Garmin Index Review

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A lot of people dread stepping on a scale. A lot of times, the scale doesn’t show what we want to see. Avoiding checking your weight may help you ignore the numbers, but your body won’t ignore it. It’s not even all about the weight, there are a lot of other factors that go into making a person healthy. What if you could have a scale that told you a lot more than how much you weigh? One that can help you track your stats and make progress towards your goals.

The Garmin Index smart scale is one that does, in fact, offer more than a typical scale. The metrics that it measures include BMI, weight (lb, kg, or st), water and body fat percentage, as well as muscle and bone mass. This information is beneficial to everyone, but especially for those with goals or with diseases or conditions that can be treated and improved via monitoring and evaluating and coaching.

It is important to understand that Garmin devices are not medical grade devices. The information that they provide is not meant to be used medically as far as diagnosing, treating, curing, or even preventing any diseases. Be sure to consult your regular doctor before beginning any new exercise or eating routines and also consult them for any health-related issues. The scale may help you monitor stats, but those stats can not guarantee any kind of treatment. The support you receive from the Connect community, however, can help you.

Editor's Pros & Cons
Pros

Trusted brand

Wi-Fi Connected

Measures multiple stats

Sixteen user capacity

Easy visibility screen

Cons

Not universally compatible

Mixed reviews

Brand

The Garmin company was founded in 1989 in a town in Kansas, USA. The founders were Min Kao and Gary Burrell. The headquarters for the company was in Olathe, Kansas. Ever since 2010, Garmin has been an incorporated company in Switzerland. This means that it is recognized as a legal company.

Garmin specializes in helping people with GPS products for cars, aviation, outdoor, marine, and sports activities. Thanks to innovative technology, wearable products are now on the market. And because Garmin participates in the hype, they are now offering smartwatches and activity trackers in order to compete with Apple, Fitbit, and others.

The first product that was sold by Garmin was a GPS 100. This GPS was a mounted receiver which was targeted at the aquatic consumers. These were advertised at two thousand and five hundred dollars. This GPS hit the market in 1990 at an exposition that was in Chicago.

From the beginning and to this day, the goal here is to be a long-living and well-trusted company by always offering the best products for aviation, automotive, outdoor, marine, and sports that will become a key part of the consumers' lives.

Metrics

The Index measures the metrics which matter the most. These are BMI, weight, water, and body fat percentages, and bone and muscle mass. Why do you want to know these things?

You want to track your weight habitually. It is a powerfully motivational tool in weight loss efforts as well as efforts to just be healthier. Tracking your weight is a very good way to gauge how you’re doing and if you need to adjust your strategy.

Your BMI (body mass index) is a tool for measuring body fat. Having too much fat will present a risk to your health. The most common way to determine body fat is to look at the ratio of weight to height squared. 18.5-24.9 is considered a normal ratio. If your ratio is above 30, that qualifies as overweight.

Tracking your fat percentage is important because having too much fat (certain types) can result in health problems. If you’re eating a lot of saturated fat (fatty meat and dairy products), you could be raising your cholesterol levels. This will increase your risk of heart disease. You want to check your water percentage because body water is what helps your body regulate its internal temperature, it helps to strengthen muscles, and also will moisturize the skin.

Muscle mass is important because the more you have, the quicker your body will be at burning calories and energy. Knowing your bone mass will help you check for signs of osteoporosis among other conditions. Always discuss results with your doctor.

Smart

There are many great advantages to having smart products. We’ve got smartphones, smart TV’s, smart doorbells, smart lightbulbs, we can make virtually anything electronic smart these days. That includes our weight scales.

The Index comes with a tracker that not only shows you your weight results but other metrics as well. It will also show you patterns in these results. You will have access to the Garmin Connect community where you can personalize your goals and routines as well as recruit help from people who specialize in this area.

The scale has the capability of storing information for as many as sixteen people. When you step onto the scale, it will automatically recognize which user you are and upload your data to your Connect account via WiFi.

Garmin realizes that not everybody is tech-savvy, therefore, the setup for connecting your scale to your smartphone, your WiFi network, and Connect is as simple as possible. Instructions will be included in the package, however, they are also available online if they are needed.

Garmin Connect

Connect is the platform used to track, monitor, analyze, and share your health and your fitness activities. It can only do so when connected to a compatible Garmin device though. You can join the Connect community either at garminconnect.com or via the mobile app.

Your entries and important health data are displayed front and center. You can personalize what you see on your home screen and what order you want them to be in. You can choose to focus on your pace, heart rate, floors, steps, calories burned, the intensity of activity, etc. More detailed statistics will also be available. You can view your averages per week, month, and even year.

