Garmin Index Smart Scale, Wi-Fi Digital Scale, Recognizes Up to 16 Users, Up to 9 Months of Battery Life, Black

This Garmin Index scale is more expensive than some, but in my opinion, well worth it. And by the way, I paid full price for it, and did not receive it for a discount, or free, in exchange for an “honest” review.I first tried the Easy@Home electronic Bluetooth scale and could not keep it connected to my phone. The scale pared with the free phone app (Android) after a few tries, but the next morning when I went to weigh myself it would not connect and transfer any data, in spite of my phone indicating it was still pared. The same experience repeated itself even after several days of trying, reboots, re-paring, etc.The Garmin scale pared immediately out of the box, the first time, and has not lost paring since. It’s been almost a week and the scale transmits its data flawlessly, every time. There are a few reviews here that indicate they had trouble paring, but I experienced none of those issues, and remember, the Easy@Home scale had constant issues with transmitting its data using my same phone and home wifi.Also, with many Bluetooth scales in the 50-70 dollar range, you will notice many, if not all, indicate the phone app must be launched, and running, in order for the data to be received from the scale, in spite of each scale indicating they have their own proprietary app. Now while all those apps appear to have different “skins” (different presentations of the data and screens), many appear to have the same base, or core, programming that requires the app to be launched, and running, for the data to transmit and be received. This appears to indicate the use of common, perhaps free, core functionality in use with these type apps. Sort of like Windows desktop software being able to customize some user screen appearances, but the basic operating system is the same.With the Garmin Index scale, and the Garmin Connect phone app… there is no need to launch and run the app prior to stepping on the scale. You can step on the scale at any time, and there is no need to grab your phone and launch the app beforehand. In my opinion, this is the way a Bluetooth device should work.I also have the Garmin VivoSmart HR activity tracker. It also utilizes the Garmin Connect phone app. The data from the VivoSmart HR, and the Garmin Index scale, integrate perfectly with the Garmin Connect app. I recommend the Garmin Index scale, and I HIGHLY recommend the Garmin Index scale if you have any of the activity trackers from Garmin. The combined information as displayed in the Garmin Connect app is great. You can track much of the valuable health information all in one spot, and it’s effortless. And just to give this review some perspective, I am 64 years old, 5’9” and 180 lbs. I am not your normal type person that is super athletic. If you’re like me, getting long in the tooth as they say, you will appreciate the ease of setup (for both devices), and the hassle free operation of the Garmin devices, along with the health info and tracking they provide.The only drawback I could find is, the information (data) appears to be stored “in the cloud” as they say. If, (and nowadays it’s seldom) that you are ever out of cell phone reception, and, there is no wifi available, you cannot see you historical data displayed on your phone. Nothing is lost even though you have no reception, it’s just not viewable until a connection is re-established. No biggie in my opinion.For me, the combination of these 2 devices, combined with the ease of use on a daily basis, certainly has made me more aware of my health stats regarding activity and weight. They are also a subtle, but effective, motivator for me to be more active, and perhaps drop a few unwanted pounds. I figure that’s a good thing !

I just received my Garmin Index Scale today and I am relieved that I am not having any of the problems that some others have reported. I have been using Garmin Connect with a Fenix 3 for some time now to track my fitness. Weight is a key parameter in fitness tracking and it was a hassle to weigh-in and then manually enter the weight into Garmin Connect. First thing in the morning I don't always have my phone so I would try to remember the weight my scale reported and inevitably I would forget to enter the value into Garmin Connect. When I did remember I often couldn't recall the value from one day to the next. The Garmin Index Scale proposed to solve that problem and so far it is working as advertised.Upon receiving the scale I used my mobile device to set it up. I chose a wireless connection over wifi and entered my wifi password through the mobile Garmin Connect app. The scale connected right away and was ready for use. I stepped on the scale and being the only user setup the scale displayed my name and sent my weight and other metrics to Garmin Connect. Upon checking the Garmin Connect website, I could see the weight and other information was indeed sent to my Garmin Connect account by the scale.Things were going well so I asked my wife (not tracking weight or fitness) if she would like the scale to keep track of her weight and body metrics. She agreed and so we set up a Garmin Connect account for her and I added her as my first 'Connection' and invited her to use the scale using the mobile Garmin Connect app. She received the invite and accepted. From there she walked into the bathroom and stepped on the scale. The scale immediately recognized her by name and in a moment her weight was also transmitted to her new Garmin Connect account. Wonderful, no problems and the Garmin Index Scale seems to be working exactly as advertised.Other Notes: Based on previous reviews I have read, I have unlinked my Garmin Connect account with my myFitnessPal account. As others have reported, when the scale uploads data it seems to flow from Garmin Connect to myFitnessPal and then sometime later myFitnessPal will update the GarminConnect account. This would be fine, except that myFitnessPal only keeps the weight, not the other body metrics. I decided that I would rather have Garmin Connect keep my weight and body metric data. Every so often I will update my weight in myFitnessPal to keep it current. I suppose Garmin and myFitnessPal will correct this in the future so that the body metric information isn't lost when the two accounts are linked.Finally, I can also confirm that only the most recent weigh-in will be retained in Garmin Connect. If you measure yourself several times a day then only the last weigh-in will be retained. For me, this isn't a problem as I will only use the scale in the morning. Most experts recommend weighing yourself at a consistent time every day. If you follow this instruction you won't have any problem with data getting overridden.Although I have not had this scale for very long, all I am asking it to do now is to keep performing like it has after initial setup. If it can do that consistently this will be a great purchase.