Withings already has a pedigree in both fitness tracking via its hybrid smartwatches and its range of popular smart scales, including the Withings Body Plus, which has been one of the best smart scales on the market for a while, but the new Withings Body Scan aims to take reading your body composition to a new level. With a retractable handle sporting built-in steel electrodes, the Withings Body Scan can carry out 6-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) readings (scans for the likes of arrhythmia and the detection of vascular age) and assess nerve activity. Through the use of bioelectrical impedance analysis, the scales can provide segmented body composition measurements whereby the scales assess the fat and water composition of different parts of your body. And that’s just the start of the sensor suite, with an additional four weight sensors and 14 Indium tin oxide electrodes built into the scales, these sensors allow for more points of contact with a person’s body and enable readings for multiple parts of the body. This is opposed to other smart scales with fewer sensors, as those tend to focus on the lower body. This precision body composition will, in theory, allow users to figure out where they have potentially harmful visceral fat on their body, rather than relatively harmless subcutaneous fat; the former tend to be invisible to the naked eye, while the latter is the wobbly fat one can see on their body. Segmented body composition can also detect muscle imbalance. The ability to assess nerve activity is a notable feature. Having worked with French company Impeto Medical, Withing’s has enabled the Body Scan scales to track sweat gland activity in a person’s feet. Any problems with that activity can be an indication of degeneration or dysfunction in nerve fibres, thus triggering a person to take action; a healthy diet and regular activity can change this. Meanwhile, the ECG tech can record heart patterns via an algorithm, which can help detect any abnormalities. These can then be shown on the scales’ 3.5-inch display or within the Withings Health Mate app. And that data can be shared with medical professionals, though the scales need to receive FDA clearance before they are sold in the U.S. and Europe in the second half of 2022. The Withings Body Scan is set to cost $299 and will come in black and white color options. Essentially if all this tech works well and gets FDA approval, you could be looking at a set of smart scales that offers an everyday tool for “end-to-end” health management. Add in things like an Apple Watch 7 or some of the best fitness trackers and you could have a smart set up to help you keep fit and healthy this year.
