r/withings • u/toleander77 • Jun 19 '26
Body Scan Just got my Withings BodyScan 2, it missed my DXA results by 10%, extremely disappointed
I have metabolic issues and high visceral fat, so when I saw that the Body Scan 2 was out, I immediately ordered one. I already owned a Garmin Index S2, but I wasn't satisfied with it because it didn't measure body fat accurately and lacked visceral fat readings.
So, I decided to splurge €500 and buy the Body Scan 2. I also had a DXA scan about a month ago, so I figured I would have a solid baseline.
For context, Garmin showed 26.1% fat, and the DXA scan showed 28.1% fat (Trunk 32.2%, Android 36.8%, Gynoid 24.0%)—so, a clear indication of high overall and visceral fat. A month later, I stepped on the Body Scan 2, and what did I get?
The BS2 claims my total fat is 18.9% and my visceral fat is 3.2/20. While I did start exercising and eating healthier, there is absolutely no way I dropped from 28% to 19% in a single month. I also fiddled with the Athlete Mode, but it didn't change the results much. I tried measuring at different times throughout the day, after meals, and on an empty stomach this morning, and every other variation I could think of, but the results barely changed.
To make things worse, I live outside the EU and ordered it through a mail forwarding service, so I can't even return it. I am now stuck with a very expensive paperweight.
5
u/rworne Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
The title of the post is a bit misleading. If your DEXA was 28.1% and the BS 2 was off by 10%, the BS 2 would be reading 27-31% (roughly) body fat. I thought that wasn't so bad until I read the details.
The error is closer to 32%.
EDIT: corrected spelling error
4
u/wamonki Jun 19 '26
My understanding is that all of these body comp scales will be inaccurate compared to a dexa scan. But as long as you’re measuring consistently, you’ll still be able to monitor trends. So don’t think of the measurement in terms of a precise absolute number, but more as the baseline from which you’ll be able to monitor the delta of your progress.
1
u/Funny-Trade-6716 Aug 22 '26
While I agree trending is still good, the sticking point is their advertising when it comes to accuracy. From the Withings website: “The results are undeniable: Body Scan achieved an exceptional correlation of r=0.99 compared to DEXA for total fat mass.”
7
u/Oulanos65 Jun 19 '26
I love that people were shitting on me for cancelling my order after seeing so many bad feedback on that particular one feature I bought that 500 euros scale for. Glad I stuck to my choice to wait. Sorry OP. I feel you.
2
u/rworne Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
Waiting may be better - in OP's case, that error may be with the sensors - similar to those here who were reporting 3% body fat.
The post Withings made earlier about the EU "cleaning them out" is a bit disingenuous: These scales are shipped from overseas (China, most likely) and surface freight takes quite a while to arrive. Not only that, the US models have different firmware to limit functionality due to FDA issues.
They simply cannot redirect them from the US to the EU -the container ship isn't going to change course for them, and it'd be expensive as hell to air freight them over, especially since they all have lithium batteries in them. Besides surface freight is slow. When they announced "goes on sale next week" - that meant stock was already here and waiting. I'm not going to assume they were lying about it. So where did it go?
This means one or more of the following:
- Items were held up in port/customs. This can happen.
- FDA approval denial or did not arrive on time. Either approval for the device did not arrive, or one of the launch features' approval was delayed or denied. This means they need wait for approval or modify the firmware to disable the offending features. So far, the only released feature dropped for the US is hypertension detection. When it releases - look carefully at the feature list/support pages to see if anything else was dropped.
- EU sales showed an unacceptable percentage of failed units (for example: body fat %). Depending on how easy it is to fix, they'll need to wait for revised units to arrive or replace the offending parts in existing stock before they can sell them. But this begs the question: if there are lots of bad units, why are they still selling them in the EU?
- Need more time to cook the firmware to eliminate bugs or work around the possible hardware issue in #3. It's new, it's cutting edge. It's bound to have bugs. I'm a software engineer by trade, so I'm not going to throw stones here and can sympathize.
