The Newest Health Trend Is Tracking Your Pee
When my dog sniffles in certain places on our morning walk, my daughter calls it “checking email”. Yes, the animal kingdom is right: urine transmits a wealth of health information, and by analyzing it, you can access critical data about your body without having to wear a fitness tracker 24/7 or get stuck with needles.
Over the past few months, I’ve been inundated with a constant stream of urine trackers, of which Vivoo’s smart toilet is the latest. The smart sensor debuted at CES 2026 and went on sale this week. It costs a relatively affordable $99 and clips inside the sink of any toilet.
When you’re ready to do your job, connect the sensor to its companion mobile app via Bluetooth. The sensor collects a sample for testing and uses optical sensors that measure the specific gravity of your pee. An onboard processing unit then uses proprietary algorithms to tell you whether you are hydrated or not. Most importantly, the gadget uses antibacterial components, has antifungal nanotechnology, is designed for over 1,000 uses, and is completely contactless.
A multitude of options
I spend more time with my toilet lately than I have since I potty trained my kids. I recently tested the Withings U-Scan, which, at $380, is a much more expensive and higher-end urine testing device. There are two versions: the Nutrio checks ketone levels, hydration status and acidity of urine (primarily for diabetes), and the Calci checks the calcium content of your urine, which is an early indicator that you may have kidney stones.
Like smart toilets, the U-Scan opens and uses a cartridge to collect pee samples. This means it’s not completely waterproof and you have to aim when you go, which required some fun and necessary conversations about placement with my husband. Additionally, you have to take it out of the toilet to clean it and recharge it when you change the cartridge, which is approximately every month. Luckily, cartridge replacements come with a pair of rubber gloves.
Still, it’s a much better and safer process than what’s happening with the Kohler Dekoda, which was also announced last year. It’s basically a toilet bowl camera; it takes photos of everything you put down your toilet and uses AI to analyze it and give you recommendations about your gut health. Only it turned out that the end-to-end encrypted camera wasn’t actually end-to-end encrypted. Plus, it costs $599.
Float your boat
A little over a decade ago, the idea that someone might want to track what’s happening in their toilet was so universally disgusting that Adult Swim parodied the concept. But now we are not only monitoring our steps and heartbeat, but we are also testing our blood and sputum. The idea of keeping tabs on what’s happening in our toilets doesn’t seem so strange anymore.
