ScanWatch Light review: Is Withings' newest hybrid worth it?

Do you remember when the first smartwatch came out? Wow, what an era that was. But such accessories aren’t always stylish. Considering this, it’s not even weird that hybrid smartwatches that combine aesthetics with essential health tracking have an increased demand.

One of them is the ScanWatch Light. This is an analog-style watch, which has an OLED screen and comes with modern fitness and health tracking features you may need. Potentially, you get both style and valuable insights for your money. When I heard about this, I immediately knew I had to find out more.

So, as a Cybernews expert, I’ve personally reviewed the Withings ScanWatch Light, with support from our research team. This helped me evaluate how well it performs compared to alternatives in the increasingly crowded wearable tech market. Let’s go through my ScanWatch Light review.

Quick overview of Withings ScanWatch Light

Overall rating:	4.4/5
Brief description:	The Withings ScanWatch Light is a hybrid smartwatch with elegant design and health and fitness features, which might give you potential information about your real-time activity, heart rate, respiration, and sleep, as well as track your menstrual cycle and log symptoms.
Pricing:	$247.45

Visit Withings ScanWatch Light

What is Withings ScanWatch Light?

The Withings ScanWatch Light is a hybrid smartwatch. Basically, this is a device that blends classic watch design with modern health and fitness tracking features. If you’re like me and hate wearing a typical sports-looking smartwatch that doesn’t go with all your outfits, then you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

But the visual appearance isn’t the only thing that Withings considered. The ScanWatch Light is also lightweight, allowing you to wear it for a longer period without potentially feeling discomfort. Additionally, the main focus is on daily wellness monitoring rather than advanced sports features, which is something that not all smartwatches provide.

According to Withings, ScanWatch Light has blood pressure monitors, sleep analyzers, thermometers, and is the first smartwatch with a built-in electrocardiogram (ECG). However, there’s not enough medical evidence on how accurately these features work.

Key features of ScanWatch Light

What sets ScanWatch Light apart from other smartwatches is its suite of features. So, let’s go through them so you can get a clearer idea about what I’m talking about:

Case Material:	Stainless steel
Case Dimensions:	36.8mm x 9.85mm
Case Thickness:	10.95mm
Weight:	27.1g
Display:	0.6-inch monochrome OLED
Strap Width:	18mm
Battery Life:	Up to 30 days
Sensors:	Accelerometer, Multi-wavelength PPG
Compatibility:	iOS, Android

Now, let’s check out the features that make ScanWatch Light as unique as it is:

• Medical-grade heart rate monitoring: One of the features that ScanWatch Light advertises is measuring your heart rate. However, this smartwatch may take things a step further due to the built-in ECG. Plus, you might even receive personalized cardiologist feedback.
• Sleep cycle analysis with breathing disturbances: ScanWatch Light may also be helpful for improving your sleep. You should get an overall sleep cycle analysis, which potentially detects any breathing disturbances.
• Respiratory rate & blood oxygen tracking (SpO2): This hybrid smartwatch utilizes a multi-wavelength PPG sensor that should help it monitor blood oxygen levels and possibly detect breathing disturbances by analyzing SpO2, heart rate, motion, and breathing rate.
• Step tracking & activity detection: The Withings ScanWatch Light also claims that it can track the number of steps and likely detect certain activities like walking, running, and swimming.
• Smart notifications via OLED display: One of the best things is that you’ll receive all of your notifications on the OLED display that’s on the watch, making sure you don’t miss a thing.

Furthermore, ScanWatch Light is easy to use, and customers who’ve tried it say that they got relatively accurate results.

Withings ScanWatch light design and appearance

The first thing I noticed about ScanWatch Light was its minimalist and elegant look. The smartwatch looks exactly like any analog watch. The only difference is that it comes with an OLED screen, which is small and doesn’t take up the whole space.

Speaking of the design, you can only get it in one size. However, there’s a variety of available colors that you can choose from, which is perfect if you’re a fashion enthusiast like me. That said, you can get the smartwatch in sand, blue, green, pearl white, and black.

But you can elevate its look further by choosing some of the leather, metal, or rubber wristbands, also available in multiple colors. You can choose rose gold and burgundy, leather brown, and many other nuances of the basic colors.

When it comes to the build quality, I must say that this is another perk. Due to the usage of a stainless steel case, gorilla glass, and stainless steel crown, ScanWatch is scratch-resistant and highly durable.

This model is much smaller, lighter, and aesthetically minimalist compared to the standard ScanWatch. Thanks to the lighter case, it’s more comfortable and looks sleeker. The ScanWatch 2, on the other hand, is slightly more robust, and it can reach a weight of up to 52.6g.

