After a recent move, I can’t find my fancy Garmin GPS training device… It measured heart rate, could help you with training goals, gave you graphs of where you went, etc. All the bells and whistles. So, this review won’t compare this pedometer to something that elaborate.
It’s been several months without any luck in finding my Garmin, so I got this Omron to tide me over. It’s hard to describe, but being able to see my progress, in steps, simply motivates me a lot more than just timing myself. With only a timer, it’s easy to walk to slowly and worse simply not feel as motivated to reach the coveted 10,000 steps per day.
This pedometer measures steps, distance, time elapsed, calories burned, 7-day data memory, total steps and it has a nice feature of showing you how many of your steps actually add up to real exercise. The formula for deciding this is based on 100 paces / minute and a stride length of 28 inches or 2.5 mph. This pedometer also has a clock, but no timer or stopwatch functions. Neither does it have a back light. It has the basics and seems to do very well on those basics. Specifically, it’s a “tri-axis” pedometer, so it can detect walking just about no matter how you attach it to yourself. You can even put it in your pocket or around your neck. It comes with a cord and plastic clasp that can attach the device to a shirt, pants, etc. It also has a holder clip that the device slides into. It can be attached to your pants, purse or whatever like a pager or wireless phone would. It has a battery saving mode that activates 5 minutes after not pressing any buttons. When it come time to change the batteries, you can use the included tiny screwdriver for the task. The booklet states that the battery should last about 6 months when used 2 hours a day, approximately 10,000 steps. This pedometer can keep 7 days of data in memory and keeps a running total of all steps/miles walked. This can be handy on trips. It can keep up to one million steps in memory!
The physical dimensions are 3″ wide x 1 3/8″ high, 1/2″ deep. It weighs about 1 oz with battery. The battery type it uses is the common CR2032.
This pedometer has all the basics honed to a ‘T’. Its style and color (black) lend it easily to either men or women.
List price is about $45 on Amazon, but can be found for about $30 as of this writing.
If you want the basics and need accuracy and flexibility, then I can gladly recommend the Omron HJ-303 pedometer.
wow, Best Pedometer Ever.