Dear Garmin

+1, no update from anyone at garmin is really unprofessional.

It is also shameful that Garmin continues advertising and selling Index S2 while being fully aware that the body metrics don't work.

In the last week I received 3 promotional e-mails from Garmin about Index S2. That feels insulting.

The promotional e-mails specifically highlight body composition metrics as one of the main features. 

Garmin measuring devices undergo a series of tests based on algorithms, which are based on patents and third-party research. Some of them require validation (which has also been said many times). These are no frills of the manufacturer. Garmin strives to provide reliable data. But it takes time. It is not about neglect, but about certain norms, both legal and process standards, such research. Weight problems are known. Garmin wants to completely rebuild the algorithm and has taken steps to do so. But it takes long-term efforts and patience, from users. If information was given that the weight algorithms will be completely rebuilt and a global, large update will be performed, it will happen. Garmin has had problems more than once and more than once has repaired various issues with interest. I have been a user of their equipment for years. And I know waiting for months is annoying, but there is no other way. Why patch up a sinking ship when a new hull can be built. I am waiting patiently for the update. It is only electronics and will not replace regular habits or a rational approach to sports, nutrition and nighttime regeneration. It is supposed to be an assistant, not a solution to all the world's problems. Be of good cheer.

But if it takes more time to fix the issue than the product cycle and the product continues selling with those issues and what's more the selling point are the features that simply don't work, it's normal that us, the users feel really dissatisfied, disappointed with the answer given by Garmin.

In my case I opened the ticket 1 year and a half ago. No improvements. It's still open and imo it's nearer a S3 scale than a fix for S2

I doubt it will introduce the S3 if it doesn't have a good software. Information about tests on control groups appeared relatively recently, so it is not surprising that nothing has been done about it yet. The second thing is that not enough people press the manufacturer for errors. As if they got 100,000 tickets in error, it would be different. Here in the forum, users seem to have the problem with the majority. And it's true that there is a percentage of all Garmin customers here ... Hence, the company deals with what is more important according to what it has reported or planned, in its entire portfolio, not only its smart scales. I have Index S2, I'm not bothered by errors. Besides, apart from the level of body fat, the scale performs repeatable measurements. Every athlete knows that what matters is the trend, not the specific numbers. Electronics will always be burdened with a measurement error. On the other hand, people would like a watch or weight to be as intelligent as human brains. It doesn't work like that, and it probably never will. We are to draw conclusions from the devices, and not take measurements 1 to 1. If someone has healthy habits, repeats certain routines day after day, such as watering 15-20 times in small portions, the hydration will come out repetitive. As someone goes to sleep regularly at the same time, you will not have retention. When someone eats properly and trains, they will notice a trend in the level of muscle tissue and bone structure. Even if this differs from the reference values, it is the benchmark over the months and years that counts. Not a specific number. In my case, there were no such fluctuations that the bone composition differed by 10-20% or the muscle mass. Measurements vary, but impedance measurement is dependent on many factors. The fact that it showed so much at X o'clock does not mean that the pulse flow will be perfectly the same in 5 minutes. You have to be aware of this. The most important thing is that there are not too large deviations between measurements in the near time interval. This has to be worked on. Body fat, right, sometimes too big of a bug, but the rest? First, you need to verify whether the scale is clean, whether the foot is clean, whether it is standing on an even surface (terracotta is ideal), whether we are repeatable. Because if not ... then you can donate any equipment dedicated to sports

I've verified all you have said, as most people here. So please, before trying to dismiss the issue use some of your time reading the posts. It's obvious that's not the issue as Garmin has told us that indeed there is an important issue and that's why they are redefining the algorithm. I have posted and sent to Garmin a comparative between 3 scales. 2 gave similar results(Tanita and withings) and Garmin one was way off. Many people here has posted comparisons with Dexa scans exposing the same issues. 

Not only that, if you change your age and weights onto the scale the %BF changes more than 10 points, same day, same hour only a minute of difference. You can read some of the posts showing there is no trend so that's not useful either.

So in the end we own a 20€ scale that costs 150€ (more when I bought it) that measures only your weight and for some people here ...neither that.

I own many Garmin products..no issue with any of them but this has been a disappointed decision for me. 

If you take a look to the number of posts related to BF issue ..we can conclude it's not a minor issue and we are not a small number of users suffering the problem. And Garmin assumes it as they have to change their algorithm.

I agree with Alberto. As you notice in my initial post, I say that I will continue to use their products - I think the algorithms they have for the watches are fantastic. Thats why I cant get my head around this scale issue. I too opened a ticket over a year ago and sent data from both my tanita, withings and fat calipers. I also walked through several resets and even a new scale set up with them. This is not a minor issue. As far as stability, happy its working for you. After I updated my iPhone, I had to reconnect the scale and with the same settings, my body fat is off by 4% from the previous measurement - this difference has continued and therefore is useless for me. If this was new technology or something that hadn’t been tried, that would be one thing, but tanita and withings have been accurate and consistent. This is not acceptable, this has been a reported issue for close to two years and all the comments in the forum are about these issues. 

I'm not saying there is no problem. It is huge. I follow the forum actively. You don't even realize how much. And I understand you perfectly well. But whining right now won't do any good. About two months ago, the Admin announced that they were doing research to change algorithms. This will probably apply to the new patents they bought, because the old ones are good for the rubbish bin. But that has been explained in sufficient detail. The validation time must pass, I fully understand that. It is useless to pour out bitterness on the forum at this point. You could tell why it is so late. But only Garmin knows the answer. Observing the forum, however, I can see a tendency in all product groups. Garmin was never in a hurry and in no hurry. However, it seems to me that it is aimed at the periods of such analyzes, obtaining FDA certification, etc. Personally, I'd rather wait than have to do it on my knee and get it wrong. We will see. For me, the level of body fat is also wrong. However, the weight is ok (here I have proowning with one regular weight, the other from Xiaomi. Muscle and bone mass comparable to the second weight. I will not pretend that they give a lot of money for the weight is good, but I will not make a big hype if Garmin announced a big update and complete rebuilding of algorithms. Regarding what I wrote, I just wanted to make you aware that it is not worth relying on electronics. I know that this is money spent, but you have to approach these devices with a distance and rely mainly on your own habits. with you on the topic, we'll see how it goes.

One thing I had suggested and maybe you can have better luck than me is to introduce a custom selection after 10 (highest athlete setting) where you can put a % correction factor (so if the scale reads 20% and you are 15% then you put .75 - this would also scale up and down with the change that happens when you go up and down in weight during different times in the day. I think that would go a long way to getting people happy. Additionally being able to edit the figure (even simpler fix).