I absolutely loved my time with the Withings Scanwatch last year. Whilst I’m a huge Apple fan at heart, and an owner of the Apple Watch since the original launch last year, it can often be a lot at times to wear a computer on your wrist that truly means that you can’t disconnect from being online, and even more so since it become a sleep tracking device that’s meant to be warn 24/7.
That’s what makes the Withings Scanwatch so great, and remains to be the case with the Scanwatch 2. It allows you to track all of the important health metrics and provides the best parts of a smartwatch without feeling like you need to charge it every day, or that it’s pinging you with every notification (although you can choose to do this is if you please).
The ScanWatch 2 looks extremely similar to that of the original watch and comes in 38 and 42mm options. I still prefer the look of the 38mm watch due to how simple it is around the edge of the display, but I still love the 42mm that is pictured on my wrist below. The OLED display is no higher resolution with grayscale, and I still love the classic look of it. The actual watch looks heavy, but it’s quite comfortable to wear despite its size, even when sleeping with it.
The best part about the Scanwatch 2 is without doubt that 30 day battery life. I can’t even put into words how helpful it is to have a smart watch that you aren’t burdened with charging every single day, or have to worry about putting on charge before you sleep only to forgot to put it back on. The Scanwatch 2 is with you for the long-haul, and you very rarely have to think about charging it, which leads to improved health tracking that feels like genuine 24/7 tracking due to it staying on your wrist for longer periods of time.
Just like the original, you can track your sleep which is broken down into different segments and gives you a score based on how well you slept, and there’s also the ability to track your steps including a complication on your watch face that tells you how close you are to hitting your goal with a little celebration the second you do, which I found more motivating than other watches.
You’ve also still got your heart rate sensor for measuring your heart rate and performing an ECG although these sensors have been improved to be more accurate, faster and giving you a measurement and also detecting when the watch isn’t on your wrist so that it’s not chewing up your battery. Just like the original, you’re still able to measure your oxygen levels as well. Something that is new to the ScanWatch 2 is HRV tracking (coming this year in a software update) which will measure your respiratory rate overnight whilst you sleep.
THE CHEAPEST PRICE
New and exclusive to the Scanwatch 2 are temperature tracking which isn’t to be used to monitor your actual temperature in real time, but rather set a baseline and then measure temperature increases or decreases throughout the day to detect an onset of illness, measure whilst you sleep and also measure throughout exercises to make sure that you’re not overheating and regulating your temperature effectively. Whilst the original Scanwatch was able to track menstrual cycles, the Scanwatch 2 can track it via its built in skin temperature sensor.
Also new is automatic tracking which in addition to the workout tracking that you can do manually for 50 activities, will automatically track for actives such as walking, cycling and swimming. I was fairly surprised with how often it measured my exercises correctly, whether it be a brisk walk or playing table tennis with my partner. They were all there, even if they weren’t always logged correctly as the right exercise, I was able to manually go in and add it if required.
There’s a new charger in the box which is not only a huge improvement, but the best smart watch charger that I’ve used in the sense that it locks in and cleverly charges through the dial. It expands ever so slightly for you to put the watch in, and locks in so that it doesn’t detach which happens often when I’m using other smart watch chargers.
It’s worth mentioning that just like other Withings products, you can get a health improvement score that will weigh up your activity, body, heart, sleep and menstrual health but it is an additional monthly fee with the Withings+ subscription which I don’t love.
Alongside the Scanwatch 2, Withings also dropped Scanwatch Light which has a smaller 37mm watch face and brings many of the same features with is aimed at being a smaller, lighter more entry level watch for the everyday customer that might want to do some light health tracking. It has improved sensors for more accurate readings than the original Scanwatch, but is a bit more basic than the Scanwatch 2, although it retains that all important 30-day battery life. It’s worth mentioning that it doesn’t have the steps complication at the bottom, but it does have it digitally at the top, so it’s not a huge deal.
It can do all of the same sleep and exercise tracking, and basic heart rate tracking as well as measuring your respiratory rate and menstrual cycle, but it loses out on the temperature tracking and automatic exercise tracking that were added in the Scanwatch 2. It’s a great lightweight watch, but you might want to go for the original Scanwatch if you can find it on discount (like it is at JB HI-FI at the moment).
Overall, I absolutely love both the ScanWatch 2 and ScanWatch Light for what they offer in comparison to other smart watches from the likes of Apple and Google. They retain the classic look of a timepiece on your wrist, with the battery life going a big way to actually ensuring that they stay on your wrist almost 24/7, until the battery eventually runs out after a month.
