Withings Body+ Body Composition Wi-Fi Scale—Track Your Progress With Ease

We purchased the Withings Body+ Body Composition Wi-Fi Scale so our expert reviewer could thoroughly test and assess it. Keep reading for our full product review.

As the name implies, the Withings (formerly Nokia) Body+ Body Composition Wi-Fi Scale is a full body composition scale that helps users reach their fitness goals. Paired with its Health Mate app, the scale gives a full overview of what’s happening inside the body. Besides weight, the scale can also read muscle and bone mass and fat and water percentage.

Since it connects to the app via Wi-Fi, users never have to manually track their weight changes and can instead look back on past progress. With plenty of bathroom scales on the market that do the same thing, I wanted to find out if this scale would rise to the top. I tested the scale for weeks to discover if this scale is worth it.

Setup Process: Easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions

After pulling the battery tab and seeing the LCD (liquid crystal display) screen light up, I continued the scale setup via a smartphone. That included downloading the Health Mate app, creating an account, and connecting my scale.

The overall setup process was quick and easy—you just follow the instructions on your phone—but I did have one mishap. It required me to connect my scale twice, both before and after I created an account. This added only a few extra seconds to the process, but it interrupted the otherwise seamless flow of the experience.

When the setup is final, you’ll choose which metrics you want to track (I chose them all: weight, body fat, muscle mass, body water, and bone mass) and then answer a few questions on your age and height. This is also when you can set a weight goal, as well as how many pounds you'd like to gain or lose per week.

Although scales are more accurate if you use them on a hard surface, like tile or wood, this scale comes with “carpet feet” that attach to the bottom of the scale to make measurements precise even if they’re taken on a soft surface. Attach these to the bottom if you’ll be using the scale on a rug.

Performance: Goes beyond weight

The Body+ is a scale that goes beyond weight. Using bioelectrical impedance analysis, a safe and completely undetectable electrical signal, it measures full body composition including fat mass, muscle mass, water percentage, and bone mass. It works by measuring how long it takes for the signal to go through your body and return, moving slower through fat and faster through harder material. It only takes seconds for these measurements to generate your body composition. 

Typical scales only measure weight, but this number can’t give you a full picture of health. By using a scale that measures more, like the Nokia Body+, you can better track your fitness progress. After all, muscle weighs more than fat, so weight gain may just mean you’re building muscle.

All of this information is then sent to the Health Mate app through Wi-Fi, where it’s charted and compared to the fitness goals you’ve set. The information arrives in the app almost immediately, though you may need to refresh the app first. 

Up to eight people can use the scale, and they are automatically recognized based on the information the scale has on previous weigh-ins. Users can connect through their own Health Mate app, or they can be grouped under one account. 

Design: Sleek and minimalistic

The Withings Body+ is an attractive-looking scale with a mirrored, glass surface in black or white. At 2.4 x 1.6 inches, the LCD screen is large and bright and clearly displays information. The mirrored surface can occasionally appear dirty due to dust and hair, but it doesn’t leave footprints or smudges as much as it initially feels like it might.

Just as important as the scale, though, is the app, where you’ll spend even more time than you do on the scale. There, you can track progress and gain insights into your numbers. In general, I found the app easy to use, first displaying a timeline of my weigh-ins, along with a dashboard that shows my current body composition. From this dashboard, I could click into the metrics individually and view my progress by week, month, quarter, or year.

I like that the app includes “Learn More” links for each metric so I can gather more information on the importance and impact of the measurements. However, I wish it would denote whether my body composition measurements were low, average, or high. The scale shares this data while in use, but only briefly.

Precision: As precise as it can be

This scale claims to be highly precise, with measurements within .2 pounds of your actual weight. I tested my weight with several other scales at the same time and found that the two scales were consistently different, but always within one pound or one body fat percentage of each other. In my opinion, this slight differentiation is acceptable for most who are using the scale to track long-term changes. It’s also worth noting that the method Body+ uses to measure body composition, bioelectrical impedance, is generally considered accurate, though not as precise as other more expensive and time-consuming methods.

Precision is important to this brand, however, and the scale has several methods of providing the most accurate measurements possible. The Body+ has “Position Control” technology, which makes sure your weight is balanced on the scale properly enough for the most precise measurement. If you need to adjust your stance or reposition your feet, you’ll see arrows in the corners on the LCD screen directing you to lean and rebalance yourself toward the noted direction. 

