The Etekcity 0.1g is the scale we tell people to buy when they just want the right answer. Its headline is resolution: dual increments that read to 0.1 g below 1,000 g — the finest of any full-size scale in our eight-pick lineup — then 1 g up to a full 11 lb / 5 kg capacity. That 0.1 g reading matters more than it sounds for weight loss, because the foods that derail a calorie deficit are small and dense: oil, nut butter, cheese. Under those sits a food-safe 304 stainless-steel platform (the material we rank highest for a surface that touches wet food daily), a detachable bowl that tares out and doubles as a storage cover, a backlit display, and five units — g, oz, lb:oz, ml, fl oz. What makes it #1 rather than merely good is that it does all of this for roughly $20. On our gear criteria it leads outright on accuracy (35% of the score), ties for the top on features, and holds its own on stainless build — so it would rank at or near the top even before price, and value (a deliberate 15% tie-breaker) simply seals it. The honest limits are small: it runs on included batteries rather than USB-C, and the bowl is one more piece to store if you prefer a bare platform. For honest weight-loss tracking, this is the highest-leverage twenty dollars in your kitchen. Here's the full breakdown.
Check on AmazonAffiliate link — Super Achiever Club earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Read the complete Weight Loss guide →The best on the list. Dual increments read to 0.1 g below 1,000 g — where all the small, calorie-dense weighing actually happens — then 1 g up to a full 11 lb / 5 kg capacity, with upgraded sensors for fast, stable readings per the listing. The whole point of a food scale is an honest number, and this one gives the finest number here without sacrificing full-size capacity.
Everything you touch at every meal, plus extras: tare/zero, one-press switching across five units (g, oz, lb:oz, ml, fl oz — with milk and water density modes for liquids), a large backlit display, and the detachable bowl that tares out, contains wet ingredients, and flips into a protective cover. Only the on-device nutrition database of the Greater Goods Nourish beats it on this axis.
A food-safe 304 stainless-steel platform — the material our principle ranks highest for a surface that meets wet, oily food daily — that wipes clean instantly, in a slim body that lives happily on a counter. It trails only the OXO's heavier premium construction on this axis, and the included bowl means messy ingredients need never touch the platform at all.
Roughly $20 for the finest resolution in the lineup on a stainless platform with a bowl — undercutting most plain 1 g scales. Value is deliberately our smallest criterion (price is subordinate to quality), which makes this pick's position more impressive, not less: it would rank at the top on the first three axes alone, and the price simply removes the last excuse.
“0.1 g high-precision readings with dual increments (0.1 g under 1,000 g, 1 g to 5 kg).”
Stated explicitly on the live Amazon listing ('Unique Dual Increments: <1000g, 0.1g; 1000-5000g, 1g') and central to the product's positioning. This is a manufacturer spec, not an independent lab test — but it's the finest stated resolution of any full-size scale in our lineup, and the dual-increment design is disclosed honestly rather than hidden.
“Weighs up to 11 lb / 5 kg across five units, including ml and fl oz with milk/water density.”
The listing states the 11 lb / 5 kg capacity and the five measurement units (oz, lb, g, fl oz, ml) with switching between milk and water density for liquid measures. Matches the capacity of the other full-size picks in the lineup.
“Detachable bowl doubles as a protective cover and mixing container.”
Per the listing, the bowl flips up and down for usage and storage, detaches completely, and serves as a space-saving protective cover. A genuinely useful design detail for taring, containing wet ingredients, and keeping the platform clean in storage.
“A food scale meaningfully helps weight loss.”
This is the category claim, not Etekcity's — and it's the one claim on this page with research behind it. People underestimated the calories in larger meals by roughly 38% in Wansink & Chandon 2006 (PMID 16954358), and misjudged solid foods about ten times more than liquids in Lasschuijt 2019 (PMID 31255647). A scale replaces that systematic error with an exact gram weight. The device doesn't change your body; it makes the calorie count honest.
