Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have been using digital kitchen scales for over 20 years initially to bake bread and now for most of my cooking recipes, which I use at least once daily. It is so much easier than using measuring cups and spoons! I highly recommend it, but only with a scale that can actually do what it says it can do. Spoiler alert most can’t. Before I get into my rating let me explain what I was looking for. I wanted a compact digital kitchen scale that would run on regular AAA batteries (no coin cell battery waste), be able to accurately weight down to 1 gram (I don’t use any other units), have a display that was easy to read, have numbers that don’t change after I stop measuring (I’ve seen some change constantly and a few slowly increase or decrease), stays on while I am using it and gives me at least 30 seconds (2-3 minutes is very nice) of not using the scale before turning off. Sounds reasonable to me. Tips for buying a digital kitchen scale on Amazon. Always buy Amazon Prime scales. This means you have a reasonable return policy. I bought 9 scales from Amazon over the last 2 months and since 8 of them were not as advertised I was able to return them all at no cost to me. The precision of all of these scales is listed in oz and grams, but you can’t believe any of it. For example a seller will list a scale as precise to: 0.125oz or 1 gram. 0.125oz is actually 3.54 grams 0.1 oz or 1 gram. 0.1oz is actually 2.83 grams 0.05oz or 1 gram. 0.05oz is actually 1.42 grams 0.04oz or 1 gram. 0.01oz is actually 1.13 grams 0.01 oz or 1 gram. 0.01 oz is actually 0.28 grams This one should actually work but in fact on the three scales below that say they are this accurate, none of them actually delivered. These scales would jump up by two grams at a time when I was adding a constant amount to weigh. This most likely means that their accuracy is actually only 0.1 oz (2.8 grams) not 0.01 oz (0.28 grams). The only scale that delivered what it promised was one listed at 0.01oz / 0.1 gram. There are many out there with these specs. I only reviewed this one as it worked well. I would consider any scale that was Amazon Prime and listed accuracy of 0.01oz / 0.1grams. 3. Less than 200 reviews is useless: All of these scales have 4+ star ratings. The winning scale actually had the lowest rating at 4.0 stars. So what is going on? Obviously there are many people writing reviews on free or reduced cost scales. That’s not me. I suspect most of the paid reviewers have no idea what to look for in a scale, so if it is cute and turns on and shows numbers it gets 5 stars. Why not? Also some are likely working for these companies. Again, not me. How can they be so far off with such good ratings? There is the possibility that all the people using these scales only care about ounces, though I know that is not true. Let’s see: profit vs truth in advertising vs forgiveness for innocent typo vs paying for a favorable review? You decide what is going on here. My guess is that there is some loophole that allows for this amazing amount of misinformation and poor accuracy. All I’m saying is that the product should work as advertised. Here are the scales: Again the first one is the winner and the rest need to redesign their scales or at least come clean about the accuracy. Spirit 0.01oz/0.1g 3000g Digital Multifunction Pocket Scale with Back-Lit LCD Display Dimensions: 4.96 x 4.13 x 0.63 in Batteries: 2 AAA. It actually will measure at 0.1grams! This is great for measuring out spices! I was initially worried about the small footprint but I have no problem putting my bread machine pan on the scale and still seeing the readout. Backlight stays on for the entire 3 min auto off AND if you begin weighing after 2min and 50 seconds of doing nothing it resets the 3 min timeout. In case you missed it even this scale gets its the conversion wrong. 0.01oz is 0.28 grams NOT 0.1 grams. However, it does show 0.1grams on the screen and since I really only need 1 gram accuracy, it works just fine. The two things I would change about this scale would be to add a hook, which I think I can do myself. I was worried at first about the max capacity of only 3000 grams, but my entire bread machine bread pan with all ingredients in it comes in under 1500grams so I think it will work just fine and I, tentatively, think this will be my future favorite scale! I’m not going to say much about the rest of these scales other than to list them as a warning to anyone who is considering them. Just to be clear the accuracy listed for all of these scales is what was listed on Amazon and other than the one above, I strongly disagree that they are actually accurate to 1 gram. BBI Digital Kitchen Food Scale, One Ultra Slim Multifunction With LCD Display, 11 lb or 5kg, White 0.01oz/1 gram accuracy. Dimensions: 8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches. Weight: 14.1 ounces. Inspired Basics Digital Kitchen Scale Slim Design Food Scale Easy to Clean Glass Surface 15 Lbs 0.05 Oz/1g Dimensions: 6.32 x 9 x 0.68 in Weight: 1.2 pounds. SUMCOO Stainless Steel Portable Hanging Digital Kitchen Cooking Baking Food Scale,Measuring Counting Nutrition Gram Weight Scale 5KG/11 LB Black (round) 0.01oz/1g Dimensions: 8.5 x 8.7 x 1.1 inches Weight: 11.2 ounces BRDEN 11lb/ 5Kg Digital Multifunction Kitchen Food Scale with LCD Display (Silver) 0.01oz /1g Dimensions: 8.85 x 6.5 x .70 inches. Weight: 14.4 ounces However, this one has a fatal flaw. It will shut off even as you are using it. No digital scale should ever shut down while being used. This is a deal breaker for any scale. Kinzi Digital Touch Kitchen Scale (12 lbs Edition), Tempered Glass in Clean White 0.05 oz/1 gram Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches Weight: 1.2 pounds. OXO Good Grips Digital Glass Food Scale with Pull Out Display, 11 Pound White 0.125 oz/1 gram. Dimensions: 11.8 x 1.5 x 8.8 in Weight: 2.7 lbs. Accuweight 11lb 5kg Digital Food Kitchen Scale with Backlit LCD Display, Tare and Unit-switch Features, Cooking Scale for Meat, Coffee, Fruit, Drinks, Weight Loss & Portion Control 0.01 oz / 1gram. Length: 8.7", Width: 6.6", Height: 0.8” Weight 1.5 lbs. Smart Weigh Digital Glass Top Kitchen and Food Scale, 5- Unit Modes, Liquid Measurement Technology, Professional Design, White 0.05 oz / 1 g Dimensions: 6.26 x 8.62 x 0.98 in Weight 1.1 pounds I have no financial ties or interest in any of these companies and was not given any scales for reduced price or free for my review. I am not a paid reviewer. I am a real person who wants real results from the scale I use.