that test and got my recommendation. On the other hand, my wife is a bit fitness obsessed and has owned several pieces of equipment like this. She says it’s the best smart scale she has ever used, a fairly significant endorsement.
Looking at Amazon, a standard digital bathroom scale will set you back between $15 and $25. In my opinion, the extra features offered by the Wyze Scale X are more than worth the additional $10 or so. If you’re trying to drop a few pounds, you’ll probably save that on food anyway.
Rating: 8/10
Price: $33.99
Here’s What We Like
- Consistent measurements
- Plenty of Features
- Solid App
And What We Don’t
- Doesn’t link with all major fitness apps
- Only records one set of measurements per day
