Fabulous review Des, guess I'm late to the party with this video being three years old. I think you and Shane might have the inside scoop with Garmin products. Any rumors about a new Index scale on the horizon? It would be just my luck to buy the S2 only to have the S3 released a week later. Any thoughts please?

Great review Des - and great job highlighting the biggest flaw with the system: it is dependent upon your "activity class". If you slack off for several weeks but keep your activity class at 6, your metrics will not completely reflect your slacking off. It's not a great system. I assume other "smart" scales work the same way. Oh well.

Im seriously missing some comparison of how accurate the body fat muscle and water measurements. I do not know what is the standard for measuring, but would have been nice to learn about it a bit in this video.

Good review. Mine just arrived today. I’ve set mine up (I think) and will test it tomorrow. Best wishes from Scotland

0:44 Two Polar watches, he must be "Bi-Polar".... Ok, that's just terrible

Awesome! Thanks Des! I have been waiting for an update on the scale.

Just bought one of these. Setting up for main user is easy but adding users is a terrible experience. It took me more than half a day making things work.

Great review. I have owned the S1 since launch. I supposed it is hard to find many things new they can do with a set of scales. But they have done well to eek out a few new features. Not enough for me to upgrade I don't think, new design is good though 👌

This is cool. I need one (well, not NEED I guess). Great video Des!

Don't get this scale if you are doing fitness and have a higher BMI (because you're muscular, not because you're overweight). This scale calculates body fat percentage based on BMI. On the Garmin forums there were many complaints from athletes with body fat around 10% (professionally measured) but this Garmin scale shows 24/25%. It's not accurate for body fat percentage if you have above average muscle mass. Garmin didn't do anything about it and just closed down the topics in the forum. It's also a bit buggy/laggy compared to the Fitbit aria scale. I will be looking for a better alternative and can't recommend it, unless you have a normal body type or you don't find body fat percentage interesting. I did like the weather widget at the end, since you usually step on the scale in the morning, and based on the weather prediction know what type of clothes to put on. Very nice.

Trouble is , the fat% it throws out is very inaccurate , I had a calliper test at my gym and I came out 13.5% , the Garmin scales suggested almost 30% !! , looking in the mirror you can see my abs so I’m guessing 13.5% is pretty accurate.

Is this still a solid buy, or are there others that are better?

Hi @DesFit, just found out about your channel and been watching a few videos about watches and scale as I'm in the market for those. You give good overviews and info about the products you're reviewing and I like your style so you've earned a few more likes and a new subscriber. It'd be nice for items with connectivity if you could mention whether wifi, bluetooth and whatnot can be totally disabled or not, I know I'd be interested in knowing it and it seems from forums and web searches I wouldn't be the only one. Keep up the good work!

I am surprised that you need to enter the activity level, wouldn't your garmin connect know that?

Just got mine based on your review! Thanks!

I always wonder why it doesn’t know if you are wearing your watch to subtract the weight of it 😅

Thank you nice review of the scale; interesting that it connects to the WiFi of the house to collect weather alerts.

Any rumor's about a new version S3 update here in 2024?

I have the original, but not quite happy with it. My fat% is around 9, however the scale always says I'm 6. I've emailed garmin and after looking at my data, they said I'm outside their algorithm, with no intention to fix it sadly. I've been on other scales which do give me a decent measurement, which actually allows me to track the trend. Just wanted to share my experience..

Great vid. Have you compared this to the withings body+? It seems no one has done a side by side to see how the readings compare…

Was honestly expecting to see more metrics on the lines of the withings body cardio scale

The wifi syncing is great, I have the polar balance and this looks much better and have more functionality

Nice review Des. I am seeing some fringe complaints on forums that it it's wildly inaccurate. I find that hard to believe. I just purchased this and a Withings Body+ and am returning one of them. Do you have any further comments now that it's over a year since your review? I'm guessing its about as accurate as the Withings and as good. I appreciate your comment on consistent readings over a short duration. I just want a reliable measurement to gauge progress from. Thanks for your videos.

Nice review; it minght be time for an upgrade. After moving a couple of times, my old Garmin Index scale refuses to pair to my Connect phone app (despite pairing to the phone via Bluetooth) and I now have a $150 doorstop.

Thank you for the succinct review. I'm holding off to see if I can get a Black Friday Bargain but will get myself one either way 👍🏻

Just got mine delivered today! Thank you for the review!

