Feed aggregator

North Korea said Wednesday its recent test-firings of sea-to-surface cruise missiles were successful, in another display of its growing military capabilities as U.S. President Donald Trump visits South Korea.

(Image credit: KCNA via KNS)

Brazilian police and soldiers launched a raid on a drug-trafficking gang in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, sparking shootouts that left at least 60 suspects and four police officers dead, officials said.

(Image credit: Silvia Izquierdo)

The Toronto Blue Jays shook off their epic 18-inning loss to even the World Series in Game 4. Ohtani redefined the concept of short rest by taking the mound just more than 17 hours after Game 3.

(Image credit: David J. Phillip)

All the ways to watch top-ranked side India take on Australia Down Under wherever you are in the world as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma return to India's colours.

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 29.

I'm dehydrated. How do I know? Withings U-Scan told me so, and it's based on what may be the best source for this information: my own urine.

I know. Blech. But also, wow; home urine analysis in about the time it takes you to, well, use the bathroom.

I first learned about the Withings U-Scan home urine analysis system back in January at CES 2025. It sounded kind of incredible. The device could take the lab-style analysis that usually requires you to go to a doctor's office, pee into a cup, and hand it over to a lab technician who would then send it to a lab for analysis, and transform it into a compact system that fits in any toilet.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

That's more or less what we got here, a $379.95 / £319 rechargeable device that does all of that in one... er... sitting.

It's not perfect. It might require that you change your bathroom habit, it uses replaceable cartridges that'll cost you $99.95 / £89.95 every three months, and it cannot yet, as was promised earlier this year, recognize different people's pee. Essentially, it's a urine analysis system for one and can only be activated through the Withings app on your phone.

Even so. I'm impressed.

Withings U-Scan Review: Design and setup

Withing's U-Scan is a large white puck that you press between your palms to twist and open so you can install the carousel of measurement tabs. There are a total of 44 of these tiny, chemically sensitive strips in each carousel. Every test takes two strips for a total of 22 urine tests. Most people will only test once a week. The circuit board and algorithm live inside U-Scan, so that all analysis is done there.

Twisting the device open and closed is not easy, but in some ways, this gives you confidence that it is fully water-tight.

When it's open, you set up your app and connect it via Bluetooth to the U-Scan by pressing a button on the inside. It also connects to your home network's Wi-Fi. This process is pretty painless, as is installing the carousel of test tabs. The app, by the way, can connect to Apple Health to gather all your relevant health data and to share Withings' insights with Apple Health.

Image 1 of 3

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)Image 2 of 3

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)Image 3 of 3

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

U-Scan also ships with three sizes of toilet clips and guides you on which one to use based on your toilet's style. There's also a charge tank, which doubles as a bath to wash the device after the first three months of use (the charge is rated to last three months, too). It even ships with gloves so you don't have to touch a device you've spent the last three months peeing on.

U-Scan can, depending on which carousels you use, test for either nutrition or kidney health. In the latter, the system keeps track of calcium levels, an excess of which can lead to the development of painful kidney stones.

My test unit, though, arrived with the nutrition carousel, which looks at acidity, vitamin C, ketones, and hydrostatus.

Image 1 of 3

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)Image 2 of 3

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)Image 3 of 3

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)Withings U-Scan: Getting started

Proper placement of the Withings U-Scan in your toilet is critical, and this is where I learned that, if I wanted to measure my urine, I'd have to sit down to pee.

You see, the puck and its attachment hanger are placed dead-center at the front of the toilet; the clip hangs over that front lip.

The smooth back of the U-Scan faces you and, if you pee on it, the other side is designed to capture and direct that pee into a reservoir that pulls the liquid inside.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

Since the system does not know when it's being peed on, you have to first open the Withings App and then select measurement. After that, you have two minutes to pee.

I went through this process three times before I successfully got a reading. The first time, there was an unidentified error, and the second time, the system accused me of not peeing sufficiently. Fortunately, it didn't waste any test strips in either case.

Finally, I peed long enough to get a reading. I knew the system was doing its work because there are somewhat noisy motors that make the urine collection and the tiny internal lab work possible.

Within minutes, I had my first reading. If you don't see it, you can quickly sync your phone app to the device.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

I was pleased to see that my pH or bio-acidity was "In Target", as were my vitamin C and ketone levels. The only thing that didn't look right was my hydrostatus, which came in low. When I opened that reading for details, the app told me, "Your hydration level is lower than optimal. Increase your water intake to reach a better balance."

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)Withings U-Scan: Verdict

As my wife said to me, somewhat sarcastically, when I told her about my reading, "Oh, good, I guess you don't have to go to the doctor."

I'd like to think that, but this is not an FDA-cleared device and is not intended as a medical substitute. Instead, it's a wellness product that gives you indicators but not the final word.

Still, it's nice to get some early warning signals on nutritional issues and, yes, I would love to avoid painful kidney stones in my lifetime.

I do not look forward to the cleaning process and think it's a shame that it's not yet useful for all the people peeing into that toilet in my home. Withings told me that the feature is coming, but did not provide a timeline.

The price is not terrible for what it does, but I'm not thrilled about paying another $99 every three months to check my urine. That's the one area that will likely give many people pause and may relegate this for use with people who really need frequent urine analysis. I'm probably not one of them.

Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to drink a big glass of water.

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.

A good stream of information

Suno’s new v4.5-All model delivers faster, richer, and more expressive AI-generated music – and it’s now free for everyone to use.

Shaming is common in medical school and unfortunately, sometimes in the doctor's office. Some doctors are trying to teach medical students awareness of the problem so they don't perpetuate the cycle.

(Image credit: fpphotobank/iStockphoto)

The Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller and 8BitDo Ultimate 2 go head to head in this versus comparison.

The Galaxy phonemaker showed off a twin-hinged foldable at a Korean consumer tech show.

New romantic drama Hedda left me with a lot of food for thought, so I asked the Prime Video movie's cast the toughest questions of the bunch.

Curious about the name Pluribus? Series creator Vince Gilligan spoke to TechRadar about why coming up with a name for the show was surprisingly tricky.

Five Republicans joined with Democrats on a vote to end the national emergency that President Trump has declared as the basis for sweeping tariffs on Brazil.

(Image credit: Mario Tama)

If you like the security of a physical button to feel for on your iPhone, you might need to adjust to a new style.

Sam Altman says a lot of the roles AI may replace might not be viewed as 'real work' anyway.

A Netflix Crash Bandicoot animation could be the next Naughty Dog game to be adapted – I just hope it doesn’t get canceled like the last attempt.

How AI’s power, water and carbon footprints stack up on a global scale.

TinyCorp has achieved a remarkable breakthrough by enabling Nvidia GPUs to run on Apple’s M-series MacBooks using USB4 and Thunderbolt 4.

Find out what the Denver-based contestants have been up to.