As you may remember, Omron was great about sponsoring us at the Disney Princess Half Marathon, and as part of that had sent us some GoSmart Pedometers to review.  They recently contacted us about testing one of their GoSmart Pace and Distance Trackers, and you know me and new gadgets!  :)

Of course it arrived during my hiatus from running, but I had to open it up right away.  First, it’s like they listened to me about the packaging because it was MUCH easier to get into than the GoSmart.  No cutting, no maiming myself with scissors…just open the top and everything (including a little screwdriver, which I also griped about last time!) was right there, ready to go.  The battery was even already installed, and I only had to push a button to “wake up” the unit.

Initial Impression/Setup

Setup of this one is at least as easy as before, and possibly even easier.  The directions are clear, the buttons are easy to push (but not so easy that you’ll accidentally hit them), and once you get your height, weight, stride length, and time set you’re basically ready to go.  My only complaint with this process is that the screwdriver provided is too big to fit in the reset button on the back IF you have to reset it.  Oh well, a pen works just fine.  Come on, I can’t let it go without complaining about SOMETHING!

The other thing I noticed right away was the way it attaches to your belt/waistband.  I LOVE the way they did it…rather than clicking into the belt clip, the tracker slides in and is held VERY securely with a little rubber frictiony thingie.  I’m pretty sure that’s how their engineers called it out on the spec sheet.  It feels much more secure than any pedometer I’ve used, and there’s no way it’s sliding out of the belt clip accidentally.

Playing around with it was my preferred way to learn that the display shows two bits of information at once, and you can easily cycle through the screens to display:

• Total time with distance
• Total calories burned with pace (minutes/mile)
• Total steps with time of day
• Total calories burned with total FAT calories burned

It saves your last 7 workouts so that when you return home light-headed and ready to pass out, you don’t have to remember to write anything down.  Or is it just me who might forget?

Using The Pace/Distance Tracker

Anyway, the key to using this is getting your stride length right.  I know my walking stride length, but not my running one, so my first run back, I wore this and my Forerunner 305 to get the calibration right…and boy, is my running stride longer!  So once I got that calibrated (an easy process), I took it with me again on my flat 5K route and the calibration was perfect.  Both my watch and the tracker showed 3.1 miles, a promising start!  The next time I did the run, once again both agreed.

While the total calories were different between my watch and the tracker, the value was right in between what my watch calculated and what dailymile calculated, so I call it a good estimate.  I’m not sure how it’s calculating fat calories, so can’t comment on that.

I took it out on my 5 mile run, and this is where things were a little sketchy.  When I got back, my watch showed 5 miles (the actual value), but the pedometer showed 5.3 miles.  So what gives?

The tracker is counting steps, and multiplying by the stride length I entered.  On my 5 mile run, there’s a long steep hill…and I have to shorten my stride A LOT to get up it.  I’m running with a significantly shorter stride length, but the tracker doesn’t know that, so it calculates that I’m going farther than I really am.  This will also happen if you drop to a walk, since your walking stride will (probably) be shorter than your running stride.  This isn’t Omron’s fault…it’s simply the way this kind of tracker works.

Conclusion

I like the features Omron added to the pace/distance tracker – it’s nice to see your pace, and I think the controls are far superior to the usual raised rubbery buttons most pedometers have.  The belt clip is secure, calibration is straightforward, and operation is easy.  And you don’t have to be too careful with which way it is pointed…it’s got nice sensors in it.

The only downside is the same that pedometers have – there’s no way to tell it mid-workout that your stride length is changing.  I know that with devices like the Nike Plus, you calibrate both a running and a walking stride length, but you also need to have a iPod which, if you don’t already have one, brings the total cost up just a bit.  *cough*

Anyway, if you’re looking for a walking or running pace/distance tracker, this is a good one to look at…as long as you can live with the limitations.  But if you have an iPod/iPhone (and don’t mind dragging it around on your runs) I’d give the Nike Plus a serious look as it’s cheaper, and it has more functions.  And if you’re looking for even more features, you know I love my GPS.

Note: Omron sent me the HJA-301 Pace and Distance Tracker, as well as the HJ-203 Pocket Pedometer with Activity Tracker with no guarantee that I’d give a good review, or even post about it.

WANT TO WIN ONE OF THE ABOVE MENTIONED DEVICES?  Leave a comment by Sunday July 18, 2010 at midnight (eastern) telling us how you’d put it to good use.  If you are one of the randomly selected winners, I’ll send you one of the two I received, as well as some other Omron goodies they sent to me.  Since I’m footing the bill, I have to limit it to U.S. addresses only…