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Chile, Santiago
1 Level
757 Review
17 Karma

Review on πŸ” The Ultimate Tanita UM-081 Scale: Track Your Body Fat and Water Levels Efficiently by Todd Nordine

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Stable, accurate readings. Although the display could be brighter.

Tanita makes great scales. My last one broke after a few years (about 12 actually) falling from a pretty high height onto a hard floor. It has been reset many times in the past but it worked last time. I was devastated. I wanted another Tanita but didn't know which one to buy as the one I had before was no longer for sale. I did a lot of research to find a scale that seemed to be the most consistent and has held up well. I came to the conclusion that UM-081 is exactly that scale. They were well packaged and had simple instructions. It only took me a few minutes to set it up. I only had to enter my gender, height and age. I believe the scale is activated by pressing a small button and then pressing a second button to access your profile. If you wish, you can just click on the bar below and get "guest stats" which only gives you weight but no fat or water stats. I weighed in and the results were the same as my old Tanita which was incredibly accurate and consistent. Body fat percentage was also the same within a few tenths. The composition of the water was excellent. However, this scale has one disadvantage: the display is not illuminated and the numbers are very dark. They are difficult to spot unless the room is well lit. I wish Tanita would either highlight the numbers or use a backlight to make them easier to read. I can see the numbers standing up, but I can't see the little arrows that tell me if my body fat is in a good range, and I can't tell if it's giving me information about my body's water content. Except for the ad. it's not BAD, it could be better, i really like this scale. My age told me how many calories I could eat to sustain myself, as well as how much I had lost or gained since my last measurement. I miss the loss/gain function as it doesn't seem to have memory and doesn't give me the latest reading and doesn't compare numbers. But it's not hard to just write down the numbers if that's a big problem. I usually just watch my weight. The percentage of fat in my body has been the same for centuries and varies only slightly. The composition of the water is pleasant, but not very necessary for me. I pay attention and it's consistent. If he suddenly dives or jumps up, I'll find out what that means and make changes to correct the situation. Libras are good. It feels firm under my feet and gets the job done fairly quickly. It also shows all three numbers (weight/fat/water) a few times so you can write them down or just not miss any of them. If I'm in a hurry, I just do the weigh-out, which only takes a few seconds. However, I usually do a full weigh-in. The scale can have two different profiles for two people to get accurate results, but I'm currently the only one using it so I haven't set it up for anyone else. I can do this for my husband if I can convince him that the household scale is accurate. Speaking of which, I weighed myself at home and then at the doctor's office an hour later, and my weight was within 4/10 pounds, so I'm confident this scale is accurate. It's also very stable, with no goofy readings, even when I weigh myself multiple times in a row. I think I did the right thing by purchasing this model. It wasn't too expensive and there is a lot of information. It looks solid and accurate. It's easy to program and access my profile. My only two comments are that I really wish the display was brighter and easier to read, and I wish it showed me the difference in weight from my last weigh-in. I'm so used to this feature that I really miss it, although of course I can easily figure it out by hand. Overall, I can recommend this Tantita scale. There are more expensive, high tech units out there and they're probably great, but this one gives me three readings and is accurate and consistent. It also allows multiple people to use it and get personal and accurate information. I can not complain. I hope it lasts at least half as good as my old Tanita. I don't risk leaving it on the shelf like the last one (fell on the floor). Great price for a very good scale. I will update this review if I run into any problems in the future.

Pros
  • Done
Cons
  • Some problems