MyKronoz MyScale
MyKronoz MyScale one-minute review
Smart scales are everywhere, and the MyKronoz MyScale is among the best-looking, but do you need its bioelectrical impedance analysis?
As well as measuring your weight and calculating your body mass index (BMI) this Swiss-designed scale sends a mild electrical current through your body to measure resistance. It then gives you stats on your weight, body fat, muscle mass, bone mass and body water percentage. They’re just estimates, but they’re useful for an insight into your body’s composition.
The MyScale also collects something that most smart scales don’t – your heart rate – though we’re not sure why. After all, after you've walked over to your scale, it’s not going to be measuring your resting heart rate. Given that you can measure that more easily when using fitness trackers and smartwatches, we’re not convinced MyScale needs a heart rate sensor.
The MyScale is physically impressive, but not without flaws. Its attractive circular glass form comes with a hidden LED display that’s large and shows all the data you need in large colourful characters. However, it’s not as stable as it should be when placed on a flat surface and if you’ve got big feet then you’re probably going to obscure some of that large display with your toes.
However, with its sleek look and a mostly clean app the MyScale is a good, albeit expensive, first effort from MyKronoz.
MyKronoz MyScale price and release date
- Available now
- Expensive for a smart scale
The MyKronoz MyScale was released in April 2021, and costs $99.90 / £99.90 (about AU$140) direct from MyKronoz.
That puts it at the higher end of the price range for smart scales, sitting in between the Withings Body+ and the top-tier Garmin Index S2. Our current top-rated smart scale, the Xiaomi Mi Body Composition Scale 2, is a third of the price.
MyKronoz MyScale design
- 340 x 340 x 270mm
- Color display
- Recharges via USB-C
The MyScale has a sleek look. Fashioned from black or white tempered and mirrored glass, this circular scale looks the part in a bathroom. Designed to be used on hard floors, it measures 340 x 340 x 270mm and weighs 4.6lb/2.1kg. There are four spring-loaded sensors on the underside. The mirrored effect is nice, but the black version does collect a lot of smudges, so plan on giving it a polish now and then.
Unlike most smart scales, which for some reason tend to be battery-powered, the MyScale recharges via USB-C (there’s a slot nestled into a recess on the underside). However, with a 3,000 mAh battery inside there shouldn’t be much need to recharge it. MyKronoz says they’ll last about a year, though obviously that depends on just how obsessed you get with your weight, BMI and fat/muscle/bone/water mass.
The MyScale supports up to eight different user profiles, with the AI detecting which person is standing on the scale. You’ll know if it’s got that correct or not because the user’s alias – a six-character name assigned to each user via the app – is displayed just after their weight is measured.
MyKronoz MyScale performance
- Measures weight, heart rate, body fat, muscle mass, bone mass and water
- Calculates BMI
- Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi
We’re not convinced MyScale needs a heart rate sensor. Not only do many fitness trackers and smartwatches now offer the same thing, but having walked to the scales it’s likely that your heart rate is slightly raised. Ours definitely was, with readings consistently higher than our resting heart rate. It’s consequently not a useful measurement.
The MyScale isn’t as rock solid as it should be. Put one foot on it and it not only rattles but feels unsteady, as it’s going to tip over. However, once on its platform an impressive performance unfolds.
The MyScale gets to work quickly, measuring weight and colorfully displaying it, with red or green arrows indicating whether you’ve lost or gained weight since your last weigh-in. You then see a calculation of your BMI. After a short beep that confirms that your body composition stats have been compiled, you see readouts of your body fat, muscle mass, bone mass and body water percentage.
Unlike some smart scales, this one also has a heart rate monitor built-in. Another beep confirms that your heart rate has been read, after which it's displayed. Then you get a very basic weather forecast (a graphic of a sun/cloud plus a temperature). It then visually syncs the new data with your account in the cloud, and within a few seconds a notification appears on your phone.
The LED display uses large pixels, mostly while but sometimes blue, yellow or red. Trouble is, the display is so large that the readouts will be covered by your toes if you have big feet. We physically had to widen our stance to read the display properly.
MyKronoz MyScale companion app
- Needs at least iOS 9.0 or Android 6.0
- Works with Apple Health and Google Fit
- Well designed app interface
MyScale doesn’t work well without the MyKronoz app largely because to calculate BMI it needs to know height, which is collected – along with age – from a series of in-app prompts that set-up MyScale. MyScale uses Wi-Fi to sync your data with the cloud (as well as to fetch the weather forecast) so you need to input your Wi-Fi network details.
A dashboard page on the app contains all the essential details, with current weight and target weight up top, and body composition stats displayed below alongside icons. It saves all these measurements on a ‘history’ page, which you can see as a list or inspect by month and date.
You can also use the MyKronoz app to customize exactly what measurements you want to be shown on the MyScale’s LED display during each weigh-in.
It can send data for all or some of four metrics – weight, body fat, BMI and heart rate – to Apple Health and Google Fit. There’s a page in the app where you can tell it exactly what to upload and what not to (for example, if you have a smartwatch then you will probably have a more useful heart rate sensor already).
First reviewed September 2021
Buy it if
You want data on multiple body measurements
The MyScale measures weight, heart rate, body fat, muscle mass, bone mass, body water percentage and heart-rate, with the app making it simple to follow trends over time.
You hate having to recharge gadgets
With a massive 3,000 mAh battery inside, the MyScale isn’t going to run out of juice very often. MyKronoz promises it will last for about a year between charges, which requires a USB-C cable.
Don't buy it if
You’re a bit unstable on your big feet
A slight worry about the MyScale is that it's not completely stable when on a hard surface; step onto it and there’s a definite wobble. If you’ve got big feet then you’ll also find that your toes block some of the overly large color LED display.
You’re on a tight budget
MyScale has a high-end look and build quality (aside from that wobble), which translates to a high price. Well, it is Swiss-designed…
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