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- Even if you're not actively trying to lose or maintain your weight, it's good to have a scale at home.
- The $4 is our top pick because it accurately measures your weight and has an easy-to-read screen.
Bathroom scales have come a long way in the past few decades, and you don't necessarily have to pay top dollar to get top features. Whether you are looking for a scale to serve as your sidekick as you work toward your fitness goals or you just want to occasionally weigh yourself to make sure nothing wonky is going on with your body, there are highly accurate scales available that vary in complexity from simply displaying your weight to charting your progress on your smartphone.
You can still find analog scales with a single needle that points to your weight, but none of these are included in our guide because they are difficult to read and imprecise. The digital scale is an excellent basic alternative if you just want to find out how much you weigh. Most digital scales display your weight to the nearest 0.2 pounds. There are also some models that have several user profiles so everyone in your family can track their weight and body mass index (BMI).
Body fat scales have come down in price quite a bit in the past few years. Also referred to as "body composition monitors," these scales usually use bioelectrical impedance analysis, which sends a small electrical current through your body, to measure your body fat, muscle mass, bone density, water weight, and more.
Smart scales are growing in popularity. They connect to your tablet or smartphone using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Smart scales usually have their own app that syncs with the most popular fitness apps, such as Google Fit, Apple Health, and Fitbit. The app keeps a record of your various health metrics and can display graphs detailing your progress over time.
Before settling on the scales we chose to include in this guide, we first researched the buyer and expert reviews of dozens of other scales. Our top picks are all highly-rated for accuracy, ease of use, and long-term performance.
Here are the best scales you can buy:
- Best scale overall: $4
- Best budget scale under $20: $4
- Best no-frills scale: $4
- Best smart scale: $4
- Best smart scale on a budget: $4
Updated on 6/5/2019 by Les Shu: Updated prices, links, and formatting.
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