Will the data sync to Apple health as well?

Hey I am refreshing the channel every 5 min 24/7 waiting for the series 6 vs se Apple Watch comparison. Have not bought them waiting for your review thanks!

The problem with this scale for multiple users is that it requires them to setup a Garmin Connect account even if they don't use Garmin Connect. With Withings Body+ I simply added my wife to the scale via the app so she would see her name and such. It was super easy. My wife doesn't care about a tracking app.

How accurate is the body fat % numbers compare to Omron and Tanita’s hand holding products. Thanks

The bad part about watching scale reviews is that you have to see peoples feet, and most feet are fungus-eaten and beat up. I appreciate the fact that your feet look normal and weren't beaten with an ugly stick. Great review! About to buy one to jump ship from Withings.

The reliance on activity level is the weakest point of this scale. Flicking between activity levels causes my Garmin scale to make a 10% jump in %body fat. It is very consistent though, so even if the body fat and muscle mass is off, you get a great relative reading. I just wish it uploaded to zwift automatically

Any cheaper option to connect with GARMIN CONNECT?

Thank you from the UK. I need to get one of these

Des - What is the most accurate at-home body fat scales you have used ? I am a Withings Body + which is quite good but would like a more accurate scale ?

In a nutshell, if you have the 1st version, no need to upgrade.

Freaking finally.. I've been considering a garmin scale since I'm in the ecosystem but the version 1 is pretty dated and I was expecting a refresh.

Hei Des. Great review. I was thinking in purchasing the scale, but my wife is not a garmin connect user and would also be using the scale for only weight display purposes. Would this be a problem with this scale? Best Regards.

you can get Withings Body+ which do exactly the same for half the price

I haven’t owned one before, should I get 1st generation used one for $80-100 on eBay or buy 2nd generation new one for $150? Basically are the new features worth it by getting a newer one ? I appreciate and thank you,

Great review I’ve had an issue with the water % with old one, why wearing the 2 Polar 2Apple Watches😁.

Good review. But lets say a friend comes over and he/she does not own a garmin device nor have a garmin connect account. If that person wants at some point to quickly jump on the scale just to see what he/she weights, and without it being added to the owners personal account, is that possible?

I've been in tech and IT for 25 years and this thing is quite possibly in my top 3 most hated gadgets I've ever wasted time on. The UI on the scale is awful, the software update processes unreliable, convoluted and just plain buggy. Documentation is practically NIL and everyone has the same issues. Multi-user problems persisted over the course of the entire 6 hours I messed with this thing on multiple wi-fi connections, paired to difference devices, multiple resets. It always ended the same... One user could setup and use the scale normally and anyone else added could use only weight and bmi, no trending, no automatic sync to Connect, nothing. Only the initial user for whom the scale is linked to a device with BT can work properly (and that does work just fine).... The software and firmware and it's sync process is an absolute mess. This thing goes back today.

@DesFit Thank you for the review. 2 ?s . . . 1. During travel or away from a WiFi connection for some reason, what happens to the data collected? Meaning is it saved to a “hard drive” & synced later about a WiFi connection is established? If so, how “much” (# of weigh ins) data can be stored? 2. What is the cost of this device?

Excellent review and well explained.

Love the review - ordered One today! Are u stil using it?

Do you guys have an idea when the Vivosmart 5 will be released?

When I travel I use scale to weight my luggage. Wouldn’t it confuse the hell out of the scale, or would it ask me to register a new user? Oh wait never mind it’s a lockdown time.

Loved the review thanks

How is it compared to the Withings? I’ve had Withings for a while but not a fan of the UI app. I’ve recently left AW to Garmin fr255 and enjoying Garmin connect. Would it be with the switch or fired it capture the same stuff

Thoughts on this vs the Fitbit Aria series?

Hi. I just bought it. I have done everything just like u showed. But when Im weighing in i cant see my user name. The one with the 4 letters. Has it happen to anyone of you? How did you solve this ?

Looks like a nice refresh, though I don't really see anything to justify upgrading from my previous model which is still going strong. I don't know about the accuracy of the metrics as I haven't ever had "professional" measurements done, but I agree that the numbers do at least seem to be consistent after using my scale for a couple years, so I find them to be valuable for trending, even if they might not be 100% accurate. Battery life also seems to be crazy good on mine rechargeable AA last me several months of daily use.

