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Smart scales have been around for a while, but in order to get a good one with reliable results, you had to spend a pretty penny. Being true to what Wyze does---offer high-quality products at insane prices---the company looks to change that with its Scale. At just $20, it's an unreal value.

Tracking your weight is an integral part of staying healthy, but it's only a small part of the overall picture. Other metrics exist also make sense to look at, like body fat percentage, muscle mass, and more. Most smart scales track all of these metrics, but none do it at a similar price to a "regular" scale.

That's where the Wyze Scale comes in. This $20 scale can track an incredible number of metrics:

  • Weight
  • Body fat percentage
  • Muscle mass
  • Body water percentage
  • Lean body mass
  • Bone mass
  • Protein percentage
  • Visceral fat
  • Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
  • Metabolic age
  • Heart rate

Of course, there's always going to be a question of accuracy---especially at this price point. Pretty much any scale should be able to nail weight as that's an easy target to hit---it's all the other stuff where accuracy may be a concern. But before we look at how it all works, I want to talk about how focusing too much on what's "accurate" can be detrimental to your progress.

Accuracy vs. Consistency

A closeup of the digital display on the Wyze Scale
Michael Crider / Review Geek

The most accurate way to get your body metrics---fat percentage, visceral fat, bone density, etc.---is through a DEXA Scan. This 10-minute body composition test can tell you not just how much body fat you have, but exactly where you hold that fat. You're not going to get that level of accuracy from a simple at-home scale, so keeping your expectations in check is key.

The Wyze Scale, along with pretty much every other smart scale on the market, gathers its info by sending small electrical currents through your body. The sensors in the scale measure the level of resistance to these currents as they travel through your body and back down. This whole thing happens in a matter of seconds, and you don't feel a thing. As an aside, this electric impulse sent through your body is why smart scales won't work with socks on.

That's why, ultimately, the results you get from a smart scale are more of an educated guess than accurate results. But that doesn't make them meaningless by any means.

I don't think anyone would ever argue that accuracy isn't important. But it's also not the most crucial aspect of tracking your body metrics---consistency is. I've seen too many people obsess over how "accurate" their scale is instead of focusing on what's really important.

In short, if you use the same scale every single day to monitor trends, then you'll get results (assuming you're making the diet and exercise adjustments to promote meaningful change, of course). While accuracy is important, the consistency of using the same product to keep up with the appropriate figures is arguably what matters.

So, for example, let's say the Wyze Scale says you have 15 percent body fat. In reality, maybe you only have 13 percent body fat. Or maybe 17 percent. Hell, maybe it's even 20---it doesn't really matter as long as it's in the ballpark. If you use the Wyze Scale every day, and over time you start to see the number drop from 15 to 14.7 to 14.3 because of diet and exercise, guess what? You're getting quantifiable results, which is the ultimate goal.

Sure, maybe you can't brag to your friends about your ultra-low body fat percentage with absolute certainty, but if you're after bragging rights over results I would argue that you're looking at the wrong things in the first place.

Using the Wyze Scale

The Wyze Scale on a white background
Michael Crider / Review Geek

I've tried a few different smart scales, and the long and short comes down to one simple fact: I usually end up just using them for weight because I've had too many sync issues with Bluetooth.

Here's the good news: in two months of use, I haven't had any major issues with the Wyze Scale syncing. There were a couple of times it couldn't connect to my phone, but a simple toggle of the phone's Bluetooth fixed that. No complaints there.

That said, the sync on the Scale is a little different than most others I've used. It doesn't have any sort of onboard storage or memory, so you'll need to have your phone handy and the app open to see all of the data. Otherwise, you'll see your weight on the scale and that's it. It'll still do the additional scan, but none of that info shows up on the scale, so you won't see any of it. The upside of this is that it won't get users' with similar weights confused, which is an issue on other scales.

But as long as you have the app open and Scale selected, you'll get your results instantly. Well, save for one: heart rate. Instead of detecting heart rate automatically, you'll have to manually select that option and wait 30(ish) seconds for the reading. To be honest, I'm really not sure of what the value in tracking heart rate through your scale really is, so I'm glad this is an optional metric and Wyze doesn't "force" me to stand there for an additional 30 seconds to get a reading I don't even care about.

