Traditional scales can tell you about one facet of health, but wellness is measured in much more than just pounds. For a more complete picture, you might want to consider investing in a smart scale like the $89.95 FitTrack Dara, which tracks 17 metrics, including your basal metabolic rate (BMR), body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, body water percentage, bone mass, fat mass, metabolic age, muscle mass, muscle rate, protein mass, protein rate, subcutaneous fat, visceral fat, weight without fat, and, of course, your actual weight (up to 400 pounds). Its companion app helps you understand the metrics it tracks and keeps a record of them, so you can monitor your progress over time. But it’s pretty pricey compared with the $20 Wyze Scale, which doesn’t track quite as many metrics, but offers greater value.
Design and Setup
The FitTrack Dara is a compact smart scale, measuring just 10.23 by 10.23 inches (HW). I wear size 9 women’s shoes, and my feet just fit on it. If your feet are bigger than a size 9 women’s or size 7 men’s, your toes will probably be hanging off.
Looks-wise, the FitTrack Dara features an attractive white-and-silver design reminiscent of the $79.99 Arboleaf Smart Fitness Scale, only smaller. Both have four metal electrodes on the top, and four anti-skid pads on the bottom for safety.
Unlike some other smart scales that are rechargeable, like the QardioBase 2, the FitTrack Dara is powered by 4 AAA batteries, which aren’t included in the box. Once you install the batteries, the scale will automatically turn on when at least 6.61 pounds or more is placed on it, then automatically turn off 10 seconds after it’s used. Without pairing the scale to the FitTrack Pro app (available for Android and iOS), it will only show your body weight. Once connected to the app, you’ll be able to see your body fat percentage and other metrics.
The FitTrack Dara connects to your phone via Bluetooth, not Wi-Fi, so it will only send your measurements to the app if your phone is within the limited Bluetooth range. Smart scales that support Wi-Fi, such as the Arboleaf and QardioBase 2, can send your data to their companion app via either Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, so if one is down there’s a backup. Wi-Fi also lets you connect to the scale and get your measurements from anywhere.
When creating an account, you enter a nickname, gender, birthday, height, target weight, and optionally upload a photo of yourself. You also have the option to enable Athlete Mode, which promises more accurate results for those who exercise vigorously three to five days a week or have a physically demanding profession.
The app then asks for permission to use Bluetooth. After I pressed OK, it automatically connected to the scale.
Using the FitTrack Dara
Before stepping on, be sure to place the scale on a firm, level surface, not a carpet. Tap the scale with your foot to activate it, and wait for it to display 0.0. Then open the FitTrack Dara app on your phone, step on the scale with bare feet, stand up tall, and make sure both of your feet are uniformly situated over the metal electrodes. In testing, I found that the scale only syncs your data if you have the app open when you step on it, unlike Wi-Fi scales, which can sync at any point.
When taking your measurements, the scale will first display your weight, then will show flashing zeros as it analyzes your body composition. When it displays your weight again, the analysis is complete, and you can see all your measurements in the FitTrack Pro app. In testing, the body composition analysis only took a couple of seconds. The scale can display your weight in pounds, kilograms, or stones; you can change the weight unit setting in the app’s Me tab.
FitTrack recommends using the scale at the same time, under the same conditions each day. The company says to avoid using it during or immediately after strenuous activity, as doing so can affect the accuracy of your body composition measurements. You should also avoid using it after consuming alcohol, during or immediately after eating, or if you have a fever. The company says the scale may display an error message if your body fat percentage is less than 5 percent or more than 50 percent.
The scale isn’t meant for children under the age of 18, but it features a unique Infant Mode that can be used to determine the weight of a baby. Just tap the three dots in the upper right corner of the app’s Home tab, select Weigh Infant, step on the scale by yourself to measure your weight, then step on the scale with the baby in your arms, and the FitTrack Dara will measure your little one’s weight.
FitTrack Pro App
There are three tabs at the bottom of the FitTrack Pro app: Home, which shows your latest measurements; History, where all your metrics are stored; and Me, where you can manage users and other settings.
