Customer Reviews

Tanita BF679W Duo Scale Plus Body Fat Monitor with Body Water

5 star:		(88)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I previously owned the Tanita 2001 body fat scale. When that one died, I upgraded to the 679W Duo model and have been very pleased.

FEATURES
The scale measures weight, body fat %, and body water %. The scale has 4 metal pads that will send a low-level electrical current through your body. People with higher muscle content will allow the electrical current to traverse their bodies with less resistance than a Mr. McFatty person. The scale measures this resistance and calculates your body fat and hydration levels from it. I have found the weight, body fat, and body water measurements to be highly accurate when compared to a couple other scales that I've stepped on recently.

EASE OF USE
There are three buttons on the face of the scale right below the display that allow you to input your sex, age, and height. It's all very simple to make selections and input these data. Along with these three face buttons are three toe buttons at the bottom of the scale. You can store personal info for two users (the sex, height, and age info) into two of the buttons. Then everyday when you want your measurements, if you're User 1, just touch Toe Button 1 or if you're User 2, touch Toe Button 2 and step on the scale. This way you do not have to input all that info every single time (like you need to with the Tanita 2001). This is a great feature. Some other brands or other Tanita models offer 2-10 User Memory, but they often do not have corresponding toe buttons, which means you still have to bend your fat self down and hit the user button with your finger first. Believe me, after 3 days of that, you're not going to want to do that anymore.

The third Toe Button is a Weight Toe Button that you can hit if you just want the scale to act as a normal scale. Finally, you can bend down and use your fingers to input age, height, and sex as a one-time use for a guest.

DURABILITY
I've had my scale for 9 months now and it's always worked fine with no problems. It takes 4 AA batteries, and I'm still using the ones that came included with the scale despite my nearly daily use. This is much better battery life than the Tanita 2001 model, which seemed to only last 4 months or so. You will only need to occasionally wipe off the metal footpads to keep them clean for accurate readings. No big deal.

PROBLEMS/MISCONCEPTIONS
Honestly, for about $50, there are no problems with this unit. It's a great buy. However, I read some negative reviews here from confused people. First, there are warnings all over the box and on the site that tell you not to use this product if you have a pacemaker or internal electronic device that's keeping you alive. This is obviously because it measures your body fat by sending an electrical current through your body. C'mon, think people. And this isn't just for the BF679W, it's for all "commercial" body fat scales. Second, reviewers talk about the consistency of the body fat measurements. Your body fat can fluctuate 1 or 2 percent over the course of the day with these types of electrical conductance measurements based on where your body is currently holding water. If you always take your reading at the same time each night (right before you goto bed is ideal), you'll typically find consistent readings within 0.5% - 1%. If you measure your body fat right after you wake up, there will be all kinds of water centrally concentrated in your bladder that will mess up the readings. Again, this happens with all commercial body fat scales. Finally, it's possible the BF679W tells you that you have 17% body fat and really you have 15% body fat based on thorough measurements from your doctor's office. I still think the number is going to be very close to your real body fat percentage. However, this scale will still be able to do a reliable, accurate job informing you when you've lost or gained an extra percent or two of body fat over the course of several weeks. So while your absolute body fat numbers could be slightly off with the BF679W, your relative gains and losses will still be highly quantifiable with this unit.

Overall, this is a outstanding, durable scale that delivers dependable readings. I strongly recommend it and would encourage people who are thinking of buying the Tanita 2001 or any other body fat scale that does not have toe buttons to purchase this model instead; it's worth it.

Forget your overall weight... work on re-composing your body... in other words: Getting your body fat down. Great scale for this. Accurate as I had a impendance type measure done by medial pros and it came out the same. One note... you must reach your full hydration level in order for body fat measures to be accurate. If you aren't properly hydrated as indicated by the scale then ignore the body fat calc... it would be inaccurate. Accurate if hydration is up though and a particulary good diet performance measure. You can actually determine in which direction you are progressing... remember you can be a thin person and have too much body fat!!!