Great, thanks for this

Thanks for the review Des, any recommendations on how to match the activity class to the volume of work out?

Can a guest use the index as a regular scale without a Garmin connect account?

Price is wild. I'll just manually add it 😆😔

Hi, Thanks for this review... This comment is not on your review, but on the product itself....How are the BMI, bones, mucle, fat, water index determined ??? Since you have to enter your height to get those values, I'm pretty sure it's just a normalized table driven by your weight and ONLY that....When you weight changes, the unit simply looks at the corresponding weight-height row in it's internal fixed table.... To determine real fat/muscle/bone and water, you have to make physical measurement.... So these are pretty useless unless index and do not provide more user specific information..... And, for those who are thinking that resistivity can be used, your resistivity changes depending on your electrolites.... and other factors....

Question, do you know you there is a scale that weigh the right and left leg separately, to see how off you hipp balance is?

It does not recognize the user, only appear an icon of guess, I looked up one by one but the inicial doesn’t appear

Thanks for great review

Out of curiosity - can you have multiple users synced to their own Garmin Connect apps? Lets just say I don't want to see me wife's pr children weight, is this possible? Withings does it.

I've noticed on the phone app it doesn't show metabolic age, is this still shown via the Garmin connect website and I believe the website will only show one weigh in per day?

Does this work with Fitbit and Garmin apps? I need a scale that works with both. My wife uses Fitbit😒.

are there any options that would have more accurate metrics?

I get differen result when I weight my self several time in row. It is not so reliable

Nice review, thanks.😊

I was hoping to find out if it’s possible to use this for household members who don’t want Garmin Connect. Can you just get on it and have it give you the stats without trying to store data,

hmmm what is the motivator to upgrade from the first to the S2 version, just the colours display from what I see, all the other things had the firest Index1 already.

Great review Des :) I want to clarify one thing, I'm living with my gf and she would be using it ( if I would get crazy and buy this ridiculously expensive and overengineered scale >.< ) without Garmin Connect, just as normal analog scale. Will Index distinguish us, me beeing connected to Garmin and her as a "guest"?

can this scale also connect with my fitness pal and sync the weight automatically?

$150 vs. $30 for the Wyze scale, which give basically the same metrics. Is it worth $120 more?

Does the Index S2 also work for children? Many Greets

So if other users in the household aren't garmin users, they can't use the scale?

Wearing 4 different smartwatches during review? What does it show if you put an old fashioned metal pound weight on it? A pound? Because two different scales never seem to show the same weight.

Good video, would have been better if you had flashed the activity class table from the garmin website so we could understand what it does without a lot of need for detail

February 24th Des? So am I... :). Hello~

Is it accurate on carpet with those thingy u put on?

Is it available in India.

any gossip about a S3 :D?

Bought one and returned it. The body fat % absolutely sucked. My body fat is 11-13%, the S2 calculated 26.4% not even close. I'll stick with my Renpho, more measurements and it's damn accurate.

How does it gets body fat percentage and other details ?

How does this know the body water and muscle mass?

9months later do the battery still working and did you have any other issue?

it looks lovely, but i Samsung Health. it not work for me.

Why do you wear 2 watches?

I do have a Garmin Tactix Delta Solar, would you get Index S2 or Whithkngs Body+ scale? Thank you.

I can't justify the price when you have Repho with their 13 different body composition data for $30. Garmin connect should work with other manufacturers.

Yeah! Doesn't work that way. The App locks up and nothing ever happens!

When coming the aw 6 review ?

My wife doesn’t use any Garmin device, how can she just use the weight as a standard weight?

No Visceral fat? 😢

Gender. Not gender identification. We are talking about physiological metrics which are very much influenced by our gender. If I, as a man, had a prostate cancer, I couldn't go to the doctor and get treated for ovarian cancer just because I identify as a woman. Political correctness can be very dangerous.

pls review amzfit stratos 3

I have a Garmin account but my wife does not so would she still be able to use it as a 'normal' scales?

Have you taken a dexiscan to know that your 8% body fat?

Is it compatible with an Apple Watch? Thanks

Still not available..

Are you going to review the ticwatch pro 3?

Does this scale use AAA batteries or is it usb-rechargeable? I hate changing the AAA batteries, even if it's not very often. Do you have any tips for a good scale without AAA batteries that measures weight accurately (body fat measurement is a nice bonus but not necessary for me)?