Withings ScanWatch Nova review: Style in Spades

Although Apple and Samsung might grab the headlines with Ultra smartwatches, Withings is still quietly going about its business making smartwatches with a difference. 

If you’re like me and get frustrated about the cons of smartwatches such as 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 devices takes the core innards and features of the ScanWatch 2 and puts them in a premium dive watch style casing. It’s a sort of upgraded version of the Withings ScanWatch Horizon which is still on sale.

Design & Build

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

The hybrid design, if it’s new to you, means you have a traditional analogue watch with minute and hour hands joined by a small dial with a third analogue hand tracking your step goal. 

At the top half is a small screen which provides the smartwatch features 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 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 firm’s other watches is its chunkier and more premium design. The stainless steel casing has a 10ATM water resistance rating and the design also features anti-reflection sapphire glass and a ceramic rotating bezel.

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

The hands and indexes are ‘Super-LumiNova’ or in other words really really glow in the dark. The mirror-polished edges finish things off nicely. 

I’m a big fan of the look and feel of the Nova which oozes craftsmanship and it’s available in three colours: black, blue and green.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Unlike most smartwatches, the Nova is supplied with both a fluoroelastomer strap (colour matching the watch face and bezel) and a metal Oyster wristband. In the box you’ll find all the tools you need to remove or add links to get it the right size, too.

I love the design and really only have one gripe which is putting the straps onto the case is really fiddly, particularly the metal band which has two little quick-release tabs at either end.

It is catered for a masculine taste so if you want something more feminine then Withings has since unveiled the ScanWatch Nova Brilliant Edition which we gave a Best in Show award to at IFA 2024. It comes in a smaller 39mm case and two colourways.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Features & Tracking

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

You might not think by the look of it, but the ScanWatch Nova has a lot of activity and fitness tracking abilities. Around the back and inside it has a TempTech24/7 Module, High Dynamic Range accelerometer, Multi-wavelength PPG with 16 channels and an altimeter.

This means the watch can track all kinds of stats and activity including steps (which you’ll see on the analogue dial), heart rate, skin temperature and blood oxygen levels.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

The little screen on the Nova can show you your heart rate, skin temperature, steps, distance, floors climbed then you can optionally trigger workouts, an ECG, blood oxygen check or guided breathing.

Opening the companion app will then give you a much more detailed breakdown of your daily, weekly and monthly stats. Again, you can look at your steps or dive into sleep tracking if you’re happy to wear the Nova overnight (which I found surprisingly comfortable with the fluoroelastomer strap).

A lot of the tracking I saw reported in the many months I’ve been using the Nova seems perfectly in-line with other smartwatches. However, I came across various inaccuracies which I wasn’t expecting from a device this high-end from a company like Withings, which is focused on health products.

Floors climbed is almost always undercounted and every so often I saw unusual spikes in my heart rate (as high as 180bpm) which I think I would know about were it true. The blood oxygen check on the watch often says ‘inconclusive’ which gets frustrating.

Sleep tracking is pretty solid overall but again, some nights would think I was awake when I wasn’t and would also regularly think I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow which I know 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

This was all using the fluoroelastomer strap which gives you a better fit for the sensors to work. If you get unlucky with the fit of the metal band, since you’re limited to removing or adding links, the tracking could be worse.

Furthermore, the watch can automatically detect some workouts but got it wrong more times than I can recall. The app has plenty of swims and cycles logged when they were actually just casual walks, perhaps confused by me walking a dog with one had and pushing a pram with the other.

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

Plenty of much cheaper smartwatches provide more accurate tracking and also typically have GPS which the Nova doesn’t possess. Another surprise when you’re paying over £500/$500.

Battery Life & Charging 

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

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

I would much rather a wireless charging stand that could live on my bedside table at this price. Luckily, the charger isn’t needed very often at all as the ScanWatch Nova can last a whopping 30 days. 

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

If you do want a ‘proper’ smartwatch that can last longer than a couple of days, look to the OnePlus Watch 2 and 2R.

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

It takes a couple of hours to fully charge from flat but with 30 days battery you don’t need to wait for it to get to 100% even if you’re going on holiday for a week. 

Price & 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 as well as the likes of Amazon, Argos and Currys in the UK or Amazon in the US.  

That’s a long way from being affordable and although it’s not in direct competition, you can get the likes of a Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra for £599/$649. 

As you will have gathered from the review, the smartwatch has a different appeal from what Samsung, OnePlus, Apple and others have to offer. If you want a cheaper Withings then check out the ScanWatch 2 or ScanWatch Light.

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

Check out our list of the best smartwatches for the top options right now.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Should you buy the Withings ScanWatch Nova? 

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

And to that end, it fits a quite particular bill being a high-end stylish analogue watch but with a lot of sensors and smart tech packed in.

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

Specs

• 0.63-inch Grayscale OLED display, 282 PPI
• TempTech24/7 Module
• High Dynamic Range Accelerometer
• Multi-wavelength PPG 16 channels
• Altimeter
• Breathing disturbance detection 
• Bluetooth Low Energy 
• Silent alarm 
• Heartrate, steps, distance, calorie, and elevation tracking 
• 30+ workouts 
• Sleep monitoring 
• Up to 30-day battery life 
• Requires iOS 14 or Android 8 or later
• Stainless steel case (316L)
• Ceramic and stainless steel rotating bezel
• Anti-reflective sapphire glass
• Stainless steel crown
• 63g (42mm)
• 10ATM