Body Fat % on Index S2 Smart Scale Seems Inaccurate

all Edge *30 bike computers are having issues for TWO years and garmin don't take a **** to solve it. TWO years.
They just said  "operating within our expectations"!
Serious???

@Garmin-Kevin: this is really a terrible answer from Product Management or development.

There is simply no reasonable explanation, how the bodyfat can change by 20%(!), just by changing the age.

By the way, I can imagine that someone simply made a mistake by one decimal place.

The scale measures for body fat simply electrical resistance:
Then this electrical resistance translates in a body fat percentage - considering gender, height, age, and perhaps athletic activity.

I my case the scale adds about 6% body fat for 25 years of age.

Maybe that should have been 0,6%? :-)

It is quite possible that an electrical resistance x means more body fat in an older person than in a young one.
But a change of that magnitude cannot be right and is simply ridiculous.

I think no one did

ta0801 said:

By the way, I can imagine that someone simply made a mistake by one decimal place.

I have 10hour training week, I'm 171cm tall and 67kg.
S2 says that my BF is 19%

My father - no trainings, jelly-belly, 165cm and 71kg
My father has no S2 rofile, he uses mine
So S2 says that my fathers BF is the same 19%

But it is not only about fat
after a hard interval workout I'm 2kg lighter but S2 gives me even bigger water % than it was before workout

I can suggest, that S2 simply does not have any electrical resistance sensors - it works just by supposing within BMI general statistics table

Thank you i couldn't have said the same whilst remaining polite

"I can suggest, that S2 simply does not have any electrical resistance sensors"

that would be kind of funny :-) 

It is an expensive calculation-scale - who said that something is measured here... :-)

Please include me in this issue in any log of dissatisfied customers, the scales are absolutely pointless for body fat, 25% reading for me and I know I’m around 18%, so the scales have been an absolute waste of money for us. An update is urgently required to make them worth using!

So let's be a bit more constructive. Anyone would recommend a better smart scale? I'm on my way to return Garmin S2.

"Withings" seems to have all the functionality S2 has, cheaper, however comment session has the same body fat % accuracy issue.

"Omron" has handle sensor design, might be more accurate but no wifi upload. 

"InBody" is the one my gym uses. It's known for accuracy, but expensive. Also the app is confusing. 

If none of above is good, might be technology (both software and hardware) simply not there yet... I will just wait...

Tanita anyone?

I'm using a BC 1500 "Ironman" from time to time which shows +-1-2% the same as the big "medical accuracy" Tanita in the gym.

Ok no surprise same manufacturer would come up with similar readings, but the values matched the BF result of a DXA scan I had done (for a medical problem)

I read there is a way to get the Tanita BC readings in Garmin connect, but I understood it requires manual inputs which for me would not be worth it.

I doubt you can get better than 2-3% accurate BF reading from two-way (feet only) conductivity measurements like on the Index S2, four-way measurement (hands and feet) are much more reliable, depending on what signal/frequencies is used.

I'm also sceptical that the stylish conductive coatings used on the sleek design scales works as well as the metal electrodes found on the pro or medical grade BC scales. 

(Bet the Garmin Index PRO will have a detachable tethered grip with proper metal electrodes on the footpod as well as on the grip... And it will be twice or three times the price, but unlike the S2 it will be worth it since it will perform as advertised... ) 

Until then, Tanita anyone? 

Cheers

Dragan

There are even more professional manufacturers of body fat scales, e.g. Beurer, Tanita, Withings, ... Many of them also have a handle to measure the upper body and work with dual frequency measurement.
I think the most sensible solution for Garmin would be to have one of these manufacturers make a scale with modified software to make it compatible with the Garmin ecosystem.
Sure, this scale will not come cheap, but it will work almost perfectly.