Fitbit Aria review

Fitbit Aria brings the futuristic world of The Jetsons one step closer by computerising the humble weighing scales.

After connecting it to your home wireless network, your weight is recorded on your Fitbit account as well as being shown on the scales.

Its glass surface contains electrodes that send a pulse through your body to measure its fat percentage, from which it can calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI), a far better indicator of overall health than weight alone.

All this information can be viewed on the Fitbit Dashboard through your web browser or a dedicated iOS app, and up to eight people can register an account and share the same set of scales.

The Aria is fun to use. It's great to see your weight and BMI tracked through ongoing progress charts, and you can earn award badges by setting targets and meeting them.

Yet two flaws keep it from greatness. Firstly, it's extremely fussy about where it's placed. On a carpet, or even springy floorboards, it's likely to give inaccurate and inconsistent results; it must be used on a concrete floor.

Secondly, although the Aria can be set to give weight in stones and pounds, when the information is viewed on the browser tracker, it's displayed in stones to one decimal place. As there's 14 pounds in a stone, 11st 7lbs (for example) is eleven and a half stones, and displayed as 11.5 stone. This can be confusing.

If you're looking to lose weight and improve your general fitness, Fitbit Aria is highly recommended. Just make sure you've a suitable concrete floor to use it on before buying.