Not only can you pull data from your workout, but you can also specify on Connect what kind of activity you are participating in. So, whether you swim, run, lift weights, kayak, etc, Connect will track it and help you analyze your stats and performance so that you may make improvements.

The products and this platform are meant to provide information to the consumer that will hopefully lead to more healthy and active lifestyles. The information gathered may not be one hundred percent accurate because they depend on sensors to keep track of your movement and the other metrics that are measured.

Garmin Coach

Garmin wants to help take you and your training beyond what you think you’re capable of. So they provide you with Connect as a tool to achieve that. Connect also comes with Garmin Coach, which will give you customized workouts geared toward your level of ability. You will also benefit from coaching advice that is personalized. There are many videos to watch and articles to read that will be beneficial as well.

Garmin Coach is commonly used by runners to train for short, long, and anywhere in between, races. They can’t get enough of the training plans that shift with your performance and goals along with the expertise offered by the coaches. The training plans will help people who are beginners as well as intermediate level. They support walking and running up to a pace of one mile every seven minutes.

There are three coaches to choose from, all of which are more than equipped to help guide you along your journey. They include an Olympian/author, a running coach/physiologist, and a physical therapist/running expert.

Invest in a Garmin compatible wristband in order to track heart rate and other factors that the scale cannot as far as your activity. The scale will help with training because it will sync your metrics that the wristband cannot measure.

Digital Therapeutics

Digital therapeutics is a fancy word for using digital technology in order to monitor, discipline, and treat psychological or medical conditions. This treatment relies solely on the participation of the user. You must commit to changing some lifestyle and behavioral habits. The health coaching available to you with this brand is considered digital therapeutics.

The data regarding your health that is collected and looked over can serve as both a preventative measure and progress report. Using this method of treatment can help people save money with other medicine or treatment plans. Not only is your data monitored, you receive professional guidance and accountability help. You will still need to go to your regular doctor. Do not abandon any treatment plans. Garmin products are not replacements for doctor’s orders and do not guarantee any diagnosis, treatment, etc.

This method of treatment is beneficial for many conditions, such as hypertension and diabetes. There is no specific methodology for this kind of product/service. However, you can use the resources to help guide you to healthier choices and patterns. The coaches will assist you with motivation and inspiration. Thanks to Connect, you’ll always have access to people who can help you understand your metrics and how to maximize your goal efforts.

Warranty

One thing people typically want to know before buying a product is what kind of warranty there is, if any. Garmin does provide a warranty for one year after the date the item is purchased. They are warranted to not have any defects in the workmanship or materials. During this year, the company will replace or repair any parts that fail at normal use. These repairs or replacements will be provided at no cost. However, the consumer is responsible for any costs included in transportation.

This warranty will not be honored for any cosmetic damage. This includes nicks, dents, and scratches. The warranty does not cover parts that are consumable, like batteries, unless the damage occurred because of a defect in the workmanship or materials. Damage due to abuse, misuse, accident, flood, fire, or other natural or external causes is not covered.

If the product has been altered or modified in any way outside of Garmin, it will not qualify for the warranty. If you connect your product to a power source that wasn’t provided by Garmin and you incur damage, it will not be covered.

Do not use Garmin products for purposes that require precise measurements for distance, location, direction, or topography. There is no warranty for the accuracy or the completeness of any map data. Any repairs made to your product will come with a warranty of ninety days, or to the end of your original one year warranty, whichever one is longer.

View the full terms of the Limited Warranty either in your manual or online.

Bottom Line

No matter what fitness level you are, no matter if you’re an athlete or a soccer mom who walks around town sometimes, you can always benefit from having a scale around. Imagine one that can keep track of so much more than your weight? A scale that can help you become more healthy and stay more healthy. One that can encourage weight loss and reaching other goals.

You have that kind of a scale in the Garmin Index smart scale. The metrics that it measures include BMI, weight (lb, kg, or st), water and body fat percentage, as well as muscle and bone mass. Knowing these values can be extremely beneficial to your overall health. If you don’t have good numbers for them it could be hazardous to your health. This is an easy tool to stay on top of your health.

The Index has a large display that is even readable at night. The numbers are bright and large and they are in front of a black wallpaper to make for easier viewing. It is WiFi capable and will connect to your smartphone. It is super slim to fit in even the smallest storage spaces at just one and one-fifth of an inch. The battery can last up to nine months.

You may pay a little more for a smart scale, but to a lot of people, it is more than worth the splurge.