This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Body Fat % on Index S2 Smart Scale Seems Inaccurate part2

you have locked last discussion promissing a new update cominng by the end of q3 update cykle. We are at the end of Q4 and there is still no FW update. Any new information you could share with us? Thanks

Top Replies

All Replies

  • There's nothing you can do. Garmin scale is not as accurate as they want us to think. No body-composition scale is accurate, in fact. Your Nokia scale might have gotten closer by chance.

  • I"ve had my Index 2 for over 18 months, and no one gives a damn at Garmin that their algorithm has an inaccuracy that is 2X my actual!  I've tried their "calibrating feature," and I loaded 14%.  I get on the scale, and it says I'm 29% which is 5% higher than before calibration!  

    Garmin, would you contract a talented firmware engineer with a modicum of scientific ability and correct what has happened for over seven years?  Resting on the laurels of your watches and bike computers or not giving a damn about Index customers is very disappointing.  

  • Well, I think Garmin is choosing the wrong way. But we wil see.... I don't expect much. But for me it is clear. The S2 is my last scale from Garmin if it is not getting better. It's quite simpel. I love the ecosystem with Garmin Connect. But A nice looking Garmin connect app/site is worthless if the measurements are faulty and unreliable. Same for me with the FR955 watch. Also more expensive segment. But for me many nice things don't work anymore because of bad measurements. Hope for the best, but there are better scale for less money and the same is for sportwatches. And that is good because Garmin needs some competition.

  • Since many people are having a calibration issue, I wanted to let you know how I finally got it to work. We have a Withings scale that seems to be more accurate with the body composition measurements. About a week ago, I took measurements from both scales and entered the Withings body fat % and muscle % in the "Set Body Composition" page in Connect, but nothing changed on my S2. This morning I tried again and it worked. Now my S2 is more in line with my Withings which I'm pretty sure is more in line with reality. I wanted to provide the steps I took this morning to get it to work since I couldn't get it to work previously. I'm not sure which steps are necessary or redundant, but here they are.

    1. Weigh on S2 scale.
    2. Weigh on other scale.
    3. Enter measurements in Connect "Set Body Composition".
    4. Quickly and lightly step on and off S2. At this point, it woke up and showed the hourglass.
    5. Get back on S2 scale for full weight. This is when it worked.

    I hope this helps.

  • I’ve had a similar experience in the past 4 days. Literally out of the blue, the calibration feature started working.  I’m guessing they pushed out a firmware update this week either to the scale or corrected an issue with the App’s calibration connection to S2s. 

  • I do a simple test:

    1. Measure my weight undressed right before running
    2. Run for one hour
    3. Measure my weight undressed right after running
    4. Drunk 1L of water
    5. Measure my weight after drinking water

    It is evident that weight loss after running is just water + a bit of glycogen and fat.

    But Garmin shows that I gain % body water after running and loss % body water after drinking water.

    Time Weight Change BMI 
    Body Fat  Skeletal Muscle Mass 
    Bone Mass  Body Water 
    28 May 2023
    09:11 73.3 kg 1.2 kg  23.9 19.5 % 31.3 kg 4.6 kg 58.8 % After drinking 1L of water
    09:08 72.1 kg 0.7 kg  23.5 19.1 % 31.0 kg 4.6 kg 59.0 % After running
    07:51 72.8 kg 1.9 kg  23.8 19.7 % 31.2 kg 4.6 kg 58.6 %

    How is it possible?

  • I'm too a little dubious about Index S2 calcs. Anyway, in your case, you shouldn't mix percentages with actual mass values (depending on the weight measures). Consider the following data: