A Worthwhile Scale, The Smart Weigh SMS500-B Smart Memory Scale Works!

The Good: Consistent, Weight tracking function works, Inexpensive, Battery lasts a long time
The Bad: No corded option
The Basics: The Smart Weigh SMS500-B Smart Memory Scale works well, despite some minor quirks with the readout!


Not long ago, I happily bought a bathroom scale for my wife and I. The Health O'Meter scale I bought (reviewed here!) worked well-enough for a few years, but when the scale got wet and the batteries gave out, my wife and I needed to replace it, as opposed to simply getting new batteries for the scale. So, when I had to replace it, I picked up a new Smart Weigh SMS500-B Smart Memory Scale. The Smart Weigh SMS500-B Smart Memory Scale has been in daily use around my house for the last three months and it is a marked improvement on the Health O'Meter scale we had to get rid of.

The Smart Weigh SMS500-B Smart Memory Scale is an electronic scale that measures 12 1/2" wide by 12 1/2" deep by 1 1/8" tall. It has four textured feet that are rubber to prevent skidding on tile or linoleum floors and that is a nice touch. Even so, this has a surprisingly large footprint for the bathroom floor. Unless one has a very large bathroom and can afford to give up the space - over a foot square - then one is likely to be moving it and it has to actually be lifted, as opposed to skidded across the floor.

The scale features a very large LCD display that renders in four colors - blue, red, green and black for the characters. The display measures 2 inches by two and a half inches, so the characters are large enough to be seen when standing on the scale. The display is activated when the scale is turned on. Activating the scale is very easy; simply step on the top of the scale. When that happens and the scale turns on, the LCD will flash "0.0," unless one remains on the scale. The Smart Weigh SMS500-B Smart Memory Scale may then be used, so long as one steps on it within a minute. Waiting longer than a minute will cause the scale to turn itself off.

The Smart Weigh SMS500-B Smart Memory Scale has a big and very bright LCD screen. It is bright enough that it is visible when one is standing atop the scale and it is very clear in its readout. This scale reads pounds to the tenth of the pound and may be calibrated for kilograms, though all of my testing was done with the scale on pounds. The display has a blue background that is bright and offers good contrast.

The Smart Weigh SMS500-B Smart Memory Scale is exceptionally accurate. I have put on a few pounds since the old Health O'Meter scale and the Smart Weigh SMS500-B Smart Memory Scale has noted that! More than that, weighing myself in succession or an hour apart yielded the same results each time, so it performs exceptionally well over time for accuracy.

The neatest thing about the Smart Weigh SMS500-B Smart Memory Scale is the memory function. The plastic and plexiglass scale seems durable, but with only three months of use, I cannot confirm its longterm viability yet. The memory function, though, is pretty awesome. Both my wife and I use the scale and when we do, it knows us. Without any programming, the scale recognized my wife and I as separate people and has recorded our weight changes since day one. Whenever I step on the scale and it settles on my weight, after a few seconds of rendering the weight, the screen flashes to the prior recorded weight and has a note below it as the the amount of change between the current and previous weights. When there is no weight change, the screen is blue, when one loses weight the screen's background is green. When the screen flashes red, one knows instantly that they have gained weight.

I hate seeing the Smart Weigh SMS500-B Smart Memory Scale flash red at me.

The Smart Weigh SMS500-B Smart Memory Scale runs on four AAA batteries and that is the only real detraction to the scale that I can find. I would prefer an AC power cord option, but the Smart Weigh SMS500-B Smart Memory Scale works perfectly and the memory function is great, regardless of where the power is coming from. That makes it a pretty wonderful household device worth picking up!

For other appliances for around the house, please check out my reviews of:
ThinkGeek Star Wars Cloud City Pint Glass Set
Pyrex Bake N' Store 8 Piece Set
Sodastream Fizz Home Soda Maker

9/10

For other home and garden products, be sure to visit my Home And Garden Product Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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