Tag Archives: region|US

Minimal phone pioneer Punkt is back with a new privacy-focused model at CES

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The Swiss minimal phone pioneer Punkt is back with another model, the MC03. The new handset continues Punkt's focus on privacy, security and digital minimalism.

If you've never seen Punkt's MP01 and MP02, the company's gorgeously minimal dumb phone line, they're something to behold. (The MP01 is quite literally a museum piece, in New York’s Museum of Modern Art.) Meanwhile, this new MC03 is the company's second stab at a more practical touchscreen smartphone, following 2023’s MC02. What you lose in physical beauty and tactile buttons, you gain in flexibility.

As before, the smartphone runs the privacy- and security-focused AphyOS, based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). The fork on the MC03 appears to borrow a page from the Light Phone line. Its UI includes a Light Phone-adjacent row of text for the most common shortcuts, like mail, contacts and calendar.

Marketing image of the Punkt MC03 phone. A dark UI shows text shortcuts for common apps and tasks.
Punkt MC03
Punkt

The MC03 splits data into two sections. There's The Vault, a secure enclave for apps Punkt has vetted for privacy and security. The second, Wild Web, gives you the freedom to install any Android app. To protect you while using that section, there's Ledger, which Punkt describes as "strict, visible safeguards that allow easy privacy controls." Much like Android's Permission Manager, Ledger lets you define which data, sensors and background resources each app can access. In exchange for the tediousness of approving and denying permissions, you get more gradual control over your data.

All the apps from another Swiss company, Proton, are available in The Vault. (That includes Proton Mail, Proton Calendar, Proton Drive, Proton VPN, and Proton Pass.) Proton founder and CEO Andy Yen said he hopes the collaboration can "inject a little more choice into the marketplace, giving users more ways to take control of their data and regain their privacy."

Folks buying the MC03 aren't doing so to get cutting-edge hardware. The phone has an OLED display with a high (120Hz) frame rate, great for showing off that clean, black UI. The MC03 has a removable 5,200mAh battery and a 64MP camera. The device is rated IP68 for water and dust resistance.

Shipments for the Punkt MC03 begin this month in the European market. The phone costs €699 / CHF699 / £610. As with its previous models, the MC03 requires a subscription. (Punkt frames this as paying to retain your data, rather than paying with your data.) One year of the subscription is included with your purchase. After that, you'll have to pay €9.99 / CHF9.99 / £8.99 monthly. However, paying ahead for a long-term subscription lets you save up to 60 percent. You can learn more on the company’s website.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/minimal-phone-pioneer-punkt-is-back-with-a-new-privacy-focused-model-at-ces-110000705.html?src=rss

The best rice cooker for 2026

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A great rice cooker can change the way you handle weeknight meals. Instead of watching the pot or dealing with uneven results, you get fluffy, consistent rice with almost no effort. Modern rice cookers can do a lot more than white rice, too. Many handle brown rice, oatmeal and grains, and some function like mini multi-cookers for soups or stews.

With so many options available, the best rice cooker for you depends on how often you cook, how much counter space you have and which features matter most. We tested a range of models to find the best rice cookers for everything from small kitchens to big family dinners.

Since rice is a foundation for so many different cuisines, I placed a high value on a machine’s ability to cook different types of rice well. I started testing each electric rice cooker by making a Japanese style, sushi-grade white rice. The appliances that delivered tasty results moved on to the brown rice round, then the top performers made long-grain white basmati as a final challenge. Some models I tested included a steamer basket, but I didn't try all of them out. This is a rice-only party. Multi-cookers and steaming functions are merely a nice bonus in these, although if that's a feature you want, an instant pot might be more your jam.

While I weighed rice tastiness and texture as the most important criteria, I also assessed how easy the machines were to use and to clean. That includes things like how intuitive the cooking functions are, whether the inner pot is nonstick and how well the keep warm setting performs. I also took note of helpful kitchen tools that came included like a measuring cup, which is essential when getting the amount of water just right for each cup of rice. Because a cool piece of gear that sits in your cabinet gathering dust is a cool, but ultimately useless piece of gear. I limited my testing to models retailing for less than $300, which felt like the most I could recommend investing in a specialized appliance, and value for cost wound up being the distinguishing point for a good rice cooker.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/best-rice-cooker-120015478.html?src=rss

Starlink is lowering thousands of satellites’ orbits to reduce risk of collisions

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Starlink will lower the orbits of roughly 4,400 satellites this year as a safety measure, according to engineering VP, Michael Nicolls. In a post on X, Nicolls wrote that the company is "beginning a significant reconfiguration of its satellite constellation," in which all satellites orbiting at around 550 kilometers (342 miles) will be lowered to around 480 km (298 miles). The move is intended to reduce the risk of collisions, putting the satellites in a region that's less cluttered and will allow them to deorbit more quickly should an incident occur. 

