Unreliable and Inaccurate
Like so many others, I started off the new year with a resolution to lose some extra pounds and improve my level of fitness.  Determined that I would actually follow through this year, I looked for ways of making the process more interesting and more fun.  I enjoy technology, so I added some new apps to my phone, shopped for gadgets that would help to measure my progress, and looked for other ways to maintain motivation.<br /><br />I already had a very good (and accurate) beam scale, just like the ones that you used to see in every doctor's office, but the idea of wirelessly recording and tracking my weight loss, especially since I was already a user of a Fitbit One, was very appealing. Anyway, I ordered the Aria Smart Scale, and a couple of days later, Amazon delivered it.<br /><br />Setup was very simple with my iPad, and within a few minutes of opening the box, I was up and running. Very cool -- I thought I was all set.  I moved the old beam scale down to the basement where I have a couple of pieces of exercise equipment, and installed the Aria scale in its place in the master bathroom.<br /><br />Stepping onto the Aria, I got a reading that was about a half a pound less than my previous day's weight on the old scale, so I thought GREAT, I'm making progress, and the Aria seems to know what its doing.  The next day, back onto the Aria, and damn, how could I have gained two pounds overnight?  I stepped on again, and now I was only 0.4 pounds over the previous day's weight.  Further attempts provided even more disparate results.  What am I doing wrong?<br /><br />I went to the Fitbit website to check for some tips on ways to improve accuracy, read the FAQ's, and noted that the scale is supposed to be accurate within +/- 2.0 pounds, which in my estimation, isn't very helpful when you're trying to lose weight.  Nevertheless, I followed all the website suggestions -- none of which improved the accuracy of the scale. (NB: I never pay any attention to the body fat reading -- which seems to vary widely, each time you step onto the scale)<br /><br />Today, I weighed myself 5 times in the space of an hour.  I didn't eat or drink anything between weigh-ins, I wasn't engaged in any strenuous activity -- and I ended up with a different reading each time that I stepped on to the Aria scale.  While this might be acceptable if you simply want a general indication of your weight -- when you're watching every calorie you put in your mouth, when you're exercising regularly and working hard to reach a goal -- a half pound one way or the other is serious business.  It's very discouraging when one day your scale says you're making progress, then the next day, slaps you down by recording a weight that you thought you'd left behind 3 or 4 days earlier. I don't think that it's unreasonable to expect a scale to be consistent!<br /><br />Needless to say, the Aria and my old (and accurate) beam scale will be swapping places.<br /><br />If you're on a weight loss regimen -- I would NOT recommend the Aria Smart scale!
Rating: 2 stars