Scales that measure body fat and muscle

Traditionally, people would buy a set of bathroom scales when they were about to embark on a weight-loss kick. Since losing weight in the long term is far trickier than anyone wants it to be, the scale often becomes the most resented item in a house – Joe Wicks has even dubbed it “the sad step”. 

The smart scales of today, however, go well beyond basic weight measurements and can be useful even if losing weight has never crossed your mind. Many of these modern marvels can measure body fat and some can tell you how much of your body is muscle, water and bone. They can even recognise which member of your household is stepping on the scale and beam your results to an app.

Keeping an eye on those things can be useful in a number of scenarios beyond knowing if your weight is trending up over time. Or indeed down, because rapid weight loss can be a sign of illness, or that you’re underfuelling (when we interviewed Ali Nolan about women and marathon training, she mentioned that women often don’t consume enough calories to support their training). Knowing if you have a healthy body fat percentage can also help you from falling foul of the problems with BMI.

When deciding on a smart scale, it’s worth considering whether you own, or plan to buy, a fitness tracker. All the major manufacturers make smart scales and combining your health data into one app is much more convenient. With the limitations of Fitbit’s current scale offering, you may wish to shop for another of our best fitness trackers. 

Black Friday Deals on Smart Scales

Black Friday is here: this year it falls on 25th November 2022 and there are plenty of deals to be had on the best smart scales. We've done the hard work for you, rounding up the top deals on our favourite smart scales here.

US Deals

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The Best Smart Scales

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1. Withings Body Cardio

Body composition info from one of the most advanced consumer health tech companies

Specifications

RRP: $179.99 / £149.95

Measurements given: Weight, BMI, body fat, water, bone mass, muscle mass and cardiovascular health

Connectivity: WiFi connection, compatible with Fitbit, Apple and Google devices

Reasons to buy

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Gives all body composition stats and BMI

Reasons to avoid

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Expensive

The Withings Body Cardio does something no other scale does. On top of providing all your body composition stats – weight, body fat, BMI, water percentage and muscle and bone mass – it gives a picture of your heart health as well. However, we found it very hit and miss, so we wouldn’t spend the extra money on account of that. 

It tracks everything else reliably and Withings offers a slick ecosystem, with a range of excellent fitness trackers and smartwatches – we recommend the ScanWatch – and other devices like home blood pressure monitors. Uniquely, the scale also plays nice with Fitbit, Apple’s Health Kit and Google Fit, thereby providing an alternative for Fitbit users and an option for Apple Watch or Wear OS smartwatch owners.

Best value smart scale

Specifications

RRP: $34.99 / £30.99

Measurements given: Weight, BMI, body fat, water, skeletal muscle, muscle mass, bone mass, protein, basal metabolic rate, subcutaneous fat, visceral fat, metabolic age

Connectivity: Connects via Bluetooth to Renpho app, compatible with Apple, Samsung, Fitbit and Google health apps

Reasons to buy

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Affordable

Reasons to avoid

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Scale only displays weight – app needed for other metrics

Why fork out three figures for a smart scale when we found a reliable and insightful set for a fraction of the price? We liked the Renpho scale for the extensive range of metrics it tracks, as well as its ease of use. Only weight is displayed on the scale itself, but the app does a great job of presenting data on the 13 metrics it offers, from body fat and visceral fat (the dangerous fat around your organs), to your basal metabolic rate and metabolic age. 

There’s plenty of context to help you understand your results, such as colour-coded results that show at a glance whether you’re in a healthy range. You need to have the app open in order for a weigh-in to register, but for a bit more you can get the Wi-Fi connected version, which will sync automatically every time you step on the plate.

Read more in our Renpho scale review

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Convenient body composition tracking for owners of Garmin wearables

Specifications

RRP: $149.99 / £129.99

Measurements given: Weight, BMI, body fat percentage, skeletal muscle mass, bone mass, body water percentage

Connectivity: Connects via WiFi to Garmin app and devices

Reasons to buy

+

Measures body composition stats and BMI

Reasons to avoid

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Expensive

If you own a Garmin fitness tracker, this sleek-looking scale made with tempered glass offers convenience above all. It will slot your weight and body composition data in with your sleep and activity tracking in the Garmin app. The bright, clear display on the scale itself shows the most important body composition stats – plus the weather, oddly – and the Wi-Fi connection means there’s no need to have the app open to log your weigh-in. 

We found the app didn’t provide as much context to the body composition data as we would have liked, such as what’s considered a healthy range for your age group. If you’re not a Garmin user, there are better-value options for you on this list.