"Lowering the satellites results in condensing Starlink orbits, and will increase space safety in several ways," Nicolls wrote, also pointing to the coming solar minimum — a period in the sun's 11ish-year cycle when activity is lower — as one of the reasons for the move. The next solar minimum is expected to occur in the early 2030s. "As solar minimum approaches, atmospheric density decreases which means the ballistic decay time at any given altitude increases - lowering will mean a >80% reduction in ballistic decay time in solar minimum, or 4+ years reduced to a few months," Nicolls wrote.

A screenshot of the X post by Starlink VP of engineering Michael Nicolls
A screenshot of an X post by Starlink VP of engineering Michael Nicolls announcing that satellites orbiting at around 500 kilometers will be lowered to 480km

The announcement comes a few weeks after Starlink said one of its satellites had experienced an anomaly that created some debris and sent it tumbling. Just a few days earlier, Nicolls posted about a close call with a batch of satellites he said were launched from China seemingly without any attempt to coordinate with operators of existing satellites in the space. With his latest announcement, Nicolls added that lowering Starlink's satellites "will further improve the safety of the constellation, particularly with difficult to control risks such as uncoordinated maneuvers and launches by other satellite operators."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/starlink-is-lowering-thousands-of-satellites-orbits-to-reduce-risk-of-collisions-030509067.html?src=rss

Samsung’s latest Freestyle portable projector is brighter and smarter

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Samsung has upgraded its Freestyle portable projector for 2026. The company announced a new model, the Freestyle+, ahead of CES, touting twice the brightness of its predecessor at 430 ISO lumens, and AI-powered screen optimization features. As with Freestyles past, the Freestyle+ offers 180-degree rotation and 360-degree audio. This one also supports Q-Symphony so it'll work with some Samsung soundbars. Samsung hasn't revealed much else in the way of specs or pricing, but it'll be showing off the Freestyle+ at CES 2026, so we're likely to learn more details soon. 

While previous iterations of Samsung's compact projector offered automatic screen adjustment features, like auto focus and auto leveling, the Freestyle+ uses AI to take optimization a step further. With AI OptiScreen, as the company is calling it, the projector offers 3D auto keystone to fix distortion on uneven or non-flat surfaces, real-time focus when the projector is moved, automatic screen fit for compatible accessories and wall calibration to reduce visual distractions from the projection surface. It'll also support Samsung's Vision AI Companion. 

The company hasn't announced a specific release date yet for the new projector, but says it's targeting the first half of the year. It'll be released in phases globally. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/samsungs-latest-freestyle-portable-projector-is-brighter-and-smarter-014026804.html?src=rss

How to watch the Hyundai CES 2026 press conference live

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Hyundai's wheeled robot took home an award.
Hyundai

CES has long felt like a full-on auto show, but the car-centric energy seems somewhat muted at CES 2026. Sure, the Afeela electric vehicle from the Sony-Honda joint venture is returning to the show floor, but with the Trump administration yanking most EV incentives from the market, the industry isn't offering a full-court press of new vehicles in Las Vegas this year.

That includes Hyundai. While the company's Mobis subsidiary will present "more than 30 mobility convergence technologies" during CES week — including its Holographic Windshield Display — we're hearing the Korean auto giant will instead use its press conference to focus on its AI Robotics Strategy. That will apparently include showcasing its new Atlas robot, as well as the wheeled MobED robot line. We'll get into the details below, along with how to watch it today.

Hyundai's presentation takes place today, January 5 at 4PM ET, and you can livestream it on either its HyundaiUSA YouTube channel or its global YouTube channel. (We've embedded the link below.)

Hyundai is putting a huge focus on its AI Robotics Strategy during its presentation today — the theme is "Partnering Human Progress." That'll include its strategies for commercializing AI-enhanced robotics, keeping with the very AI-centric focus of this year's CES.

