The FAQ’s for the Wyze Scale say that the batteries should last 6+ months. I was curious to see what the actual use would end up being and it was interesting how evenly the low battery and battery died dates ended up being basically exactly on the monthly marks (8 & 9 months).
The batteries that came with my scale were 4 AAA Alkaline batteries of an unknown brand called “Power Flash”
So, I am not sure how to compare how much power these batteries should have in them compared to others. I usually use rechargeable batteries, which have an mAH number for how much power they hold, but I don’t know how to estimate a comparison between Alkalines with no power level published when they seem to have such a disparity of power range between them depending on what company it is and different ways it is made. Still, I assume everyone is getting these same generic batteries with their Wyze Scale, so you can still use this to estimate how long your stock batteries will last. (I’ve now inserted 4 X 1100mAH rechargeable batteries to replace these, so maybe I can give an update this fall on how long 1100mAH batteries last with similar use).
First, let’s cover the settings and behaviors that could make the following fluctuate slightly differently for others. I mostly used it every day when I first woke up (missed some days). Then my wife used it 62 times in the same period, and my daughter once (so 345 measurements total).
- Power Save mode = Off
- Only Measure Weight Setting = Off (so it also did all the other measurements, like Body Fat %, after weight every time)
- Total Weight, Body Fat, etc Measurements: 345 (1.25 measurements per day)
- Total Heart Rate Measurements: 16
- Only Measure With App Open = On
- Various firmware changes between 4/15/20 - 1/16/21 could have made some fluctuation
- Battery lasted 276 days before the scale refused to measure anymore without a new battery.
TIMELINE:
- April 15th, 2020 I started using the scale.
- December 15th, 2020 I got the Low Battery Notice -Exactly 8 months after the start date.
- January 16th, 2020 the battery refused to do any more measurements = “battery died”-exactly 9 months after the start date. When I stepped on it, it would do the initial screen where it flashes weights as it tries to pin down the weight it is going to log, but then before solidifying on what my weight is, it would turn off the screen and refuse to complete the measurement. I tried this several times.
KEY POINTS:
- You can expect it to last 9 months or more with using it 1.25 times every day (so using it every day, with an extra measurement about twice per week)
- From the date of the low battery notice to the time the batteries fully stopped measuring anything, was almost exactly 1 month with 34 measurements. So, once it says low battery, you can still use it every day for about another month (give or take depending on if you use it more or less often than once a day).
- Don’t feel the need to hurry and replace the batteries the moment you get a low battery notice. Feel free to keep using it until it refuses to measure anymore. The scale seemed to function exactly the same with similar measurements throughout the entire time it said low battery, including the day before it “died” as it did before that and even with new batteries that still showed almost identical measurements as just before it died. So, 1) the low battery doesn’t appear to negatively impact the accuracy of the measurements. 2) you don’t have to worry about the scale “Bricking” when the battery dies (as happens to the V1 Contact sensors).
- If you turn on the power save mode, it should last even longer than 9 months from a logical point of view. Perhaps someday someone else will be able to report what kind of difference this makes.
Great job Wyze. I mean, a set of generic batteries that lasted 9 months on a smart scale being used more than every day, including all the power needed to send a little electrical pulse through your whole body to calculate all the other body metrics like Body Fat %, etc. That’s pretty impressive considering how often I have to repeatedly change batteries in some of my other devices that use multiple AAA batteries. I am a huge fan of the Wyze Scale. It was the first Wyze product I bought (after tons and tons of research and comparisons of the competition, etc., and comparing it to scales we already have, so far it’s my favorite) and after I got it, I loved it so much I got sucked into the rest of the ecosystem and own roughly 75 total Wyze devices (currently or on pending delivery) now. Thank you for making such affordable, great quality products! The scale is a resounding success to me, no matter others’ opinions on it.
The only way I can kind of see something circular is the pinging and authentication process, which is pretty standard for computing/networking.