After reading over several reviews of this product, mostly VERY high praise, I placed my order. I then went back and read all the one star reviews, to see what the gripes people had with the product were. They seem to mainly be that the product is not precise, that is, taking one reading after another yields a wide range of results. I got concerned that I made a bad choice, but the purchase was already complete. My item arrived today (VERY fast with the free super-saver shipping, I must say) and I've gotten a chance to test it for myself.
I found that it is VERY precise. MUCH more than expected actually. Precision means repeated tests yield results very close together, while accurate means the results are close to the actual value. I cannot speak on its accuracy, since I do not have a known accurate method of testing my fat % to compare it to. But most of the reviews complain of imprecision, but I can say from my testing is not an issue.
I did ten repeated readings using the correct positioning (standing up, arms straight out 90 degrees from body). The readings were ALL within 0.2% of each other. From my experience with statistics, I can say with 95% confidence that my body fat reading is 17.30% plus or minus 0.14%.
I then started toying around with all the wrong positions. I did sitting, with arms in the correct position, and got an average of 17.58%. Looks like sitting skews the reading upwards just slightly. But the range of values was still quite small, and I can be 95% certain that the value is 17.58% plus or minus 0.17%, only a tiny increase in uncertainty. That result was pretty close to the correct position result, surprisingly.
Now, all the very inaccurate positions:
-Sitting, arms bent at 90 degrees: 14.98 +/- 0.41%
-Standing, arms bent at 90 degrees: 15.66 +/- 0.27%
-Standing, arms bent and out slightly forward, so screen is easily visible by glancing down (likely a commonly used incorrect position since it's the position that allows you to be most comfortable while most easily viewing the readout): 15.96 +/- 0.23%
So, as long as your position remains the same over multiple readings, even incorrect positions yield quite consistent results. I can only imagine that if repeated readings yield vastly different results, it's due to a variety of positions used during the readings. OR a faulty device. Or maybe there's something funky about your body that the device just doesn't like - a few reviewers commented that it just plain doesn't work with some people, so maybe with others it works but is inconsistent.
In any case, unless you are working towards a very specific body fat % goal, you're probably using this to help observe your fat loss better (rather than just using your weight, which could drop slower than expected due to increases in muscle mass from working out more), which means you're more interested in relative values anyway. So regardless of whether it's accurately reading your body fat %, you'll get use out of it by seeing how the values change in relation to what they were before. And as long as it's precise, you're good to go. So follow the directions in the manual about body position, about when to measure in relation to meals and working out, and you can feel good buying this product, because it's a great deal and gives you much better insight into your weight loss than the number on a scale.
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Not the most accurate but...
This is what I use to track my body fat percentage.ACCURACY: It's good for APPROXIMATE values of your body fat percentage. For best approximate estimation, test your body fat percentage right after you wake up, before you take a shower or bath, before you drink or eat anything, wearing just your underwear or nothing, make sure your hands are not sweaty, and try to hold the device the same way, everytime you take your body fat percentage.It's a well built device, doesn't feel cheap at all and battery life is amazing! I haven't had to change the battery since I got it which was a little over 2 years ago!It's easy to use, simple set up instructions once you turn it on and easy to understand owners manual.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2011
Top reviews from other countries
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- Daniel from Chembur, Mumbai, IndiaReviewed in India on January 7, 2019
Omron Hand Held Body Fat Monitor
- CutekelechiReviewed in the United Kingdom on February 21, 2013
Seems pretty accurate to me
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