4 ms·

Yes, but do you(or someone else) have a recommendation of which scale does not do this? Something that's not consumer grade, but not "enterprise cost"

kencausey 3y ago
There are still inexpensive purely mechanical scales. I wouldn't expect much accuracy from a spring-based scale, but it should be consistent barring significant temperature variation.
lajupechere 3y ago
My withings is constantly .2 fluctuating. If it’s faking that I’m going to chuck it out the window. It’s a very good scale, in aggregate the readings are useful.
- Lewton 3y ago
  Another shout out for Withings, I definitely do not recognize the fake accuracy problem with this scale
steve1977 3y ago
I made good experience with an Omron BF 511. As far as I know it doesn’t do this, would have to test though. The bodyfat measurement is good enough to be usable and the same scale is working in our household for almost 10 years now I believe.
aSockPuppeteer 3y ago
Eufy smart scale P2 Pro. $79.99 It has wifi and bluetooth, so it always syncs up with your phone and can track multiple people. I don't really trust the body measurement stuff but use it for measurement per measurement information. The heart rate is kind of nice to track too.
- rootusrootus 3y ago
  Even cheaper, and IMO slightly more reputable, the $50 withings scale is pretty great, and it's half the price of the version with useless body composition measurements.
  - aSockPuppeteer 3y ago
    Looks good too. I bought pre-doorbell controversy along with a doorbell. It appears Eufy/Anker is doing better now.(0) After having a couple different webcams taken over by security holes, mine only point outside and are hidden. 0. https://www.theverge.com/23573362/anker-eufy-security-camera-answers-encryption https://www.theverge.com/23573362/anker-eufy-security-camera...
zo1 3y ago
What about getting two cheap scales and averaging their values? From my third-world perspective, it sure beats the other suggestion from one of the other commenters to get a $80 digital scale with bluetooth, wifi, fridge and Amazon prime integration.
viraptor 3y ago
A cool tip I've seen before is to buy medical/laboratory equipment for scales. No fancy features, just durable build and accurate results.
Luc 3y ago
I have looked for this myself, and come to the conclusion that it doesn't exist unless you're willing to buy a second hand, bulky hospital scale. Measuring human weight is harder than it seems (we don't stay still). Most scales use a strain gauge sensor that detects bending of a metal arm through changes in resistance. It's pretty noisy and needs averaging. There's some integrated circuits to relate the resistance to weight. Most do some factory calibration only around the target weights (median adult weights). Look instead for a scale that explicitly states that it is accurate over the whole range (e.g. baby to 220lbs). Usually there's tradeoffs - e.g. the displayed weight won't 'settle down'. I have one like this and it works better than any previous one I had (tested by adding calibrated weights), but I hesitate to recommend since it's a low cost consumer model.
- ilyt 3y ago
  My $10 +decade old one CR2032 powered one does that just fine. Accurate enough for weight control (doesn't drift from day to day), no "stuck weight" problem mentioned either. Just need to wait 2 seconds for self calibration to finish
  - mrguyorama 3y ago
    If your scale doesn't give you a different weight from one day to the next, either you are a very unusual human that doesn't ever change weight somehow, the scale only gives two sig figs, or it's lying to you. Humans are constantly changing weight, with every single breath you take.
    - ilyt 3y ago
      I eat once a day and weight myself in the morning before eating or drinking anything, hence the consistency. If I weight myself in other parts of the day I get different results so it isn't just weight stuck at same level. So I can see the trend based on what I ate last few days pretty quickly. I also tested on small weight and what my kitchen weight calls 3.016KG my bathroom weight calls 3.0KG so I'm pretty sure it's still reasonably accurate in absolute scale.
criddell 3y ago
The Nintendo Wii balance board is the only good scale you can get and it isn't expensive. A balance board, Wii, and small TV is probably around $500.
- gsliepen 3y ago
  You don't even need the Wii itself! You can connect to the balance board via Bluetooth, and there are several libraries out there that can read out its data (and that of the Wiimotes as well).
  - criddell 3y ago
    Do they give you the same feedback about shifting your weight so that you get an acceptably small deviation between the four sensors?
    - gsliepen 3y ago
      Yes, you get all the data. Sometimes you can see even more than what the Wii shows you. For example, with the Wiimotes, it actually shows you the position and brightness of the top 3 or 4 infrared light sources in its field of view (from that it can derive the position of the "sensor" bar).
      - criddell 3y ago
        If you have a link, it would be much appreciated. When I looked I didn’t see anything that came close to the functionality that the Balance Board had when attached to the Wii. It’s nice that the raw data is available, but unless it’s presented in a way that’s useful, it’s not that interesting. The only project I found was FitScales and it has been dead for a long time now because Android Bluetooth changes made it incompatible with newer devices.
rootusrootus 3y ago
The Withings scales definitely do not. Personally, I've only ever had one scale in my life that I thought might be using memory to give false consistency. But even then, it was short-term, not long term. I.e. if you stepped off and back on, it might bias towards giving you the same weight. If you walked away for a bit, then came back with a small extra weight in your hand, it was accurate.

kencausey 3y ago

There are still inexpensive purely mechanical scales. I wouldn't expect much accuracy from a spring-based scale, but it should be consistent barring significant temperature variation.

lajupechere 3y ago

My withings is constantly .2 fluctuating. If it’s faking that I’m going to chuck it out the window. It’s a very good scale, in aggregate the readings are useful.

