Smart Scale Pioneer Debuts $600 Model That Tracks Hypertension Risk

Withings, the French company that pioneered the category of Wi-Fi bathroom scales, unveiled a new top-of-the-line model that monitors signs of hypertension, the latest in a wave of consumer health gadgets attempting to help manage high blood pressure.

The device, called the Body Scan 2, will cost $600 in the US, making it the company’s priciest smart scale yet. In addition to sending notifications about hypertension risk, the scale has a new feature designed to measure heart pumping efficiency, Withings said Sunday in a statement. It can also look for signs of glycemic dysregulation, a potential precursor toward prediabetes. Users can opt in to monitoring certain metrics, and the tracking then happens automatically when they step on the scale. The most extensive scans can take 90 seconds depending on the setup, Withings said.