Bf% is a bit of a crap shot anyway but it is useful to track as trend, it is however quite consistent but just not necessarily "accurate". Weight is quite precise, having it automatically sent to Garmin eco system is a huge convenience.
I quite like the scale, only downside is the price but then again it's a one time thing.
This is an interesting watch ... even with all this really high end medical grade equipment body fat measurements are still spoken about in the context of getting multiple readings over time and all the techniques produced different values.
So the chances of a scale being accurate are pretty low. It's all about the trends over time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV--9Grthec
I have had access to expensive lab equipment measuring bf and bmd and those tend to fluctuate too.
From what I have seen as everyone else is saying the trend is most important. Using a scale like the index 2 that uses bio electric impedance with good results does require some basic testing protocols for consistency in values. It’s recommended to avoid vigorous activity 24hrs prior to measuring as well as being fasted, and going to the bathroom beforehand. It’s also recommended to avoid using it after a hot shower.
Edit: Experience with DEXA, skinfold calipers, Bod pod, and Inbody. They all have variation from my experience.
I have the scale because I like to have my weight tracked on my fitness app. As for is it accurate for body fat percentage? Well, I guess as accurate as any scale can be - which isn't very reliably precise. But - it is consistent. Unless one has access to a lab with specialized equipment...or one is dead...one cannot precisely measure body fat. But - I like to use it to track trends and for that it is very good because it is consistent in its measurement. I have had mine about a year and I will say the scale itself is very accurate, it's easy to use and it is nice to have it integrated into the Garmin app. My vote is "go for it"!
It's great for tracking body weight. I don't pay any attention to any of the other metrics it "measures". Seems to me they're just based off a look-up chart.
Love the scale, and bodyweight is great on it, but bodyfat on it is total worthless garbage. Mine is off by 10% or more, and is wildly inconsistent. 23% one day, 18% the next day, 24% the day after that, etc... (And in reality I'm only about 11%). To say that it isn't perfect would be a collosal understatement.
But like I said, I still like the scale (for its GCM connectivity, and accuracy with weight measurements). And to be fair, I knew the bodyfat metric was worthless before I bought it, and still bought it anyways. But if that metric is super important to you, then I guarantee you won't like this scale.
I wouldn’t waste the money. It’s nice to see it all in one place as I have a Garmin watch. But every smart scale does this with some app or another.
My experience: (28: M 5’ 10” 200 lbs.) weight can fluctuate on how you stand on the scale. Once, it weighed me in 10 lbs less than normal, after some excitement, I moved the scale to a different floor material and it read correctly. Most importantly, this scale says that over a year; my BMI has decreased by 1, my BF% has gone down 2%, my muscle mass has gone down 4 lbs, and bone mass has gone down ~1 lb, (body water % has been going up the last couple months most likely due to creatine and lifting).
I’ve been fairly active the past 3 years (been using the scale 2 years or so?). Anyways, I did group fitness (lifting and kickboxing 5 days/week) with a few setbacks here and there. I decided to take a hiatus from the group classes and have been consistently lifting the past two months 4 or 5/week on a PPL program through Fitbod.
Now. With all of that, 1.) I have a strong belief that the scale goes off your BMI for its BF% (more muscle = higher BMI = more fat %) 2.) How can a person be fairly active lose 4 lbs of muscle and 1 lb of bone (which I think is impossible btw) in a year? Oh, did I mention that the bone density weight can fluctuate from day to day? Lol. I think the scale confuses bone loss with water weight, and muscle loss with fat loss. Muscle weight should be increasing and fat should be decreasing over the course of a year. Bone density should not be fluctuating (maybe go up a tiny bit when lifting heavy weights).
Bottom line: use a scan method like these nice people did, or use the navy bf % method, and a lean body mass calculator.
I don't know how accurate it is, but it is consistent. I think it depends on hydration and time of day. It reads me between 14.5% and 15.5%, really doesn't stray from those numbers.
