Withings ScanWatch 2 Review – The Gadgeteer

REVIEW –  I have been looking for a classy looking smartwatch for a long time.  Something dressier for work that tracks heath data and gives me my messages.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the smartwatch made by my smartphone maker, but it looks a bit masculine and sporty.  I also have to charge it daily.  Enter the Withings ScanWatch 2.  It’s a traditional looking watch that does everything the best competitors can, but in a dressier, more classic package that only needs charging once a month.

⬇︎ Jump to summary (pros/cons)
Price: $369.95
Where to buy: Withings and Amazon

What is it?

The Withings ScanWatch 2 is a traditional looking wristwatch that can give you a medical grade ECG, track many health metrics and sleep variables while still needing only monthly charging.

What’s included?

• The watch
• A charging cradle
• Some literature

Tech specs

• Weight & Dimensions:   38mm or 42mm, weight (without wristband): 34.6gr (38mm), 52.6gr (42mm)
• Screen display:  grayscale OLED display, 14504 px, 282 PPI, 0.63″
• Materials:  stainless steel case, sapphire glass, stainless steel crown
• Sensors: TempTech24/7 module, high dynamic range accelerometer, multi-wavelength PPG 16 channels, altimeter
• Water resistance: 5ATM
• Battery:  up to 35-day battery life
• Charging time: 2 hours
• Docking station (USB-C compatible)
• Connectivity:  Bluetooth Low Energy

Design and features

The Withings ScanWatch 2 is a very traditional looking watch with a small round screen on the face that is customizable to deliver a variety of information.  Paired with the app, the focus of this watch is health tracking through a wide variety of measurements that can be shared with your doctor.

I have had many smartwatches in the past, and although the smartwatch made by my phone manufacturer is fairly new, the ScanWatch 2 tracks much more than that one.  It is so in-depth that I struggle to really convey how deep the data and customization goes in this short review.

Let’s start with the basic health metrics.  The ScanWatch 2 will continuously monitor your breathing, oxygen saturation, heart rate (HRV), temperature, and for women, their cycle.  It will track your sleep quality, sleep/wake cycle, and flag temperature variations that could tell you if you might be getting sick.   It will give you a medical grade ECG, and if you subscribe to their Withings+ service (which is $99 a year), a cardiologist will review your stats and give you an evaluation.  You can get those evaluations up to 4 times per year, and you get one for free during the first month’s trial period.

The watch can auto-detect popular workouts such as walking, running and cycling and you can select up to eight excercises for quick access when you start your workout.  They have around 40 different sports from which to choose including zumba, kite surfing and rugby.

Probably the biggest plus of the ScanWatch 2 is that it needs infrequent charging.  This is my biggest complaint with smartwatches.  I am supposed to wear this thing 24/7 to monitor my health, but if I have to charge it every day or two, I’m missing out on hours of data being recorded.  Even with constant monitoring of my oxygen and temperature, the ScanWatch 2 lasted well over two weeks without charging.  If you opt for less frequent monitoring, it could last over 30 days.  Charging only takes 2 hours and mine seems to maintain being fully charged if I put it in the charging cradle while I’m in the shower and getting dressed.  If you are looking for consistent health data, this is the watch to get.

The ScanWatch 2 will “wake up” the small, round screen by turning your wrist, but I found this functionality inconsistent.  Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.  To manually do this, you can press the “wind” button and if you are worried about it being obscured by the hands, there’s a setting to move them to 10:10 when that happens.  The ScanWatch 2 can be set to vibrate to alert you to your notifications and I found this to be attention-getting — more so than my other smartwatch.

The small, round screen can be customized with all kinds of information that you can scroll through by punching the “wind” button.  I wish it was in color, although that’s a small gripe.  I know it seems small, but I found it very readable. It is also where messages appear, which scroll across twice.  If you miss it, you have to look at your phone. I wish there was a way to have them scroll again on demand because occasionally I missed them.  A long-press of the “wind” button can be programmed to do a variety of things, from taking an ECG to starting a timer to activating “do not disturb mode.”  Perhaps a second chance at looking at your last message would fit there.

I had to do a little searching to figure out what the small bottom dial does on this watch, and it turns out to be measuring your step count for the day.  Your goal is customizable and it lets you know at a glance how you’re doing.

I did not evaluate the Withings+ service, mostly because I (probably like you) have a case of subscription overload (which goes hand in hand with my tipping overload which I will rant about at another time). I would get the subscription if I had health issues, because it does seem to be a good value compared to some other subscription services.  Even without the service, it will generate a report to share with your physician or family member.  It also gently cues you to be more active.  Today it prompted me to “Take a moment for yourself and go on a short walk.”  I appreciated the tone of the reminder .

If you use another health tracking service such as Samsung Health, Strava, My Fitness Pal or several others, you can connect them for consistent data.  It even connects to an Aura account and Nest to automatically set the temperature of your home for ideal sleeping conditions when you go to bed and regular settings when you wake up.

The thing I didn’t like with the ScanWatch 2 was the band.  All the watches come with a FKM (fluoroelastomer) wristband and stainless steel buckle.  It’s nicer than a silicone band, but it does make me itchy. I have sensitive skin, but even if I didn’t, I think that a watch that costs over $350 should come with a better band.  Metal, leather, or recycled cork would be better. I replaced mine with stainless steel.

The Withings ScanWatch 2 comes in two sizes, 38mm and 42mm.  I reviewed the 38mm.  It comes in several different face colors (blue, white and black) and a couple of different metal finishes.

Final thoughts

The ScanWatch 2 is a great looking watch, even with the cheesy band.  It offers a wide variety of health data and that paired with its long battery life make it a great health and fitness tracker.

What I like about the

• Long battery life.
• Breadth and depth of health tracking.
• Great looking!

What needs to be improved?

• Let’s make that last message scrollable on demand.
• That band is not great.

Price: $369.95
Where to buy: Withings and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Withings.  Withings did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.