Withings ScanWatch Light health and fitness tracking

Withings ScanWatch Light might be suitable for health-conscious and fitness enthusiasts. This is because the device comes with health-focused sensors, which are likely to monitor your heart rate, sleep quality, breathing disturbances, and even SpO2.

More precisely, the usage of green LED lights helps it potentially detect changes in blood flow to measure your heart rate. More so, ScanWatch Light relies on wrist movement and heart rate analysis to possibly track your sleep stage, duration, and any sleep disruptions.

Additionally, by combining motion, heart rate, and SpO2 data, ScanWatch can likely detect drops in your blood oxygen levels during sleep, which might help it indicate breathing disturbances.

Ultimately, to measure your blood oxygen levels, ScanWatch Light utilizes red and infrared light to potentially measure the percentage of oxygen in your blood. It appears to do this by detecting how much light oxygen-rich vs oxygen-poor blood absorbs.

When it comes to the visualization of data, I really liked that the Withings Health Mate app, which you can get on both iOS and Android, gives a detailed analysis, including trend charts that you can’t see on the watch.

Unfortunately, there’s still no medical-grade certification. So, you should use this device with caution, especially if you have some health issues, and not expect drastic changes overnight.

Withings ScanWatch activity tracking

Withings ScanWatch might also help you with activity tracking, such as counting your steps or automatically detecting whether you’re walking, running, or cycling. Plus, its water-resistant build also makes it suitable for swimming.

Unfortunately, the one thing I didn’t like and don’t find suitable for athletes is the lack of built-in GPS. You’ll need to carry a smartphone for route, pace, and distance tracking via “Connected GPS,” which isn’t the most convenient.

As for the metrics, you’re likely to see only basic real-time workout data on the OLED screen, with no advanced running dynamics, multi-sport tracking, or detailed recovery analytics.

Based on all of this, the ScanWatch Light is most suitable for casual movers who want to combine class with aesthetics, and don’t mind relying on their phone for GPS data.

ScanWatch Light: user reviews

As always, all of my expert reviews rely on user feedback. That’s why I spend hours going through user reviews to gain first-hand information about the functionalities of ScanWatch Light. While there’s positive feedback, there’s also a bit of negative one.

A user considering buying the device said: “The ScanWatch Light came up in my searching, and several features really appealed to me. The smaller size compared to other available models through other brands and the battery life.”

Another user shared: “You want good tracking, battery life and small form factor. The scanwatch light has 2 out of 3. Tracking isn't very good. It can't differentiate between deep and rem sleep for example and doesn't track continuously, only periodically.”

So, I can indeed say that the battery life, comfort, and clean data are some of the biggest positives.

On the other hand, the negatives mainly relate to inaccurate tracking results.

One of the shared reviews says: “The sleep tracking is not exactly great or super accurate but "good enough".”

How to set up ScanWatch Light: step-by-step

Based on my findings, ScanWatch Light seems to have a simple setup. All you have to do is follow a few steps, and the device will be up and running in no time. Here’s what you should do:

1. Download the Withings Health Mate app.
2. Turn on Bluetooth and pair your device.
3. Register or log in to your Withings account.
4. Follow the on-screen calibration instructions.
5. Start using key features (HR, SpO2, sleep, etc.).

ScanWatch Light vs competitors

If ScanWatch Light isn’t your cup of tea after what you’ve read so far, you can always consider some of its competitors. Among the most prominent ones are Hume Band, Garmin Vívomove Sport, and Fitbit Inspire 3. So, let’s see how it compares to them:

	ScanWatch Light	Hume Band	Garmin Vívomove Sport	Fitbit Inspire 3
Design:	Modern, sleek, lightweight	Minimalistic, screen-less, comfortable	Stylish and watch-like, both analog and touchscreen	Lightweight, sleek, with color AMOLED touchscreen
Key health features:	Heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, SpO2 data, respiratory rate tracking	Continuous HRV tracking, stress and recovery monitoring, skin temperature, respiratory rate	Heart rate, SpO2, stress tracking, sleep tracking, body battery	Heart rate, SpO2, sleep stages, stress management, guided breathing
Battery life:	Up to 30 days	Up to 30 days	Up to 5 days	Up to 10 days
Price/value:	$247.45	One-time $199-249 (no	$179.98	$97.94

Visit Withings ScanWatch Light

Final verdict: is ScanWatch Light worth it?

After hours of investigating ScanWatch Light with my Cybernews research team, I finally have a verdict. This hybrid smartwatch can be the perfect solution if you’re a casual wellness user or a fitness enthusiast with basic needs.

More precisely, ScanWatch claims to have a strong battery life of up to 30 days, multiple health metrics, and a hybrid design, which makes it both stylish and lightweight. However, the sport features are limited, meaning you’ll only get basic metrics, and there’s no built-in GPS.

Still, go through my ScanWatch review once again, and if you find it appealing, it’s worth considering.

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