Customer Reviews

Taylor 5596G Body fat-Body Water Scale with Bone and Muscle Mass Features

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(44)

 

 

I had tried several scales before I got my hands on the Taylor 5596G. This scale tells your weight, body fat, body water, bone mineral, muscle mass - and is less than half as much as a competitor! I am just SO impressed with this scale.

First, the basics. This scale is very simple to set up and use. For the first two memory spots, it's even one-touch operation - just hit the toggle up for person 1, down for person 2. Then you stand on the scale, it sends a mild electrical signal through your feet (you can't feel it) and voila! All your stats are shown.

If you haven't used a scale like this before, you really should give it a try. These types of electrical scales are very popular now and work very well. If you're not sure how they work, drop me a line and I can explain it in detail. Suffice it to say in this review that yes they DO work, based on your body's conductiveness.

So OK, taking it as a given that the technology should work well, does it work well here? I am happy to answer that with a resounding YES. The reason I got this scale is that my previous purchase - a competitor's scale at a much higher price - did NOT work accurately. It gave fat percentage numbers which were wildly off. It made me worry that a scale didn't exist that provided fat numbers with water and muscle mass numbers. However my fears were assuaged with this purpose.

I compared the fat numbers of this machine with the five other fat testing devices we have here. This Taylor scale was right on. In test after test it came up with the exact same numbers as the other devices. I am very satisfied with it.

As far as weight goes, pretty much all scales are good at that at this point :) I can put my 3 scales side by side and they all come up with the same numbers within a pound. So that part is fine.

My tests with the other values - water, muscle mass etc - also show that this scale is accurate.

It really is so important to have a scale that shows you your fat and water percentages. Let's say you are 150 pounds and little of that is fat. You could be in super shape. Let's say you are 150 pounds and 99% of that is fat - you could be in awful shape! Your weight alone tells you very little. You need to know how much of that is excess fat, and how much is healthy muscle.

Water is critical because your body needs to be properly hydrated to work properly. Most people do not drink nearly enough water in a given day. If your body dries out, you get sick more frequently, it's harder to lose weight, and harder just to have energy to do things. You need to keep track of your body hydration levels.

I also am really happy that this scale has a muscle mass indicator. Whether you are walking steps, biking, hiking or anything else, building lean muscle is an important part of staying healthy. This isn't so you look like Conan!! It is so your body is limber enough to climb stairs safely, to maintain your balance without falling and breaking bones. Every human needs muscle to be healthy. This scale helps you keep track of yours.

Are there downsides to this scale? Well, the "indicators" of what you are being shown are rather small. It flashes the numbers one after another. So it's not that you look at the readout and see all at once the weight, water %, fat % etc. It cycles through them. But the indicator of what number means what is very tiny, so really you have to remember that fat comes first, water comes next and so on. Yes it's easy to learn after a few tries, but it's annoying that the indicators are so tiny.

Also, it cycles around three times and then vanishes. With most of my other scales you stand on it and the numbers show until you get off. That gives you time to write them down. here you have to write really quickly - because if you miss something after that third try, you're out of luck. That seems to be a bit frustrating and nonsensical to me.

But still, this is by far the best scale I've found - that gives me exactly what I want to know, with accurate numbers, and it's cheaper than others in the same category! What more could I want in life!

Update July 2011: Over the past few months, the scale started providing optimistic readings. It is currently on the way to Taylor to be replaced. Reliability long-term is suspect. Will follow up again with a report on customer service and the replacement. Meanwhile, we've aquired a similar scale from EatSmart with similar features that works very well. It's more money, but highly recommended.

Purchasing this scale was a big mistake! I would not take it even if it was free. I weigh around 100 lbs; however, this scale tells me that I weigh from 6 (yes six!) to 120 lbs! Every time I step on it, it gives me a different reading (even if I step back on in a minute). Sometimes, it won't even turn on. I have wasted many batteries on this. Many many calls to the manufacturer have been made without any success. They don't answer the phone and ask you to leave a message; however, your calls don't get returned.

I purchased this scale despite of the reviews I've been reading because of the price and features. I had it for two days now and I've decided that it is pretty unaccurate as they say. The 3 different times I would step on it, it would give me a 10 lbs difference between the 3 readings. I also have a basic scale that just gives the weight so after going on this Taylor scale, I went on the basic one (same placement on floor) and it definately gives a different reading from the Taylor.

I bought this as the rather expensive scale I have is always off by about 10-15 lbs. from when I'm weighed at the Doctor's office.

I can't tell how far this one is off as it changes at will. Moving it 2 inches can result in a 10 lb. differences. Move it again and you see a different weight. Useless if your trying to monitor a weight loss program.

