Xiaomi may have built a reputation in India as a smartphone manufacturer, but back home in China, it's much more than that. In India, we’re only seen a fraction of its diverse portfolio that includes products like smart rice cookers, drones and even self balancing scooters. A while back, the company expanded its portfolio of devices in India with the Mi Body Composition Scale, a smart scale that aims to do more than just tell you your weight. Just like the Lenovo HS10 I reviewed a while back, the scale also gives you details about muscle mass, fat percentage, water content and more. However, unlike the Lenovo HS10, Xiaomi’s smart weighing scale is more affordable at Rs 1,999. Does it make it the better scale among the two? Let's find out.
Build and design
The Xiaomi Mi Body Composition Scale is built out of matte polycarbonate with four metallic electrodes for the Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (I’ll get to that in the next section). The display itself is located below the plastic and lights up when you step on the scale, similar to the Lenovo HS10. However, compared to the glass build of Lenovo's design, it looks quite basic. But let's be real here, how many of us buy a weighing scale for its looks?
However, there is a slight problem with the design. The scale gets dirty quite easily overtime due to dirty feet and the accumulation of dust overtime. This situation is compounded by the fact that the scale is only available in white. While it is possible to clean the scale, it requires a vigorous scrubbing using a damp cloth. Not something you would want to do.
Left: New unit, Right: Slightly used unit
Body composition analysis
This is the highlight of the Xiaomi Mi Body Composition Scale and its what sets it apart from your average weighing scale. The scale is able to measure muscle mass, BMI, body fat, water content, basal metabolism, visceral fat, and bone mass. You also get a body type rating based on the ratio between your muscle mass and fat. For accurate results, you are required to fill out details like gender, date of birth, and height in the Mi Fit app. You can also put in a target weight. The measured metrics can be viewed in the app, and not on the scale itself.
The scale is able to measure all this information through Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA), which was also used in the Lenovo HS10 (review) and the TomTom Touch (review). It works by sending a mild electrical current from one foot to the other, and then measuring the time it takes for the current to flow through the body. Based on this, it is able to make its measurements. If you’re worried about the electrical current passing through your body, don’t fret. It’s very mild and you won’t feel a thing.
Taking a reading on the Mi Body Composition Scale is the same as on the Lenovo HS10. You step on the scale and wait for about 10 seconds. The scale will first show you your weight, and then proceed with the full analysis. To see the complete results, you’ll have to check the app. Also, since the scale relies on an electrical current, its best to use the device when your feet are dry and your body is well hydrated.
Mi Health App
As mentioned earlier, the metrics are measured in the Mi Health App, which is also the only way to read the metrics. Your weight and the metrics can be accessed by scrolling down the app and then tapping the Weight or the Body Score sections. Tapping Weight will show you a graph detailing your weight overtime. As well as the a comparison between others of the same height and age. What you make of this comparison though, is up to you. Using it was quite intuitive. I remember giving the the app to my mom and she was soon tapping away to check her details. Without the need for me to direct her much.
Taping the Body Score section will give you each measurement in detail. As with Lenovo’s Health app, there is a description of what each metric means and how it affects you. This is pretty neat as its give you a greater understanding how each metric affects your health and how you can help improve it. It should also be noted that the Mi Health app is the same app that is used by the Mi Band wearable. So if you also have a Mi Band, then data from both devices is available to you within the same app.
To see how accurate the scale was, I decided to see if the device was able to detect certain lifestyle changes. The quickest and most easiest way to check this was through the water percentage metric, that can be affected faster than fat or muscle mass. On average, the scale told me that my water percentage between 55% and 57%. So I started keeping tabs on this metric at different times of the day in different scenarios.
One of the things I noticed was the scale was able to make out the difference in water percentage before and after a bath. The scale was able to detect a 0.1 percent increase in water percentage, which makes sense as the skin can absorb a small amount of water. Anothing thing I did was measure my water percentage as soon as I woke up, and once after I had returned form work. The difference was about 0.7%, which also makes sense. I tried to dehydrate myself one day in order to see if the device was able to register a change, but in the current Delhi heat, I could only manage to stay away from water for about 3-4 hours and the device was unable to register this shift. I even tried stepping on the scale with wet feet, just to see what would happen. The first time around, the scale just showed me my weight and that it. However, I tried it another time and the device was able to give me a measurement.
On the whole, I feel that the device is pretty accurate and should do fine for anything using its metrics to track their health.
Left: Reading before leaving for work, Right: Reading after coming back from work
Bottomline
The Xiaomi Mi Body Composition scale is quite an interesting piece of tech. It packs a lot of features, but needs to be used regularly in order to make the best of it. As a result, it is best used by those who are serious about their health and weight. However, the price of the scale is low enough to appeal to casual fitness enthusiasts as well.