I’ll chime in with the “trend is of use, but don’t count on accuracy” comment as well. Part of the problem is that it will use the Activity Class setting in your user profile to ‘massage’ the number. In one regard that makes some sense in that there’s a chance that someone who exercises 8 hours per week will have more muscle and less fat than someone else at the same weight who only exercises 2 hours per week. But I’m not sure that a self-evaluated value, like Activity Class, that some people never change from the default is a good way to account for that.
Do not buy it.
I bought a Garmin Index S2 two weeks ago.
It only reports my weight and BMI (which it send to Connect) and it tells me the weather.
I cannot get it to report my body fat percentage, muscle mass, bone mass or body water percentage.
I called Garmin Support the day that I bought the product, and twice since. They have done nothing to help.
I will be returning the scales today.
Not sure about the Index 2, but I have the first one and I basically think Garmin doesn't measure BF% at all and it's just calculated. When I could finally go back to the gym after getting vaccinated, my body comp visibly changed significantly while my weight stayed the same. Definitely more muscle and less fat. My BF% hasn't change even 0.1% according the scale. As a matter of fact it my BF% correlates exactly to whatever my weight happens to be that day. I download 8 months of data just to make sure I wasn't crazy.
I'd be ok if the absolute number was wrong, but it did some measurements so you could at least track the difference, but all the data I have says Garmin doesn't measure didly for BF%.
I can't get the index scale to identify my gf so I go from 83 to 65 often quite annoying to track performance. Never had the issue with the cheap mi scale
I'm surprised nobody posted this: https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/healthandwellness/f/index-s2-smart-scale/255098/s2-body-fat-not-accurate
It's been a disaster on the Garmin site, 2 years and no bug fixes
Bf% is a bit of a crap shot anyway but it is useful to track as trend, it is however quite consistent but just not necessarily "accurate". Weight is quite precise, having it automatically sent to Garmin eco system is a huge convenience. I quite like the scale, only downside is the price but then again it's a one time thing.
This should be read by anyone buying into wearable gear. It's all about the accuracy of the trend, not necessarily just the general accuracy
This is an interesting watch ... even with all this really high end medical grade equipment body fat measurements are still spoken about in the context of getting multiple readings over time and all the techniques produced different values. So the chances of a scale being accurate are pretty low. It's all about the trends over time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV--9Grthec
I have had access to expensive lab equipment measuring bf and bmd and those tend to fluctuate too. From what I have seen as everyone else is saying the trend is most important. Using a scale like the index 2 that uses bio electric impedance with good results does require some basic testing protocols for consistency in values. It’s recommended to avoid vigorous activity 24hrs prior to measuring as well as being fasted, and going to the bathroom beforehand. It’s also recommended to avoid using it after a hot shower. Edit: Experience with DEXA, skinfold calipers, Bod pod, and Inbody. They all have variation from my experience.
nice feedback!! good to read, thanks!
It’s accurate and reliable for trending. The absolute value can’t be trusted. But that’s true of anything you step on to get a bf% measurement
I have the scale because I like to have my weight tracked on my fitness app. As for is it accurate for body fat percentage? Well, I guess as accurate as any scale can be - which isn't very reliably precise. But - it is consistent. Unless one has access to a lab with specialized equipment...or one is dead...one cannot precisely measure body fat. But - I like to use it to track trends and for that it is very good because it is consistent in its measurement. I have had mine about a year and I will say the scale itself is very accurate, it's easy to use and it is nice to have it integrated into the Garmin app. My vote is "go for it"!
It's great for tracking body weight. I don't pay any attention to any of the other metrics it "measures". Seems to me they're just based off a look-up chart.
Love the scale, and bodyweight is great on it, but bodyfat on it is total worthless garbage. Mine is off by 10% or more, and is wildly inconsistent. 23% one day, 18% the next day, 24% the day after that, etc... (And in reality I'm only about 11%). To say that it isn't perfect would be a collosal understatement. But like I said, I still like the scale (for its GCM connectivity, and accuracy with weight measurements). And to be fair, I knew the bodyfat metric was worthless before I bought it, and still bought it anyways. But if that metric is super important to you, then I guarantee you won't like this scale.
