Inbody (H20), Withings (Body Smart, Body Fit) and Renpho (MorphoScan) vs. Dexa
As the title suggests, I compared 4 scales to a Dexa scan this week.
TLDR: the Body Smart came closest to the Dexa (in terms of body fat %), with the Body fit and Inbody (H20) with the greatest variance, the Renpho was closer, but also least consistent
In summary, I'll be keeping the Body Smart for now and returning the Body Fit and Renpho (both inside their 30 day return window) and continue to monitor / evaluate other alternatives.
Results
Dexa: 169.1 / 21.7%
Inbody - H20: 170.1 / 17.4%*
Body Smart: 170.6 / 19.4%
Body Fit: 170.5 / 17.5%*
Renpho Morphoscan Nova: 170.5 / 18.0%
*average of three readings
Background
Inbody H20 - I already had this scale since 2021, I've been using it to track over time, but I've been looking to see if I can find something that better aligns to Dexa, as you can see from the results in came in with the greatest variance (note I had also tried the H40 - and that was producing results even lower, in the 14-15% body fat range, so I returned it)
Withings - Body Smart - I bought this almost a month ago and have been using it daily, the results are consistent day over day (relative to itself and my expectations based on exercise, eating etc.) as you can see in the tests, it was the most consistent over 3 sequential weigh ins
Withings - Body Fit - thought I would try this given that it is new and should compare to the existing Body Scan re the technology, consistent to itself (like the Body smart), but large variance
Renpho - MorphoScan Nova Body - never tried one of their products before, figured I would give it a spin relative to the others, also read that others had indicated it came close to Dexa for them, not only was this also off by a decent amount, it had some really weird readings to start that I disregarded (and had to test with this one for 5x to get it to a more "normal" state / in line with others)
The protocol
All the tests were done about 45 minutes before the Dexa scan, first thing when I woke up on an empty stomach (645-650 am). Which is when I normally weigh in so I had a baseline of almost a month of data on the Body Smart
I put all four scales in a row and just weighed my self one after another, taking three measurements each to get an average weight and body fat % to compare to the Dexa - Scale 1, then Scale 2, then Scale 3, Scale 4 then back to Scale 1 etc. - 12 total measurements (except 2 extra on the Renpho that were way off)
The dexa scan was done at 7:30 am in the morning, still on an empty stomach. Important to note that I did a Dexa scan a little over a month ago and the comparison between the two Dexa scans was very close / inline with expectations given activity level and nutrition over that period. (170.61 vs 169.07 lbs and 22 vs 21.7% body fat)
Hope this helps others make a comparison - I found it intellectually fun, but disappointing
As stated above, I'll keep the Body Smart for now because its the cheapest and simple and continue to evaluate other alternatives going forward