Most food-scale buyers assume 1 g is 1 g and resolution is a spec-sheet vanity number. It isn't, because the foods people misjudge worst are small and calorie-dense: a 'tablespoon' of olive oil can swing 40+ calories depending on the pour, and nut butter is worse. The Etekcity's dual-increment design puts its 0.1 g precision precisely in that under-1 kg range where those foods are weighed, while keeping full 5 kg capacity for plates and bowls at 1 g. That's a smarter allocation of precision than a uniform 1 g scale at the same price, and it's the single biggest reason this pick wins.
The failure mode of food-scale ownership isn't accuracy — it's abandonment. A scale that's annoying to clean migrates to a drawer and stops being used. The Etekcity's 304 stainless platform wipes clean in one pass, and the detachable bowl means oil, yogurt, marinating meat, and sticky ingredients never touch the scale at all; flip the bowl over and it covers the platform in storage. Our material principle weights this heavily on purpose: for a device whose entire value is daily use, cleanability is a feature, not a nicety.
We deliberately weight value at only 15% so a cheap, flimsy scale can't buy its way to #1. The Etekcity doesn't need the discount: it posts the lineup's best accuracy score (9.6), ties near the top on features (9.2), and holds a 9.0 on build thanks to the stainless platform — a weighted 9.3 that leads the field before you look at the price tag. That it then costs around $20, undercutting most plain 1 g scales, is what makes it the default recommendation rather than merely the winner.
Two real trade-offs keep this from perfection. It runs on included replaceable batteries rather than USB-C recharging, which Etekcity reserves for pricier models — a minor cost and a minor annoyance every year or so. And the bowl, useful as it is, is one more piece to store; buyers who want a flat bare platform they can slide into a slim gap may prefer the OXO or Escali form factor. Neither changes the verdict: they're the kind of small compromises a $20 price makes easy to accept.
The Etekcity 0.1g is the food scale to buy if you want one and want it right. It pairs the finest resolution in our lineup — 0.1 g exactly where it matters, on the small calorie-dense foods that quietly wreck deficits — with a food-safe 304 stainless platform, a genuinely useful detachable bowl, tare, five units, and a backlight. On our gear criteria it leads on accuracy, ties near the top on features, and holds strong on build, so it wins on merit; the ~$20 price just removes the last excuse. Who should pick something else: buyers who want the most premium, most readable build ever made should spend up for the OXO Good Grips and its pull-out display (#2); app-averse trackers who want calories shown on the device should get the Greater Goods Nourish (#4); volume batch-cooks need the 22 lb Nicewell (#6). Everyone else: buy this, leave it on the counter, set it to grams, and weigh the foods that carry the calories. The scale won't change your body — it makes the calorie count real, and this one does that job better per dollar than anything else we tested against it.
Check Etekcity · 304 stainless steel platform · 0.1 g resolution · 11 lb / 5 kg · detachable bowl on AmazonThe buy-it-for-life build: premium stainless, refined buttons, and a pull-out backlit display a big plate can't hide. Choose it if longevity and readability are worth ~$50.
See it on the list →Built-in nutrition data for ~2,000 foods shows calories and macros on the scale itself — no app, no account. Choose it if you want on-device tracking.
See it on the list →0.1 g Variable Graduation precision for the least money (~$15) in a proven, award-winning budget scale. Choose it if you want fine resolution and don't mind a plastic body.
See it on the list →People substantially underestimated the calorie content of larger meals — by about 38% in study 1 — while judging small meals almost perfectly. The evidence for owning a food scale at all: the eye systematically under-counts, and an exact gram weight removes that error. (Product specs on this page are manufacturer claims, not research.)
Estimation error was roughly ten times greater for solid foods than liquids — and solid foods are exactly what a food scale weighs. Reinforces why weighing in grams beats eyeballing, especially for the dense foods where the Etekcity's 0.1 g mode operates.
