I was hesitant to get a Withings smart scale because of some poor reviews.I am realizing these reviews must have been written within the two years Nokia owned the company (2016-2018), before the original owner took over again, because I really think this scale is great! I am writing a review to help those who are on the fence as I was and scared by the bad reviews.My background and why I decided to get this scale:I gained a lot of weight during the pandemics - for the first time in 10 years. I used to have a BMI of 18-22 and it jumped to almost 27! (see attached pic, where Withings picked up my previous years’ weight from Apple’s Health App) I freaked out, tried to track my weight, but my old IKEA cheap scale was not helping me understand my trends and how to lose the weight. Relying on doctor’s visits to weight was also not cutting it. I am very techy 👩🏻‍💻, an Apple fan, and realized it was time to invest in a smart Wi-Fi scale that would help me understand my trends, and how to eat correctly to get back in shape.I tried both the Body+ and the Cardio scales, each for about a week. Both are great. As I don’t intend to ever wear a watch that keeps track of heart rates, I decided to keep the Cardio scale for added health value.In the first week of use it showed I wasn’t losing any weight despite trying to eat correctly, which made me decide to track calories with an app that works with Withings scales - MyFitnessPal. Using the two in conjunction, it becomes a matter of math - how much you put in really determines how much weight you lose. If you’re doing any kind of exercise, you can also input it in the apps and it helps predict the timeline of your weight loss. There’s no big mystery involved, it’s basic math that the scale does in conjunction with the apps. With the info in hand, in the last few weeks I finally started losing weight! (about 3.2kg = 7 lbs) and I can claim both Withings scales were crucial in helping me achieve that. People say you have to pay for the MyFitnessPal app but tou don’t have to, only if you want to unlock added features. The basic tracking of 1200 calories a day is there and it works well enough, and it already has the calorie count for most produce and processed foods (which of course you should try to avoid).I am slowly learning which way of eating works for my body these days. Gotta love technology! Every person should have a smart scale, even if you didn’t gain weight. It’s important to know your health trends to be able to keep accountable and realize if there are times you start to gain weight so you’re able to stop the process.Health Mate, the app that records your progress for Withings scales, can link to with Apple Health app, which also links to my medical MyChart account where my doctors track pressure and whatnot, so the scale also shows items like that and calculates your body fat, BMI, vascular health & age, daily steps. It shows the morning and afternoon temperature so you can’t figure out what to wear for that day. The scale app also provides friendly health related feedback when you’re not walking or exercising enough and suggests things you can do to improve and tells you the science behind it. That’s a really cool feature.I won’t say it’s perfect as I feel software could be updated and have more interactive features as well as more settings so the display in the app was exactly the way I wanted. I am also not a huge fan of the design with the stripes, I work with design and am picky. But I understand that technologically that’s what needed to be done to provide your cardio stats.But - I feel this is the best brand of smart scales in the market, perhaps competing only with Qardio brand.I am also a tad confused by the numbers as I know my heart rate is always 100 at the doctor’s office and the first 5 days mine showed at 130+. Perhaps I was jumping on the scale when I was a little anxious as today it marked 66.I got it on Amazon Day and had a nice discount too. In any case, this scale will last for years and is way cheaper than a sole doctors consultation fee. I feel it’s an investment in your health and worth every penny. Not to mention I am now on my way to having a healthy BMI again and fitting in my clothes. Without this scale, I’d have to buy a whole new post pandemic wardrobe as nothing I have fits me.Do your health a favor and get this scale ASAP.• Follow up Jan. 2023:The company has excellent customer service, I lost the charging cable, didn’t know exactly what to buy and contacted the company. They sent me a new cable, no charges, no questions asked. So cool.As you can see in the (updated) picture, this scale helped me focus, understand my body and I managed to lose the 25 lbs I gained during pandemics. Need to lose 10 more pounds to get to my former weight but I’ll get there. Most of all, scale shows me if I gain even 1/2 or 1 lbs and I can course correct before things get worse. I weight every morning when I wake up and it aids in never letting myself get where I did during pandemics again. Functions as an “alert”.I’m extremely happy with this device! Worth every penny invested! They are also improving their Healthmate app lately. New features were added over new year which are quite cool including weekly / monthly / yearly trends, educative programs, alerts to drink tea, etc Thank you Withings!