Showing the Scale's battery bay with four AA batteries in place
Michael Crider / Review Geek

The rest of the metrics are pretty straightforward, but here's a quick breakdown of each, along with some thoughts (and clarifications) of each:

  • Weight: Pretty self-explanatory---this is your body weight.
  • Body fat percentage: The percentage of your weight that is fat. Healthy body fat percentage varies between men and women, but the general range is 5-25% for men and 10-30% for women. Anything over that puts you at risk for health problems.
  • Muscle mass: This is the total weight of your muscles, including water present in those muscles.
  • Body water percentage: The measured total fluid in your system at the time. The higher the BWP, the lower the risk of health issues. Stay hydrated!
  • Lean body mass: This is the difference between your total body weight and total body fat. The higher your LBM, the healthier you likely are (because this is a direct reflection of your Body Fat percentage).
  • Bone mass: How much your bones weigh, basically. According to Wyze, the lower your bone mass, the less likely you are to develop some health issues. Who knew?
  • Protein percentage: This is the percentage of protein relative to your body weight.
  • Visceral fat: This is the fat that stored below the abdominal cavity (the "bad fat"). If you see someone with a big belly, that's generally subcutaneous fat; visceral fat lives between the organs and can't be seen. The more visceral fat your body has, the higher risk you have for health problems. The number associated with this is a little confusing because it's just a single digit---not a percentage. The most common way to measure visceral fat is between 1-59, with anything above 13 considered unhealthy.
  • Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): This is how many calories your body needs to perform basic functions while at rest. This should be considered the absolute minimum you should take in.
  • Metabolic age: This number is your BMR compared to average users in your age group.
  • Heart rate: How fast your heart is beating at the time the measurement is taken.

When you combine all these things, you can get a pretty damn good look at your overall health. You can easily keep track of these trends in the Wyze App. The Scale options are pretty simple, but it doesn't anything more than it has. You can see your daily results, as well as all historical results for as long as you've been using the app, along with weekly, monthly, and yearly trends. Simple and effective.

One key thing that's largely missing, at least for the time being, is synchronization with third-party apps. Currently, the Scale only supports Apple Health and Google Fit, which leaves Fitbit and Samsung Health users out in the cold. Wyze has support for these two services listed as "coming soon," however, so here's to hoping that actually happens, you know, soon.

A screenshot of the Wyze Scale's main screen
A screenshot of the Wyze Scale app showing monthly trends
A screenshot of the Wyze Scale app showing yearly trends

There's also an additional mode that Wyze calls "Athlete Mode," which users who work out more than 8 hours a week and have a resting heart rate below 60 will want to enable. It uses an alternative algorithm for fat calculation, as the regular algorithm may offer less accurate results.

For reference, here's a look at my average results from the last week:

  • Weight: 144.1 lbs.
  • Body fat percentage: 13.4%
  • Muscle mass: 117.2 lbs.
  • Body water percentage: 63.4%
  • Lean body mass: 124.9 lbs.
  • Bone mass: 7.7 lbs
  • Protein percentage: 17.9%
  • Visceral fat: 7
  • BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate): 1592 kcal
  • Metabolic age: 36
  • Athlete Mode: Enabled

I'm an active cyclist and work out about 10-12 hours a per week (~150 miles). My resting heart rate is around 52 bpm. Based on those metrics, I enabled athlete mode. While I've never had a DEXA scan done, I imagine these results are accurate enough to be a reliable metric for me to use to track my progress. I'm not actively looking to lose weight, but my training plan for this winter including adding muscle, and I feel confident that the metrics provided by the Wyze scale should be reliable enough to allow me to track my progress in a meaningful way.

Conclusion: Just Buy One Already

The Wyze Scale at an angle with a white background
Michael Crider / Review Geek

Ultimately, there are a lot of options out there when it comes to smart scales. But there aren't a lot of options even at the $50 price point, much less at $20. For a fifth of the price of most names out there, the Wyze Scale is a no-brainer to me. It works well, the tracking is consistent and reliable, and it's only twenty damn dollars.

So yeah, just buy it.

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Wyze Scale

Pros
  • Incredible value
  • Seemingly precise tracking
  • A vast number of available metrics
  • No onboard memory makes for easier sharing for users of similar weights
Cons
  • Explanations of each metric could be better
  • Users who want instant heart rate data could be annoyed at the extra taps to get it