Portable digital luggage scales are in high demand these days due to the exoribant fees airlines now charge for overweight luggage. I've reviewed a digital luggage scale in the past, and now I have another scale to review from a company called EatSmart, which is actually headquartered in Mahwah, NJ, only minutes away from my hometown of Midland Park, NJ. Though the EatSmart's primary focus is on health products like home bathroom and kitchen scales, the company recently entered the digital luggage scale market and was generous enough to send me a product sample for review. So how does it stack up to its competitors?
If you read my review of the Balanzza Digital Luggage Scale you'll know that I immediately noticed problems with battery insertion (it took me almost 10 minutes to figure out how to get them properly inserted!). So you'll be happy to know that the EatSmart Precision Voyager digital luggage scale is ready to go right out of the box. All I had to do was remove a plastic tab in place to keep the battery fresh and fully charged and I was ready to start using it. Some of the features on the EatSmart scale that I like better than the Balanzza model are the grip handle, and the attachment strap, and the display. As you can see from the above picture, the grip handle is designed much better than the Balanzza scale. It allows for easy two-handed lifting of the luggage, which ensures stability and an accurate weight reading. The rubber inlays are nice as well, as they provide both comfort and stability. The attachment strap of the EatSmart scale is sturdier than that of the Balanzza model, as it resembles a safety belt strap. Finally, the display backlight is a good bit brighter on the EatSmart scale compared to the Balanzza model, and the unit automatically turns off a lot quicker, saving battery life.
Top view of the EatSmart Precision Voyager digital luggage scale. The backlight brightness is more than adequate, allowing for easy reading of the results.
I tested the EatSmart scale using the same luggage and ski equipment that I used to test the Balanzza model, and the readings came out identical, so you can be sure your results will be accurate as well. And honestly, no matter how good the grip or attachment belt is, if the scale is not accurate in measuring weight, it's worthless. Thankfully for EatSmart this isn't a problem at all, as their model is right on the money.
Despite my overall approval of the EatSmart scale, there are some things I think can be improved. First, the attachment strap buckle is a bit wider than the Balanzza's, and I can envision this being a minor problem when trying to weight certain pieces of luggage with narrow handles. If you can't fit the strap buckle through the handle, you can't use the scale to weigh your piece of luggage, and then the scale becomes worthless. Lastly, I noticed that the loop adjustment part of the strap buckle is pretty loose when the buckle is at a right angle to the strap itself. The way the adjustment part is designed should be fine when lifting luggage (since it's angle would prevent strap slippage when parallel to the buckle), but the buckle is easily removed from the strap when not in use, so it could potentially get lost. I suggest always keeping the buckle locked in place even when not using the scale as to prevent you from losing the buckle piece.
Overall, even though the EatSmart Precision Voyager digital luggage scale has a few minor flaws, I actually recommend it over the Balanzza digital luggage scale. Depending on where you shop you can actually purchase the EatSmart scale for about the same or even less as the Balanzza scale, and it's well worth it to keep you from getting those outrageous overweight luggage fees.
[EatSmart Precision Voyager Digital Luggage Scale] – $19.95
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