Withings ScanWatch review

To complete our Withings ScanWatch review, we’ve walked with it, worked out with it, and let it track our sleep over an extended period of time. We’ve gauged how easy it is to use, what works well, and what works less well, as well as judging comfort, battery life, and other features. 

The Withings ScanWatch comes with the companion Health Mate app, so the various features and functions have been checked to see how well they work. We’ve also compared some measurements with other smartwatches and phone apps, to see how consistent they are. 

Of all the smartwatches we’ve tried and reviewed, this is one of our favourites in design terms. It has a beautiful, classic look, and, on the black watch face, the digital screen is wonderfully unobtrusive when not in use. If you appreciate a watch actually looking like a watch, then the ScanWatch will certainly appeal. It’s suitable for almost any occasion. There’s also a Scanwatch Horizon model, which is a bit more expensive, but looks like a classic diver’s watch. 

The ScanWatch comes in two sizes, 38mm (1.5in) and 42mm (1.7in). The 38mm model is 13.2mm (0.5in) thick, and weighs 58g (2oz) before you add a strap. The 42mm watch, which we tested, is 13.7mm (0.5in) thick, but heavier, at 83g (3oz). That said, it doesn’t feel overly weighty, or look oversized on my wrist.  

Withings has put high-quality materials into this watch, and it shows. The stainless steel case feels substantial and premium. Sapphire glass makes it scratch resistant. The fluoroelastomer wristband is soft and comfortable – we wore it for weeks on end with no discomfort. You can buy other wristbands including metal and leather, which are easy to swap thanks to the quick-release pins. 

The digital display on the watch face is very bright, and clearly displays basic notifications and stats. It is small, so reading long messages is a bit harder than on other smartwatches we’ve tried. It’s more useful for the health notifications it provides.  

While most smartwatches are controlled by touchscreen, the ScanWatch is operated via its crown. Press to activate the screen, then rotate the crown to scroll through different health stats and options. When tracking exercise, holding the crown down pauses the workout. You can hold it again to resume, or turn the dial and then hold, to finish. 

Finally, the analogue dial at the bottom of the watch face shows how close you are to completing your daily step goal (you set this via the Health Mate app). It’s another clever way of keeping the watch design traditional, while informing you of how active you’ve been that day.

When it comes to performance, the Withings ScanWatch does a lot reasonably well. The app works well (more on that later in the review), and the watch itself is simple to use. We didn’t experience any major glitches while testing it. However, there are some questions over the consistency and accuracy of the fitness tracking, despite accuracy being one of the key things you need to consider when buying a fitness tracker. 

For instance, when tracking an activity, we noticed that on several occasions the watch stopped tracking heart rate. When it reconnected, it consistently and significantly underestimated our heart rate, suggesting a heart rate of around 70 beats per minute; we can confidently say it was probably closer to 150.

There was also a moment where it suggested we were running at 36.4km (23 miles) an hour, which would be as fast as Kylian Mbappe. While it would be great if this were true, it is not.  

There are similar concerns around sleep tracking. Although Withings claims that the watch can track your sleep cycle, duration, time taken to fall asleep, and any interruptions, we found this to be slightly inconsistent during our review testing. There were several occasions where the watch told us we were asleep, even when we were definitely awake, but not moving. 

The ScanWatch fared better in step tracking, especially when out for a walk. When moving at a regular pace, the step count consistently matched the steps that were being counted by the phone we took with us. Additionally, the ScanWatch can automatically detect activities, especially those you do regularly, which makes it even more user friendly. This can sometimes get it wrong – mistaking being in the car for a bike ride, for example. 

The ScanWatch lacks an in-built GPS, which means you need to have your phone with you if you want to track your routes, speed and distance. And in our experience, the phone would sometimes disconnect from the app while out walking, leading to inaccurate information about how far and how fast we had walked. Compared to a device such as the Garmin Venu 2, which has in-built GPS, the difference in accuracy is stark. 

We’re not qualified to comment on the accuracy of the ECG and blood oxygen readings. But they were easy to use, and the CE and FDA certifications mean you’d hope these are accurate. Although as always, don’t rely on a watch if you think something is amiss – go and see your doctor.  

We’ve already highlighted most of what the ScanWatch can do, but the key features are as follows: 

Heart health monitoring: the watch automatically checks your heart rate at regular intervals. It can then alert you if it detects an irregular rhythm, and this has the potential to be an invaluable tool. The ECG tool complements this and can be done very easily by selecting the option from the menu on the watch display. There’s a handy tutorial in the app if you are struggling to get a reading. 

ScanWatch also has a “clinically validated” blood oxygen sensor, which can give you a reading in 30 seconds, following the same process as for getting an ECG. Additionally, the watch monitors breathing disturbances during the night, which may help to identify or monitor issues such as sleep apnoea. 

Sleep tracking monitors duration, depth of sleep and nighttime disturbances, and then offers an overall “sleep score” to tell you how good your night has been. While we didn’t find this to be totally reliable, it was still interesting to get a sense of how well (or badly) we had slept each night. 

