Withings has quietly built the most credible lineup of connected scales on the market, and at the top of that lineup sit two very different devices. The Body Comp is a feature-rich body composition scale aimed at people who want to understand what their weight is actually made of. The Body Scan is the flagship, a “longevity station” that turns your morning weigh-in into a near-clinical health check. They look similar on a bathroom floor, but the gap between them in capability, and in price, is large.
If you are deciding between the two in 2026, the question is not really which one is better. The Body Scan is clearly the more advanced device. The real question is whether the extra features justify the cost for the way you plan to use a scale. Here is how they stack up.
Price and where they sit in the range
The Body Comp launched as Withings’ mid-to-upper option and currently starts at around $200, depending on retailer and color. The Body Scan is the premium tier and starts at around $400, though Withings has at times listed it higher and it is frequently bundled with a trial of the company’s Withings+ subscription. To complicate the picture, Withings used CES 2026 to announce a Body Scan 2, a longevity-focused successor that tracks dozens of additional biomarkers and is expected to arrive at a higher price point. If you are eyeing the very top of the range, it is worth checking whether the newer model is available before committing to the original.
That roughly $200 difference between Body Comp and Body Scan is the crux of the decision. You are paying for two things: a retractable handle and the cardiovascular hardware it enables.
What they share
Both scales are built on the same core. Each uses multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to estimate body composition, so both report weight, body fat percentage, muscle mass, bone mass, water percentage, visceral fat, and basal metabolic rate. Both connect over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, sync automatically to the Withings app, and push data into Apple Health, Google Fit, and popular apps like MyFitnessPal. Both support multiple users in a household and include the thoughtful touches Withings is known for, such as a weight-only “eyes-closed” mode for people who would rather track trends without seeing a daily number, plus pregnancy and athlete modes.
Both also estimate vascular age and offer Withings’ nerve and vascular health assessments, although some of the more advanced readouts are tied to the optional Withings+ subscription, which runs about $10 a month. In other words, the Body Comp is already a genuinely sophisticated health scale. If you have read our Withings Body Smart review, think of the Body Comp as the Body Smart with a layer of cardiovascular and metabolic insight added on top.
What the Body Scan adds
The Body Scan’s defining feature is the retractable handle that lifts out of the base. When you hold it during a measurement, the scale completes an electrical circuit through your whole body rather than just your legs, and that unlocks two things the Body Comp simply cannot do.
Segmental body composition
With the handle, the Body Scan measures fat and muscle mass across five separate body zones: your torso, both arms, and both legs. A foot-only scale like the Body Comp can give you an excellent whole-body estimate, but it cannot tell you that your left leg is carrying noticeably less muscle than your right, or track how upper-body training is changing your arms over time. For anyone rehabbing an injury, following a structured strength program, or simply curious about muscle balance, segmental data is the headline reason to choose the Body Scan.
A 6-lead ECG and heart insights
The handle’s electrodes also let the Body Scan record a 6-lead electrocardiogram and screen for atrial fibrillation, all while you stand on the scale. This is a meaningfully different proposition from the single-lead ECG on most smartwatches, and it is the feature that pushes the Body Scan from “smart scale” toward “home health device.” It also computes a more thorough vascular age estimate. None of this is a substitute for a doctor’s assessment, but as a daily passive screen it is genuinely useful, especially for people managing heart-health risk factors.
Accuracy and the honest caveats
It is worth being clear about what BIA can and cannot do. Bioimpedance is excellent at spotting trends in the same person over time, but the absolute body-fat numbers from any consumer scale, Withings included, should be treated as estimates rather than lab-grade truth. Readings shift with hydration, time of day, and recent meals, so the value comes from weighing yourself under consistent conditions and watching the direction of travel. The Body Scan’s segmental breakdown is more granular than the Body Comp’s, but it is still an estimate, not a DEXA scan.
The subscription question is the other honest caveat. Withings has steadily expanded what Withings+ unlocks, and some of the deeper health reports and trends sit behind it on both scales. Neither device is bricked without a subscription, but if you want the full experience you should factor in the recurring cost.
Which one should you buy?
Choose the Body Comp if your priority is body composition and general wellness tracking, you want vascular-age and metabolic insights, and you would rather not spend flagship money. It covers what the vast majority of people actually use a smart scale for, and it does so at half the price of the Body Scan.
Choose the Body Scan if you specifically want segmental muscle and fat data, or if the on-scale 6-lead ECG and deeper cardiovascular screening genuinely matter to you. Those two capabilities are the entire reason it exists, and they are real. If you do not need them, you are paying a large premium for a handle you will rarely use.
For most households, the Body Comp is the smarter buy and the better value. The Body Scan is the right call for data-driven users, strength athletes, and anyone for whom heart monitoring is a priority. And if longevity tracking is your goal, keep an eye on the newer Body Scan 2 before you decide. Whichever you pick, both slot neatly into the same ecosystem, so your data and app experience will feel identical, even if what the hardware can measure does not. For more on building a connected health setup, see our roundup of the best health apps for Apple Watch in 2026.
Featured image: Annushka Ahuja on Pexels.
