A smart bathroom scale is one of the simplest home health devices you can add to your life, measuring your weight and tracking it over time almost effortlessly. The QardioBase Smart Scale ($149.99) keeps an eye on not only your weight, but also your body fat, body mass index (BMI), water makeup, muscle mass, and water and bone composition. It sends these numbers to a mobile app where you can also track your blood pressure and heart rate with the excellent QardioArm, an at-home blood pressure cuff. The app has unique features, including a pregnancy mode, and the option to not actually see your read-outs on the scale itself, for people who don't want to fixate on numbers every day, but do want to see them recorded over time. Given that the QardioBase is also the best-looking smart scale we've tested, it's stands out alongside the Withings Smart Body Analyzer as an Editors' Choice.

Style and Details
The Smart Scale is all-white and circular in shape, with a 12.5-inch diameter, breaking away from the square design of practically every other smart scale on the market, from the Runtastic Libra Bluetooth Smart Scale to the Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale.

Because it's round, the scale can wobble easily if you're not careful about where you place your foot when stepping onto it. It has a fairly low profile (0.86 inches) and very subtle logo. The surface of the scale isn't interrupted by a window display, instead using green LEDs that illuminate between your feet to show information.

The scale runs on 8 AAA batteries and can handle weight up to 396 pounds. Weight reads are accurate to 0.1 pounds, and back-to-back measurements during testing were identical when used on a tile floor.

Performance
I tested the scale for about a week. In the free Qardio mobile app, which is available for Android and iOS, I enabled a push notification option so that my phone reminded me every weekday to do my weigh-in a few minutes after I got out of bed. As mentioned, the scale measures weight, body fat, and water content, and estimates body mass index, bone content, and muscle percentage. All those data points are automatically recorded in the companion Qardio app.

Setting up the scale was remarkably easy. I already had a Qardio account from testing the QardioArm, but I was still able to confirm or change my date of birth, sex, and height, which new users must enter upon creating an account. The Qardio app and scale walked me through the rest, which took little more than standing on the scale when told and deciding on a few options, like my weight goal and which mode I wanted to use. More on modes in a moment.

The setup also entails pairing the scale and app via Bluetooth, and adding a Wi-Fi network. Adding a Wi-Fi network allows the QardioBase to send your weight and other health metrics to the app even if your phone is not in range when you step on the scale, which is a huge convenience, and more reliable in my experience than Bluetooth. Cheaper smart scales, like the Health o Meter Nuyu Wireless Scale and the Pivotal Living Smart Scale, don't include support for Wi-Fi. 

Smart Modes
Have you ever had a time in your life when you knew you should be weighing yourself every day, but you just couldn't bear to look at the numbers? QardioBase nips that problem in the bud. There's a mode called Smart Feedback that doesn't show you any numbers when you step on the scale, but your weight and other data points are still recorded in the app. All you see on the scale is a face that's either smiling, frowning, or has a straight mouth, based on whether you got closer to or farther away from your goal on the current weigh-in.

Another welcome mode is Pregnancy. With this option, you can track your weight throughout a pregnancy and either choose to see or hide your weight on the scale. There's a field to record your pre-pregnancy weight as well. And no matter your weight, you'll always see a smiley face while you're pregnant.

People who have implanted devices might have heard that they shouldn't use bathroom scales that deploy a mild electrical current to measure water, fat, and muscle. QardioBase even has a mode for these people to disable the feature, letting them track their weight effortlessly without putting themselves at risk.

Another minor detail that will make many people happy is the ability to set your preferred unit of measurement to not only pounds or kilos, but also to stones. And I like that I can add a note to any weigh-in to explain my weight, such as whether I was sick or retaining water. One feature I think all smart scales should have is a place to record and track one's menstrual cycle, and a free form note is an acceptable stand-in.

Comparisons
Only the Withings Smart Body Analyzer is as thorough in what it tracks and how it lets you interact with your data. Both the Withings scale and the QardioBase have options for sharing your data set with healthcare providers and family members, a key component that makes both of these home health devices exceptionally smart.

The Withings scale does have a few advantages, however. One is that you can access your data from a website, meaning you can see it on the larger screen of a computer monitor. QardioBase only has a mobile app. I also like that in the big screen of the Withings website, I can choose which data I want to see in relationship to other data, such as my weight plotted over time alongside my heart rate.

Another advantage is that the Withings universe of products includes fitness trackers, while the Qardio world does not. This means if you stick with Withings products, you can see a lot more information at once, centralized in one app. While the QardioBase doesn't integrate directly with any trackers, it does support the Apple Health app, so streamlining your data is fairly easy for iOS users.

Finally, the Withings scale takes your heart rate through your feet during a weigh-in, while the QardioBase doesn't measure it at all.

For looks, however, I'd rather have the QardioBase in my bathroom than any other scale. And all of its different modes are so useful, and in some cases, essential. 

Beautiful and Smart
For its sleek and sophisticated design, unique features, and ease of use, the QardioBase is a PCMag Editors' Choice among smart scales, alongside the Withings Smart Body Analyzer. Withings' product is better for data nerds who like to play with their readings on a larger screen, while the QardioBase is the nicer product to display in your home, and the necessary choice for those with with implanted devices.