Customer Reviews

Soehnle Vera Black/Stainless Digital Food Scale

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Of the many digital scales I've looked at, this is probably the one with the most bang for the buck. Simple to use, four AA batteries (no micro hearing aid batteries), with a one-button control panel, and clearly written pictographic instructions that a 5-year-old could understand.
Compact, lightweight, perfect for the perfectionist baker, and, so far, accurate enough to use for a postal scale. If it holds up for 5 years, I'll let you know.
One correction: since I've bought it, the maker has switched to using a small button-type battery. Should be no problem, the unit is definitely very energy efficient.

Update April 2009: the scale finally gave up the ghost (weight readings fluctuating widely), after almost 6 years of constant, almost daily use. I think I got my money's worth <grin>.

Received this as a gift, but I looked around for awhile at scales. This is a great one, at a decent price. Great value. Easy to use (use any of your bowls on the scale), accurate and loved that you can move between grams and pounds. It compact enough to put in a drawer. Excellent scale.

I received my Vera scale yesterday and felt deeply disappointed. Well, the scale I received did not work right. I tried a few items on the scale very carefully and the scale couldn't read a fixed number for the weight of any item. It would keep flashing different numbers. I am returning it as a defective item. To those who are interested in this scale after reading the glowing reviews, just for your information, this scale does not use AA batteries, contrary to at least two reviews. Amazon.com's product information is right that it uses a CR 2430 battery. Maybe there are two different kinds of Vera existing? Before I made the purchase, I read that the White Vera and Red Vera both use AA battery on their respective product description page so I assumed that I should trust the reviews on this stainless steel Vera and believe it uses AA battery anyway. I was proved wrong. Also I don't like it that I have to reach underneath the scale to switch between OZ and Gram, which I found very inconvenient. For me, it's a blessing in disguise that the scale sent to me was defective. I am sending it back and going to try either a different model or brand name.

I was surprised by the slimness (low height) of this scale, but then all the better to store it! The weighing platter is fixed so no worry of parts falling off if you want to change the read out from grams to ounces/lbs. that is located on the bottom of the scale. The tare function is great to use after the scale is already on or you could place a container onto the platter before turning it on and it will zero out to that - very cool. I plan to use this for kitchen food wts., fabric dye wts., and for mailing estimates, so for this money it proves to be a very versatile scale, especially that it will weigh up to 9 lbs. 15 oz. A nice addition if you already have a 5 lb. 'postage' scale as this is VERY accurate.

Contrary to an earlier review that stated this scale takes 4 AA batteries, mine takes a CR type watch battery. I see no drawback to this fact as it actually makes the scale very lightweight. It is truly well made and I look forward to using it for a myriad of things. You won't be disappointed with this German scale!

I let my boyfriend pick out this scale, as he is a chemist and works with multi-thousand dollar scales on a daily basis. Let me just tell you, this is $50 out the window. I knew it would be a pain having to flip the scale over to change from grams to ounces, but that's not the only problem. If it decides that you're not doing anything it will turn itself off much faster than other scales I've used. It never settles on a weight and though other's make the claim that it is accurate to .001 that's not true at all. In my experience it commonly doesn't recognize when you've put a small amount of weight on there and when it DOES finally recognize it, it will jump up several grams.

The Weight Watchers scale I keep at home is much better and though it only weighs every two grams, it is far more accurate. Don't waste your money on this scale.

This is a great little scale. It is rare to find an inexpensive scale that weighs in single gram increments from 1 g to 5000 g (5 kg). And my sample is very accurate... I weighed a few items on an analytical balance accurate to 0.001 g and then on the Vera: I was surprised to find no difference (within the Vera's 1 g limit of precision).

Note that the stated 9 lb, 15 oz limit is artificial... one can actually weigh up to 11 lb, if willing to convert from g/kg to lb/oz (the 9 lb 15 oz "limit" is a limitation of the display -- there are not enough places on the LED display to show "10" (which has one more digit than "9"...). Use these conversions: 454 g = 1 lb, and 28.4 g = 1 oz.

Also note that the instructions are pictures, and the pictures are not "in German," as one reviewer complained.

EDIT to add that this review concerns the AA battery version of this scale.

Very easy to use, very easy to read, and trials with known weights show up as very accurate. Tare feature very useful. Easy to store, and rugged, also.

This scale works. It does it's job and little else. There are a few problems with it: 1) the button to switch between imperial/metric is on the bottom of the scale, 2) there is only one button for on/off/tare and it is a bit finicky, and 3) it's not all that precise.

That being said, for home cooks, this scale works just fine. If you're looking for something basic, this will do the job. If you're going to be switching between grams and ounces a lot or weighing small amounts, get something else.

The fast taring and quick reading makes this a great general purpose scale with its almost 10 lb capacity. Error is typically about 1g, which is very good. It is not sensitive enough for accurately resolving effects of 1 teaspoon of incredients to be weighed. Such quantity of stuff may be added or subjected with no registration. Good enough for postal use.

I've had it for almost 2 years and use it 3 to 4 times a week and have had no problems. The best part about it is that it's small and stylish enough to leave out on the counter all the time.