Lewton 3y ago
Another shout out for Withings, I definitely do not recognize the fake accuracy problem with this scale

steve1977 3y ago

I made good experience with an Omron BF 511. As far as I know it doesn’t do this, would have to test though. The bodyfat measurement is good enough to be usable and the same scale is working in our household for almost 10 years now I believe.

aSockPuppeteer 3y ago

Eufy smart scale P2 Pro. $79.99 It has wifi and bluetooth, so it always syncs up with your phone and can track multiple people. I don't really trust the body measurement stuff but use it for measurement per measurement information. The heart rate is kind of nice to track too.

rootusrootus 3y ago
Even cheaper, and IMO slightly more reputable, the $50 withings scale is pretty great, and it's half the price of the version with useless body composition measurements.
- aSockPuppeteer 3y ago
  Looks good too. I bought pre-doorbell controversy along with a doorbell. It appears Eufy/Anker is doing better now.(0) After having a couple different webcams taken over by security holes, mine only point outside and are hidden. 0. https://www.theverge.com/23573362/anker-eufy-security-camera-answers-encryption https://www.theverge.com/23573362/anker-eufy-security-camera...

zo1 3y ago

What about getting two cheap scales and averaging their values? From my third-world perspective, it sure beats the other suggestion from one of the other commenters to get a $80 digital scale with bluetooth, wifi, fridge and Amazon prime integration.

viraptor 3y ago

A cool tip I've seen before is to buy medical/laboratory equipment for scales. No fancy features, just durable build and accurate results.

Luc 3y ago

I have looked for this myself, and come to the conclusion that it doesn't exist unless you're willing to buy a second hand, bulky hospital scale. Measuring human weight is harder than it seems (we don't stay still). Most scales use a strain gauge sensor that detects bending of a metal arm through changes in resistance. It's pretty noisy and needs averaging. There's some integrated circuits to relate the resistance to weight. Most do some factory calibration only around the target weights (median adult weights). Look instead for a scale that explicitly states that it is accurate over the whole range (e.g. baby to 220lbs). Usually there's tradeoffs - e.g. the displayed weight won't 'settle down'. I have one like this and it works better than any previous one I had (tested by adding calibrated weights), but I hesitate to recommend since it's a low cost consumer model.

ilyt 3y ago
My $10 +decade old one CR2032 powered one does that just fine. Accurate enough for weight control (doesn't drift from day to day), no "stuck weight" problem mentioned either. Just need to wait 2 seconds for self calibration to finish
- mrguyorama 3y ago
  If your scale doesn't give you a different weight from one day to the next, either you are a very unusual human that doesn't ever change weight somehow, the scale only gives two sig figs, or it's lying to you. Humans are constantly changing weight, with every single breath you take.
  - ilyt 3y ago
    I eat once a day and weight myself in the morning before eating or drinking anything, hence the consistency. If I weight myself in other parts of the day I get different results so it isn't just weight stuck at same level. So I can see the trend based on what I ate last few days pretty quickly. I also tested on small weight and what my kitchen weight calls 3.016KG my bathroom weight calls 3.0KG so I'm pretty sure it's still reasonably accurate in absolute scale.

criddell 3y ago

The Nintendo Wii balance board is the only good scale you can get and it isn't expensive. A balance board, Wii, and small TV is probably around $500.

gsliepen 3y ago
You don't even need the Wii itself! You can connect to the balance board via Bluetooth, and there are several libraries out there that can read out its data (and that of the Wiimotes as well).
- criddell 3y ago
  Do they give you the same feedback about shifting your weight so that you get an acceptably small deviation between the four sensors?
  - gsliepen 3y ago
    Yes, you get all the data. Sometimes you can see even more than what the Wii shows you. For example, with the Wiimotes, it actually shows you the position and brightness of the top 3 or 4 infrared light sources in its field of view (from that it can derive the position of the "sensor" bar).
    - criddell 3y ago
      If you have a link, it would be much appreciated. When I looked I didn’t see anything that came close to the functionality that the Balance Board had when attached to the Wii. It’s nice that the raw data is available, but unless it’s presented in a way that’s useful, it’s not that interesting. The only project I found was FitScales and it has been dead for a long time now because Android Bluetooth changes made it incompatible with newer devices.

rootusrootus 3y ago

The Withings scales definitely do not. Personally, I've only ever had one scale in my life that I thought might be using memory to give false consistency. But even then, it was short-term, not long term. I.e. if you stepped off and back on, it might bias towards giving you the same weight. If you walked away for a bit, then came back with a small extra weight in your hand, it was accurate.