The Omron HBF-306C Fat Loss Monitor is great value for somebody who wants to measure their body fat changes regularly, but don’t have access to a superior machine such as the Tanita BC-418. With a price around the $30 mark, it’s a small investment considering the benefits you’ll receive. Compare that price with the $5000+ price tag of the Tanita BC-418 and the difference is vast.
While the more expensive Tanita machine returns a more accurate body fat figure, the Omron HBF-306C is still valuable for showing any changes to your body composition. If you want to know very accurately your body fat figure you’ll need a more expensive machine, but if you just want to know by how much you’ve improved each month (or 2 weeks), the Omron machine will be sufficient for a great price.
Positives:
- You’ll have a hard time finding a better one for this price, except for another Omron monitor.
- Easy to use.
- Reasonable accuracy. For me it reported 15.6% versus 13.9% from a far more expensive machine.
Negatives:
- The electricity only passes between your hands, leaving the rest of the body to be estimated, leading to lower accuracy. Leg-to-Leg machines are superior.[1]
- The level of accuracy can vary between individuals, body types and hydration levels.[2]
- If you leave your arms down rather than up and out front, the reading can be very inaccurate.
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It’s easy to use, portable and cheap. So if I’m ever without access to a superior machine, this would be one of my first choices. It’s easier than fat calipers and avoids the user error of calipers.
- JANET T. PETERSON, WENDY E. S. REPOVICH, CARLYE R. PARASCAND. Accuracy of Consumer Grade Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Devices Compared to Air Displacement Plethysmography [↩]
- Limitations and validation of bioelectrical impedance analysis in morbidly obese patients. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2005 May ;8(3):329-32. [↩]
