Tanita BF679W Duo Scale Plus Body Fat Monitor with Body Water Reviews

• Keeping Us Honest

  
  By A19M235PQ9QFD7 on 2005-12-02
  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.
  
  

• Weight measurement good, other features bad

  
  By A3T7HWCA7IJPNW on 2006-02-17
  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.
  
  

• Good Value Choice

  
  By A1OZA52DFY3SHD on 2007-04-29
  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 resistence 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 occassionally 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 "commerical" body fat scales. Second, reviewers talk about the consistency of the body fat measurements. Your body fat can fluctuate several percent over the course of the day. 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 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'll mess up the readings. Again, this happens with all commerical body fat scales.
  
  Overall, this is a great, highly 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.
  
  

• Great Scale, Accurate, Fat monitor is great.

  
  By A2T52XCOR0K646 on 2005-09-24
  I bought this scale, my first impression when i saw it out of the box was "looks cheep" because was very light but i has 10 years of warranty and tanita is a reliable brand.
  
  The operation was easy, i dont like when readings appear change to fast to watter %, and then change again to weight and % fat.
  
  But i can tell you that readings seem accurate I compara with the scale of my gym (the ones with weights you move) and weights are the same.
  
  I Like very much the fact that you can monitor %fat, because you can see if you really have been loosing weight of watter or really loosing fat.
  
  
  

• Great product

  
  By A2R8JPDZO4QTAO on 2006-02-16
  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.
  
  
• Eh, so so scale
  By A1D90BN3T62G66 on 2007-04-06
  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.
  
  
• BF with hydration... the right metric
  By A1YAMGOA0DMLQA on 2007-07-10
  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!!!
  
  
• so good, so far
  By A2DDB40CQK1IIM on 2005-08-19
  no complaints. nice for two people. pretty consistent on measurements. what gives it a 5 star is the price; hard to beat w/ free shipping.
  
  
• The most accurate bathroom scale I have ever found
  By A2G31BUNV2GD70 on 2006-12-12
  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.
  
  
• Why bother?
  By ACZIQZVQ4DUDA on 2007-08-23
  I longed for a scale that could actually be accurate for once. I was frustrated with the ones that rounded to .5 of a lb because I felt like the number always fluctuated between 1-2 lbs. So I did what most of you do and read review after review. I thought this scale would finally be the one scale that made me feel like I was progressing. Well...it wasn't. I can stand on it once, get a reading, stand on it again 2 minutes later and have gained 1.5 lbs. So I think to myself, maybe it's my body water...but that number hardly ever changes! As far as the fat monitor goes, I don't trust it and didn't really think it would change that much, but that number fluctuates too. For some reason I don't think I can have a body mass of 20 one minute and 18 two minutes later. Another note, when I move the scale to a different part of my bathroom floor I can lose up to 5 lbs! Isn't that amazing!?!
  
  Needless to say, my parent's scale that they've had since 1973...the metal one with the dial... is the most accurate scale I've used.
  
  
  
• easy to use and appears to be accurate
  By A3YWTSXEHFA0M on 2006-11-10
  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.
  
  
• consistent measurements
  By A292FXWVFB4HQN on 2006-11-05
  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!
  
  
• Not As Advertised!!!
  By A3TND51T2Q3ANR on 2006-10-03
  As a 16 year old teenager struggling with his own weight problems, I bought the Tanita BF679W scale thinking that I could monitor my weifght everyday.
  
  Well, when I got my product, I enthusiastically took the time out of my schedule to program it with my age, height, and gender.
  
  But, when I tried scaling my weight for the first time, the scale DID NOT read out my water percentage as advertised. I soon learned this is because Tanita's water percentage only works on older ages 20+. This is strange because the manual specifically says that Tanita supports programming from ages 7 and up.
  