We'll also get a first-ever look at the company's new Atlas robot. In the teaser image shown in the press release, Atlas looks rather dog-like, which makes sense when you remember that Boston Dynamics was purchased by the Korean multinational back in 2020.

"This next-generation Atlas represents a tangible step toward the commercialization of AI Robotics, highlighting the Group’s commitment to building safe and adaptable robotic co-workers," the company said in the same press release.

But Atlas isn't the only robot the company has up its sleeve. There's also the MobED Droid, a wheeled 'bot that scored a CES 2026 Innovation Award as the show opened this week. 

While on stage, Hyundai says it will "reveal its strategic AI Robotics learning, training and expansion plans," via its Group Value Network and Software-Defined Factory approach. That includes a manufacturing strategy and an advanced smart factory.

We originally thought Hyundai would showcase its Holographic Windshield Display during its press conference, but a Hyundai representative notified us it won't be featured today. It will have a separate CES presence, though not a separate press conference. 

Update, January 5 2026, 2:58PM ET: This story has been updated to include information on the MobED robot line, and to note that the Holographic Windshield Display likely won't be featured at the press conference.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/how-to-watch-the-hyundai-ces-2026-press-conference-live-190051823.html?src=rss

Airloom will showcase its new approach to wind power at CES

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One of the many concerns about artificial intelligence these days is how the rush to build data centers is impacting local communities. Data centers can create a drain on resources, and some utility companies have already said customers can expect to see their electricity bills growing as these facilities increase demand. There have been some discussions of what other power sources could support the AI engine, and wind power specialist Airloom is one company that's looking to address the problem. Ahead of the business' upcoming appearance at CES, we've learned a bit about what Airloom has accomplished this year and what it is aiming for next.

Rather than the very tall towers typically used for this approach, Airloom's structures are 20 to 30 meters high. They are comprised of a loop of adjustable wings that move along a track, a design that’s akin to a roller coaster. As the wings move, they generate power just like the blades on a regular wind turbine do. Airloom claims that its structures require 40 percent less mass than a traditional one while delivering the same output. It also says the Airloom's towers require 42 percent fewer parts and 96 percent fewer unique parts. In combination, the company says its approach is 85 percent faster to deploy and 47 percent less expensive than horizontal axis wind turbines. Airloom broke ground on a pilot site in June for testing out its approach and confirming how those figures work in practice.

It’s not feasible to bring a wind farm, even a small one, into CES, but Airloom will have a booth at the event with materials about its technology and engineering. While the business isn't in a consumer-facing field, the impact of Airloom's work could have a future positive impact on people if the data center boom continues.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/airloom-will-showcase-its-new-approach-to-wind-power-at-ces-160000063.html?src=rss

In 2025, quitting social media felt easier than ever

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For a tech writer, being very offline is sort of like being a marathon coach who doesn’t run. So in 2025, I tried to reverse years of studied avoidance towards the most ubiquitous technological phenomenon on earth — I got back on social media. The change was short-lived. 

My first exodus from the feeds took some work — disabling notifications, removing apps from my homescreen and then deleting accounts entirely. This time, the phone put itself down. The whole thing has simply lost its luster.

I started with Instagram. Every experience went like this: I’d see a single post from one of the rare family members or IRL friends who are active on the platform. Next, I was fed a sponsored post, followed by suggestions to follow randos. After that, a series of influencer videos that, admittedly, appeal to my taste (funny/absurdist women and dissertations on urban planning). That was followed up with more sponsored posts, mostly from brands I’d looked up for work. Then it’d circle back to the influencers. My eyes glazed over and I tossed the phone aside.  

Years back, the platform gave off a jolt of quasi-social connection that I’d spend hours sucking up. I fed on pointless thoughts from an ex-coworker, vacation reels from a college roommate, a half-baked loaf of bread that an old friend dropped on the floor but took a picture of anyway. Now it’s a bare sliver of that stuff, shoehorned between towers of sponsored content and posts from people who make or promote their living on Instagram. The real people have left. The connection is gone. The FOMO is no more.   

