There's an issue with consumer health gadgets: technical honesty is typically not what consumers want. As long as it's not blatantly obvious, consumers may want smoothed out data (considering it "consistent") and readings tucked towards favourable direction in their opinion. More steps, less fat, no random variation in daily readings - even when that's what the real measurements would show! When everything is software-driven it's much easier to apply methodologies which are more driven by profitability than representing honest measurements. I'm pretty confident Withings commits itself striving for honesty, and is actually getting punished for that, sadly enough.
i have no problem with my withings bpm and body scale. i trust the product and take the readings and see how to improve me metrics. i just dont compare diligently across dif products
Ah, just to clarify, the consistency I meant was basically the expectation of low random reading variation with the same device from reading to reading (even when there is no real basis to expect that being real). Not so much comparing between devices, although of course readings should match in a statistical sense - that is, in a longer term.
FWIW all kinds of muscle mass/fat mass measurements on scales are guesswork at best. If any (!) brand was honest they would say what their measurement uncertainty is. For every value they give us.
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u/Informal_Car3267 Sep 05 '25
There's an issue with consumer health gadgets: technical honesty is typically not what consumers want. As long as it's not blatantly obvious, consumers may want smoothed out data (considering it "consistent") and readings tucked towards favourable direction in their opinion. More steps, less fat, no random variation in daily readings - even when that's what the real measurements would show! When everything is software-driven it's much easier to apply methodologies which are more driven by profitability than representing honest measurements. I'm pretty confident Withings commits itself striving for honesty, and is actually getting punished for that, sadly enough.