As a person who struggles with her weight, I've come to the decision that there are three things every weight conscious person needs to own: a good weight scale, a pedometer, and a well designed diet journal. (You can check out my other reviews for my recommendations on those). But why those items? Because otherwise, we have a rather flawed tendency to be dishonest with ourselves as to what we really weigh, how much exercise we really did, and how much we really eat. Case in point: the Tanita BF679W. Now, here's a well designed, attractive scale that seems flawlessly accurate. It's easy to use, and stores personal information for two people and 'guests' [who can enter their information in on a third monitor]. You simply enter your age and your height and the scale thereafter comes up with not only a true, accurate (yes, folks, I'm afraid I weighed ten pounds more than I was wishing I did) weight, but also the percentage of body fat and your body's water level. Most of us know why weight and body fat percentage are important, but how many of know what's imortant about your body's water level? Anyway, it's all nicely explained inside the owner's manual. So why stick with an old, unreliable scale that keeps you fooling yourself? Get smart and get the Tanita. I've no doubt that you'll be as pleased with its accuracy as I am. And at least you won't be fooling yourself anymore.

I did my research when I was buying this scale and everywhere I looked I kept coming back to this one. Its very accurate and easy to use. Programing it is a breeze and unlike some other ones it remembers your age , hight, weight and all that info for next time so all you have to do is kick your button and step on. Very convienient. Great product I'm very happy with it.

Be wary of Tanita and their warranty claims. The product itself was decent, and fairly accurate, however Tanita is not a company that prides itself in customer service and product support. I used my scale in a normal bathroom environment, and after just 3 months you could see evaporation underneath the screen. I don't know if a gasket had a crack in it, or what the issue might have been, but the unit couldn't withstand the normal humidity of a bathroom. In fact, the unit was a good 20 feet from any active water, like a shower and tub.

I shipped the unit in, and without even so much as a courtesy call, the "customer service manager" returned my unit with a note that my warranty claim was refused, even though I had spoken to someone before about the issue, and said it would be replaced no problem. The customer service manager was nice enough, but said that even though it was well within the boundaries of his discretion, he was going to refuse the claim, because they refuse all like claims regarding evaporation. He even admitted that it happens fairly often.

Stay away.

His recommendation? Buy another Tanita, and not place it in the bathroom. Right.

the weight measurements are always consistent. very little variability between multiple weighings. i have even used it to determine the weight of packages before going to the post office. it is always the same weight (to the ounce) that the post office gets too.

the fat and water percent determinations i am not sure about. i have no secondary source for confirmation.

i like the personalized settings. the buttons are easy to operate with your toes too!

I have owned many bathroom scales. This Tanita model is the most accurate, to 0.2 pound. I verified it with a post scale. You step on it, take a measure, and step on it with a bottle of mouth wash weighing 1 pound; you get an increase of exact 1 pound.

The most amazing thing is: It can weigh objects of a few lbs. The other digital scales I have give you a 0 reading if you put an object of just a few pounds.

Although I was initially depressed because this unit showed that I weighed about 6 pounds more than I had thought, I found it to be accurate compared to my old analog scales we had had for years. If you follow the instructions, it's easy to program and gives you body fat percentage and body water content, based upon your height, weight, gender and age. All good. I recommend this product.

This scale is great for measuring weight. The features to measure body fat and water composition are not really that accurate. They are greatly affected by the moisture in your foot. If you measure straight out of the shower you get a drastically different reading for body fat and water than if you just take your shoes off.

I bought this with high hopes but I am really not sold on it. Weight wise, it does very well. Body Fat and Total Body Water I am not sold on. The fluctuations are very broad and to tell you the truth, it just doesn't seem to be accurate in that department. The total water never changes no matter how I try to drown myself in water in the days before a weigh in and the body fat changes every time I step on it. Following the instructions, this unit does not do accurately what it was designed to do. For the price though, it's not a bad scale overall.