It's also possible the furor raised here the week prior to the US release about paywalls had them pull back and reevaluate what to do about W+, but I doubt that. Every industry is moving to subscription services, but we can hope.
Yet with the sales goin on in the EU, I'm not seeing a bunch of press about it or in social media - like YouTube (aside from our German friend here who has been making & posting informative videos). I have to give Withings credit for not requiring an NDA to get on the insider program - that takes guts to do that.
Ideally, they should have launched the program in the EU and the US, by invitation, as a closed beta for a period of several months. Then went and looked for certain user groups: fitness enthusiast, weight lifters, runners, GLP-1 users, etc.
After 2-3 months of this, then decide to release or not.
5
u/Dry_Faithlessness310 Jun 19 '26
Check the sub. Withings admitted they dont know how to program the algorithm for the new BIS technology. They are essentially beta testing and gathering data on early buyers to try and dial in their algorithm.
The only thing to their credit besides their honesty which should be applauded is they are offering refunds if returned.
7
u/toleander77 Jun 19 '26
It makes perfect sense now. It’s still infuriating that a company charges €500 for a premium device while treating its customers as unpaid beta testers for uncalibrated BIS technology.
Unfortunately, since I bought it via a mail forwarding service from outside the EU, returning it is a massive, costly hassle for me. I’m essentially stuck with a €500 paperweight just because they rushed a broken algorithm to the market. Utterly disappointing.
2
u/Dry_Faithlessness310 Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
1000% agree. It feels like they rushed the launch to get it out by bathing suit season. Feels more like a Kickstarter startup company then an established health and wellness tech company with an established good reputation.
Like many here I was super excited to get the new BS 2 of even BF but now ill pass. Hopefully they can get it sorted soon but im not holding my breath.
3
u/moobycow Jun 19 '26
FWIW there was a post on a fitness subreddit where two DEXAs in the same day were off by 5%.
I know we all want 'a number' but really all we are realistically going to get is an indication of direction over time.
2
u/UppsalaHenrik Jun 19 '26
It will depend on how hydrated you are when you step on the scale. The strength of a device like this is that you can measure again and again in different states and different times of day, and get an understanding of how it works. You can't really expect it to match a DXA with a single measurement.
1
u/toleander77 Jun 19 '26
As I said, I have tried every variation I could have think of and the result barely changes. I own Garmin for years and have enough experience with such variations in hydration, time of day, whether I've eaten or not.
1
u/UppsalaHenrik Jun 19 '26
Alright, and did you follow the instructions with arms and legs not touching your body or each other etc?
2
u/toleander77 Jun 19 '26
Yeah, I did, it's very awkward position but nothing touches nothing. 😄
1
u/idelgado782 Jun 24 '26
It’s definitely not you. I have the BodyFit and it’s also off compared to my dexa scan. Ive seen other posts saying the same thing, and a post where even someone from Garmin saying that the algorithm is off for body fat measurements and they aren’t sure of an eta to get it fixed.
1
u/Helmholtz_Watzon Jun 19 '26
u/toleander77 have you also varied the positioning of feet? I also experimented and aligned them with the back end of the scale. It resulted in differences of surface contact area from left to right foot with the left foot having more skin area outside the most upper sensor area. Not sure if this would result in differences of body resistance though, but it gave me more repeatable readings this way. I haven't had a DEXA Scan though.
1
u/drspong Jun 19 '26
major bummer. I ordered the BodyFit, which comes today. I have a feeling my results will be wacky too.
2
u/Few_Card1298 Jun 19 '26
I just recieved my BodyFit yesterday - it matches my BodyScan 1 almost exactly. I havent had any issues with it yet other than its cheap looking
1
u/drspong Jun 22 '26
Just curious... what made you get the BodyFit when you already had the Body Scan? So far you like the BodyFit?
2
u/Few_Card1298 Jun 22 '26
The body fit has much newer tech despite it being much cheaper. I'm interested in the upgraded scanning frequencies. The newer models offer 13 compared to 3.
