Withings 38mm Scanwatch 2 - Rose Gold

I currently have an Apple Watch Series 8 as my daily driver, but I find it hard to resist a classic-looking watch, especially if it has some smartwatch capabilities.The ScanWatch 2 is a follow up to the first generation ScanWatch which didn't see much adoption in US markets. It maintains much of the design of the original watch: The stainless steel watch has classic styling with a small circular cutout in the top half of the face for the digital display. Only 5-minute tick marks are present on the face (no numbers), and the bottom half of the face maintains symmetry with the top circular cutout; in the bottom cutout is another analog dial that shows your activity in terms of percent of goal. The crown on the side of the watch serves as navigation for the smart ... MoreI currently have an Apple Watch Series 8 as my daily driver, but I find it hard to resist a classic-looking watch, especially if it has some smartwatch capabilities.The ScanWatch 2 is a follow up to the first generation ScanWatch which didn't see much adoption in US markets. It maintains much of the design of the original watch: The stainless steel watch has classic styling with a small circular cutout in the top half of the face for the digital display. Only 5-minute tick marks are present on the face (no numbers), and the bottom half of the face maintains symmetry with the top circular cutout; in the bottom cutout is another analog dial that shows your activity in terms of percent of goal. The crown on the side of the watch serves as navigation for the smart components, where rotation navigates menus and pressing the crown selects items in those menus.Also included in the box is a charging cradle with USB-C connection; the cradle uses physical contact with the watch body and crown to act as charging conductors, meaning there are no physical charging pins visible anywhere on the watch (I thought this was a really nice touch).It's probably worth noting that this is not a full smartwatch, and fits better into the category of 'fitness tracker' than it does 'smartwatch.' The array of sensors on the watch is really quite impressive: fitness activity, blood oxygen, heart rate, ECG, and includes additional mechanisms for providing sleep tracking as well (all attainable through the app). Otherwise, as far as 'smart' features are concerned, you're basically limited to basic notifications being delivered via a bluetooth connected phone.Battery life is fantastic, not surprisingly so for a relatively 'smart-limited' watch... but for sleep tracking this is a great device. I don't think it a stretch to get at least two weeks of battery life between charges, if not longer.My biggest complaint about the smart watch functionality on this is the built in alarms, which seem to only alarm for a limited amount of time. I rely heavily on my Apple Watch to get me out of bed every day, and the Scanwatch 2 seems to stop alarming after around 30 seconds of consistent vibration during a single alarm. A workaround I've used is setting multiple alarms, but this more annoying than anything else; by principle, alarms shouldn't be able to turn themselves off.It is otherwise an extremely lightweight and comfortable watch; the strap is a soft rubbery material and not irritating to the skin, and seems to breathe well during activity.An integral component of this watch is the mobile application available on Android and iOS. It presents a very clean and bright interface and is a joy to use; it integrates with Apple Health and allows for some customization of features (for instance, when long pressing the crown you can launch the ECG, Sp02 or workout modes on the watch). I've really grown to love Apple's health app, and I could see this Withings app as a reasonable replacement.It is no surprise, but this watch is a good watch—because it is a watch first, and smart second. You benefit from this with great battery life, but if you’re used to a more typical smart watch, this will be a step down in features. It also doesn't have any sort of backlighting on the face itself (aside from the interior digital screen, which lights up when raising your hand, if enabled, or by pressing the crown).At $349, this seems like a pretty heavy lift for a very limited smartwatch. It's a very nice looking watch, has a great array of sensors and is comfortable to wear, but it doesn't compete as a true smartwatch and I don't think it should be labeled as such (hybrid or otherwise). That's not to say there's no market for it--because it looks great and provides some additional smart features, like notification alerts from your phone, I could make the argument that some people might appreciate a product like this.

