Pokéwalker Review: In with the New, Out with the Old

> The Pokemon Pikachu (PP) is pretty much a miniaturized grey gamboy but more rounded in shape. It blends in better to one's clothing and looks more like an actual pedometer.

The Pokewalker (PW) is a pokeball with a screen on it. It makes you a trainer every day, with your Pokemon always on your belt. However, having a geek symbol on your hip can be unattractive to some.

>The screen sizes are about the same, but the PP is in color; this is a big plus over the PW's black and white screen. . The PW uses sprites from the Diamond and Pearl games, so the pixel quality and shading is better than the PP. It is easy to make color screens nowadays, so I do not see why Nintendo could not make their newer one in color, like the older one

>As for navigation, the PP has 5 controls: D-pad, start, select, A and B. This is much easier to use and control when you first pick it up. The 3 buttons on the PW are good for its size, but they take a bit to get use to and are fine after a few minutes of practice. However, a 4th "back" button would make menu navigating much easier in the PW.

The screen-lock for the PP is much faster, and you get less "butt presses" with it. While my PW was on my hip (inside the waistband) it turned its sound on, and it spent my watts using the Dowsing Machine and trying to catch Pokemon. I was completely unaware it was doing any of these tasks. (I did somehow get 3 items, but was left with only 2 watts)

Step counting:

(The PP makes a barley audible shaker-type noise when it records a step. This is nice to have, because it lets one know that it is actually working. The PW is completely silent and at first, I was afraid it was broken.)

Day One

I had both on my hip (one on each side), inside the waistband, since I was at work and could not have "jewelry" showing. I assume the step calculations work just as well either way.

Trial A

For the first 5 hours of working and walking around:

The PP calculated 4296 steps = 859.2 steps/hr. While

The PW calculated 1774 steps = 234 steps/hr.

I wondered why the PW's number was so much lower, so I did some hit-testing on my break. I found out that the PW was more responsive to reverb movement-- as in moving in one direction then quickly changing velocity in another direction. Opposed to the PP; it responded to any kind of simple shake.

Now that I figured that out, I decided to attach the PW to the top of my shoe by means of the shoelace. I kept the PP on my hip as a figure of reference.

Trial B

After 3 more hours of work, I checked the numbers again.

The PP calculated 2685 more steps = 895 steps/hr, about the same hourly as before. (6981 total) This was a good sign, showing that I moved around about the same each hour.

The PW calculated 5035 more steps = 1678.3 steps/hr, much higher. (6809 total)

This was odd. How, can the PP almost have triple the step count of the PW at first, then when I put it on my shoe, the tides turn and the PW has almost the same ending step count as the PW?

Tomorrow, I decided I would wear both of them on my shoe to see the outcome.

Day Two

With both pedometers on my feet, I set out for work again. Today only has 5 hours of work.

Trial C

2 hours pass.

The PP calculated 2377 steps = 1188.5 steps/hr

The PW calculated 3598 steps = 1799 steps/hr

Hmmm. The PW had almost 1000 more steps than the PP; I did not expect this result based on the results from yesterday. The steps/hr were much higher than yesterday's perhaps I had more energy than before.

I thought for sure that the PP would still count more steps even when both were on my shoes. Perhaps I favor my right foot -where the PW is hooked- so I switched the sides and got back to work.

Trial D

3 hours pass, work is done.

The PP calculated 2686 more steps = 895.3 steps/hr (5063 total)

The PW calculated 2863 more steps = 954.3 steps/hr (6461 total)

Well, it seemed that I walked about 64% less steps each hour after my break. I did feel tired... but this has no real effect on this test, since both devices were on my shoes, instead of two different locations (hip vs. foot)
The PW calculated more steps, and was not dependent on which side it was on, for it had a better steps/hr result for both trials.

Results:

Steps/hr
Trial A
Trial B
Trial C
Trial D

PP
859.2
895
1188.5
895.3

PW
234.0
1678.3
1799.0
954.3

(Trial C, in my opinion, is a huge outlier with seemingly above average results. I will exclude it in some calculations and make a note of the exemption.)

The leader for having a pedometer on the belt/hip is definitely the PP. It calculated 3.67 times as many steps/hr as the PW.
The PW consistently counted more steps/hr while on my shoe. While the PP trailed behind on the shoe, it was not by much, only 21.1%.

The PP was much more consistent, providing more even results. It had an average of 959.5 steps/hr, and if Trial C is thrown out the average is 883.1 steps/hr, which provides a very close result (within 2%) to the median of 895.
The PW had results all over the board, even with Trial C thrown out; yet it still counted higher than the PP in all tests except for Trial A.

Which is more accurate? I cannot say which placement or device counts the steps with the most accuracy. I am assuming the accuracy is higher when more steps are recorded but this may not be the case, since I am not a professional dietitian.

My findings show consistency, frequency, and placement results. Nothing more.

Conclusion:
If you own a Pokewalker, attach it to the top of your shoe you will get better results, and progress further than if it is on you're hip. CAREFUL! I am not responsible if your device is lost or damaged when you do this. I had no problem with either device falling off, but not everyone's shoes are the same.

If you own both of these devices and looking for the better pedometer, I would choose the Pokemon Pikachu. It works about the same wherever it is placed, since I am assuming most people will want to clip a pedometer to their belt it is also more convenient.

As for game play and functionality, the Pokewalker is defiantly an improvement to the PP. It has connectivity, and much more interactive activities. I like my Pokemon Pikachu, but giving Pikachu watts day after day, and only getting to play the card guess game gets mundane. Still, the PP is quite superior to just any normal pedometer, with no game play whatsoever.

Both of these devices improve on the classic pedometer, and help make exercise a bit more enticing, rewarding, entertaining, and enjoyable. If you are not into Pokemon, but want to start getting healthier, pick up one of these devices. The goal is to walk 10,000 steps a day (5miles), but do not worry if you start out with a low number. The idea is to give you motivation to exercise and build up to the 10,000-step goal.

Questions? Comments? Email: pkmwalker@gmail.com