At CES 2026, Withings unveiled what may be its most ambitious product to date: the Withings Body Scan 2. Priced at $599.95, this is not a smart scale in the traditional sense. Withings is positioning it as a “longevity station”—a device designed to bring clinic-level health insights into your bathroom in a 90-second scan.
The promise is bold: over 60 biomarkers, spanning cardiovascular performance, metabolic and cellular health, body composition, and early disease risk. Technologies once confined to hospitals—such as impedance cardiography (ICG), bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS), and a 6-lead ECG—are now packaged into a single home device.
But innovation alone doesn’t guarantee impact. The Body Scan 2 launches into a complex reality of regulatory hurdles, unresolved accuracy concerns from its predecessor, and a rapidly evolving competitive landscape. For healthcare professionals, biohackers, and data-driven consumers, this device sits at the intersection of real progress and meaningful caveats.
Unlike wearables like the Oura Ring or Whoop band, which quietly collect data throughout the day, the Body Scan 2 requires intentional use. You step on it, pull up the handle, stand still for 90 seconds—and receive a snapshot of your current health state.
This distinction matters. Withings isn’t competing on passive tracking. Instead, it’s reframing the scale as a periodic health checkpoint, similar to a routine lab visit or wellness screening.
Within Withings’ own lineup, the Body Scan 2 sits well above the Body Smart and Body Comp models. It’s aimed squarely at:
This shift reflects a broader trend: consumer health tech moving away from step counts and toward preventive medicine.
The most important upgrade isn’t software—it’s hardware.
The original Body Scan placed its display on the scale itself. The Body Scan 2 relocates that display to a retractable handle, embedded with electrodes. Combined with eight electrodes in the glass platform, this creates a full-body electrical circuit.
Why this matters:
In short, the handle isn’t cosmetic. It’s the foundation of the device’s most advanced features.
The headline number—60+ biomarkers—sounds overwhelming. Withings organizes them into five main domains.
This is where the Body Scan 2 truly differentiates itself from other smart scales.
Using bioimpedance spectroscopy, the device evaluates:
Unlike basic body fat measurements, BIS operates at multiple frequencies, enabling insights at the cellular level rather than just tissue composition.
Perhaps the most ambitious feature is an AI-derived hypertension risk score, generated without a blood pressure cuff. Given that nearly half of U.S. adults have hypertension—and many are undiagnosed—this could be impactful.
However, this feature is not yet FDA-cleared, making it a screening signal rather than a clinical measurement.
The scale looks for early patterns associated with impaired glucose regulation. One novel approach involves foot sweat gland response, which can be impaired in early diabetic neuropathy.
It’s unconventional, but grounded in real physiology.
Segmental fat and lean mass, visceral fat, bone density, and hydration metrics are all included—now enhanced by true full-body measurement rather than estimation.
To avoid overwhelming users, Withings aggregates this data into a Health Trajectory score, intended to reflect predicted healthspan—not just lifespan.
Rather than focusing on single readings, the score emphasizes trends over time, showing how behavior changes may improve long-term outcomes. Conceptually, it aligns with aging scores introduced by Whoop and Oura, but without requiring blood tests.
Whether this score meaningfully changes behavior remains to be proven, but the intent is clear: motivate prevention, not obsession.
Compared to other smart scales, the Body Scan 2 stands alone in cardiovascular and cellular health metrics. Devices like the Garmin Index S2 excel in accuracy but offer far fewer insights. Budget scales provide basic metrics at a fraction of the price—but lack medical ambition.
Against wearables, the trade-off is different:
Neither replaces the other; they serve different philosophies of health monitoring.
Two of the Body Scan 2’s most compelling features—hypertension risk and atrial fibrillation detection—are pending FDA clearance.
This matters. Without approval:
Withings’ history suggests delays are possible. That uncertainty compresses the window in which the Body Scan 2 can lead the market before competitors catch up.
The original Body Scan faced persistent criticism for body composition accuracy, particularly underestimating body fat compared to DEXA scans. Variability between readings and algorithm changes via software updates further eroded trust for some users.
Because the Body Scan 2 builds on similar bioimpedance foundations, these concerns haven’t disappeared—yet there’s no published evidence they’ve been resolved either.
For a device marketed as “clinical-grade,” perception of accuracy is just as important as innovation.
Best suited for:
Not ideal for:
The Withings Body Scan 2 is one of the most ambitious consumer health devices released to date. Its blend of cardiovascular, metabolic, and cellular metrics represents a genuine step toward preventive, longitudinal health monitoring at home.
Yet ambition alone isn’t enough.
Without FDA clearance, published clinical validation, and clear resolution of past accuracy issues, the Body Scan 2 remains a promising tool rather than a proven one. For now, it’s best viewed as a sophisticated trend-monitoring device—not a diagnostic instrument.
If Withings can deliver regulatory approval and transparent validation, the Body Scan 2 could mark a turning point in how we monitor long-term health. Until then, it stands as a compelling glimpse into the future—one that still carries execution risk.
