Customer Reviews

Tanita BF680 Duo Scale Plus Body Fat Monitor with Athletic Mode

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I just got this scale for myself as a Christmas present and I have nothing but good things to say about it.

Pros:

EASE OF USE - Inputting the user settings when you first get the scale takes less than 2 minutes. The interface is intuitive and the instructions included are complete and easy to understand.

PRECISION - You get nice and consistent readings for both body weight and body fat if you do repeat weighings right after another. Usually within 0.2 lbs and 0.1% body fat.

ACCURACY - There's a lot of debate over what the most accurate way to measure bodyfat is - calipers vs. electrical impedence etc. However, I think that it's more important to be able to track your improvement rather than being able to know exactly what your % bodyfat is. This scale allows you to do that. So you know that you've dropped 5% bodyfat and that you know roughly what it is. Unless you're a world class athlete, it's probably not necessary for you to have an exact value and if you are one of those few people, you probably have access to more advanced methods.

COST - At the present Amazon price, this is a great deal. About the price of a session with a trainer and only a few dollars more than a regular digital scale without the body fat feature.

CONS:

None that I can really think of right now. As I mentioned earlier, some people may be shocked/disappointed by the readings they get and dispute the accuracy of them. However, as I mentioned, the direction of your bodyfat change is more important and more valuable.

Pros: High quality, consistant results when used according to the directions, and it is fast.
Cons: Still not perfect, I would say about a 3% variation between body fat readings. No memory for previous weights and body fats, as far as I know.

I would buy it again if I had to do it over. I am impressed with the quality of the device, it feels substantial, and I don't feel like I am going to break it, and I weigh close to 300 lbs. The results I get, when averaged over a week, are very similar to caliper measurements, and it is a lot faster.

Each user(2 users) enters his/her height and age, and when you press one of the three toe buttons on the bottem edge of the scale, and step on the scale once the 0.0 shows for the weight. The whole process takes maybe 10-15 seconds. It is very easy to use.

I bought this scale for a few reasons. First off, is it was the highest quality scale of the ones I was looking at. It felt the most substantial. Secondly, I was looking for a scale that allowed two users, this company makes one that is for 5 uses but I felt that was unnecessary. Finally, it would have been nice if it had memories for previous weights and body fats, but I just enter it in a log so it doesn't matter.

I would recommend this scale for someone with the same needs that I had.

Even without the body-fat function, this scale would be my favorite . I've gone through a few digital scales, but never found one that was so accurate with weight. With any other scale, I could always weight myself a few times in a row, and get at least a pound discrepency in the weight. A pound here or there isn't a big deal, but it inspires confidence that I can get on this scale a few times in a row, and get the same weight down to a .2 pound accuracy.

As for the body-fat measurements - I used to think they were pretty innacurate. I then realized that I was doing a few things wrong... First, I believed that I qualifed for 'Athlete' mode... and maybe a couple of years ago I did - but I was kidding myself to think that was still the case. Switching from Athlete to normal mode, and following the guidelines for when to measure BF made the scale very accurate. Plus, it's motivated me to get back into very fit shape, so I can turn Athlete mode back on :)

Pros:
-Very Accurate
-Easy to use
-Stylish

Cons:
-You'll need to read a whopping 3 pages of manual to get good results with the Body Fat measurement. I haven't found any real 'con' to give this machine.

I've had this scale for a few months now, and I'm very impressed with it. Like most people have said, it is very accurate for weight. I use it every day (for the past few months) and I can tell you that this scale has been ridiculously consistent. Because it is accurate, I can be confident in any progress I make.

It is easy to setup, it only took a few minutes to put in my information and it saves it.

Measuring your bodyfat and/or weight are both quick and easy. Just get on the scale and wait 5 seconds.

There are buttons that you flick with your toe before getting on. They are big and easy to depress.

It has the option for weight only if you don't want to get your bodyfat percentage.

It stores your previous weight and bodyfat measurement. After you get a new weight and bodyfat measurement, you can press the little "up" arrow button to get your previous measurments.

The bodyfat % feature gets a bum rap because as you know most people don't bother to read the instruction manual. It's true that actual % fluctuates depending on when you measure yourself. The variance in a day for me is about 2%, BUT, it's because your not supposed to measure your bodyfat in the morning.

The manual says that you should wait a) 3 hours after waking up, b) 3 hours after eating, and c) 3 hours after excercise before measuring your bodyfat using the scale. The best time for me then is after I get home from work and before I go to the gym. At the same time of the day, assuming I hadn't eating anything within the few hours before getting home, the scale gives me a CONSISTENT reading on my bodyfat percentage (which is always lower than when I wake up). When I measure myself in the morning, my bodyfat is CONSISTENTLY 2% higher, but I know this is wrong because you're not supposed to measure your bodyfat until 3 hours after you wake up.

The bottom line. After following the instructions, I have found the bodyfat measurements to be fairly consistent. The weight measurements are extremely consistent.

This isn't a cheap piece of machinery, this is a high quality device. For this reason I would highly recommend it.

(and as for people complaining about the athlete mode. Stop pretending you're an "athlete" by Tanita's definition. An "athlete" would be a person who is physically active in excercise for 10 or more hours a week. If you excercise a lot, but not 10 hours, and do some recreational sports, you are not going to use "athlete mode". I would think that a college or professional athlete, maybe even high school might be able to use this "athlete" mode if they had a practice every day and/or games making up the 10+ hours a week.

