Customer Reviews

Health o Meter BFM588DQ-81 Body Fat and Hydration Percentage Fitness Scale, Champagne, (Weighs up to 375lbs)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

When I set out to purchase a Scale I looked at just about every scale available on Amazon and read as many reviews as I could. I settled on the this scale because of the other reviews found here, the looks of the scale, and price. Yes I even compared this model with others at WalMart and Bed Bath & Beyond.

Many other reviewers mentioned problems setting up the scale, having it work right out of the box issues, judgements about accuracy, and ease of use. Some even mentioned no matter who got on, everyone weighed 174.4. If that were me I would keep the scale. However, when mine was delivered I opened the box, and the batteries fell into my lap, I saw where they went and put them in all without reading the instructions. Now if you have ever set the time and date on a digital watch with buttons for advancing and a button for setting, you will feel at ease . Those of you who still have VCR's with the clock blinking will want to glance at the SIMPLE instructions first. They are very clear and easy to follow.

After you insert the batteries, place the scale on a flat surface (does not have to be the floor). Follow the instructions. You do everything with just two buttons. The two buttons you see below the display only do two things each - one is a SET/SAVE function the other SCROLL/HISTORY. You either press and HOLD or just press and release the buttons to set the various settings available. This scale will keep track of the tiime and date, your height, age and gender. You can even set your weight goal. This is a neat feature because after you set and store your first "official" weight - cuz you know you are going to get on and off this thing at least 10 times to see if it is consistent, it will show you how much you have lost since your last weight and also show you how much you still have to lose. So if you don't gyrate around but stand still and straight, you weight should be the same dead on each time.

But you ask, Do I really have to fiddle around with setting all those features, I just want to know how much I weigh?. Well of course you can. Just don't push any of the 4 buttons on the front. Just walk up to the scale and tap the top or center of the scale as if to say "hey I'm here to weight myself - wake up", the display will come to life - it will cycle the display light while it zeros out, then once you see the BIG 0.0 you can climb on and get it over with. But if you linger a bit longer on the scale, it will sense that you want to know more, so while the shower water is getting hot, take a moment to see what it says about your hydration level and your body fat percentage. If your feet bottoms are as dry as the desert or you're still wearing socks, you will get a "e" error reading. The manual mentions this at the very beginning. I don't put a lot of confidence in the body fat and hydration readings. Too many things can influence the accuracy of the readings, but as a guide it will do.

Some people expect too much from a $50 scale, but if you are buying this because you are tired of just watching The Biggest Loser and see everyone else climb on a scale and lose weight, you can climb on this scale and watch the digits pop your magic number right up without fear of being voted off. And when the numbers start to go down it will be accurate enough to give you encouragement that you are losing. Of course if you are not trying to lose weight, then this will be just as accurate for those who are eating every twinkie they find and want to gain weight.

Oh ... are there any cons? It could be bigger and I wish it didn't creak when I got on it. (I'm not any where near the max of 375lbs it can hold but it does seem to twist a bit when the first foot goes on. The display could be a bit bigger for these tired eyes, but it is bright enough. I would buy it again if I needed two or if I wanted to give one as a gift. (But if you do buy it as as gift, make sure they really like you, you know?) :)

I have owned this scale for a few years now and it is the absolute best. It is easy to program easy to read and accurate. As the other reviewer indicated, you can easily account for weight fluctuations from day to day by tracking your hydration levels. It is nice to know your fat % as well and it helps to keep motivation up when you see the numbers go down.

You get the whole picture with this scale. It even tracks your weight so you know how much you are up or down, which I find helpful. Another great thing is that the batteries last forever - and when you do change them, it doesn't wipe your data out... it must have an internal backup battery which is helpful because you don't lose your history. I will be buying my mom this scale for Christmas as she watches her weight and will enjoy having this tool to help her in those efforts. I'd recommend this product 100%. Very durable (my kids push the buttons often) and holds up to lots of use. Now if it would only lie to me about the pounds....

Using this scale is fairly easy (R*E*A*D the instructions; it won't be easy if you want to "wing it") to set up, and to use. A downside: one can't password protect one's numbers to keep others from seeing them, so there is potential for "unauthorized feedback," as up to four people can program it for each one's use.

Note: one must be barefoot for the body-fat percentage value to work--the scale does not like be-socked or shod feet. If all one wants is to see what one weighs at a given time, a more basic scale will do the job, but this one offers better support for maintaining a diet/exercise plan. The key is to READ THE INSTRUCTIONS.

I was disappointed after using the scale. It has a lot of nifty features available, such as creating a profile that tracks your age, sex, height and starting weight, body fat percentage, so initially I was super stoked when I got it. After 20 minutes of creating my "profile", (even with the instructions it was a little tricky), I finally stepped on the scale. Well, it only displayed my weight. I dragged it all around the house, but it would not display my body fat or hydration percentage. Oh yeah, the "save" feature didn't work either. I just manually track my weight. I'm giving it 3 stars because it does the important thing I need: weigh me. Purchase at your own risk.

I highly recommend this scale with the super bright LCD and accurate scale. It is really good.
The AAA battery is easy for repalcement, better than the button battery widely used in other brand scales.

Seems like the body fat % calculator is way off but it works for weight and is very useful

This scale is very accurate and works great. It is nice because you can set a goal and track you progress. It will tell you how much weight you have lost so far and how much you need to lose in order to reach your weight loss goal. It will also tell you your body fat and hydration precentages. It will also save all these readings for up to four different people. This is a incredible scale and helps you get motivated to lose weight.

I've been using the scale for a week. Athough I think it lies, it lies consistantly which makes it easier to track my weight loss process. lol. I love the bells and whistles.

It took a minute to figure out how to get the most accurrate reading, but you can.

I was told to weigh always first thing in the morning. With this scale that is not a good idea. Weighting before your've done any activity gives you a really high body fat and hydration reading. It makes since because most muscles in the body are relaxed and have been using body fluids to repair themselves while you sleep. I've notice that when I weigh at the end of the day, after all the exercising is done and meals are well digested, I get the most accurate readings of body fat, hydration, and weight. I say accurate because it matched the results I got at the doctor's office earlier the same day.

I see two draw back with this scale so far.
1. It does not prove the body fat and hydration information unless the person is programed in.
2. It incourges weighing too often by showing the changes in percent of body fat and hydration.

I want to know so I look everyday. lol.

This is a good weighing machine for the price. I saw reviews saying that its bad and it shows weights that vary within seconds and stuff, But when ever I weigh my self I saw thats accurate to the 10th of a pound. Its how ever very sensitive to the bodyfat%. I think it either too accurate or it doesnt work toowell. For example if you weigh yourself and have a 20% fat at 150lb drink some soda or something hop back on it shows a difference right away with a 32%fat and 150.2lb. If you care too much about the body fat% with this product make sure that you get the reading early inthe morning before breakfast for best results and see that this is pretty constant over a week. The four storage buttons and the set your goal features are good. I have tested to see if it stores these results if the battery dies down and it did.

The only complaint I have with this Machine is the buttons that you use to set the time. Some times they are too sticky (Its not that I put sticky stuff/trash on it) making it tough to work with.

This product works as advertised, has the ability to store data for four users. On the other hand, the directions do not say anything about feet being dry or wet for calculating body fat, and the body fat calculations are all over the map, depending on how moist or dry the feet are. Also, though it has good gadgets, the display turns off very quickly, and the wait time to for the scale to calibrate itself is too long.

So, was it worth the price? Absolutely! This scale was not very expensive, and does perform a lot of functions, including showing weight within 0.2 lbs.