The scale also has something called gravity compensation. Withings explains that because Earth’s gravity can differ depending on where you are on the planet (and therefore affect your weight by almost a pound), it adjusts your weight based on your location in the world to compensate.

Compatibility: Connects to a range of apps

Because this is a smart scale, there are certain technical requirements you’ll need before you can use it. Besides Wi-Fi, you’ll need a compatible iOS or Android phone. Minimum device requirements are an iPhone 4S or newer, 5th generation iPod Touch or newer, or a 3rd generation iPad or newer. If you have an Android, it needs to run 5.0 or higher.

You need the aforementioned Health Mate app, too, which acts as the hub for the company’s wellness devices. The app can further connect you to other apps, like Apple Health, MyFitnessPal, RunKeeper, and even Nest, though if the scale is the only Withings product you’re using, you may not need or want to. 

I chose to connect the scale with Apple Health, which was easy to do, and my measurements were immediately added. Doing this also added information from other apps into Health Mate, such as my step numbers.

Smart Capabilities: Seamless connection to your phone

The scale’s ability to connect to your phone takes it a step above the scales of yesteryear. After the initial setup, the scale automatically sends all measurements to your phone within a few minutes of weigh-in. The ability to track your fitness progress without any manual charts or extra work allows you to focus completely on getting the results you’re after. 

But because this is a smart scale, the scale will not be able to track your results if you are ever without Wi-Fi. You can, however, input your numbers manually if needed, and the scale itself automatically keeps track of the last 16 readings and will upload them when Wi-Fi is available.

Additional Features: Customized to your family 

The Body+ scale comes with a few special features that not everyone will need, but they are important nonetheless. The first is the Pregnancy Mode, which guides you throughout your pregnancy, helping you keep track of weight and body changes. Though some similar scales, like the Fitbit Aria 2, advise against use during pregnancy, Withings says it is safe. Then there’s Baby Mode, which allows parents to track their child’s growth easily—by stepping on the scale with the child in their arms.

The scale also has an Athlete Mode, a setting those who are extremely fit will want to use. Because the body composition of an athlete is very different from those who only work out casually, Athlete Mode calculates fat and muscle mass using a unique algorithm. Those who work out more than eight hours a week and have a resting heart rate below 60 beats per minute (BPM) may need to use this mode.

And finally, the scale can even display the weather on the LCD screen. Personally, I found this feature unnecessary and turned it off. If you’re someone who checks your weight first thing in the morning, though, it may be useful to you.

The special features only continue in the app, which offers a few wellness programs. You can choose from Mindfulness Meditation, Better Sleep, Better Body, Healthier Heart, and more. This is also where you’ll access the Pregnancy Tracker. Each of these programs is free, but some may require additional devices. (The Better Sleep program, for example, requires one of Withings’ sleep trackers.)

Battery: Lasts around a year and a half

The scale takes four AAA batteries (included at purchase), and Withings claims they’ll last an average of 18 months. You can keep track of the battery usage in the app, where it will denote a percentage of battery life left.

Price: A bargain for the features

The Body+ retails for $99.95 (and it’s been known to be marked down to $79.99), which feels like a bargain when you consider the many metrics it provides as well as the comprehensive companion app. If you are looking for a more affordable scale, there are still some good options at lower price points. For example, other scales go for as low as $35, but they are often missing extra features. Conversely, some scales go for as high as $130 but don’t offer much more than this scale.

Withings Body+ Body Composition Wi-Fi Scale vs. Fitbit Aria 2

I also tested the Fitbit Aria 2, which is comparable to this scale. The two even look alike, with the same mirrored glass surface and accent lines. They also have other similarities, including the eight-user allowance and the ability to connect with an app to set goals and track progress. 

But after trying them both, the Body+ is the clear winner. It’s not only priced around $30 less than the Fitbit Aria 2, but it also gives you more data, such as muscle mass, bone mass, and water percentage. Those who already use and love Fitbit products may prefer the Aria 2 for its seamless connection to related devices. However, even this is a stretch, as the Body+ pairs well with so many other apps, it may not be worth it to pay more for the Aria 2 for solely this purpose.