Read more in our Garmin Index S2 Smart Scale review

An affordable scale with a useful app

Specifications

RRP: $39.99 / £29.99

Measurements given: Weight, body fat, water, muscle, bone mass, protein, visceral fat, basal metabolic rate, metabolic age, BMI, ideal weight and body type

Connectivity: Connects via Bluetooth to Zepp Life app, compatible with Apple, Samsung and Google health apps

Reasons to buy

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Easy integration for Xiaomi users

Reasons to avoid

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Full weigh-in takes longer than other smart scales

If you’ve already got a Xiaomi device, it’s well worth considering this budget smart scale that will work effortlessly with the same app. It offers all the usual body composition metrics and can even test your balance. As you might expect at this price, there are drawbacks: we found the scale a little slow to perform a full weigh-in, and if you move it then it needs a nudge to get it to zero properly. That said, we found it reasonably accurate and consistent, and the data it collects is presented in the app in a useful and insightful manner. You’re given a body score, and any of your metrics that need attention are listed first, with tips on how to improve your results.

Read more in our Xiaomi Mi Body Composition Scale 2 review

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5. Huawei Smart Scale 3

Great-value smart scale that tracks all the essential stats

Specifications

RRP: £69.99 (UK only)

Measurements given: Weight, body fat, visceral fat, muscle mass, bone mass

Connectivity: WiFi and Bluetooth, connects to app

Reasons to buy

+

Displays weight and body fat percentage

Reasons to avoid

-

Not as accurate as some

Huawei (along with sub-brand Honor) has moved into health tech with great-value fitness trackers, like the Huawei Band 7, and fitness smartwatches, such as the impressive Huawei Watch GT Runner. It continues in the same vein with this smart scale, which offers the full suite of measurements – weight, body fat, visceral fat, muscle mass, bone mass and more – for much less moolah. The scale looks slick and, while there’s no noticeable screen, numbers will appear when you step on the plate. It can automatically recognise up to 10 different people and an alarm can be set to help you weigh yourself at a consistent time. While it is much cheaper on Amazon, it’s worth checking the Huawei website because it has been bundled with a free fitness tracker in the past, giving you a great starter set-up.

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6. Fitbit Aria Air

Budget smart scale that tracks weight and BMI

Specifications

RRP: $49.95 / £49.99

Measurements given: Weight, BMI (through app)

Connectivity: Connects via Bluetooth to Fitbit app and devices

Reasons to buy

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Multi-user weight tracking

Reasons to avoid

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Doesn’t offer body composition stats

If you’re unconcerned with your body fat percentage, or don’t think it’s worth stumping up three figures to get it, this smaller set of scales from Fitbit strips away features to provide a budget option. You’ll get your weight, and it’ll send it to the app over Bluetooth where your BMI will be calculated and graphed.

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7. Myzone MZ-20 Home Scale

Screenless smart scale with stats viewable in the app

Specifications

RRP: $69 / £59.99

Measurements given: Weight, body fat, muscle mass, visceral fat, basal metabolic rate

Connectivity: Links to Myzone app via Bluetooth

Reasons to buy

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Measures weight and body composition

Reasons to avoid

-

No screen – all results displayed via the app

Link this scale to the Myzone app and if you also use the company’s chest strap heart rate monitor, you’ll have your weight and all your workouts in one place. Not just your weight, of course – the MZ-20 scale will also provide your body fat percentage and muscle mass, so you can see how your training sessions are affecting your body composition.

On top of these key stats, you also get visceral fat readings and an estimate of your basal metabolic rate – the amount of energy your body uses when at rest – which gives you a clearer picture of the calories you burn each day than you would get just from looking at those burned during exercise. The scale runs on batteries and comes in two colours – white and black, nothing too funky on that front. There’s also no screen so you’ll need your phone to hand every time you weigh yourself.

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8. Tanita BC-731

Good-value option with a small footprint

Specifications

RRP: $75 / £55

Measurements given: Weight, body fat, muscle mass, BMI, visceral fat, metabolic age, physique rating

Connectivity: None

Reasons to buy

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Great value

Reasons to avoid

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No app – tracking is shown on the scales

Although it’s less than half the price of some options on this list, the Tanita BC-731 offers all the body composition stats you’d hope for, including weight, body fat, muscles mass and BMI. It also goes beyond other scales in giving a visceral fat estimate (the more dangerous fat that builds up around your organs), your metabolic age and even a physique rating based on all of the above. It won’t send those results to a partner app but does allow for up to five user profiles to be saved on the scales.