Having not ventured into the smart watch world the Withings - ScanWatch 2 - Heart Health Hybrid Smartwatch seemed like an interesting choice. The ScanWatch 2 otherwise looks like a traditional watch, however once you look closely you will see a small circular OLED non color screen which can display small messages and notifications. In addition the screen can be used to set options on the phone. Withings health related products have a good reputation and the sensors on this watch can detect heart rate, gather an Electrocardiography (ECG) measurement, get a measurement of your blood oxygen, Respiration rate, Resting heart and Skin temperature rate. Also it can keep track of Calories burned, Distance swam, Distance traveled, Duration of exercise, Duration of sleep ... MoreHaving not ventured into the smart watch world the Withings - ScanWatch 2 - Heart Health Hybrid Smartwatch seemed like an interesting choice. The ScanWatch 2 otherwise looks like a traditional watch, however once you look closely you will see a small circular OLED non color screen which can display small messages and notifications. In addition the screen can be used to set options on the phone. Withings health related products have a good reputation and the sensors on this watch can detect heart rate, gather an Electrocardiography (ECG) measurement, get a measurement of your blood oxygen, Respiration rate, Resting heart and Skin temperature rate. Also it can keep track of Calories burned, Distance swam, Distance traveled, Duration of exercise, Duration of sleep stages, Hours slept, Laps swam, Pace, Route, Running/Walking speed, Stairs climbed, Steps taken. What I found intriguing is the sleep health feature to measure key metrics during sleep. I gained a new insight into my sleep habits and truly provided me with information I have not had before. As for setup, the watch easily paired via Bluetooth with my iPhone as well as integrating with Apple Health and providing that app with additional data. The Withings iOS app has a lot of capabilities, although I would not call it overly intuitive. The app does allow you to configure notifications on your watch from some of the mobile apps on your phone, I chose initially to be notified of several events such as texts, phone calls and a notifications from a few other apps. Notifications are scrolled through the OLED screen which provides basic display capabilities. I did need to purchase a bigger watch bands online, as the one out of the box was not large enough to fit around my wrist. As a matter of fact this traditional looking watch looks a bit small on my wrist, however it does not diminish the usefulness of this watch. If you are not yet ready for a full feature smartwatch or dislike the look the Withings ScanWatch 2 Heart Health Hybrid Smartwatch seems like a good middle ground with some world class health sensors. However if you are looking for capabilities like you would get in a traditional full feature smartwatch, this may not be the one for you.

Smartwatches now come in all shapes and sizes and can do just about everything our smartphones can. Options range from basic fitness trackers to cellular-connected mini-computers. While I enjoy the ability to raise my wrist and bark directions at Siri, the sheer number of apps and notifications available on my Apple Watch can be a bit much -- but I've really come to appreciate the health and fitness tracking it offers.Withings does things a little differently with their new Scanwatch 2. It offers all the health and fitness goodies of the latest Apple Watch models in a radically simple design: a regular watch with an analog dial. You'd be hard-pressed to recognize it as a smartwatch until the little round screen jumps to life.First thing's first: the Scanwatch 2 ... MoreSmartwatches now come in all shapes and sizes and can do just about everything our smartphones can. Options range from basic fitness trackers to cellular-connected mini-computers. While I enjoy the ability to raise my wrist and bark directions at Siri, the sheer number of apps and notifications available on my Apple Watch can be a bit much -- but I've really come to appreciate the health and fitness tracking it offers.Withings does things a little differently with their new Scanwatch 2. It offers all the health and fitness goodies of the latest Apple Watch models in a radically simple design: a regular watch with an analog dial. You'd be hard-pressed to recognize it as a smartwatch until the little round screen jumps to life.First thing's first: the Scanwatch 2 is a beautiful watch, all shiny metal and black accents. It's classic and understated with just enough flourish to stand out. I really like the black colorway, too, as it provides a nice contrast to the metal detailing and hides the screen when it's not in use. The whole package feels very well-constructed and premium, definitely in line with other watches in this price range. The included silicone strap is very nice as well, with many closely-spaced holes so finding a good fit is easy. The Scanwatch 2 uses a standard lug size and attachment, which opens up a whole world of watch bands that you can swap in and out easily. I'm really glad Withings didn't use a proprietary connection here, although they do offer a great selection of their own bands.Unboxing and setup is very easy. The Scanwatch 2 arrives in a cute little watch-sized box with the strap attached and buckled, just like a regular watch. The package also includes the charger and a short USB-A to USB-C cable, and some quick setup instructions. It presents well and uses easily-recyclable packaging materials.Getting started is as simple as downloading the Withings app and paring the Scanwatch 2 with your smartphone. My watch arrived approximately 50 percent charged so I was off and running, but I decided to fully charge it after pairing so I could see just how long the battery would last. After a week of nearly-constant wear the Scanwatch 2 is at 55 percent battery. I'm not sure I'll go 30 days between charges, but wow, is it nice not to have to remember to charge my watch once a day. I'm glad the included charger is compact and uses USB-C, so there's no need to remember another cable.The Withings app is another highlight. It's well-designed and reliable, and offers much more than control of the Scanwatch's settings. In