Full review
Longer notes from the same comments we summarized above.
What we learned from owners
Early feedback on the Etekcity Food Scale paints a mixed but leaning-positive picture. The scale's biggest draw is price — it's been spotted for as little as $6.99 on sale, and regularly sits around $13–$14 retail. For budget-conscious shoppers doing meal prep, calorie tracking, or basic baking, several sources describe it as a capable, no-fuss tool that does the job without overthinking.
The LCD display is noted as bright and clear, it handles multiple units (grams, ounces, fluid ounces, milliliters), and the 304 stainless steel surface is easy to wipe down. One comparison guide lists it alongside higher-end scales and notes 1g / 0.05oz precision — a reasonable increment for most home kitchen needs.
A separate, more in-depth comparison found that at small weights, a competing OXO scale outperformed the Etekcity by a meaningful margin — showing less than 0.5g deviation versus the Etekcity's 2–3g fluctuation on repeated small measurements. That gap matters most for precision tasks like measuring yeast, spices, or small baking additions.
Common problems reported
The clearest direct complaint came from a Reddit user who described a specific and frustrating pattern: adding small amounts of food incrementally wouldn't register, then the scale would suddenly jump past the target weight. The example was trying to hit exactly 1.00 oz — the display would sit at 0.98 oz, refuse to budge through several small additions, then leap to 1.04 oz. For someone tracking calories tightly, that unpredictability defeats the purpose.
The same user also flagged a potential fake review problem on Amazon — noting that Amazon had blocked them from leaving a negative review, and that the scale's overwhelmingly positive rating may not reflect real owner experience. This is worth keeping in mind when evaluating the broader score.
The platform size is consistently noted as small, which limits how large a container you can use comfortably.
Where opinions differ
For casual use — portioning out pasta, measuring coffee, general cooking — the Etekcity seems to satisfy most people just fine, and the price makes any shortcomings easier to accept. The frustration surfaces when people need precision at low weights, like nutrition tracking down to the gram or precision baking. That's where the scale appears to fall short of more expensive alternatives like the OXO Good Grips.
Some YouTube commenters raised questions about battery life and calibration, but without enough specific follow-up to draw a firm conclusion.
Should you buy it?
If you're new to using a food scale, cooking in bulk, or just need something reliable for portion sizes in the 50g–500g range, the Etekcity is a reasonable entry-level choice — especially at its typical price point. But if you're tracking macros down to the gram, measuring small amounts of spices or yeast, or you need consistent accuracy across the full weight range, it's worth spending a bit more on something like the OXO Good Grips or a dedicated coffee/precision scale. The accuracy concerns at low weights are real enough that calorie counters and precise bakers should think twice.
Methodology: Sentic merged ~140 community items from Reddit and YouTube, plus Vertex AI Search hits, after light de-noising. The reliability index blends owner-tone estimates with a saturating volume curve; theme emphasis is model-estimated from the same corpus and should be read as directional, not a precise census. Secondary-market signals from eBay (Browse API) estimate typical used listing asking prices (not verified sold transactions) and how many parts-related listings appear — directional, not a price guarantee.