  
• Excellent machine.....exact weights
  By A1TJY1YFWLG5PR on 2006-04-27
  I am using this machine on regular basis since the day i got it. And it shows the exact weight all the time, the body fat meter, i dont know how much accurate it is, but for me it seems to be right , and i also happened to use the machine for weigthing my suitcases when going on an international journey, and the weight the machine showed is EXACT!!! AS that of the machines in the airport.....ok finally ...am very impressed.
  
  
• Nice accurate scale
  By A26HW3ZQH4HO8J on 2007-01-18
  I have to agree with others that it is pretty useless as far as a body fat monitor goes. I would get wildly different scores from day to day. But as far as a weight scale goes, it is pretty accurate and consistent. It weighs me the same as my Dr's scale and usually does not vary the weight when getting off and back on. At times it has been .2 of a pound different but my old digital scale would vary as much as 3-5 pounds when getting off and back on so this is much better. The price is pretty good I feel for a good accurate scale. I also like the feature that two people can share the scale and have it remember each persons stats.
  
  
• I like it!
  By A1USB9EOBQZK1O on 2005-08-29
  I am very pleased with the Tanita scale/fat monitor. The information and instructions are carefully presented. I am just beginning to use the duo. I think it will help me to lower the percentag of fat in my body and to be healthy.
  
  
• A good basic scale
  By AGEA2ZIBZ4THQ on 2007-07-23
  The body fat monitor is not particularly useful unless you use it immediately after taking a shower or bath when your skin moisture level is consistent. The scale will provide very large variations in body fat and water content if you go from a bath, to taking off slippers, to walking barefoot. It could be the climate has a large influence here as the humidity is quite low and so skin moisture can really vary depending upon dress and time of the day.
  
  The scale on the other hand is very accurate and I have checked it against some known weights and found it to constantly be within a few ounces even on heavy objects.
  
  
• needed it
  By A1GA8J3MGPDBAA on 2005-10-03
  before getting this scale, i could only imagine how much i weighed. After getting the scale, i was surprised, not only to see how much i weigh but to also know the body fat. Its a must have scale.
  
  
• Avoid this Company
  By A3Z6SNWXPDPO5 on 2006-02-28
  If you strictly want a digital scale then this should work fine, but I have yet to have the body fat portion work two days in a row. Each morning after calculating my weight it goes through its 5-4-3-2-1 and then I get Err. I then remove and replace the batteries from the scale and try again and it works. Not a very user friendly device.
  
  I notice all the positive reviews for this scale. I cannot concur.
  
  
• Use of Shower Chair
  By A10740ZI9F8YN1 on 2006-03-21
  The scale if absolutely wonderful except---it just doesn't stay lit long enough for us older people to focus and read the scale. I just can't get my weight, fat number, and water content before it disappears. My husband is quite elderly and by the time the scale can register due to his shaking so much, the numbers disappear! If there was a way to make it register for a longer period of time it would help us emensly.
  
  
• Scales Above Others
  By AJ6L68Q1D86PE on 2007-07-13
  If you're dieting and working out, you'll need this scale. With the muscle mass increase and your fat mass decrease, it's difficult to actually see the fat loss, when you're trying to loose weight. With this scale, you can watch the body fat index decrease throughout your diet and be encouraged that it's working. The price is good. The scale worked and was in perfect condition, when I received it. All in all, very good buy.
  
  
• a piece of junk
  By A2AM935VDREKBL on 2007-05-03
  I own a Tanita scales. It worked great until the original batteries ran out. A call to the company gave me the information that any AA batteries would work. That is an out right lie. I spent $ 24.00 on a variety of batteries from regular AA to Lithium AA and NONE works on the scales. Hence, I am buying a new scales now. It is simply too expensive to replace the scales every time the batteries run out.
  
  
• Works great.
  By AAPJN3F3RNFDM on 2007-05-28
  Works well. Has more features than most scales we looked at. Weight, fat and water. Great for the two of us. Only stores for two people. Mostly to store your Age/Height/Gender. Than lets you know if you're in range for your age/gender/height. And lets you know if your are above, or below the range for your group. Does have a visitor feature that will only read weight. Easy to use.
  
