Withings ScanWatch Nova review: Style in spades

Price upon review

$599.95

Best prices today: Withings ScanWatch Nova

While Apple and Samsung may be making headlines with Ultra smartwatches, Withings still quietly continues to make smartwatches that make a difference.

If you’re like me and frustrated with the downsides of smartwatches, like poor battery life and touchscreens, Withings makes some of the best hybrid wearables on the market and the ScanWatch Nova is one of its latest efforts.

The device takes the core and features of the ScanWatch 2 and puts them in a premium dive watch style housing. It is a kind of improved version of the Withings ScanWatch Horizon that is still for sale.

Design and construction

• 42mm stainless steel case
• Three colors
• 10 ATM

The hybrid design means, if you’re new to it, you have a traditional analog watch with minute and hour hands, along with a small dial with a third analog hand that tracks your step goal.

In the top half there is a small screen that shows the smartwatch functions such as the date, heart rate, skin temperature, ECG, blood oxygen, breathing exercises and more.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

This screen can be activated with raise-to-wake or by pressing the digital crown on the side. The crown is then used to scroll through the interface and it all works well and intuitively.

What sets the ScanWatch Nova apart from rivals and the company’s other watches is its sturdier and higher-quality design. The stainless steel case has a water resistance of 10ATM and the design also features anti-reflective sapphire glass and a ceramic rotating bezel.

There’s only one size available: 42mm and it weighs 63 grams without strap, which is heavier than many smartwatches, although lighter than the ScanWatch Horizon.

The hands and indexes are ‘Super-LumiNova’, or really glow in the dark. The mirror-polished edges complete the whole nicely.

I’m a big fan of the look and feel of the Nova, which exudes craftsmanship and comes in three colors: black, blue and green.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Unlike most smartwatches, the Nova comes with both a fluoroelastomer strap (colour-matched to the dial and bezel) and a metal Oyster wristband. Inside the box you will find all the tools you need to remove or add links to get it to the right size as well.

I love the design and really only have one gripe: putting the straps on the case is very tricky, especially the metal strap that has two small quick-release buckles on either end.

Masculine tastes have been catered for, so if you want something a little more feminine, Withings has since unveiled the ScanWatch Nova Brilliant Edition, which we awarded a Best in Show award at IFA 2024. It comes in a smaller 39mm case and two colorways.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Features and tracking

• Stairs, floors and more
• Heart rate
• Skin temperature
• Blood oxygen

You might not think it, but the ScanWatch Nova has many options for activity and fitness tracking. On the back and inside, it has a TempTech24/7 module, a high dynamic range accelerometer, multi-wavelength PPG with 16 channels and an altimeter.

This means the watch can track all kinds of metrics and activities, including steps (which you see on the analog watch face), heart rate, skin temperature, and blood oxygen levels.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

The small screen on the Nova can show you your heart rate, skin temperature, steps, distance and floors climbed. You can then optionally activate training, an ECG, blood oxygen monitoring or guided breathing.

Opening the companion app will give you a much more detailed overview of your daily, weekly and monthly stats. Again, you can watch your steps or dive into sleep tracking if you like to wear the Nova at night (which I found surprisingly comfortable with the fluoroelastomer strap).

Much of the tracking I’ve seen in the many months I’ve been using the Nova seems perfectly in line with other smartwatches. However, I encountered several inaccuracies that I did not expect from a device of this high level from a company like Withings, which focuses on health products.

The number of floors climbed is almost always undercounted and every now and then I would see unusual spikes in my heart rate (up to 180bpm) which I think I would know if it were true. The blood oxygen check on the watch often shows ‘inconclusive’, which becomes frustrating.

The sleep tracking is generally pretty solid, but again, some nights I would think I was awake when I wasn’t, and I would also regularly think I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, which I know that this is not true. It does result in a better sleep score, so not so bad if you like that placebo effect in the morning.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

All this with the help of the fluoroelastomer band, which gives you a better fit for the operation of the sensors. If you are unlucky with the fit of the metal band because you are limited to removing or adding links, the tracking may be worse.

Additionally, the watch can automatically detect certain workouts, but it has gone wrong more times than I can remember. The app recorded many swims and cycles when they were really just casual walks, perhaps confused by me walking a dog with one dog and pushing a stroller with the other.

It can track the menstrual cycle, but of course I haven’t been able to test that.

Plenty of much cheaper smartwatches offer more accurate tracking and usually also have GPS which the Nova doesn’t have. Another surprise if you pay more than £500/$500.

Battery life and charging

• Up to 30 days
• Cheap, easy to lose charger

Surprisingly, the ScanWatch Nova comes with a charger that looks and feels like it came from a sub-£50/$50 smartwatch. Just a small plastic holder with a USB-C port, this doesn’t match the premium character of everything else in the box.

I would much rather have a wireless charging stand that could sit on my nightstand for this price. Fortunately, the charger is not needed very often, as the ScanWatch Nova lasts no less than 30 days.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

If you want a ‘real’ smartwatch that lasts longer than a few days, take a look at the OnePlus Watch 2 and 2R.

During my testing, I frequently forgot that the Nova was a device that needed to be charged, which makes for a refreshing change compared to most smartwatches.

It takes a few hours to fully charge the battery, but with a 30-day battery life, you don’t have to wait for the battery to reach 100%, even if you go on vacation for a week.

Price and availability

For the privilege of wearing the ScanWatch Nova on your wrist, Withings charges £549.95 / $599.95.

You can buy it directly from Withings, but also from Amazon, Argos And Curries in the UK or Amazon in the US.

That’s nowhere near affordable and while it’s not direct competition, you can get a Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra for £599/$649.

As you can see from the review, the smartwatch has a different appeal than what Samsung, OnePlus, Apple and others have to offer. If you want a cheaper Withings, take a look at the ScanWatch 2 or ScanWatch Light.

It’s a premium experience when it comes to details like the box, straps and hybrid design, so it could be worth every penny.

Check out our list of the best smartwatches for today’s best options.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Should you buy the Withings ScanWatch Nova?

The ScanWatch Nova isn’t cheap, so you’ll want to make sure it’s exactly the kind of wearable you’re looking for.

And with that goal in mind, it fits very well: it is a high-quality, stylish analogue watch, but with many sensors and smart technology inside.

If you don’t like the idea of ​​a full-screen smartwatch with short battery life, the ScanWatch Nova is a very nice solution, as long as you don’t mind the activity tracking not being as accurate as you’d expect at this price.

Specifications

• 0.63-inch grayscale OLED display, 282 PPI
• TempTech24/7 module
• High dynamic range accelerometer
• Multi-wavelength PPG, 16 channels
• Altimeter
• Detection of breathing disorders
• Bluetooth low energy
• Silent alarm
• Heart rate, steps, distance, calories and altitude registration
• 30+ workouts
• Sleep monitoring
• Battery life up to 30 days
• Requires iOS 14 or Android 8 or later
• Stainless steel case (316L)
• Rotatable ring made of ceramic and stainless steel
• Anti-reflective sapphire glass
• Stainless steel crown
• 63g (42mm)
• 10 ATM