The Withings Body Cardio smart scale attempts to measure heart health
Gadgets
[MUSIC]
This is the Withings Body Cardio, and it isn't your typical smart scale.
Sure, it can measure a variety of metrics, things like weight, body fat, muscle and bone mass and body water percentage.
There's also wi-fi and bluetooth to automatically upload your information to the Withings mobile app.
But these are features most smart scales include.
What makes the body cardio unique is that it's the first scale that can actually determine cardiovascular health.
It does this by measuring a thing called pulse wave velocity.
That's a measurement used to determine arterial stiffness, and is said to be a key indicator of heart health.
Now that all sounds appealing until you consider the $180 price tag.
That makes the BodyCardio one of the consumer scales on the market.
And to make matters worse, I found the Pulse Wave Velocity feature to be a bit finicky.
About one out of every five times, I received an error that said the scale was unable to measure it.
But I didn't even know this until I opened the app.
That's because the small display on the scale doesn't actually show or even acknowledge that your Pulse Wave Velocity has been measured.
But once I finally got a reading, I wasn't really sure what to do next.
Wittings had said that the app would offer personalized feedback, but to me it seemed kind of vague and a bit generic.
To put it bluntly, this scale won't be replacing a visit to your doctor.
It;s not all bad though.
The Body Cardio features a micro USB port, but you won't have to charge it often.
The battery will last up to a year.
The scale is also very sleek and pretty attractive as far as scales go.
And I found all the metrics, aside from pulse wave velocity, to be pretty accurate Accurate.
Overall, you're better off buying the $130 Withings Body.
It's essentially the Body Cardio, but without the standing heart rate data or the finicky pulse wave velocity measurement.
And if you're already invested in the FitBit and Garmin ecosystems, then you should check out the Fitbit Aria or the Garmin Index smart scales.
For more information on the Withings Body Cardio, check out my overview over at CNET.com.
[MUSIC]