  
• Tanita Fat & Water Monitor Scale
  By ANSUDZYY64JIW on 2006-03-20
  I really needed a new scale and wasn't sure what to buy. After viewing several scales that monitored weight and fat, I found this one to be extra special because it also monitored water weight. Maybe it's more important to a woman, but this feature is great. The scale is VERY easy to program. The only down side about this particular scale is it only saves settings for two people, and there are three of us! Otherwise it's perfect and I would definitely reccommend it.
  
  
• Weight consistent...other measurements not
  By A3W2BDKELXZ8K3 on 2006-09-30
  The company was late in shipping. If you like gadgets, it's fun; but I question the accuracy. In three days' time -- weight remained steady (darn), water reduced 6%, and body fat went up over 5%??? I don't think so!
  
  
• Fantastic Scale!
  By A1A1U2UM300HIU on 2007-07-10
  I've become a very health conscious person and I'm really working hard to stay in shape and keep tabs on the state of my body. I got this scale to help do the job and I have been so happy with it! It lightweight and attractive so I can keep it in my bathroom without it being an eyesore. It's readings are dead on with the scale at my gym and at the doctor's office. I like that it measures my wieght, body fat percentage, and body water ammount. It gives all the important info! This is a handy tool in monitoring my body's health and I would highly recommend it!
  
  Em
  My beauty secrets: Absolue SPF15 by Lancome, Skin Revitalizer by Relastin, and Melon Daiquiri Lip Shine by Philosophy
  
  
• Has the bells and whistles but does the basics well too!
  By AHO2SVITTRY4P on 2007-09-01
  Think of it as a just a basic bathroom scale with the ability to provide some other useful information. I guess I knew the truth but the features are an additional reminder and provide more incentive. Easy to use, easy to set up, and I had found favorable information about this model in other places also. Now about that weight loss program.......
  
  
• No complaints whatsoever
  By A25195FI2YT4X2 on 2007-10-04
  I bought this scale from Amazon around 3-4 years ago and I have absolutely no complaints whatsoever. It's a pleasure to own & use. I bought my father a nice "health" scale, but I don't like it nearly as much as this one. I haven't had to change the batteries yet so have no idea what kind of batteries this scale even uses. The numbers are nice and large and very easy to read without our eyeglasses. I have to weigh at least twice in succession each morning before eating or drinking because the scale is so accurate it reflects the tiniest fluctuations that my fat or water (?) goes through before it settles down right after I use the bathroom. I used to get a kick out of seeing my body fat percentage right after my weight; but that got old quickly and so now I just use the "guest" button where nothing is programmed, just like a regular scale. Incidentally, there is a switch underneath the scale that allows you to choose pounds, kilograms or another combination. My nurse friend was so impressed with it, she bought herself an identical scale. And my son & his wife liked it so much they requested and received one from her bridal registry. I think this scale was worth the xtra bucks. BTW, I believe when I purchased the scale it was sold through Amazon directly.
  
  
• Great Product.
  By A3VO12HTUP5HNK on 2006-08-15
  This scale is great Read the manual the readings do need some interpertation Would Highly reccomend this scale has been a great Aide in the 60 pounds of Fat i have lost in 3 and a half months
  
  
• Tanita Scales Read Body Fat Higher by 5-8%
  By A2JBB50KPWYEWQ on 2007-01-16
  After weighing myself consistently for a week, the scale continued to read 42% body fat. A couple days later I registered for the National Body Challenge and they took my fat percentage and said I was actually at 37% body fat. A personal trainer told me the hand-held body fat analysis gadgets are more accurate than the scales. It is pretty accurate in terms of weight, but I've read that can be a little high too. If I could change my purchase I would have ordered the Omron Body Fat Analyzer, it's usually only about 3-4% higher. As always, the most accurate way to measure body fat is with calipers...if you can do it by yourself!
  
  

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