When the team behind the Marvoto Belly Fit reached out to me and asked if I wanted to review one, I was more intrigued than anything else. Something that could measure my fat? I was curious to see what it was and how it worked. If you’re looking for something to assess your fat and track your progress, you might want to take a closer look.
What is it and how does it work?
The Marvoto Belly Fit is designed by a team that also makes ultrasound devices like the ones used when pregnant. In fact, it works in pretty much the same way, only super easy to read and understand (unlike those alien scans that are impossible to interpret when you’re knocked up). To use it, you just:
- Put ultrasound gel on the area you want to check.
- Press the button on the wand and push it against your skin.
- Within moments, the scan is complete and you can see just how much fat is hiding under the surface.
I don’t have calipers or other fat-measuring devices, so I couldn’t independently check the accuracy, but it seemed pretty legit. At least it could tell the difference in fat between my arms and my stomach, so it’s clearly reading something.
The good, the bad, and the ugly
As far as the concept goes, this works pretty much as described in the original email I got from the team. The wand is lightweight, and it’s intuitive to use. Just push the button, press the sensor against your skin, and you’ll see the sonar scan on your phone – it’s obvious to see the fat under the surface, which the app then measures and reports.
The Android app crashed every time I used the device, but when I reopened it, my results were saved. I wish that there were also an iOS version, but I assume that will be released in the future. Hopefully along with some language updates and expanded functionality.
Also, you’ll want to make sure that you have access to more ultrasound gel. The wand does NOT work without the gel, it’s absolutely vital to use some every time. While my review version came with a small tube of gel, someone planning to use this to track progress over an extended period of time will want to make sure they don’t run out of the stuff.
Keep in mind that the waist measurements will only measure the subcutaneous fat. That’s important to know about, especially if you’re trying to track fat loss while following a nutrition or exercise routine. However, it can’t tell you about any visceral fat (that’s the fat around your organs), which is generally considered more dangerous. Well done if the fat on your arms and waist are in the good zones (my arms are but my waist definitely is NOT), but you’ll want to make sure you’re still being healthy and aware of other places fat might hide that can be risky.
If you’re curious to learn more, or want to get one for yourself, you can check it out on IndieGoGo here.
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