In the app’s Home tab, you can click into each metric for a description of it, and see whether you’re in the standard (normal or healthy) range. When you click into BMI, for instance, the app explains that it’s a measure of your body weight in relation to your height. A graph shows that a BMI below 18.5 is considered low (underweight), between 18.5 and 24.9 is standard (normal or healthy), between 25 and 29.9 is high (overweight), and 30 and above is very high (obese). A dot on the graph indicates which range you fall into.
It’s nice that the scale also calculates your BMR, or the amount of energy your body uses when at rest. If you’re trying to lose weight, knowing your BMR can be very helpful. You can use this metric to help find your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, or the total number of calories you burn each day while active and at rest. At the most basic level, consuming fewer calories than your TDEE will put you in a caloric deficit and result in fat loss.
In the FitTrack Pro app’s History tab, you can track your results over the past day, week, month, and year. It also shows your average result for each metric. You can click on each metric to see a graph of your results during your selected time frame. The app can display this data as a bar or line graph. If you’re proud of your progress, there’s an option that lets you share your charts on social media.
In Me, you can create profiles for other users and add them to your account, set reminders to take your measurements every morning and/or night, change your units of measurement, connect to your scale via Bluetooth, submit feedback for FitTrack, and access FAQs. Here, you can also enable integrations with Apple Health, Fitbit, and Google Fit so your data is synced to those apps.
When you create a profile for another user on your account, you’ll be able to see their metrics in the app. You can have up to eight users on one account. If another person in your household wants to use the scale and keep their metrics private, they can download the FitTrack Pro app on their own phone, and connect to the scale via Bluetooth.
Safety Precautions
As is customary for smart scales, the FitTrack Dara determines your body fat percentage using a process called bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA), which involves sending a low-level electrical current through your body. The current moves quickly through tissues that contain a large amount of fluids and electrolytes like muscle and blood, and faces resistance—or impedance—moving through fat. The scale measures that impedance to calculate your body fat.
It’s important to note that the small electric current sent through your body during BIA measurement can affect pacemakers. For that reason, you shouldn’t use the scale if you have a pacemaker or any other internal medical device such as an artificial lung or portable ECG monitor. FitTrack also recommends avoiding the scale if you have osteoporosis.
There’s no evidence that this process is dangerous for pregnant women, but FitTrack recommends consulting your doctor before using the scale if you’re expecting. If you do use it while pregnant, keep in mind that your measurements (with the exception of weight) will likely be inaccurate. The same is true for children and adolescents under the age of 18 who aren’t yet fully developed.
Some other smart scales feature a safe mode for pregnant women and people who wear pacemakers, but the FitTrack Dara doesn’t. The Wyze Scale, for instance, offers a mode called Only Measure Weight, which disables the BIA measurement so the device won’t send the electric current through your body, and will only measure your weight.
Comparisons and Conclusions
If you’re in the market for a smart scale that can help you understand your body composition, the $89.95 FitTrack Dara is a strong choice. Beyond just your weight, it measures your bone, fat, muscle, and protein mass, as well as your body water percentage, body fat percentage, subcutaneous fat, visceral fat, and weight without fat. It also calculates your BMI, BMR, metabolic age, ideal weight (based on your age, gender, and height), and how much you’d have to gain or lose to reach that ideal. Its companion apps helps you understand your metrics, tells you whether you’re in a healthy range, and keeps track of your progress over time.
That said, in this price range it’s also worth checking out the Arboleaf Smart Fitness Scale, which won’t tell you your ideal weight, but has a larger surface area to accommodate big feet, and adds Wi-Fi support for more reliable data syncing. And for far less money, the Wyze Scale is suitable for use by pregnant women and people with pacemakers, though it measures fewer metrics than the FitTrack Dara.
Ultimately, the $150 QardioBase 2 remains our Editors’ Choice winner for high-end smart scales. With Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support, automatic recognition for multiple users, a rechargeable battery, and safe modes for pregnant women and people with implanted medical devices, it’s the best smart scale we’ve tested if you can afford it.
