The $249.99 RunStar 8E SmartScan Ultra is a smart scale with a premium design and several helpful features, including a handle for a DEXA-like body composition breakdown and a safe mode for pregnant women. While promising in theory, it isn't as accurate as similarly priced models and clunky controls make it frustrating to use. In testing, its body fat readings were high, and it repeatedly switched weight units from pounds to kilograms. While it offers fewer advanced insights on individual body parts, the $79.99 Etekcity HR Smart Fitness Scale remains our Editors’ Choice for smart scales thanks to its affordability, ease of use, and accuracy.

Features: Impressive on Paper

Like other smart scales, the RunStar 8E SmartScan Ultra calculates your body composition using Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) via electrodes in its base. As with the similarly priced Renpho MorphoScan Nova Body Composition Scale ($219.99), the HumeHealth Body Pod ($299.95), and some other recent high-end models, the RunStar 8E SmartScan Ultra uses a handle with a retractable cord that pulls up from the base to provide additional insights.

During a 15-second weigh-in, it calculates an impressive 28 metrics and sends the data to its companion app on your smartphone via Bluetooth. It tracks basal metabolic rate (BMR, the minimum necessary energy needed in an inactive state), body fat percentage, body age (which compares your BMR with an age-based average), body mass index (BMI, a measure of your body weight in relation to your height), body type, body water percentage and mass, bone mass, ideal body weight, lean body mass, muscle mass and percentage, obesity level, protein percentage and mass, skeletal muscle percentage, subcutaneous fat (the fat just under your skin) mass and percentage, visceral fat (the deeper fat by your organs), and weight (up to 400 pounds with a listed accuracy of 0.1 pounds).

The handle calculates the fat and muscle (mass and percentage) in each arm, leg, and your torso, and compares the values to a healthy average based on your body type. The process is similar to a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan, a medical imaging test that measures these same attributes. According to WebMD, the average cost of a single DEXA scan paid out of pocket is roughly $160 to $175, but other sites put the average closer to $300 per scan. Smart scales with a handle for DEXA-like insights tend to be more expensive, but this feature justifies the premium if you’re looking to focus on a particular area of your body. For comparison, the Renpho MorphoScan tracks 24 metrics, and the HumeHealth Body Pod measures 17.

(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)

The SmartScan Ultra uses a rectangular LCD mounted on the handlebar to show your reading results with colorful diagrams, and onboard controls sit just above it. The MorphoScan Nova has a similar handlebar display, but it shows more details, and its controls are easier to use and more responsive.

Like the MorphoScan Nova and the Body Pod, the RunStar 8E SmartScan Ultra does not connect to Wi-Fi, so you’ll need your phone nearby to record your data. Without your phone nearby, the SmartScan Ultra can still measure BMI, body fat, body type, muscle mass, visceral fat, and weight, and monitor weight changes and trends. While useful in theory, this offline mode is tedious to use and never syncs data with the app, even when the scale is back in Bluetooth range of your phone.

RunStar’s scale offers a couple of appreciated extras that aren't available on the MorphoScan or the Body Pod, including a safe mode for pregnancy and a baby mode. The safe mode disables the BIA electrical current, so pregnant women and people with pacemakers can still use the scale to check their weight. Baby mode lets you weigh yourself, then hold a child or pet, and step on again to check your little one's weight without needing to break out the calculator.

The MorphoScan Nova and Hume Health Body Pod have rechargeable batteries, which I prefer over the four disposable AAAs included with the SmartScan Ultra.

If you don’t need a model with a handlebar, the Etekcity HR Smart Fitness Scale nails the basics for much less money. It connects to Wi-Fi, so you don’t need to keep your phone nearby to sync your data to your online profile. It also has a rechargeable battery, a safe mode, and a colorful, informative display on its base.

Design: A Sleek, Eye-Catching Look With a Premium Feel

The RunStar 8E SmartScan Ultra has a square base covered with an Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coating and a light blue color underneath. A gold-and-black streak runs down the center, and a black line extends horizontally to form quadrants that guide your foot placement. The different colors contrast each other nicely, and I found the design pleasantly striking. The base measures 12.2 by 12.2 by 1.4 inches (LWD) and the scale weighs 5.3 pounds.

(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)

The handle rests in an indent at the top of the scale; it has electrodes on top for your thumbs and on the bottom for your fingers. The right side of the handle twists off to reveal the battery compartment. The handlebar display shows information with pixelated graphics and numbers. It blurs quickly at an angle, but all information comes across clearly at the intended medium viewing distance. The small control panel above the handlebar display has a Set button flanked by arrows to scroll through menu options.