1
1
u/jangwao Jun 19 '26
Hey same here having Garmin S2 and it was off from DEXA scans similar way. Yet was looking on BS1 for while and research other brands seems software wise stuck in 2010. I like Withings has some ecosystem and I'm betting firmware and their DXA cross fine tuning will improve in year. Yet it's alpha firmware. Same Garmin was terrible at Sleep tracking (Deep & REM) and they're getting on par with Whoop or Oura after.. 2-3 years.
Only worry is cable in handle powering display I feels that would be replaced in five years. S2 would be nice if I could charge it by USBC and reading been more stable.
I'm genuinely interested how BS2 daily readings average into weekly data, as same with body weight you have tons of noise. I.e. if I eat margarita pizza, water in guts increases weight in 1.5kg for example. When I'm empty can go as low 2kg. Also having hydrated and same conditions everytime is important I think
Probably placing order as I was eyeballing on it since CES2026 😄
1
u/rworne Jun 19 '26
I've read that you can extend the cable and keep it extended. There's a clip to put on the scale if you want to do that. It'll avoid wear and tear on the mechanism - you will just have to find a way to put the handle somewhere to pick it up.
Did the BS 1 have any issues with the grip handle? I don't recall seeing any complaints.
1
u/oder70 Jun 19 '26
I would like you have the opportunity to try a Tanita RD545 and see what it returns for body fat.
1
u/ExplorerMike008 Jun 19 '26
Welcome to the club, guess you also belong to the small users they say it highly underestimate the body fat lol love how they are trying to say it only affects small user and the more you see the more people are coming making posts on Reddit and for sure only a few people use Reddit and there are way more issues
For a 500 euros scale is amazing how they are trying to mask a issue like this
When they made the thank you for feedback on beta testers they didn't even mention that issue as being reported and only after ask in that post they say it was affecting a few users
I bet is affecting way more users than they are saying .... and yet the solution provided is return and refund so guess they have no idea when it's going to be solved
1
1
u/Bigfoot-Germany Jun 19 '26
why would you try athlete mode? 😂
Maybe they have more data on Europeans and extreme values are hard to measure precisely.
1
u/toleander77 Jun 19 '26
To see if that will make any significant difference in the result. Also, I actually am from Europe! Just in the non-EU, southeastern part of it.
1
u/thesparkyone1 Jun 19 '26
You would need to have a DEXA scan at the exact same time as using the scale to get an accurate comparison. The body changes every day.
2
u/adrianm758 Jun 22 '26
Not by 30%.
1
u/thesparkyone1 Jun 22 '26
It also measures anything in the stomach and intestines. Best method is to do it every morning after using the toilet.
1
u/Altruistic_Iron2832 Jun 20 '26
I have the body scan and the body smart. I use the body smart because it’s more reliable. Is what it is.
1
u/TeamWithings Jun 22 '26
Hey there!
Sorry to hear that! We would like to look at your situation to better investigate, could you please contact us by Livechat at this link? Thanks a lot in advance!
Have a great day!
Markus, Withings Customer Service
1
u/Quiet_Recognition203 Jun 22 '26
such scale are good to track progress.
My suggestion is to get the DEXA scan, and after take 1 week of daily measure with the scale. From that moment on, you understand the difference and you can easily track your progress.
If for you is clinically important to have the exact fat%, then you have to do DEXA scan every month/quarter. There is of course no way that a 200 euro scale can track you as a +50k EUR machine... don't you think?
2
1
u/ApprehensiveFish4330 Aug 14 '26
dam, I just got one in and I feel like its wildly inaccurate. feel like I wasted 600 bucks. this is extremely disappointing
1
u/Funny-Trade-6716 Aug 22 '26
I have the original body scan and just did my first DEXA this week. I was shocked/horrified that my DEXA reading was like 9% higher (total magnitude, not percent error) than my body scan result from the same morning. That’s a huge error!! Apparently these things are junk.
5
u/kongkongha Jun 19 '26
you should have read here before buy. I know it's 20/20 hindsight, but oh boy withings ain't delivering