When I received the scale I was pleasantly surprised. The scale feels premium, and is much smaller than photos convey. The product’s photos skew the size by using small bowls and hands to throw off visual proportions. In reality, the scale is hand-sized (granted, I’m larger than most). It’s small enough to throw into a drawer, or keep it on a counter and not take up much space. It can be easily accessible, not necessary to put it away somewhere to be barely used. It’s even travel friendly (just don’t pack heavy items on top of it). Ultimately, the size is much more convenient than the photos convey. The thoroughness of the experience is also great. They didn’t create a product that just works with the bare minimum, they actually care about the user experience, and listen. Older reviews calling for additional features have been addressed. Barcode scanning is now available, the database now contains over 270,000 items. In fact, the database is so extensive it can be difficult to find items in some cases. Trying to merely weigh ground beef can become a daunting adventure. There are listings from Individual supermarkets, lean or not lean types, etc, and each varies in nutritional value (e.g. not all lean types have the same calories). In such cases it ends up being a guesstimate rather than truly informative, due to the overwhelming number of choices. Unfortunately it’s not easy to refine such a database. How would one know which item is most relevant, or discern which data is more accurate? That’s a downside of having a user driven database, users entering product info aren’t prone to quality control. MyFitnessPal’s database reflects that well. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are using the same database. But even if they are, MyFitnessPal integration has not yet been added. Maybe they are working on it, or have their reasons not to (i.e. competitor). In any case, the app and hardware have significantly grown since earlier reviews. The experience is much more accommodating for new customers. —————— One thing I’d like to see changed is how ounces are handled. When measuring in ounces the precision is only 0.04 ounces (i.e. 1 gram). That can’t be helped, all scales have a measurement range, and more precise scales only measure up to about one pound. That’s the trade-off of being able to weigh heavier items (would be great to have a version of the scale that can measure lighter items, some manufacturers sell multiple versions of the same scale with different resolution ranges). Unfortunately, it creates situations where if you are measuring something that is actually 3.14oz ... it would resolve it to 3.12oz or maybe even 3.16oz. In the case of 3.12 mathematically it should round down to 3.1oz, for 3.16 it should round up to 3.2oz. I have personally seen the scale show 3.1 and 3.2 for the same item, not knowing which is more true or if it’s even rounding. What if in reality the scale is actually seeing 3.16 and dropping the last digit (not rounding at all)? The problem is, users have no idea which is happening / what the scale actually sees. When something like food intake is a matter of personal preference and perception. Wouldn’t users like to know if they are slightly over or under (which works out to being off by a few grams)? If over, some would care to take a bit off to meet their goal, so seeing they are slightly over would be good to know. In the app there should be an option to disable the auto rounding for ounces (enable displaying the hundredths or thousandths position). To allow users to know the true measurement, and use their own judgement rather than the scale judge for them. Due to the scale making assumptions / not knowing the true ounces, I took off one star. The scale is truly designed to measure in grams, and converts it to ounces via the software / firmware. So it can be addressed through a software or firmware update. Until then, if you really care to have a better idea of the ounces it’s best to measure in grams and manually convert it. Inconvenient, but in some situations that might actually matter. Ultimately, the option to display another digit or two (since one gram is really 0.035 ounces not 0.04) can be very helpful even if not precise, and should be optional (disabled by default). Another feature that would be nice, perhaps for the next hardware update: rechargeable battery with USB-C connection. The need to purchase additional batteries seems a bit backwards. It makes the otherwise modern / futuristic product seem a bit retro. The convenience of a rechargeable battery many users would appreciate. In any case, this is a well-designed product, accompanied by a well-designed and developed app. Where other companies make half efforts, Etekcity hasn’t. No other smart food scale has a better experience. Even the smart food scales that resolve 0.01g to 500g (0.000352oz to 17.637oz) that seem more precise, are actually inaccurate (and the app experience isn’t as refined nor as extensive). I tested them with items where I already knew the true weight. Only Etekcity’s smart scale was very close to spec, the others were all over the place, with no option to calibrate. Etekcity has created a quality item, and are putting a lot of work into their platform. I look forward to seeing how things develop, and highly recommend this product.