Setup: A Straightforward Connection Process

To set up the SmartScan Ultra, you need the Starfit app (for Android and iOS) on your phone. Sign in or create an account, and then the app will ask you for some biometric information so it can properly calibrate your data. It asks for your gender (male or female), nickname, height, birthday, and target weight. Then it asks if you want to turn on either of the special modes (Pregnancy or Child/Baby).

The scale comes with batteries already inserted, but you need to pull a plastic tab from the compartment to activate them, then step on the scale to wake it up, and hit Add Device in the app. The app paired to the scale within moments, and then displayed instructions for proper use. Be sure to place the scale on a hard, dry surface rather than carpeting.

Using the Scale: Frustrating Controls and Quirks

Before each weigh-in, open the app and keep your phone nearby so it can record data. Step onto the scale with dry, bare feet, and keep your feet and knees separated. Then grab the bar with both hands and pull it with you as you stand up straight. Wrap your fingers around the back of the handle and position your thumbs over the visible electrodes on top. Hold the handle away from your body, with your arms at roughly a 45-degree angle.

The screen shows a diagram of how to stand, and the scale also provides audio feedback. As it calculates your metrics, it plays what sounds like elevator music, and the reading is complete in 10 to 15 seconds. After that, the handlebar display shows your weight, body fat, muscle mass, visceral fat, and BMI, with graphs that illustrate your body type and data trends.

(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)

The SmartScan Ultra can show weight in pounds, kilograms, or stones. It defaults to kilograms, and the scale will switch back to it repeatedly, sometimes even in the middle of a reading after you’ve just set it to pounds.

You can use the onboard controls to switch units by pressing Set before stepping on and then using the arrow until the unit blinks (you can also use the app for this). During testing, using either method worked for up to two or three weigh-ins in a row before it randomly switched back.

The onboard controls can also be used for offline weigh-ins. Press Set twice, then select a user (labeled U1 for user 1, U2 for user 2, etc.), press Set again, tap the arrows to set your age, and then repeat those steps to set your gender and height. It’s a long, finicky process as the buttons aren’t always responsive, and I frequently ended up backing out of a menu or adjusting the volume by accident. Even if it works, you can’t sync offline data once the scale is back connected to your phone, since there's no way to link your scale user account to your app profile. Keep the instructions handy if you need this feature, but I don’t recommend using the offline mode or the onboard controls in general if you can avoid it.

The App: Informational and Well Organized

The Starfit app is easy to use and clearly displays information. The homepage displays a diagram of your body. Tap the icon in the upper left to switch users, or the three dots in the upper right for options like tutorials and baby mode. If you need to switch units, tap the My Profile icon in the bottom right, and scroll down to Unit Switch. The profile page also lets you set goals and sync to third-party services like Apple Health, Fitbit, and others.

Scroll down on the Measure tab to see how your most recent weigh-in compares with past numbers. Scroll further for details of your body composition makeup and all collected stats. These stats are color-coded to show how they compare with a healthy average, and you can tap any of them for a description and to see where your measurement lies on a line graph of averages. At the bottom of the page is a more detailed limb-by-limb breakdown of your muscle and fat, as well as how your measurements compare with a healthy average.

(Credit: RunStar/PCMag)

The Chart tab shows your data graphed over time, and you can use the buttons at the bottom to change which metric is shown. Tap the History button to see details from past weigh-ins.

Overall, the Starfit app is detailed, informative, and easy to use. That said, the Renpho Health app provides more contextual information for each metric, and I find its diagrams slightly more readable at a glance.

Accuracy: Inconsistent Readings

I tested the RunStar 8E SmartScan Ultra for a week alongside the Renpho MorphoScan Nova, the Hume Health Body Pod, and the Etekcity HR Smart Scale. For weight, the SmartScan Ultra stayed within a pound of the other scales for every measurement, but it lacked consistency.

I’d take a reading, then step on a few moments later, and the value would vary by as much as a half a pound. When I took readings empty-handed, then again while holding my 6.8-ounce Google Pixel 7A, the latter reading counterintuitively showed less weight. It did show an increase in weight after I chugged a bottle of water, but it also said my body water percentage decreased.

When taking daily measurements, it ebbed and flowed along with the other scales and matched my anecdotal expectations. My measured weight increased when I’d indulged the night before, and decreased after a day of discipline. It’s not wildly far off; it just doesn’t live up to its promise of accuracy to within 0.1 pounds.

Its body fat measurements deviated from the others by 6 to 9 percentage points, always skewing high. These readings stayed consistent, but the difference compared with other scales could be enough to land in a different body type category. It wouldn’t confuse an underweight person for an overweight one, but if I didn’t have the other scales as a reference, its readings would have made me question my current gym routine.

The SmartScan Ultra overestimated the amount of fat on my arms and legs, but its muscle metrics mostly matched those of the other scales with handles. Its other readings, such as BMI, muscle mass, subcutaneous fat, and visceral fat, also matched those of the other three smart scales.