The case for a Garmin Index S3 with segmental body composition
The Index S2 was released in October 2020 with a colour screen, Wi-Fi sync and a set of basic body metrics. Garmin did not follow up five years later, missing the expected October 2025 refresh window for S3.
That gap has left the Index line feeling dated. A recent Instagram post from DCrainmaker showing a shattered Garmin scale mid-unboxing has reignited speculation that a new model could be in testing. It raises the question of why anyone would be unpacking a Garmin scale this late in the year. While the post itself confirms nothing, the timing has sparked fresh interest in what a proper Index S3 should offer.
Garmin’s scale is behind the curve
The Index S2 tracks body weight, BMI, body fat percentage, skeletal muscle mass, bone mass and water percentage. All readings are derived from a single foot-to-foot impedance scan. It is functional but limited.
In 2025, many competing smart scales include segmental impedance with contact points for hands and feet. Withings, in particular, offers models with retractable handles and multi-frequency scanning, providing full-body composition analysis with separate readings for arms, legs and trunk. Some models support fat distribution tracking, muscle symmetry reports and more. Garmin’s scale does not support any of this.
Users investing in Garmin watches and chest straps are already tracking stamina, HRV, VO2 Max and sleep architecture. By comparison, the scale delivers a handful of numbers that have not changed in years.
Garmin Connect already pulls together detailed physiological metrics. But body composition is still isolated. It is displayed, not interpreted.
A new Index S3 could change that. Segmental data could inform strength tracking, periodisation and even nutrition guidance. Garmin has built a platform where scale data should matter. But the current product does not offer enough to integrate meaningfully with the rest of the ecosystem.
The five-year pattern was missed
The original Index launched in October 2015. The S2 followed in October 2020. Another five-year cycle would have placed an S3 in October 2025. But there was nothing.
The DCrainmaker photo may simply show an S2. Even if the photo means nothing, it puts attention back on the fact that the Index line has not kept pace with the rest of Garmin’s health stack.
Garmin’s wearables provide highly detailed insights into training, recovery and health. The scale is the outlier. While watches push new features yearly, the Index remains frozen.
If Garmin intends to keep selling smart scales, the next step is obvious. A new model with segmental impedance, deeper data analysis and proper software integration would not just compete with the market. It would finally give Garmin users composition data that matches the depth they already get elsewhere in the platform.
CES 2026 is just around the corner. There is an outside chance we might see the S3 then or shortly after as Garmin typically releases a bunch of products at the start of the year. But with no regulatory filings or retailer activity so far, the chances feel slim.
This article originally appeared on Gadgets & Wearables, the first media outlet to report the story.
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It would be interesting if they could do heart rate variability during the weigh-in. This way if you do a measurement in the morning as a morning routine it would automatically do a hrv measurement while standing in the same position everyday. This morning measurement is generally thought of as more useful than the sleeping heart rate variability so that measurement when fed back into the cloud could then get onto your wearables to make the algorithms on the wearables more accurate like body battery.
I do wonder if other measurements that the scale can do would have any usefulness in making the metrics on the wearables more accurate.
It would seem like they could offer a pre-workout measurement and a post-workout measurement feature which could be used to tell how much water you need to drink after the workout. This could also be used to track how stuff the scale measures changes from the workout and maybe have a useful metric from that. (Look at some of the metrics the withings body scan measures that are not on normal scales)
Even something as simple as an option to default the first weigh in of the day as the official reading for long term trends.
My S1 and S2 are consistently 8 or 9% apart when it comes to bodyfat measurement. I honestly think the body composition reliability is terrible and ignore it.
Lots of scales struggle with body fat figures. I’ve been using Withings scales which are a bit better – but even they struggle sometimes.