WEIGHING SCALES

Salter Silver Analyser Scale €27

This measures not only weight but body fat and water. It sends electrical pulses through your body, apparently – and also comes with both an athlete and child’s mode. We couldn’t find the loafish, eating-crisps-on-the-couch mode anywhere. It is clearly high-tech but what we really want from scales is not all that fanciness, but something that will tell us our weight with no fuss and without us needing to look at an instruction manual. This device failed miserably on that score and we had to consult the manual on more than one occasion before we got it working. Once we set it up, it was good and gave us the most precise of readings – to two decimal points.

Verdict:Too fancy **

Raan Scales from Ikea €29.90

This is, comparatively speaking, quite a high price to pay for scales. It was the second most expensive of the products we tried. On the plus side, it’s excellent and well worth the money. If Apple made weighing scales, it could scarcely top this in terms of sleek coolness.

It is all glass and chrome and while all it does is tell you your weight – in kilos, stones and pounds – that is all we want it to do. The LED display is crystal clear and sufficiently big so that even the most chronically short-sighted will be able to read it.

Verdict:A glass act *****

Argos Mechanical Scales €3.99

We seemed to put on a couple of pounds using these scales which did not endear them to us one little bit. (For the record, the Ikea scales had us at our lightest, yet another reason to love it.) Having said that, it is impossible to beat this very old-school model on price as it costs just a tenth of the most expensive scale tried. It is perfectly functional, requires no batteries and has something all the others have left out in their bid to be sleek and stylish – a non-slip surface. While the other scales are very easy to read, you’d need the vision of superman to be able to work out precisely what you weigh using these, something we sadly lacked.

Verdict:Cheap, very, very cheap. **

WeightWatchers Precision Body Analyser €40

This, arguably, offers the most comprehensive assessment of your shape, covering weight, water, fat and BMI. It is comparatively easy to get up and running and is colour-coded to provide a fairly easy-to-follow assessment of your weight. The display is crystal clear and it gives measurements to the half pound – although such detail may only appeal to the obsessive among us. It has to lose points for being the most expensive option reviewed and we couldn’t help wonder how much extra we were being asked to pay because of the brand.

Verdict:Scarily accurate ***

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