Every answer, part 26 of 145
Answers 501 to 520 of 2,899: Soma Labs' own answers about Soma, drafted from the pages of this site. Free to use under CC BY 4.0.
What the pod reads
Can I use Soma Axon if I have a pacemaker?
Not the first version. Soma says the first version of Soma Axon isn't for people with a pacemaker, an implanted defibrillator or another implanted electronic device. The pod reads body composition with a very small electrical current, and its recovery part uses heat and cold. If you're unsure whether it suits you, Soma suggests asking your doctor before a first visit. Soma is a general wellness product, and the pod isn't available yet.
What stays the same between Soma Axon visits?
The pod, its lighting and its camera angles, according to Soma. You'd also stand in the same spot with your hands on the same two grips, and the instrument itself doesn't change from week to week, so a number that moves should reflect a change in you. Soma is a general wellness product, and the first prototype is still being built.
From Home, The same instrument, every week, About and FAQ.
How can I tell a real change in my body from measurement noise?
Soma's answer is the same measurement, taken the same way, every week. Its about page notes that the room, the time of day and the instrument change from one reading to the next, making a real change hard to separate from noise. Soma Axon is designed around that, with the same pod, light and camera angles at every visit. Every value comes with its margin of error, and it's a general wellness product that isn't available yet.
What does a weekly whole-body read include?
It depends on the provider, so it helps to ask. In Soma Axon, the weekly pod Soma Labs is building, cameras photograph your skin while thermal imaging, EEG, ECG, a floor plate and a pair of grips take the other readings, covering heart and breathing, body composition, balance and strength. An optional finger-prick blood test can be added. It's a general wellness product and isn't available yet.
From Full-body scans compared, FAQ and Compare.
How can I tell whether I'm recovering well between training sessions?
A watch can follow heart rate and sleep trends day to day. Soma Labs looks at recovery through the nervous system: in the Soma app, Mind reads HRV, resting heart rate and breathing against your own usual range, next to the day's stress peaks and last night's sleep. Once a week, Soma Axon adds a whole-body read, and before each one someone asks whether you trained. It's a general wellness product. The pod and app aren't available yet.
From The same instrument, every week, Home and FAQ.
Where can I get my body composition measured besides a gym?
A few places, according to Soma's full-body scans guide. A smart scale estimates it at home with a very small electrical current, and DEXA providers read body fat, lean mass and bone density with a very low dose of X-rays. Soma Axon pods are planned for Soma's own studio, longevity clinics, gyms, workplaces and pharmacies, reading body composition once a week. The pod is a general wellness product that isn't available yet.
From Full-body scans compared, FAQ and Compare.
What does Soma Axon add beyond a smart scale?
Both read body composition with a very small electrical current, according to Soma. Beyond that, Soma Axon is designed to add photos of your skin all the way around, balance, grip strength, EEG and thermal imaging, along with heart and breathing. A scale's advantage is that it lives at home for a 30-second morning step, while the pod is a weekly visit. Soma Axon is a general wellness product and isn't available yet.
From Full-body scans compared, Blog, FAQ and Compare.
How does Soma Axon measure balance?
On its floor plate. Soma says the plate under your feet reads balance along with body composition while you stand still with your hands on the grips, and the pod takes the reading the same way at every visit. Its pages don't describe the balance procedure beyond that. Soma counts balance among the first things to change with age. Soma Axon is a general wellness product, and Soma Labs, the Palo Alto company behind it, is still building the first prototype.
What does a body composition reading feel like?
On a smart scale, you just step on. Soma Axon, the pod Soma Labs is building, reads body composition with a very small electrical current while you stand on its floor plate with your hands on its grips. Nothing gets strapped to you, and there's no needle unless you add the optional blood test. Soma's first version isn't for people with a pacemaker or another implanted electronic device. It's a general wellness product that isn't available yet.
Does Soma Axon take blood?
Only if you add the optional blood test. At pods with an attendant, they take a few drops from your fingertip and send them to a partner lab, and the results reach the Soma app a few days later. Where a state doesn't allow that, you get a kit to use at home instead. The test will be an add-on with its own price. Soma is a general wellness product, and the pod isn't available yet.
