Digitisation has affected our lives in almost every conceivable way. From the way we listen to music and communicate with one another, all the way through to the very way in which we work, the digital changeover has certainly had a profound effect on our lives.
The same holds true for weighing equipment, with digital technology allowing for considerable improvements to the way in which we obtain accurate measurements.
However, with mechanical or ‘analogue’ bathroom scales still seeing relatively widespread use, this begs the question: which is better?
Benefits of mechanical bathroom scales
By their very design, mechanical scales do not require a dedicated power supply and this is beneficial for a number of reasons.
Like all digital equipment, the effective life of a power supply (sometimes referred to as a ‘PSU’) is finite, meaning it will inevitably need replacing after continued use.
What this means for you the consumer is additional maintenance/repair costs on top of the initial price tag. Whilst failures are unlikely to happen often (especially with higher quality scales), this is still definitely worth considering when making a purchase.
Furthermore, the completely power-free nature of mechanical scales means they are unquestionably the more eco-friendly solution. Reducing the carbon footprint is crucial for everyone and can be especially important for companies ordering multiple bathroom scales.
Benefits of digital bathroom scales
Typically, digital bathroom scales are more accurate than their analogue variants and this can be seen in the scale’s readability – the smallest change which can be recorded by the scales.
Many mechanical bathroom scales can only provide users with a reading to the nearest kg, whereas digital scales can often display weight 50g increments.
Many people may be happy with a readability of 0.5kg; however, granular readings can be extremely important for athletes as well as people on a strict diet or living with health conditions such as diabetes.
Another advantage of using a digital bathroom scale is the ability to easily obtain and transfer data to a computer or other device.
This can be helpful for those looking to track their weight on an ongoing basis and store their results for future monitoring and analysis. Some modern scales even have built-in Wi-Fi functionality which makes data transfer even easier.
One final benefit of choosing digital is that some scales offer the ability to easily calculate your body fat percentage. Your weight itself is just one statistic to monitor and a person with a body weight considered to be “healthy” may still have a markedly high body fat percentage.
Read more on how scales calculate body fat here.
So which is better?
Mechanical scales are by no means redundant and their lack of power requirements makes them a fairly hassle-free solution for basic domestic weighing procedures.
However, digital bathroom scales offer a plethora of benefits to users whilst still maintaining a relatively low price point in most cases.
Digital floor scales make obtaining highly accurate weight measurements easy, with enough precision to satisfy the majority of consumer needs.
In addition, the ability to easily store, transfer and manipulate the data outputted by these scales can be especially useful for those who are serious about tracking the success of their diet or monitoring their weight for other health purposes.
