RENPHO Elis 1 Smart Body Fat Scale with App - Black
Bluetooth bathroom scale that weighs to 0.05kg up to 180kg and estimates 13 body composition metrics in the Renpho Health app, with unlimited user profiles and fitness app sync.
Features
The RENPHO Elis 1 is the scale most people mean when they say "a Renpho". It is a plain black glass bathroom scale that weighs you on its own, then hands everything else to your phone over Bluetooth. The scale shows your weight; the Renpho Health app turns the reading from four steel electrodes into 13 body composition figures, including BMI, body fat percentage and muscle mass, and keeps the history. With more than 330,000 ratings on Amazon UK averaging 4.6 out of 5, it is one of the most-reviewed scales on sale.
How it measures body fat
The four metal pads under your feet send a very small current up one leg and down the other, a method called bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Fat conducts electricity less well than muscle and water, so the resistance the scale measures is fed into an equation along with the height, age and sex you enter in the app. That is why the figures only work properly once your profile is set up, and why you need to stand on it barefoot.
Be realistic about what that gives you. A foot-to-foot scale reads mainly the lower body and is sensitive to how hydrated you are, so body fat can swing by a percentage point or two between a morning and an evening weigh-in. It is not a clinical measurement. What it is good at is trend: weigh at the same time each day, in the same state, and the direction of travel over weeks is meaningful even if a single number is not.
Weight accuracy and build
Renpho quotes increments of 0.05kg (0.2lb) and a maximum load of 180kg (396lb), with auto calibration so there is no tare button to press. The platform is 5mm tempered glass, the scale weighs about 1.3kg, and three AAA batteries are included. It reads in kg, stone and lb. Put it on a hard, level floor; on carpet any bathroom scale will under-read.
The app does the heavy lifting
- 13 measurements in Renpho Health, among them weight, BMI, body fat, muscle mass and the rest of the standard BIA set.
- Syncs with Apple Health, Samsung Health, Fitbit and Google Fit, so the numbers can sit beside your step and workout data. There is also an Apple Watch app (not series 1).
- Unlimited users. Each person gets a profile and the scale matches readings to whoever steps on.
- Weigh without your phone. Readings are stored and sync the next time the app connects, so you do not need your phone in the bathroom every morning.
- Baby and pet mode. Weigh yourself, then weigh yourself holding the baby or the dog, and the app works out the difference.
- Athlete mode adjusts the equations for people with a lot of muscle, who standard BIA formulas tend to over-read for body fat.
- History by day, week and month, which is where the trend reading above becomes useful.
Specifications
| Model | RENPHO Elis 1 |
|---|---|
| Maximum weight | 180kg / 396lb |
| Increments | 0.05kg / 0.2lb |
| Units | kg, st, lb |
| Body metrics | 13, shown in the Renpho Health app |
| Sensors | 4 electrodes, bioelectrical impedance |
| Platform | 5mm tempered glass, black |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 4.0 or later |
| App sync | Apple Health, Samsung Health, Fitbit, Google Fit |
| Users | Unlimited profiles |
| Power | 3 x AAA, included |
| Scale weight | About 1.3kg |
Who it does not suit
- Anyone with a pacemaker or other implanted electronic device, and anyone pregnant. Body composition scales pass a current through the body and manufacturers advise against using them in either case. Weight-only use is a question for your doctor, not a scale listing.
- People who want body fat on the scale's own display. The Elis 1 shows weight; everything else lives in the app. If you do not want a phone involved at all, a mechanical scale such as the Salter doctor style mechanical scale needs no batteries, no app and no account.
- Anyone wary of account-based apps. The useful half of this product needs the Renpho Health app and a profile. Read its privacy settings before you sync health data.
Alternatives on Last Outpost
The Feelfit smart body fat scale works the same way, also with four electrodes, 0.05kg increments and a 180kg limit, and also syncs to Apple Health, Google Fit and Fitbit. The choice between them comes down to which app you would rather live in; Renpho's has the much larger user base and review history. For weight only, the Salter mechanical dial scale is the no-electronics option.
Buy or skip?
Buy if you want an accurate everyday weight and a body fat and muscle trend you can follow in a phone app or alongside Fitbit or Apple Health, for the whole household on one scale. Skip if you have an implanted device, expect clinical-grade body fat figures, or want a scale that works with no phone and no account.