I experienced some variation of the same disappointment on every platform I rejoined. When I got back on TikTok a few months after the ban, it felt like a frenzied shopping mall. Every video seems to be about four seconds long and most are promotional and/or shoppable. YouTube Shorts is drowning in AI-generated videos, and I don’t hit up social media to watch fake footage of desperate wild animal babies clambering onto the boats of helpful humans. My life has no need for simulated toddlers admonishing their pets. Occasionally, I’d hit on something compelling: a clip from late night TV, a stupidly decadent dessert recipe, people from other countries explaining cultural subtleties. 

But for me, these social media platforms are no longer velcro for the eyes. I remember losing focus, spending long hours on YouTube Shorts and IG. I’d look up bleary-eyed and shame-faced after hours scrolling TikTok’s For You Page. Now, after a few minutes, a bored ickiness sets in. I feel like I’m trapped in a carnival of bots hawking shampoo at me and I just want to go home. 

It’s not a mystery how or why things feel different; The answer is always money. These billion- and trillion-dollar companies have shareholders who prize year-over-year performance over anything else. So we get more sponsored posts on Instagram. TikTok purposefully, enthusiastically overloads itself with shoppable content (which isn’t going to change no matter who owns it). YouTube is obsessed with engagement so it ends up rewarding people who flood the platform with AI slop. These platforms aren’t about human connections and the spread of creativity — the stuff that used to draw me in — they’re thinly varnished ecommerce sites sprinkled with brute-forced AI oddities.   

I’d be sadder about the whole thing if I thought it could be any different. These companies are among the most valuable in the world. The fact that I can’t connect with my fellow common people using their services is not surprising. The change isn’t even driving everyone away. Instagram reported more users than ever this year, to the tune of 35 percent of the planet. Billions of users still scroll TikTok and watch YouTube Shorts. So maybe it’s just a me thing.  

And I have options. Over-monetization may have made me not want to engage with a few social media behemoths, but things aren’t so dire everywhere. Bluesky reminds me of Twitter before X. I take comfort in seeing posts that prove most people are as dismayed as I am over a government and wider economic system that are nakedly uninterested in serving the public. The hot takes aren’t quite as funny as they were on Twitter years back — maybe it’s just all been said before or perhaps things have gotten too dire for levity. I still don’t end up spending a lot of time on the platform, however. It’s not as weird as it was before the defection and I get tired of the stream of news headlines contextualized with tut-tutting and handwringing — I’m perfectly capable of doing that myself.  

It’d be easy to say that social media just isn’t my thing, but that’s not true because I can’t quit Reddit — the shining exception to my social media ennui. It feels filled with actual people. Ads exist, but in a subdued, manageable way. And every contributor, commenter and moderator I’ve come across on the app is militantly vigilant against the onslaught of artificially generated content. I also like the organizational structure. I know my Home tab will only expose me to my chosen subs and I derive great joy from happy cows, greeble-chasing cats, enigmatic night feelings and freaky abandoned spaces. I use my local subreddit r/Albuquerque daily to answer questions and keep tabs on the world (directly) around me. 

Sadly, Reddit is an outlier, a misfit exception to the rule, and now that it’s gone public, it may follow a similar monetization push. Bluesky is tiny, new and not yet profitable, so who knows where its financial journey will lead it (though the “world without Caesars” shirt gives us some hope). 

There’s something lamentable about the loss of the connections we gleaned from platforms that were once compelling, engrossing and rife with the creativity of our fellow humans. Ultimately, any public-facing company that prioritizes profits over everything else has no incentive to look out for its users. So I don’t expect any of the larger social platforms to pull back on their monetization marches. For now, I’ve decided I’m comfortable with my admittedly narrow interaction with the world of social media. As a Gen-Xer, online-first wasn’t how my relationship to the world started out. And I’m pretty confident I know enough about other tech-related stuff to be useful to my editors and readers without a black belt in social. (Ed. note: She is.) Besides, Karissa’s got us covered. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/in-2025-quitting-social-media-felt-easier-than-ever-140000374.html?src=rss

How to watch today’s Bosch CES 2026 press conference live

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You might think of Bosch as the modern European equivalent to what the GE brand once was in America. It's a home appliance name (thanks to its partnership with Siemens), but the German multinational brand's core business is really about providing the underlying technology and engineering that powers cars, homes and factories around the world. That focus is reflected at CES 2026, where much of what Bosch is unveiling is intended to be licensed to other companies rather than sold as Bosch-branded products on store shelves.

