Like all the best smart scales, the Xiaomi Mi Smart Scale 2 has a ton of body measurements to help you keep track of your health and fitness. It comes in a minimalist white design and is lightweight and well-made.
Xiaomi Mi Smart Scale 2: Essential info
Connectivity: Bluetooth
Size: 11.02in x 11.02in (30cm x 30cm)
Max users: 16
Stats: BMI, body fat percentage, water percentage, protein percentage, BMR, visceral fat, muscle mass, bone mass, body age, ideal weight, body type and weight
Max weight: 150kg/330lbs
Supported apps: Zepp Life app
Batteries: 3 1.5V AAA (not included)
Pairing with the Zepp Life app is easy, although you will need to register first. The thing about this product is that without the app, you’re really just getting a fancy looking scale — the only thing you can see is your weight. Making the most of the app, however, means you can see more information about changes to your body composition, which can help to motivate you to stay on track with healthy habits.
Read on to find out more about the Xiaomi Mi Smart Scale 2, including how it works, ease of set up, accuracy and performance.
Xiaomi Mi Smart Scale 2: How it works
If you’re new to smart scale technology, here’s how it works. Step on the scales with bare feet and a small electrical charge will be sent up into your body – don’t worry, you can’t feel it and it’s safe for most people. If you have a pacemaker, medical implant or are pregnant, however, check first with your doctor before using one.
By measuring the resistance it faces, the scale can then map your body composition. Open the accompanying app to view your essential stats, with usual metrics including muscle mass, bone density, body fat, visceral fat, protein, basal metabolic rate and fat-free body weight.
Smart scales can vary in accuracy but they can still be a useful way to track changes in body composition, and can be motivating when you are on a weight loss or fitness journey.
Xiaomi Mi Smart Scale 2: Design and features
The Xiaomi Smart Scale 2 is sleek and minimalist with no visible buttons and a hidden LED screen. It looks like a smart scale that Apple might design with its smooth, rounded edges.
It is battery powered (3 AAA, although these aren’t supplied) and our tester found getting the back off to load the batteries in was a bit of a hassle to begin with. Once powered up, simply download the Zepp Life app (formerly Mi Fit), available on Android and iOS, take your socks off and step onto the scales.
There’s no WiFi connectivity, so you need to open the app to log a weigh-in via Bluetooth. Your weight will appear on the display on the scales too. You can change the units in the app.
The Xiaomi Mi Smart Scale 2 can support up to 16 different users, and the good news is that without a WiFi option there’s no risk of your stats being sent to the wrong person. The scale itself will only show you your weight, so you will need to open the app to access your muscle mass, water percentage, body fat percentage, bone density and visceral fat.
Click on your weight and the app will give you more information, including your BMI, whether you are a healthy weight and what your ideal weight is. It gave our tester an ideal weight which seemed slightly low for their height, and would put their BMI in the lower end of the ‘healthy weight’ range. So we’re not entirely convinced by this feature.
You can also see your ‘body age’, receiving a ‘body score’ out of 100 and a label of ‘good’, ‘poor’ or more. It’s a fairly simplistic ranking, but it might be a useful overview for some people.
The Xiaomi Mi Smart Scale 2 also displays your basal metabolic rate (BMR); the amount of calories your body needs a day to maintain your current weight. Similar to many smart scales, there’s a history section where you can look at how your weight and body fat has changed, but it’s lacking previous info for the other metrics, making it hard to track progress.
The scales also have a feature where you can test your balance. In the homepage of the app choose ‘Balance’ and the scale will time you while you stand on one leg with your eyes closed. This feature actually feels slightly pointless, and isn’t offering anything you can’t do yourself with a timer. However, it might appeal to some people.
You can also set goals in the app, including for steps or weight related goals, and you can add friends to view their activity information. You can measure objects weighing anything from 100g to 10kg too.
Fans of Xiaomi products, like the Smart Band 7 or the Mi watch, who already use the Zepp Life app will be able to make more use of its features as their other health stats (including sleep and activity tracking) will be available to track.
One part of the app we found slightly offensive was the body type feature – based on your stats it gives you a label, with examples including ‘thick set’, ‘skinny’ and ‘lacks exercise’. At best this could be demotivating and at worst it could be triggering for anyone with disordered eating or a history of eating disorders.
We’d also prefer a USB charge instead of batteries, but other than that this is a decent set of scales with a useful amount of information to give insight into your health.
Xiaomi Mi Smart Scale 2: Accuracy and performance
The Xiaomi Mi Smart Scale 2 gives a quick reading and pairs well with the app, and results are clear in white font on the display. The app is fairly simplistic but easy to use, with various options for goal setting and linking with friends if you want to share stats.
Unfortunately, our tester couldn’t access their Body Score reading for some reason, so can’t comment on how useful the insights there are. We reached out to the company for comment and guidance on this issue and will update when they respond.
In terms of accuracy, we compared our results with a reading using a professional body composition machine at a local gym. The weigh-in for Xiaomi was 2.42g (5.34lbs) higher than the gym one. As discussed earlier, we couldn’t compare any other body composition metrics with the Xiaomi ‘Body Score’ because the app wasn’t displaying this information.
Xiaomi Mi Smart Scale 2: Verdict
For the price, the Xiaomi Mi Smart Scale 2 is a decent entry-level smart scale for anyone interested in tracking body composition. It looks premium, despite the low price, and the app gives a lot of useful information. Like other smart scales at this price point, you can’t recharge it as it’s battery powered, and the lack of Wi-Fi means you can only use it with your phone and the app open.
We personally found the body type feature off-putting, and the ideal weight suggestion seemed a little skewed for our tester’s height, but other than that it’s a decent choice for a budget smart scale.
If this product isn’t for you
Garmin Index S2 smart scale
If the Xiaomi Mi isn’t for you then the Garmin Index S2 might be a good alternative. This is an impressive smart scale that is Bluetooth and WiFi enabled. If you already have a Garmin watch or device, you can sync your activity stats alongside other body composition metrics to get a better overview of your progress. It’s expensive though ($149.99 / £129.99), and if you’re not going to make the most of the app’s extra features it might be wiser to opt for a cheaper smart scale like the Withings Body below.
Withings Body smart scale
The most basic of the Withings scales ($59 / £59.95), the Withings Body BMI Wi-Fi Scale is a great entry-level smart scale for anyone looking to track weight and BMI. Your stats will sync wirelessly with the Health Mate app, which can also gather metrics from other Withings devices and health and fitness apps, including Apple Health. It doesn’t show data on muscle mass, body fat or other detailed metrics, but if that doesn’t bother you then this is an accurate smart scale at a budget-friendly price.
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