We also liked the fitness tracking. Despite the few occasions where it lost connection, it’s nice to have an indication of how hard you’re working, or how many steps you’ve taken. It’s useful as a nudge – for example on days where we’ve been particularly lazy, glancing down and seeing we’ve done next to nothing can be an inducement to moving.  

One further feature is that it estimates your fitness level based on VO2 max (this is an estimate of your cardiovascular fitness, which you may remember if you ever did the ‘bleep test’ at school) and offers a score compared to people of a similar age. 

The ScanWatch uses the Withings Health Mate app to pair with your phone. It also connects to other devices in the Withings range – smart scales such as the Body Comp, sleep mat, blood pressure monitors and the like (although whether you should buy all your fitness tech from one brand is another question).  It’s simple to install, set up and pair with your phone. You can also access the same information via your Withings account on a computer, like the screenshot above. 

The data is presented clearly and is easy to understand. If you wish to share those readings with your doctor, you can easily create a PDF document to send to them. It can also show you trends – such as step count, sleep score and weight. 

The app also likes to offer tips at the top, for example if it has noticed that your step count has dropped, it will try to offer motivation and insight to support you in hitting your goals.  

Pleasingly, the app is compatible with both Android and Apple devices [Android|iOS], so you aren’t restricted to one platform or another.  

Battery life is an area in which the ScanWatch excels. Withings claims that the watch will go up to 30 days between charges, with an extra 20 days on top if you put the watch into power reserve mode (though this limits it to time and activity tracking only). It almost completely eradicates the risk of the battery dying at an inopportune moment. We went almost four weeks between charges. 

Many smartwatches, such as the Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, need charging every day or two, so it’s clear to see how impressive 30 days really is. Even when you get a ‘low battery’ notification, you can be confident that you still have hours, if not days, before you’ll need to charge it.  

When it comes to value, things get slightly more complicated. It has fewer features than many smartwatches, but costs significantly more than most fitness trackers. In that sense, it appears quite expensive for what you are getting. 

On the other hand, what you get is also a good-looking watch with premium build quality, which also includes health and fitness tracking. We really enjoyed wearing this purely as a watch, with the added bonus of all those extra features. If the aesthetics matter, you’ll struggle to find a better-looking smartwatch out there. 

You may feel this watch doesn’t have enough smartwatch features. So, if you want to consider alternatives, here are a couple worth looking at: 

Fitbit are one of the best-known brands in the fitness tracker and smartwatch space, and with good reason, as they consistently deliver quality fitness tracking devices. The Sense 2 is their current flagship device and offers a vast range of health and fitness tracking tools, as well as other features you’d expect from a smartwatch, such as NFC for contactless payments, and a built-in voice assistant.

If your primary concern is health and fitness, then this could be a fantastic alternative, at a similar price point. Battery life is much more limited at around six days, and the device itself is less attractive than the Scanwatch. 

Apple Watches are regarded as among the best smartwatches available, and the SE is no exception. While it is by far the cheapest of the current range of Apple Watches, it has the same useful features as the Apple Watch 6, which makes it a smart choice for anyone who wants an Apple Watch, without paying for all the latest features.

With plenty of excellent features for health and fitness, including access to Apple Fitness Plus, it also has in-built GPS, a feature notably lacking in the ScanWatch. It’s a good-looking smartwatch, but battery life is limited to around 24 hours, and it’s only compatible with iPhones. 

The Withings Scanwatch is, in some respects, in a category of its own, falling somewhere between a fitness tracker and a smartwatch. It offers plenty of health tracking features, while lacking some notable functionality that is commonplace in many cheaper devices. In many ways, this is to its credit, as it hasn’t tried to do too much.  

While there were a few issues with tracking, it was, in general, accurate enough to feel like the data it was delivering was a good guide to our recent activities.  

And possibly more than anything else, it is a lovely watch. Withings has not compromised on design, and has produced a sophisticated, timeless product that can be worn for any occasion. This is one of the best-looking wearables we have come across, and the health features it offers are the cherry on top. 

It isn’t perfect, and if you want in-built GPS, a touchscreen, or the ability to add a lot of other apps, this won’t be the device for you. There are also other fitness trackers and smartwatches that will be more precise if you are buying it primarily for monitoring your fitness training regimen. It’s also quite expensive, and other devices will offer similar functionality for less, or more functionality for a comparable price. 

But if you want a supremely good-looking watch that will also offer you insights into your health, you could do a lot, lot worse than the Withings ScanWatch. 

• You don’t need all the features of a smartwatch, but do want to track your health and fitness. 
• You want a device that looks like a classic watch.
• Your primary concern is heart health. The ECG and automatic heart rate monitoring make this a useful tool for monitoring your heart.

• You want more features such as in-built GPS or a touchscreen. 
• You’re on a tight budget. This is a premium device, and this is reflected in its price. There are other fitness trackers that will offer similar features for less.  
• Your primary concern is activity tracking. If you are a serious sport enthusiast, the lack of in-built GPS, coupled with the inconsistent heart rate readings, are probably a deal breaker.