Case in point is Bosch's automotive plans at CES. The company is showcasing what it calls "AI in the car," or more specifically, in the cockpit of the car. "Bosch's AI-powered cockpit makes driving more comfortable, intuitive, and safer for all occupants," Bosch board member Markus Heyn said in a press release. We'll get into all the details below, as well as how to tune in to the press conference on Monday.

You can livestream the event on Monday, January 5 at 12PM ET via the Bosch press page or YouTube. (We've embedded the stream link below.)

Bosch will be setting up shop in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center (booth 16203), where the company will be focusing on its three big themes — mobility, smart home integrations and manufacturing — all of which will include hardware, software and AI solutions.

Like many other CES 2026 exhibitors, look for Bosch to emphasize its partnerships with the big dogs of the AI space at the show. For instance, that AI-powered car cockpit mentioned above will feature integrations with both Microsoft and NVIDIA. Bosch is touting the ability to use voice commands to join a Teams call, while the car's system will automatically activate adaptive cruise control. And it's noting that NVIDIA's software suites will help manage "real-time sensor processing and vision-language models."

Here's a glimpse of what the booth will look like:

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/how-to-watch-todays-bosch-ces-2026-press-conference-live-130020554.html?src=rss

The best gear to help you stick to your New Year’s resolutions

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The start of a new year always feels like a reset button. Everyone’s talking about moving more, eating better, sleeping longer or finally taming their digital chaos. But resolutions rarely survive on willpower alone. The right tools or piece of tech can make those goals easier to keep by turning motivation into a habit. Whether you’re trying to close your rings, track your progress or just build better routines, these smart picks make self-improvement feel a little more achievable, and a lot more enjoyable.

Gear that can help you stick to your New Year's resolutions

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-gear-to-help-you-stick-to-your-new-years-resolutions-130000389.html?src=rss

The best smart scales for 2026

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If you are trying to stay on top of your health this year, a smart scale can make the process feel more manageable. These devices log details like body fat, muscle mass and water levels, then sync everything to your phone so you can see patterns instead of guessing. It is an easy way to track changes and stay motivated between workouts or check-ins with your doctor.

Some smart scales keep things simple and focus on just your data, while others tie into big fitness platforms or support multiple users under one roof. With so many choices, we pulled together the best smart scales to help you find one that fits your goals and your budget.

There are valid reasons to weigh yourself but your self-worth shouldn’t be defined by what number shows up between your feet. If you’re looking to alter your body shape, that figure could go up as your waistline goes down since muscle weighs more than fat.

Some scales go further by providing additional metrics like visceral fat levels, giving you a more comprehensive picture of your health. Dr. Anne Swift, Director of Public Health teaching at the University of Cambridge, said “weighing yourself too often can result in [you] becoming fixated on small fluctuations day-to-day rather than the overall trend over time.” Swift added “it’s sometimes better to focus on how clothes fit, or how you feel, rather than your weight.”

A meta-analysis from 2016 found there may be some negative psychological impact from self weighing. A 2018 study, however, said there may be a positive correlation between regular weigh-ins and accelerated weight loss. It can be a minefield and I’d urge you to take real care of yourself and remember success won’t happen overnight.

A scale that measures weight is probably the top requirement, right? Whether you're after a basic weight scale or a full-featured body fat scale, bear in mind, with all these measurements, the readings won’t be as accurate as a calibrated clinical scale. It’s better to focus on the overall trend, up or down over time, rather than a single measurement in isolation. Scales offering high-precision measurements can help, especially if you’re looking at the data to inform a specific health or fitness goal.

Before you buy your scale, work out how you’re planning on weighing yourself and when, as it is an issue. Some lower-end smart bathroom scales connect via Bluetooth and have no internal storage, so if you don’t have your phone to hand, it won’t record your weight. If your scale has Wi-Fi, then your scale can post the data to a server, letting you access them from any compatible device. Also, you should be mindful that some smart scales aren’t built with security in mind, so there’s a small risk to your privacy should your scale be compromised.