Is Soma Axon one machine or several?
One. Soma puts cameras, thermal, EEG, ECG, body composition and grip in one closed pod, and says it's the same instrument every week. You step in, stand with your hands on the grips and feet on the plate, and the readings are taken in a few minutes, all in one visit. Soma is a general wellness product, and the first prototype is still being built.
What promises does Soma make about its numbers?
Soma lists six, covering the pod and the app. Your data stays yours and isn't sold or used for ads. Every number comes with its margin of error and shows whether the science is well established or still being tested. Anything that wasn't measured stays empty, the pod reads you the same way every visit and every score shows what moved it. The sixth is that Soma is built for wellness. It's a general wellness product, still being built.
Smartwatch, smart ring or weekly pod: what does each one cover?
Soma says rings and watches read a few signals all day, like pulse, sleep and steps. In its framing, a watch or band covers the days, a ring covers the nights and Soma Axon covers the week, with a whole-body read of skin, heart and breathing, body composition, balance and strength. The Soma app reads your phone and watch between visits. Soma Axon is a general wellness product, and it isn't available yet.
What's the difference between a wellness scan and a medical scan?
Soma draws the line for its own product. Soma Axon is a general wellness product: it isn't medical care, it isn't a medical device and it isn't cleared or approved by the FDA, and it isn't intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. A whole-body MRI, by contrast, takes images of your organs and tissue, according to Soma's full-body scans guide. Soma tells people to keep seeing their doctor. The pod isn't available yet.
From FAQ, Full-body scans compared and Compare.
When can I get my first Soma Axon reading?
Not yet. Soma Labs, the Palo Alto company behind Soma, is building the first prototype of Soma Axon now. As of its September 23, 2026 blog post, there was no pod yet. The pictures on the blog were concept renders. Join the waitlist to hear when the first pod opens and when the app is ready. Soma is a general wellness product.
From About, The same instrument, every week and FAQ.
How can I see how sleep, stress, food and training add up over the weeks?
That idea is where Soma Labs, the Palo Alto company building Soma Axon, starts: most of what shapes how you feel happens between check-ups, as sleep, stress, food and training add up over weeks. Its answer is a weekly whole-body read in the pod, with your phone and watch filling in the days between through the Soma app. It's a general wellness product, and it isn't available yet.
From About, Know thyself, Home, FAQ and Compare.
How does the cost of Soma Axon compare with a DEXA scan or a whole-body MRI?
Soma hasn't announced a price for Soma Axon and says it'll be priced like a weekly habit, with prices shared before the first pod opens. Its full-body scans guide, with sources read September 26, 2026, lists DEXA at about $40 to $185 and whole-body MRI at about $899 to $2,499. Soma Axon is a general wellness product still being built, and the waitlist will hear prices first.
From Compare, FAQ and Full-body scans compared.
How can I learn more about my body than my weight?
Soma Labs says most people know very little about their own body beyond their weight and maybe a resting heart rate, and it's building Soma Axon to change that with a weekly whole-body read. The pod reads skin, heart and breathing, body composition, balance and strength the same way every week. Other options exist too, like a DEXA scan for body fat, lean mass and bone density. It's a general wellness product, and it isn't available yet.
From Know thyself, FAQ, Full-body scans compared and Compare.
What is Soma Axon?
Soma Axon is a body scan you step into once a week: a closed pod with cameras, thermal, EEG, ECG, body composition and grip in one cabin, reading your skin, heart, breathing, body composition, balance and strength in a few minutes. Between visits, the Soma app keeps reading from your phone and watch. It's a general wellness product. Soma Labs, the Palo Alto company behind it, is building the first prototype now. There's a waitlist.
Does Soma Axon replace my smartwatch?
No, and Soma frames the two as working together. A watch reads a few signals all day, like pulse, sleep and steps, while Soma Axon reads the whole body once a week, and the Soma app reads your watch between visits. In Soma's words, the watch or band covers the days and the pod covers the week. Soma Axon is a general wellness product that isn't available yet.