line with the Withings brand it's designed to be a health hub of sorts, centralizing all the health-related data from any Withings devices you own as well as pulling in data from other compatible sources. I really like how tightly it integrates with the Apple Health app. I have years of health and fitness data from my iPhone, Apple Watch and smart scale saved in the Health app, and the Withings app pulled it all in right away. The Withings exports seemingly all the data it can from the Scanwatch to Apple Health, too, which means switching between the Scanwatch 2 and my Apple Watch is pretty seamless. Both apps appear to show lots of compatible data from each other, making switching between my Apple Watch and the Scanwatch 2 more seamless than I thought it would be.The Withings app can be as motivational as you'd like it to be. It offers different health challenges and great guidance on a variety of health metrics, with succinct descriptions of various data points and analysis of trends in your health over time. Some of the most in-depth analysis is only included with a Withings+ subscription, though, including Withings' proprietary "Health Improvement Score" metric. I haven't activated a Withings+ subscription (a trial is included with the Scanwatch 2 purchase) but so far I haven't felt the need to, as the data analysis of the Withings and Apple Health apps together has been more than enough for my needs. If you're really into detailed tracking and/or have multiple Withings devices, though, a subscription might make a lot of sense.The hallmark of the Scanwatch 2 is the depth and breadth of health and fitness tracking it offers, and so far I'm really enjoying all the data it can collect. It offers a very competitive suite of sensors, on par or better than other smartwatches and fitness trackers in this price range, and as far as I can tell the accuracy is on par with what I'm used to when wearing my Apple Watch. It's easy to set fitness goals, like steps per day, in the Withings app, and assign the smaller analog dial on the watch to show your progress toward meeting this goal. I like that you can check your progress with just a glance at the watch dial, no need to wake up the screen or grab your phone and open the app.If you want more detail, you can wake up the Scanwatch 2's screen and scroll through a list of of metrics, or access the most complete version of all your data in the Withings app. The app doesn't sync all day long, instead updating when you open it; this means you might have to wait a few seconds to get up-to-date information, but I'm guessing this goes a long way toward extending the Scanwatch 2's battery life. More advanced measurements like the ECG will require you to wake up the watch and place your hand on it as instructed. Withings has gone the extra step to get the Scanwatch 2 certified as a medical device for some of these functions, though, which is great to see and might appeal to those with certain health conditions.I am especially interested in sleep tracking, and the Scanwatch 2 offers lots of data in this area. In addition to tracking overall time and bed and minutes in different sleep cycles, the Scanwatch 2 is able to perform in-depth sleep scans to detect breathing disturbances. These scans can be set to run on an automatic cycle (once every few months) or on demand. As someone with concerns about sleep apnea I'm grateful for this feature, and pleased that it reported only one sleep disturbance in my first night wearing the watch. I'll be monitoring this over time to catch any potential problems.Workout tracking is, of course, a key feature of most smartwatches, and the Scanwatch 2 mostly delivers here. It offers automatic fitness tracking for some basic workouts, as well as the ability to trigger tracking for a laundry list of different activities. I'm not a hardcore athlete, but it's easy to set shortcuts for starting your most common workouts right from the watch itself. You can also start workouts from the app. In my experience over the past week I've found tracking satisfactory but the automatic activity trigger is much more sensitive than what I'm used to. The Scanwatch 2 kept insisting I was on the elliptical when I was vacuuming my house, which my Apple Watch has never done. If the watch auto-starts a workout it's a little cumbersome to stop it and then go into the app to change the activity type or delete it altogether, so I might end up leaving this function off. It's easy and more accurate to just start and stop workouts myself on the watch.The biggest departure from most smartwatches is the user interface of the Scanwatch 2, which is either beautifully simple or frustratingly limited, depending on your point of view. There's no touchscreen and no voice assistant, only a small round screen, the watch hands and the crown. This means no calling or texting, no sending emails and no swiping through different apps. You can receive a variety of notifications on the watch, but you can't interact with them; texts and emails will scroll across the screen, but you can only see a few letters at a time. This absolutely took some getting used to, coming from my Apple Watch, but after some tweaking in the Withings app, I've really started to enjoy this limited approach. I've set the Scanwatch 2 to notify me of phone calls and emails from my personal account... and that's about it. My wrist hardly vibrates, and after a few days of adjustment, going back to my Apple Watch is almost overwhelming. You might love this or hate this, so definitely give it some thought. With how well activity syncs between Withings and Apple Health I'm happy to either device depending on the situation and how connected I want to be. And let's be real, my phone is always with me anyway, so I'm hardly "unplugged."Overall, I really, really like the Withings Scanwatch 2. It's beautiful and high quality, offers advanced fitness and health tracking, and pairs with a great app. It has a very simple user interface and is delightfully distraction-free, while still allowing you to receive notifications you deem important enough. This approach is different, but after a week, I have yet to feel the need to wear my Apple Watch much at all. If you're looking for a super-smart watch that's more watch than computer, the Scanwatch 2 should be at the top of your list.