The Etekcity travel scale is one of the most popular luggage scales out there. It’s an ideal choice if you’re looking for a straightforward scale. It’s small, simple in design, and easy to use.
WHO MAKES IT
In addition to selling pretty much every kind of scale, Etekcity also specializes in home improvement and outdoor equipment. They used to have a cool program that allowed you to become an “Etekcitizen,” in which members could get up to one free product a month in exchange for a review of that product. Unfortunately, it’s been discontinued in order to comply with a recent Amazon policy change.
KEY FEATURES
- Capacity: 110lb/50kg
- Units of measurement: lb/kg
- Room temperature display
- Auto-off function
- Tare function
- Runs on lithium disk battery
PROS
- Very easy to use
- Provides quick and accurate reading
- Provides room temperature in both Celsius and Fahrenheit
- Ergonomic design
- Lightweight and compact
- Lithium batteries generally last longer than alkaline batteries
CONS
- Reading display is not backlit
The temperature indicator on this scale is a cool function, and proved to be accurate, even though it is kind of random. But if you’re an avid traveler who frequently visits extreme climates, it could be helpful to have a thermometer handy. Another advantage is its small size. It’s very compact, and smaller than a lot of scales out there, so it won’t add any substantial bulk to your bag. It’s auto-off feature will turn the scale off after two minutes of inactivity, so you don’t have to worry about wasting your battery life.
The only downside to this scale is the lack of a backlight on the display. This isn’t that big of a deal, although it could be annoying if you’re rushing to catch a flight and for whatever reason you aren’t in good lighting and it takes a little longer to figure out the reading.
HOW TO USE
This scale is extremely easy to use. There are only two buttons: an on/off button and a unit button. To switch units, you just press the unit button and it will go from kilograms to pounds, and then degrees Celsius to degrees Fahrenheit, in that order. To use, hook the strap around the handle of your luggage and then lift the scale horizontally, and your reading will appear in a few seconds. Make sure you hold the scale horizontally to get the most accurate reading. Overall, I found the readings to be very accurate over three different bags, with only a slight variation of about 0.2 kilograms on one of them.
Overall
This scale is super easy to use, small enough to squeeze into an already crowded carry on, and just about as accurate as you can get. If you’re looking for a basic, no-nonsense luggage scale, you can’t go wrong with this one.