Hands-on with Withings Scanwatch 2: A solid hybrid smartwatch with a host of features

The Scanwatch 2 is one of Withings’ newest hybrid smartwatches, and it features more information on your health within the Withings app than my Apple Watch provides within Apple Health. Available for $349.50, the Scanwatch 2 can detect potential health problems, assess your respiratory system, and of course, provide you with health and activity metrics. I’ve had mine for about a month, and I have been impressed with everything the Scanwatch 2 has to offer. Keep reading below the fold to learn more.

First impressions

Right out of the box, the smaller 38mm Scanwatch 2 looked sleek with its pearl white analog watch face that has physical hands and beveled lugs. There is a small digital grayscale OLED display on the top half of the Scanwatch 2 that, by default shows the date and time, but when you press the watch’s crown, you can sift through a host of other display options and information, including heart rate, temperature, steps taken, miles walked, floors climbed, menstrual cycle tracking, workouts, ECG or Sp02 measurement, a breathing companion, alarm and stopwatch settings, and Scanwatch 2 settings.

That’s a whole lot of information for one person, and personally, I don’t use half of those features – the only display features I use are for the date, steps taken that day, heart rate, and tracking my physical activity via the workout option. That said, it’s nice that the other options exist.

While it took me a few days to acclimate to the Scanwatch 2 after having had my Apple Watch in its place for over a year, it was an easy enough transition. You get used to the different vibrations and alerts in the same way you would with any wearable, and I appreciate that the Scanwatch 2 looks classy in its design – at a distance, you wouldn’t know it was a smartwatch.

The only immediate con I noticed of the Scanwatch 2 has to do with its notifications, which run across the digital display in the same way headlines run across the bottom of a news program, like a ticker tape, which means that when a text comes through, it can take a long time to read it.

Scanwatch 2 and Withings app

Along with this being my first smartwatch experience outside of an Apple Watch, it was also my first time experiencing the Withings app. I found it to be extremely comprehensive and impressive, housing all sorts of helpful information, including goals I set out to achieve and ways to accomplish them, my physical activity, my trends, my cycle tracking, and more.

What I like most about the Withings app and its connection to the Scanwatch 2 is how quickly the data aggregates and synthesizes to give you new information, such as ways in which to accomplish the goals you’ve set out to achieve. For example, I had said I wanted to lose five pounds, and the app provided me with ways in which to accomplish that specific goal. If I were to change the goal, the app would accommodate me, providing me with tools to help guide me along the way.

There are some features within the app, however, that can only be unlocked with a Withings+ subscription, such as its Build Better Sleep Habits six-week program or the Hypertension education program. Most health tracking apps have both a free and a subscription tier, and Withings’ free tier far surpasses other health and wellness apps that I’ve tried in terms of what’s available without having to pay a monthly fee.

Features & specs

The Scanwatch 2 features a stainless steel case, sapphire glass, and a stainless steel crown that double as a navigational tool for its digital display. There is a TempTech24/7 Module that tracks your body temperature, highlighting how it changes from day to night and while you’re working out, and even alerting you to a possible incoming illness.

It’s water-resistant, has up to a 30-day battery life (which I found to be nearly exactly accurate), takes two hours to charge, is USB-C compatible, and connects with Bluetooth Low Energy.

gadgetnewsonline’ Take

For $349.50, you get a lot of bang for your buck by utilizing the Scanwatch 2 and its compatible Withings app. If you are someone who has health concerns or whose health data dictates how they navigate their day, then this is the watch for you because there is nothing you can’t do with this hybrid smartwatch, and it provides you with a wealth of data to keep you healthy.

If, however, you’re someone like me who is only interested in the fitness compatibility piece of a smartwatch, then my suggestion would be to stick with a simpler wearable like an Apple Watch or a Fitbit. Sometimes when a piece of technology offers a lot of data and options it overwhelms me, and so I go back to what I know, using only the information that I need.

Subscribe to the gadgetnewsonline YouTube Channel for all of the latest videos, reviews, and more!