Don't Waste Your Money on the ProForm SP-400 Pedometer

I do love my Omron Go/smart Pocket Pedometer HJ-112, which is extremely accurate, but had the chance of picking up the ProForm SP-400 Pedometer with Heart Rate Monitor, as a gift. I checked the price in Wal-Mart and it retails for $14.77.

It states on the packaging that it tracks steps, calories and distance, has a flashlight, LCD clock, and a belt clip. Heart rate monitor is checked too.

I took it out of the packaging, and opened up the instructions. It is a tiny 12 page booklet. It has features, basic operation of buttons, operating of pedometer, target calories setting, how to wear your pedometer, battery replacement, how to use pulse rate monitor, and care of pedometer.

The ProForm SP-400 pedometer is fairly bulky, and does seem to be a little top heavy. The colors are silver and blue. It is different from my other pedometers in the layout. When it is clipped onto your belt, you can see the LCD. It normally stays on steps and time. Then looking to the front of it, it has mode, set, up/clear, down, and pulse. At the side of it it has a pulse rate sensor, and the light.

I set up the clock, my stride, weight, which was easy to do. I then put it on my waistband, close to wear the crease in trousers would be. I found this pedometer to click all the time. With the Omron Go/smart Pocket Pedometer HJ-112, it only registers if you are walking, it doesn't always work when playing sports, climbing stairs, when your walking isn't consistent, such as in a crowd.

It clicked when I swayed from side to side, it clicked when I was dancing in my chair, from the waist up. I took off my shorts, and it was still on the waistband, so I got another 14 steps. I was a little disappointed in that. I feel that I am getting inaccurate information from it.

I tried the heart rate monitor feature, when I was resting, and it was 52. The lowest it has been when resting in 90. I then tried it after walking really fast, and it was 132. I did just 5 minutes boxing with weights, and it went up to 182. Even after an hour of working out, my pulse hasn't been this high.

For the past 10 minutes I have been trying to take my pulse with the ProForm SP-400 Pedometer. I place my finger in the correct position, and instead of giving me the rate, it goes blank, and the comes back as the steps I have walked, and the time. I have now tried this six times, and it keeps going back to steps.

The mode and set buttons are next to each other, and on the first day when I went to change the mode to miles, I must have touched the set button as well, because I lost my steps. Now I lift the pedometer up before pressing anything on the front of it.

With my other pedometers they go back to zero at midnight. This one doesn't. You have to manually clear it each night, or morning.

The light function is great. It is a really white, bright light.

The stopwatch works fine. You press the mode button until it comes up, then press set to start it, and set to stop it. You have to hold down the up/clear button to erase it.

From the website:

"Get in shape with the help of the ProForm SP-400 Pedometer. The SP-400 tracks your steps, calories burned, heart rate and distance in standard units. Input your weight and stride settings to accurately read your calories burned and distance traveled. This pedometer also features a convenient flashlight, belt clip and LCD clock.

Product in Inches (L x W x H): 4.45 x 1.5 x 8.75"

I have now had this piece of junk for a week, and if I hadn't received it as a gift for being a shopper for National Consumer Panel, I would have taken it back. It took me a long time to get enough points to receive it.

Cheap isn't always good. I wish that I hadn't gone for this, and just kept Omron Go/smart Pocket Pedometer HJ-112. I gave it to my husband Len, but am seriously thinking of switching with him. The only problem will be that the Omron is really sturdy, and this looks as if it could break if dropped, or it falls off the waistband. Len isn't as careful with it, as I would be.

2010 ICON Health & Fitness, Inc.

Made in China.