The MyKronoz MyScale is an attractive and accurate smart scale. But neither the hardware nor the software is flawless. Find out why in our full review.
Should I Buy The MyKronoz MyScale?
Pros
- Syncs with Google Fit & Apple Health
- USB charging
- Range of measurement options
Cons
- Not Fitbit compatible
- Struggles with multiple users
- Expensive
- Scale can rock back
Our Verdict
Price When Reviewed
- $99.90
If MyKronoz is a new name to you, we can tell you that it’s a Swiss company based in Geneva. So far, it has focused on wearables such as smart watches and ear buds but more recently, it's branched out to produce the MyScale.
The advantage of smart scales over ordinary digital scales is that they will give you a range of other readings alongside your weight. You can also link them to fitness apps or wearables.
In the case of the MyKronoz MyScale, as well as your weight, it’ll measure your body fat, muscle mass, bone mass, body water percentage and heart rate. It’ll also calculate your BMI. It's compatible with Apple Health and Google Fit but not FitBit. It's perhaps no surprise that MyKronoz created it to support its own wearables, rather than opting for more universal compatibility.
During testing, MyScale was compared to another digital scale and it appeared to give a very accurate weight reading.
Design And Appearance
- Tempered glass mirrored surface
- Full colour LED display
- USB charging
MyScale is a disc-shaped scale with a tempered glass surface. It has a stylish mirrored finish but the downside is that it picks up smudges every time you touch it. Also, because of the placement of the feet on the underside, unless you step exactly onto the middle of the scale, it can rock back or forward unnervingly when you climb on. This could be genuinely dangerous for older or infirm people and we are baffled that this design flaw wasn't picked up earlier.
It needs a hard surface to stand on as well, so don't try using it on carpet.
The LED display, which appears under the surface like a smart mirror, is in full colour, with a related symbol to accompany each measurement. You can choose, via the app, to have your weight displayed in either kilos or lbs.
The scale itself weighs 2.1kg (4.6lbs) and charges via a USB-C lead. MyKronoz claims that the lithium-ion battery will last for up to a year between charges. As some smart scales still use AA batteries, this is a nice feature.
Set Up
- Can sync with Apple Health and Google Fit
Once I downloaded the free to use MyKronoz app for Apple (it needs iOS 9.0 or higher) or Android (6.0 or higher), I followed the in-app prompts to set up the smart scale.
Initially, the process was straightforward. I input my Wi-Fi name and password, waited for it to connect and then stood on the scale.
Being an iPhone user, I was also given the option to sync with Apple Health, but MyScale will also connect with Google Fit. I connected two users to the scale, one on an iPhone and one on Android. It's easy to add new profiles. The app will generate a QR code which the new user can scan.
Once connected, you can choose which measurements (such as heart rate and muscle mass) you want the scale to display and they’ll be shown, one by one, after your weight. They'll also be logged in the app.
So far, so good: the syncing symbol came up on both the scale and in the app but the data was not added to the profile I’d created. The on-screen prompts stop at this stage of the set-up and it was difficult to figure out what was going on.
Although the key parts of the app are well designed, other information – such as troubleshooting instructions – is hidden away. I had to go to ‘Settings’, then ‘Tutorials’, then scroll through four pages before I found the answer to my question.
If you find that your data is not going straight to your profile, here’s how to retrieve it. Go to ‘Advanced settings’, then ‘Assign weight-ins’ (sic). Click on the weigh-ins you want to link to your profile – if they're there – and you’re done.
However, over the testing period, I found that sometimes the data was sent to the correct account, sometimes to the wrong account, sometimes to the unknown measurements section of the app and sometimes nowhere at all.
The other issue was that measurements beyond body weight were not always taken by the scale, in spite of following the advice and standing on the scale barefoot and for a long enough period. This meant that in some weigh-ins, only BMI and weight appeared.
App Display
- 7 body measurements
On the main dashboard, you’ll find your last weigh-in figure, alongside the date, as well as data on your body fat, muscle mass, bone mass, body water percentage, heart rate and BMI – if you choose to display these measurements. Click on any one of these and you’ll see the trend from weigh-in to weigh-in.
You can set a weight loss or gain goal and the progress will be tracked on the dashboard. You can also tailor your notifications to alert you to new weigh-ins, progress and reminders.
It’s worth saying at this point that the MyKronoz app displays your data without judgement. Some other smart scales will colour-code BMI information, for example, in traffic light green, yellow or red, depending on whether the software deems that you fall into the category of normal, overweight or obese.
As ideal BMI and other measurements are only a guideline and vary somewhat from territory to territory, this can be off-putting for people who want to improve their health without getting a telling-off. Worse, there are even smart scales that grade users with slightly pejorative terms, such as chubby.
Smart scales use a mild electrical current to measure resistance in your body and from this determine body fat percentage and other measurements. Obviously, this means they will never be 100% accurate. If you want to make positive changes to your health, what’s important is the ability to measure a trend accurately. The MyKronoz app makes this easy to do, so rather than worrying about whether a figure is exactly right or not, you can focus on whether your lifestyle is making the numbers go in the direction you want.
Having said that, there’s a bit of a downside. If you’re interested in finding out, for example, how your muscle mass measures up against a healthy ideal, the MyKronoz app won’t give you an instant answer. You’ll need calculate your muscle mass as a percentage of your body weight, go to the Muscle Mass section in the app, click on the information icon and then scroll through four pages to find the data on healthy muscle mass in your age group and compare.
Price
The MyScale is available in the UK from the MyKronoz site. At £99.90, it's more expensive than some competitors with similar specs. The FitTrack Dara, for example, will give you 17 different body measurements, is Fitbit compatible and about half the price of the MyScale.
If you're in the US, it's available from Amazon, although it's out of stock at the time of writing. The best US price we can currently find for it is on Wayfair, where it's available for $73.99, making it a much more budget-friendly choice.
Verdict
There's a lot to like in the MyKronoz MyScale: the look of the scale, its accuracy, the decent range of body measurements it provides and the readable way they're laid out in the app.
However, other issues, including the feet placement that can make the scale tip backwards if the user doesn't stand firmly in the middle, give us pause.
To see which other smart scales we've tested and recommend, have a look at our round-up of the best smart scales we've tested.
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