Anyone who peruses the reviews for this scale will see that users give high marks for measuring pounds, but mixed marks on measuring body fat percentage. If people bother to read the directions that come with the scale, they will see warnings not to use the body fat feature on first waking up in the morning, since the body is dehydrated at this time and the measurement will be skewed. Also, the directions also suggest that people should pick a consistent time of day to use the body fat scale and that this time should reflect a consistent, stable body state -- i.e., no extremes in hydration, over or underabundance of food, etc. When used by these guidelines, the body fat reading will provide consistent readings that will allow you to track increases and decreases in body fat percentage. I can't say for certain that the percentage on the screen is 100% accurate, since the methods scientists use to measure body fat accurately are expensive, time consuming and not convenient on a daily basis. What I can say, if used properly you will get fairly good baseline figure and a good accurate track of the upward and downward movement of your body fat percentage.

I bought the scale to assist me in getting back to my healthy self. I competed athletically in college and considered myself a long time recreational athlete. I have been recovering from an auto accident for a couple of years and so my fitness went down and my weight went up. Now after working out for 3 months around 8 hours a week I needed to know how much weight I need to still lose. If I look at the BMI chart for my height and weight it tells me that I need to lose at least 10 pounds but could lose up to 20 pounds. I just don't think that the BMI chart applies to me. I lift weights 4 hours a week and have a tight compact frame. People that look at my body say I am lean but the charts say I am still overweight. For me my percent body fat is the most important indicator for on how much weight that I need to lose. In the past, I have had my percent body fat hydrostatically measured as low 8% and as high as 25% so I have a pretty good idea that I am not 10 pounds overweight now.

The Tanita scale gives me some objective information about my healthy weight that is much more accurate than a height-weight chart. I found the weight measurement of the scale is very accurate. The body fat measurement for me ranged from a low of 16% to a high of 20% when I followed the instructions. After repeated measurement, I found that is was pretty consistent at around 17% for me. For a 41 year old male that number would classify me at a healthy weight. While I could lose 10 pounds of weight, 20 pounds of weight loss would probably be too much for me. I think as a weight loss tool it is great. Here are my pros and cons.

Pros-
1. easy to use and read the weight and body fat.
2. Provide a quick read on your body fat percentage without having to subject yourself to a clinical bodyfat measurement.
3. Solid contruction.
4. Easy to follow instructions
5. very accurate scale readings

Cons-
1. Not the most accurate tool for measuring your percent body fat. The scale might be 3% off. If you are a typical person and carry a fair amount of excess bodyfat it isn't that big of a deal. It gives you a good approximation which is all you really need anyway. If you are a male athlete and at 10% bodyfat or less then 3% could be a big deal and this tool isn't for you.

Overall, I would recommend this product. Don't get too hung up on the percent bodyfat measurement. Average your measurements and take them consistently according to the directions and this will work fine for you. Although I don't think the bodyfat measurement is super accurate, I think it is much better than a scale and a height-weight chart at figuring out your healthy weight.

I have found that the weight is extremely accurate. But the Body fat is waaaay off. From day to day, it can fluctuate from 10% to 15%. This is a huge swing. I always weigh myself at the same time and the same way. I spend a lot of time at the gym, and I know I didn't jump from 10% BF to 15% BF in a day. I always get off and try it again. In a 3 day period it weighed me at 10%, then 15%, them 8%, then 12%. I don't trust it

I am one of the few lightweights out there actually trying to gain weight. I want to gain lean muscle mass, and not fat. This scale helps me easily keep track of my progress.

I have heard a few people complain about the accuracy of the fat % measurment on this scale. Accurate or not, I have found it to be incredibly consistent. Weighing myself three times in a row will yield the same percent each time.

If I follow the instructions and weigh myself before meals, etc, over the course of the week I can accurately determine if I am going up or down. What an incredible health tool. I wish I would have known about this years ago!

I have relatively small feet (size 5.5 shoes). For an accurate measure on this scale, either weight or body fat, you need to have full contact of your feet on both the front and back sensors. I've found that impossible due to the size of the scale compared to the size of my feet. So if you have small feet you might want to look for another model/brand.

I've also found that the body fat % is fairly inaccurate and tends to fluctuate even during the day. After some research, I discovered that most people find their weight to be closest to "true" weight if they weigh first thing in the morning and their body fat % to be closest to the "true" % when they weigh last thing at night. It seems that the body fat % varies according to how hydrated your body is...and evening weighs (greater hydration than in the morning) seem to be more accurate.

I bought this scale partly because it had the Athlete mode, but that feature seems to be more confusing than informative. According to the user manual, their definition of "athlete" is "a person involved in intense physical activity approximately 10 hours per week... or a lifetime of fitness individual who has been fit for years but does not currently exercise 10 hours per week."
This description seems both extreme and vague.

I'm pretty fit. I exercise seriously for about five hours a week, I compete casually. Does this make me an athlete? I decided to try it both ways, and see how much of a difference it made. It was 10 percentage points, which for me was the entire spread between the underside of healthy and the overside of healthy. I'm pretty sure I'm actually somewhere in between. So the body fat sensor does not seem to be providing any effective information at this point.

The one thing I really do like about is the scale part seems to be very precise, accurate and reliable.