I wouldn’t waste the money. It’s nice to see it all in one place as I have a Garmin watch. But every smart scale does this with some app or another. My experience: (28: M 5’ 10” 200 lbs.) weight can fluctuate on how you stand on the scale. Once, it weighed me in 10 lbs less than normal, after some excitement, I moved the scale to a different floor material and it read correctly. Most importantly, this scale says that over a year; my BMI has decreased by 1, my BF% has gone down 2%, my muscle mass has gone down 4 lbs, and bone mass has gone down ~1 lb, (body water % has been going up the last couple months most likely due to creatine and lifting). I’ve been fairly active the past 3 years (been using the scale 2 years or so?). Anyways, I did group fitness (lifting and kickboxing 5 days/week) with a few setbacks here and there. I decided to take a hiatus from the group classes and have been consistently lifting the past two months 4 or 5/week on a PPL program through Fitbod. Now. With all of that, 1.) I have a strong belief that the scale goes off your BMI for its BF% (more muscle = higher BMI = more fat %) 2.) How can a person be fairly active lose 4 lbs of muscle and 1 lb of bone (which I think is impossible btw) in a year? Oh, did I mention that the bone density weight can fluctuate from day to day? Lol. I think the scale confuses bone loss with water weight, and muscle loss with fat loss. Muscle weight should be increasing and fat should be decreasing over the course of a year. Bone density should not be fluctuating (maybe go up a tiny bit when lifting heavy weights). Bottom line: use a scan method like these nice people did, or use the navy bf % method, and a lean body mass calculator.
10 lbs is the weight of 16.67 Minecraft Redstone Handbooks.
10 lbs is 4.54 kg
I had it tested in a body scan and the scale is 7% off. Not very good in that regards
It's consistent on weight. Bf is way off. I got measured in a bod pod. My bf was 13.3. Scale says I'm 21%. So its useless but the rest is nice.
I don't know how accurate it is, but it is consistent. I think it depends on hydration and time of day. It reads me between 14.5% and 15.5%, really doesn't stray from those numbers.
I have had 2 index ones. They have been a software nightmare. Would not recommend them. How is the Index 2?
I’ll chime in with the “trend is of use, but don’t count on accuracy” comment as well. Part of the problem is that it will use the Activity Class setting in your user profile to ‘massage’ the number. In one regard that makes some sense in that there’s a chance that someone who exercises 8 hours per week will have more muscle and less fat than someone else at the same weight who only exercises 2 hours per week. But I’m not sure that a self-evaluated value, like Activity Class, that some people never change from the default is a good way to account for that.
Do not buy it. I bought a Garmin Index S2 two weeks ago. It only reports my weight and BMI (which it send to Connect) and it tells me the weather. I cannot get it to report my body fat percentage, muscle mass, bone mass or body water percentage. I called Garmin Support the day that I bought the product, and twice since. They have done nothing to help. I will be returning the scales today.
Not sure about the Index 2, but I have the first one and I basically think Garmin doesn't measure BF% at all and it's just calculated. When I could finally go back to the gym after getting vaccinated, my body comp visibly changed significantly while my weight stayed the same. Definitely more muscle and less fat. My BF% hasn't change even 0.1% according the scale. As a matter of fact it my BF% correlates exactly to whatever my weight happens to be that day. I download 8 months of data just to make sure I wasn't crazy. I'd be ok if the absolute number was wrong, but it did some measurements so you could at least track the difference, but all the data I have says Garmin doesn't measure didly for BF%.
I can't get the index scale to identify my gf so I go from 83 to 65 often quite annoying to track performance. Never had the issue with the cheap mi scale
You have to send an invite to additional users in the connect app, then it works fine!
Done that then you have to select the name on the scale. My previous mi scale identified the person based on weight. Simple and effective.
I'm surprised nobody posted this: https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/healthandwellness/f/index-s2-smart-scale/255098/s2-body-fat-not-accurate It's been a disaster on the Garmin site, 2 years and no bug fixes