The stronger your bones are, the less risk you have of breaks and osteoporosis — common concerns as you get older. Clinical bone density tests use low-power x-rays and some scales can offer you an at-home approximation. These bone mass tests pass a small electrical current through your feet, measuring the resistance as it completes its journey. The resistance offered by bones, fat and muscle are all different, letting your scale identify the difference. A body composition monitor often includes this feature, too, providing a detailed breakdown of bone density, fat and muscle mass.

Body fat percentage and muscle mass

Fat and muscle are necessary parts of our makeup, but too much of either can be problematic. Much like bone density, a body composition measurement feature can monitor your body fat and muscle mass percentages using Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA). This measurement tests how well your body resists an electrical signal passing through your body. (It’s a rough rule of thumb you should have a 30/70 percent split between fat and muscle, but please consult a medical professional for figures specific to your own body and medical needs.) For those with specific athletic goals, smart scales offer an athlete mode to better tailor readings for accuracy. If body fat monitoring is a priority, look for a model marketed as a body fat scale.

A lot of scales offer a BMI calculation, and it’s easy to do since you just plot height and weight on a set graph line. Body Mass Index is, however, a problematic measurement that its critics say is both overly simplistic and often greatly misleading. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most common clinical body metrics and medical professionals will use it to make judgements about your care.

French health-tech company Withings has offered Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) on its flagship scale for some time, although regulatory concerns meant it was withdrawn for a period. It’s a measurement of arterial stiffness, which acts as a marker both of cardiovascular risk and other health conditions. For those looking for an even deeper understanding of their health, some scales now offer a body scan, which provides more advanced metrics such as segmental body composition and vascular health insights.

Pairing your smart scale with wearables like fitness trackers or smartwatches can further enhance your health-tracking ecosystem. Many smart scales sync directly with platforms like Fitbit or Apple Health, making it easier to track trends and analyze your data in one place.

Less a specification and more a note: Smart bathroom scales have displays ranging from pre-printed LCDs or digital dot matrix layouts through to color display screens. On the high end, your scale display can show you trending charts for your weight and other vital statistics, and can even tell you the day’s weather. If you are short-sighted, and plan on weighing yourself first thing in the morning, before you’ve found your glasses or contacts, opt for a big, clear, high-contrast display.

You’ll spend most of your time looking at your health data through its companion scales app, and it’s vital you get a good one. This includes a clear, clean layout with powerful tools to visualize your progress and analyze your data to look for places you can improve. Given that you often don’t need to buy anything before trying the app, it’s worth testing one or two to see if you vibe with it. It’s also important you check app compatibility before making your purchase. Some health apps will only work with iOS or Android — not both. Apple Watch connectivity can also be a bonus for tracking workouts and health metrics seamlessly. Several companies also offer premium subscriptions, unlocking other features – including insights and coaching – to go along with your hardware.

Using the same scale or app platform for years at a time means you’ll build up a massive trove of personal data. And it is (or should be), your right to take that data to another provider if you choose to move platforms in the future. Data portability is, however, a minefield, with different platforms offering wildly different options, making it easy (or hard) to go elsewhere.

All of the devices in this round-up will allow you to export your data to a .CSV file, which you can then do with as you wish. Importing this information is trickier, with Withings and Garmin allowing it, and Omron, Xiaomi, Eufy and Fitbit not making it that easy. (Apps that engage with Apple Health, meanwhile, can output all of your health data in a .XML file.)

It’s not a huge issue but one worth bearing in mind that each scale will either run disposable batteries (most commonly 4xAAA) or with its own, built-in battery pack. Either choice adds an environmental and financial cost to your scale’s life — either with regular purchases of fresh cells or the potential for the whole unit to become waste when the battery pack fails.

For this guide, I tested six scales from major manufacturers:

Mi (Xiaomi) Body Composition Scale 2

Our cheapest model, Xiaomi / Mi’s Body Composition Scale 2 is as bare-bones as you can get, and it shows. It often takes a long while to lock on to get your body weight, and when it does you’ll have to delve into the Zepp Life-branded scales app in order to look at your extra data. But you can’t fault it for the basics, offering limited (but accurate) weight measurements and body composition for less than the price of a McDonald’s for four.

Fitbit, now part of Google, is the household name for fitness trackers and smartwatches in the US, right? If not, then it must be at least halfway synonymous with it. The Aria Air is the company’s stripped-to-the-bare bones scale, offering your weight and a few other health metrics, but you can trust that Fitbit got the basics right. Not to mention that most of the reason for buying a Fitbit product is to leverage its fitness app anyway.

