On the health side of things I been in the Withings ecosystem mostly utilizing their Body Cardio Smart Scale and even time to time using their Thermo device which is fast and accurate for temperature gauging. I never quite got into their watches because they always looked too simple for me but I did want to give the ScanWatch Light a good to see if it changes my mind.
Style
ScanWatch Light screams simplicity and familarity if you are looking for something to a actual watch. It has a rather thin bezel that comes in one size of 37mm and weights just 27g(w/o a band). It has a Grayscale OLED display with 15404 px and 282ppi that is covered in Gorilla Glass. The watch case and crown are both compromised of stainless steel. It comes in either gold or silver. While the watch faces are in Sand, Blue, Green, Pearl White, or Black. Included is a FKM wristband with Stainless Steel buckle. But they have an array of band choices on the website.
The ScanWatch Light comes with a USB-C to USB-A cable and also a Docking Station for the watch. The watch sits right in the dock and seems to somehow charge within the crown or around it. One thing I do have an issue with is that you cant seem to use any USB-C cable with the dock to charge. I have seen others complain about this as well. So make sure you don’t lose the included cable.
Functionality
Getting the ScanWatch Light prepared didn’t take long as I was already setup with the Withings app. It did get an update on its first go though. Afterwards you can go on the app and setup notifications, alarms, etc. Light can track everything from Activities, Heart Rate, Sleep monitoring, breathing, and your menstrual cycle if needed. If this is your first time it can take time navigating the watch itself via the crown. Coming from using a Galaxy Watch most of the time that was touch screen I been adapting slowly. You have to make sure to press to get into a section and rotate and click “back” to get out.
Performance
As mentioned I used a Galaxy Watch most time and at times it synced with the Withings app. But I feel like using the ScanWatch Light the stats have been more accurate. It seems to be quite on point with steps and I like the extensive detail it gives me for Sleep. As it has a Sleep Quality Score that breaks down depth, interruptions, etc. While I haven’t experienced and hopefully don’t it will alert you if you HR gets too high and other abnormalities.
Battery Life on this watch has been superb so far. I been wearing for a week straight and haven’t charged it once and its currently at 79%. It does state having a 30-day battery life and I believe it. This so far alone is better than having to put my Samsung Watch on the charge every day or so.
Notifications can be subtle and will come scrolling across the display like a ticker. I don’t have it set for every app on my phone but just a few I like to always get updates for like AfterShip for deliveries, eBay, Trello, Seamless, etc.
Verdict
For being a first time ScanWatch Light user I been amazed with how it handles my daily lifestyle. Great statistics for sleeping and stepping. It is lightweight so it never feels cumbersome or getting irritated while sleeping with it. Most impressive is the battery life which is the true winner in my book.
ScanWatch Light goes for $250 but if you are looking for something with a bit more functionality there is also the ScanWatch 2 which has a sapphire display and tracks things like body temp and blood oxygen levels. But its also $100 more at $350. You can check out the ScanWatch 2 Review by my colleague Sam.
