A hybrid smartwatch with mixed results

If you’re a fan of traditional wristwatches, and you don’t want fancy, customizable, and colorful watch faces, you might be in luck. Withing’s ScanWatch 2 offers the classic, traditional looks without a large AMOLED display that would take away from the feeling of owning a normal wristwatch.

The Withings ScanWatch 2 looks like any other ordinary wristwatch on the surface, and you’ll only see the smart functionality when you pay close attention. The smartwatch comes with all the usual features, and it even has ECG, blood oxygen monitoring, a heart rate sensor, and it can even track various workouts. Suppose you want a traditional wear piece, the ScanWatch 2 might be the perfect watch for you.

Withings ScanWatch 2: Price & Availability

The Withings ScanWatch 2 was officially unveiled on September 1, 2023, and it’s been available since September 18, 2023. The smartwatch is available in 38mm and 42mm sizes, and various styles and additional wristbands. The watch is available directly from Withings.com, Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers.

The ScanWatch 2, 42mm model, which we’re reviewing, costs $349.95 in the US. Our model came with a black wristband with a Stainless Steel Buckle.

What’s in the box

• Withings ScanWatch 2
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• USB-C charging cradle
• Quick Start Guide & Manual

The Withings ScanWatch 2 comes in a standard white box, with the watch itself and the logo imprinted on the front and sides. The box contains the watch itself, the wristband, the user manuals, a quick start guide, a USB-A to USB-C cable, and a charging cradle. Withings includes all must-have accessories by default in a compact, small package.

Hardware & Design

• Beautiful, classic watch design
• Premium feel
• Perfect size

The Withings ScanWatch 2 comes in two sizes, 38mm and 42mm. Here, I’m using the 42mm model. It’s large enough to have an easily readable 0.6-inch OLED display and small enough that it doesn’t look too large, even on smaller wrists. That said, if you can try it on and your wrists are on the smaller side or prefer a different design, the smaller 38mm might be a better fit.

The ScanWatch 2 is made of stainless steel, and my model came with a black silicone case with a stainless steel buckle. This felt extremely comfortable and premium, and luckily, you can also swap it for leather or other materials and colors using other bands – sold separately at Withings.com. The right side of the watch features the stainless steel crown, and there’s nothing on the left, or any other buttons on the sides of the watch.

The ScanWatch 2 features a classic design that looks perfect on all wrists and goes well with all outfits, whether wearing something casual, elegant, or even very colorful. The watch features a small grayscale OLED display that shows basic information, and provides access to features, such as workout modes, ECG, heart rate, and even the settings. These can be used with the Stainless Steel Crown, although you’ll most likely use the dedicated app on Android or iOS to control and manage the watch.

Specifications

The ScanWatch 2 is equipped with an unknown chip and memory amount, and the company hasn’t publicly shared the name of its internal components. While this isn’t a major issue, we often prefer knowing what’s inside the devices we purchase. That said, the smartwatch was smooth and reliable to navigate on a daily basis, and it was always responsive when using the rotating crown on the watch itself.

The watch comes with a TempTech24/7 Module, a High Dynamic Range Accelerometer, Multi-wavelength PPG with 16 channels, and an Altimeter sensor to track workout progress and all activities.

Unfortunately, the smartwatch lacks one key connectivity feature, GPS. There’s no way to accurately track your progress on a map, and you’ll have to rely on the sensors on your phone and watch to get accurate measurements of that information. There are also no wireless payment options. The watch is 5 ATM rated, and can be submerged for up to 50 meters, making it ideal for swimmers and recreational divers.

Software & Fitness Features

• Unconventional app design
• Missing features
• Optional Subscription for more in-depth insight
• Unreliable notifications

The Withings ScanWatch 2 supports most health monitoring features, including ECG measurement, Oxygen saturation, step and calorie count, body temperature, cycle tracking, activity and sleep monitoring. These appeared to be accurate most of the time, and they’re easy to track and monitor both on the watch and in the app. The ECG (Electrocardiogram) is approved by the FDA in the US, and CE in Europe, making it accurate and reliable for detecting atrial fibrillation.

The ScanWatch 2 is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones (iOS 5 or later, Android 9 or later), and it works seamlessly. Connecting and pairing the smartwatch is as easy as downloading the app, and the entire process only takes about 5 minutes, from point of registration.

However, the app on Android doesn’t exactly provide a great experience. On several occasions, I noticed that the Withings app ran in the background, making my device hot, and draining the battery. Occasionally, the Withings app would drain up to 60% of my battery within a matter of hours. This made me reconsider doing this review altogether, especially as I have found several other users on forums like Reddit, complain about the same issue as far back as a few years ago.