The programming instructions are complicated, and I have 30 years PC experience. I can't find a way to make the other functions like fat, water, etc. work without starting from scratch each time. I can't just step on the scale and have them work. I just use the other scale, press the person button with my toe, get on it, wait for beeps, and read display.

The only good thing about this piece of trash is that you can move it around until you apparently lose 10 lbs., and feel better about yourself. (Ice cream time!!!)

I have previously bought similar scales, one of them being over twice as much as this one, and I must say that this is the best, easiest to use scale i've ever used. It worked straight out of the box. All you have to do is step on it and it reads out your weight, and then shuts itself off. You have to enter your personal settings to get body fat/bone mass/lean mass readings, but entering your info is very simple. this scale is classy looking, not bulky, and quite accurate. Body fat percentages are notoriously inaccurate from all bio-resistance type scales because of daily variations in water retention, and other factors, but this scale is as accurate as one could hope. The only thing i don't quite understand is the "athlete" vs "normal" mode. all the "athlete" mode seems to do is cut the body fat result by about 10%, and i'm not sure exactly what constitutes an "athlete" according to the manufacturer, so i just use normal mode to watch for small changes in body fat. At very least, this scale will tell you whether your body fat is going up or down or staying the same. I highly recommend this product, and I would recommend it even if it was twice the price.

DO NOT BUY this scaled if you want it to work. DO NOT BUY this scale if you want it to read your body fat, bone mass, etc. DO NOT BUY this scale if you enjoy your sanity. DO BUY this scale if you want to read your weight and that is all. DO BUY this scale if you want to mash a cheaply made piece of trash into many little pieces for the low low price of $17.00. Seriously, the MODE button didn't work, thus I could not set it up . The instructions are kind of confusing and you can tell that the fine folks at Taylor know they are selling a junk piece of plastic. Sort of a wink/ nod that lets you know they just took your money and you are better off pinching an inch and guessing your fat/ weight and bone mass rather than trusting this Dollar Store-like Playskool Barbie Dream Scale.

I've had the scale for a couple months now hoping to see consistency in the readings the scale gives....I'm still waiting. The scale is not consistent...I've weighed myself two or three times in a row and get different figures each time. You have to stand in the EXACT same position to get the same reading. I also would not call it user friendly to jump between menus. There is a lot to remember. I'd pass on this fat reading scale and try a different one.

I picked this scale because my mother is on meds that reduce her appetite and her thirst. She's losing weight and dehydrating, and this seemed like a good way to show her what's happening.

In five weeks we've successfully gotten one reading for her.

This scale is too fussy. These are the problems we've had with it:

- The battery falls out, so (obviously) the scale doesn't power on.

- The scale displays "Err" or a wildly inaccurate number. Yes, we initialize the scale before using it.

- Mom has balance problems, and the scale turns off before she manages to step up and center herself.

Even though I don't have the same problems, I don't have the time to fuss with it and figure out what the problem is, so I only manage to weigh myself about once a week. For me, the numbers are in the range I expect, so I'm guessing the scale is at least somewhat accurate. But it's so hard to use that my mother refuses to even try anymore. Since I got it for her, that means it's useless.

I wish I had just gotten another Health o Meter HDL820-18 scale to replace the one I'd lost in a move. It only measures weight, but it's accurate, easy to use, and easy to read.

I never want to rely on body weight alone to assess my health. Scale weight alone will not tell you your body composition. The Taylor 5596G is easy to use, somewhat consistent, and offers lots of information. The primary reason I purchased this scale was to help monitor the effectiveness of my diet. I want to see the body fat decrease without loss of lean body mass. Though my diet isn't perfect neither is this scale. After weighing in 5 times in a row my body weight was the same each time. All other numbers varied but by only 1 - 3%. Short of having a hydrostatic weigh-in done I think that this scale is the next best thing.

Affordability is a 5. Accuracy is a 4. Ease of use is a 4.5.

Overall, I really like this scale. It's well-built, solid, and highly accurate for weight (tested it against a high end scale and it was only 0.2 pounds off). My major problem is the size of the display -- I can't see the numbers without my glasses. The other irk is that it beeps twice when you use it for reading anything other than just weight. And the beeps are loud!

The fat, bone mass, hydration and muscle mass features seem to work, but as with all scales in this price range, the readings are probably more of an approximation than an accurate read. But, it's valuable data to track to see the relative changes over time -- regardless of what the reading is for fat, if it trends downward over time, you know you're doing good (or vice versa).

Setup is a bit cumbersome, but if you follow the directions it's not too hard. For the price (got it as a Gold Box deal) it is a good value.