Eufy’s Smart Scale P2 Pro has plenty of things to commend it – the price, the overall look and feel (it’s a snazzy piece of kit) and what it offers. It offers a whole host of in-depth functionality, including Body Fat, Muscle Mass, Water Weight, Body Fat Mass and Bone Mass measurements, as well as calculating things like your Heart Rate and Basal Metabolic Rate (the amount of calories you need to eat a day to not change weight at all) all from inside its app. In fact, buried beneath the friendly graphic, the scale offers a big pile of stats and data that should, I think, give you more than a little coaching on how to improve your overall health.

It’s worth noting that Anker – Eufy’s parent company – was identified as having misled users, and the media, about the security of its products a few years back. Its Eufy-branded security cameras, which the company says does not broadcast video outside of your local network, was found to be allowing third parties to access streams online. Consequently, while we have praised the Eufy Smart Scale for its own features, we cannot recommend it without a big caveat.

Omron BCM-500 Body Composition and Scale with Bluetooth

Given its role in making actual medical devices, you know what you’re getting with an Omron product. A solid, reliable, sturdy, strong (checks the dictionary for more synonyms) dependable piece of kit. There’s no romance or excitement on show, but you can trust that however joyless it may be, it’ll do the job in question and will be user-friendly. The hardware is limited, the app is limited, but it certainly (checks synonyms again) is steady.

Joking aside, Omron’s Connect app is as bare-bones as you can get, since it acts as an interface for so many of its products. Scroll over to the Weight page, and you’ll get your weight and BMI reading, and if you’ve set a fitness goal, you can see how far you’ve got to go to reach it. You can also switch to seeing a trend graph which, again, offers the most basic visualization of your workouts and progress.

Garmin’s got a pretty massive fitness ecosystem of its own, so if you’re already part of that world, its smart scale is a no-brainer. On one hand, the scale is one of the easiest to use, and most luxurious of the bunch, with its color screen and sleek design. I’m also a big fan of the wealth of data and different metrics the scale throws at you – you can see a full color graph charting your weight measurements and goal progress, and the various metrics it tracks in good detail. If there’s a downside, it’s that Garmin’s setup won’t hold your hand, since it’s for serious fitness people, not newbies.

Withings Body Comp

At the highest end, Withings’ flagship Body Comp is luxurious, and luxuriously priced, a figure I’d consider to be “too much” to spend on a bathroom scale. For your money, however, you’ll get a fairly comprehensive rundown of body composition metrics including your weight, body fat percentage, vascular age, pulse wave velocity and electrodermal activity. Its monochrome dot matrix display may not be as swish as the Garmin’s, but it refreshes pretty quickly and feels very in-keeping with the hardware’s overall sleek look.

Withings Body Scan

If you want to flaunt your cash, you don’t buy a car, you buy a supercar, or a hypercar if you’re flush enough. What then, do we call Withings’ $400 Body Scan if not a super-smart scale, or a hyper-smart scale? As well as doing everything the Body Comp does, plus running a six-lead ECG, segmented body composition, and will even check for neuropathy in your feet. It is the best scale I’ve ever used, it is also the most expensive, and I suspect it’s too much device for almost everyone who’d consider buying one.

A regular scale is pretty straightforward — it tells you how much you weigh, and that’s usually it. A smart scale, on the other hand, does much more. Not only does it give you your weight measurements, but it can also track things like your body fat percentage, muscle mass, and even your BMI. Some smart scales even monitor more advanced metrics like bone density, depending on the model.

What’s even better is that smart scales sync with scales apps on your phone using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, so you can see all your health data in one place. This lets you monitor trends over time, like if your muscle mass is increasing or your body fat percentage decreasing.

When more than one person in a household uses the smart scale, it usually recognizes each person by their weight range and other body measurements (like body fat percentage). Most smart scales allow you to set up individual profiles in the companion app, and once your profile is linked, the scale can automatically figure out who’s standing on it.

Let’s say you and a family member have fairly different weights — the scale will easily know who’s who based on that. But if you and someone else have similar weights, it might ask you to confirm the profile on your phone after the weigh-in. Some scales even let you assign a profile manually in the scales app if it’s not sure.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/best-smart-scale-160033523.html?src=rss