In terms of everyday use, the watch worked as you would expect. It tracked information, and checking heart rate, body temperature, sleep, and everything in general was easy and quiet a smooth experience. However, the Withings app lacks a few critical information that makes it hard to recommend for sports fanatics, and those who want to see more information at glance.

The applications lacks a lot of crucial data, and to this day, I haven’t managed to find how much calories I’ve burned during a workout. The application simply doesn’t show this key information, making it hard to track progress. The watch does, fortunately, show the calorie burn, but it seems like an oversight for not displaying this on the app, which should provide far more information to the user. This was often frustrating, and hard to follow, and this reason alone makes it hard to recommend the ScanWatch 2 for athletes, and those who want to take their sports measurements to the next level.

The Withings application is also not as straightforward as health apps from other smartwatch makers, and it’ll take some time getting used to the app layout and design. Some settings are hidden away, requiring multiple taps, and users don’t even have the ability to set up Do Not Distrub automatically. The Watch has it, but this requires to be manually toggled every time.

The watch syncs up with the smartphone, and this means that it also mirrors the DnD settings. This would all be great, except that some people require different DnD settings from their smartwatches and smartphones. The problems don’t stop there. The smartwatch would very often not deliver any notifications to the watch, and it’d require notifications to be set up again and again. While this could be an Android issue, there are several other users claiming similar issues on various forums without any reply from Withings. As a result, I completely gave up on syncing notifications to the watch after a few weeks as it was unreliable and frequently not work as expected.

Withings offers the Withings+ subscription app that allows users to help them get closer to their goals by providing a Health Improvement Score, insights and trends to improve, and an exclusive library of recipes, articles, and workouts. The monthly plan costs $9.95 / month, while the annual subscription goes for $99.50 / year.

Haptics

Like most smartwatches, the ScanWatch 2 has haptics. This, however, is quiet weak. I have also enabled the wake-up feature that provides a gentle vibration to wake up in the morning. Unfortunately, this has never worked properly, and I have never woken up to the vibration feedback alone. After multiple days of sleeping in, I had to test this feature separately to ensure it worked as expected, as I never felt it in the morning, and couldn’t wake up at the set time.

Battery

• 7-14 days of battery life for general users
• Week-long battery for power users
• A full charge takes two hours

Withings doesn’t share the battery capacity of the ScanWatch 2, but it claims the watch can last for up to 30 days on a single charge. While that number seems impressive, the more realistic digit sits between 7 to 14 days for most users. The claimed 30-day battery life is only achievable when the watch is used as a watch, with respiratory scanning turned off, and a very limited workout tracking.

That said, having a classic-looking smartwatch that can last for up to 14 days on a single charge is excellent, and the fact that you only have to put it on charge on a weekly, or biweekly basis means you don’t have to worry about it ever running out of juice.

The only major downside of charging the watch is when it comes to plugging it in. The charging cradle feels cheap, and it seems dreadful to have to dock it from both sides. You won’t be able to see the smartwatch at all, unless you pick it up.

Withings ScanWatch 2: Should you buy it?

Buy it if…

• You’re looking for a hybrid smartwatch that can last for anywhere between 7-14 days on a single charge
• You’re looking for a gorgeous classic timepiece with some smart functionality
• You want to track your sleep, heart rate, ECG, and track other health information and activities that don’t rely on the GPS

Don’t buy it if…

• You take sports seriously and you want lots of in-depth analysis and data to help you become better and do more
• You want GPS tracking information
• Contactless payment is a must-have

The Withings ScanWatch 2 is a beautiful hybrid smartwatch with a stunning clockface, a long-lasting battery life, and all the essential and must-have tracking information you need on a daily basis. It’s an excellent watch for those looking for a watch that looks classic and traditional, and it’s ideal for those who don’t take sports too seriously. Suppose you want a watch for every occasion that can also track a few workouts, the ScanWatch 2 will provide exactly that.

However, for those looking for a smarter smartwatch, the ScanWatch 2 might not be the best device. Many other wearables provide more information with a digital watch face. They also present more data, in-depth analysis and support for far more sports activities, and GPS tracking.

That said, the ScanWatch 2 isn’t a bad hybrid watch at all. Still, there are a few software quirks missing features that make us recommend it to a specific target audience, one that requires less and, doesn’t take sports as seriously, and are simply looking for a hybrid watch that has some basic and advanced features to help track everyday activities.