Withings ScanWatch Hands-on Review: Smartwatch with ECG and French Allure

The Withings ecosystem has just been made more compelling with the addition of its latest smartwatch. Though the ScanWatch has been released for many months, it is now available in the United States.

We were already impressed with the beautiful timepiece that was the Withings Steel HR, what else will the new FDA approved health monitoring watch bring to the table? Let's dive in to find out.

The French Aesthetics

While the Swiss boast of precision and the Germans boast of durability, the French watch exudes elegance, taste and style. Being designed in France, the ScanWatch is in our eyes the most tasteful connected watch in the market.

Starting with the domed sapphire crystal lens, it is matched with a domed brushed stainless steel back, contrasted by a thin ring of polished stainless steel bezel. The 42 mm model has substantial lugs that will stand up to quite a beating - though I doubt anyone would put this beautiful dress watch through too much punishment. That said, the ScanWatch was made to be a fitness tracker despite its elegant exterior, it is a solid piece of hardware.

The ScanWatch has an all-white, sterile watch face that's framed by thin silver indices, centered by matching polished hands. The otherwise analogue dress watch is offset by a deep black PMOLED circular display at 12 o'clock position, balanced by the daily exercise progress dial at the 6 o'clock position - clues that this is not just an ordinary French dress watch.

Month Long Battery Life

Since the ScanWatch uses analogue hands for displaying both time and fitness progress, and a PMOLED to display its information, it is extremely effective when it comes to power management. On a single charge, even with its regular heart rate monitor on, I'm able to get around 30 days with daily use. If not worn daily, the battery life stretches out even more that I lose track of the last time that I had to charge this watch.

Battery life is always something that makes smartwatches less like a timepiece and more like a mobile accessory. But with 30 days of power reserve, the ScanWatch is more like a watch than an extension of the smartphone.

Perfect Union of Digital and Analogue

Though the ScanWatch only has a Passive Matrix OLED (PMOLED) screen that displays monochromatic texts and simple animations, the digital window makes up for it by being a very responsive display that's controlled by the analogue crown.

The display can be scrolled through by rotating the crown, and selection made by depressing it as a button - both movements that are familiar motions for a classic automatic watch. The oversized crown makes the rotation motion both easy and accurate to perform, giving the interface a natural feel with its responsiveness assisted by a subtle haptic feedback.

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The inclusion of the PMOLED screen is what enables all the connected functions of the ScanWatch: incoming calls and texts lights up the display. Furthermore the display also allows the watch to function as the fitness monitor that it is.

ECG, Blood Oxygen and Heart Monitor

The ScanWatch is in fact the first FDA approved Withings watch for its ECG and oximetry functions, which shows how serious a health monitoring device it is.

Both the blood oxygen level and ECG have a special measuring process, where once activated, the display instructs the user to press the watch firmly to the arm with the other hand, and within seconds, an actual cardiogram is shown on the display, accurately measuring the pulse of the user.

The ScanWatch is not only a smartwatch, but a peer to Withings' Smart Temporal Thermometer and Blood Pressure Monitor - part of a range of health devices, forming an ecosystem that provides medical and wellness data for its users.

Withings Ecosystem in a single Health Mate App

The ecosystem of Withings is consummated in the Health Mate App, which consolidates all the data read from its devices and organizes it into an overall health report for the user. Having had experience with the Withings Thermo and Body Cardio, my Health Mate app was already telling me my body temperature, weight and body composition, with the ScanWatch it's also telling me my daily Steps, ECG, sinus rhythm and my sleep patterns.

The app can even share a health report with my doctor, which would provide not only a single measurement of my health stats, but a report that includes trends that have been monitored over weeks and months - allowing the doctor data that would otherwise be unavailable.

Final Verdict

With the Withings ScanWatch, the French health tech company is stepping things up with a beautiful watch that matches its looks with quality build and functionality. Even without the medical level health monitoring, this is a compelling connected timepiece to own. It's alluring, rugged but compact build, month-long battery life and the accuracy of a connected watch makes it an ideal everyday carry watch. To throw in FDA approved ECG and oximetry monitoring capabilities, the ScanWatch is a unique offering that makes it an easy product to recommend.

We're awarding the Withings ScanWatch with the IBTimes Recommended Badge for its excellent design, build and functionality to be a perfect business traveler's watch.

David is a tech enthusiast/writer who is often on the move and is on a mission to explore ways to make his overhaul flights more enjoyable. This is a contribution to an ongoing IBTimes review series on gadgets for Business Travelers.