Omron Walking Style Pro Pedometer

I've been using the other model of this style of pedometer - the Walking Style II. At the time I bought that, this model was not available in the UK as it was being exclusively sold through an online website tied into a fitness plan.

It would appear that deal has now ended and Amazon are able to sell the unit on it's own - a far more attractive option to me as I didn't want to be tied into a subscription just to get a pedometer!

If you are not familiar with the Omron pedometers, they are different in that they use sensors rather than a pendulum to measure steps - this means the units can be put in a pocket, stuffed in a bag - basically put anywhere, and will still register steps. A traditional step counter can only be mounted on a belt or the like.
This means the results are much more accurate and reliable than a standard counter and with no moving parts, there is very little to wear out.

The Pro has all the features of the Style II - calories, steps walked, distance, clock and also remembers the last 7 days on the unit. This unit still resets automatically at midnight each day - you cannot reset the unit. The idea I think is that it's encouraging 10,000 steps a DAY - so it measures the whole day.

It's slightly longer than the Style II - to fit in the USB port I guess.

Which brings me to the biggest difference - you can connect this unit to your computer to keep track of distance walked. The unit itself will show 7 days of history, however it stores 40 days - all of which can be sent to the PC. The software is a little basic in terms of interface and method, however it works well (and on Windows 7 64-bit), keeping track of totals for days,weeks,months and years with graphs for each. You can also set a target for calories, distance, steps etc and it will let you know through smiley faces how you're doing.

This is, potentially, a bit of a gimmick, unless you really are keen to know what you've done. I'm really trying to up my steps and it's been interesting to see both when I walk the most (a definite pattern) but also to see the times where I've not moved at all through just sitting at my desk - not a good thing to be doing!

The box says to ONLY use the USB cable provided - this is rubbish, any USB cable works. Also the unit does not charge from the PC - it uses a normal button type battery - battery life is likely to be around 6 months of normal use if the Style II is anything to go by.

Overall build quality is good, though it looks to be the same plastic as the Style II - I had an issue there in that the face scratches quite badly over time (a long time). I've mitigated that this time by modifying a mobile phone screen protector to fit the stepper.

Overall, highly recommended IF you will use the PC software. If you won't, you're better off getting the Style II - it has the exact same stepper features and is a very good step counter. This unit ONLY adds computer connectivity, nothing more.

I agree with the previous reviewer - this is a generally good quality piece of kit and if it is important to you to measure steps, which it is for me, the software is simple but does all you should need. I was very pleased to get it in the sale but it's miles (no pun intended) better than any other step counter I have had so I wouldn't have balked at the full price.

I like this pedometer although it's not as accurate as the one I was previously using, and still sometimes do, (Yamax SW701, not sold on Amazon - which is very simple to use, extremely accurate and I'd highly recommend to anyone looking for a pedometer without software) nonetheless, I've used this Omron extensively for the last 4 months and it has much to commend it.

At first I wore it on my belt via the supplied clip but that's a bit of an unwieldy option as it protrudes too far, about 1", and is fairly easy to dislodge whilst sitting, therefore, I found it worked best to remove the clip and simply carry it in my trouser pocket. This repositioning provided the added benefit of a more accurate reading; I think this is because whilst the pedometer had been attached to my waist it had been acting more like a `movement meter' instead of a `step meter'.

However, it's the software that sets this pedometer apart; it's simple and intuitive for the most part. Just load it on the PC, click the icon, attach the supplied USB cable and at the click of a button (Download Data) and 41 days of data transfers to the PC (only the most recent 7 days is actually viewable on the pedometer), and that's about as difficult as it gets.

Once set up (time, weight and stride length), you can alter how you view your data; daily (displayed in hourly periods), weekly (displayed in daily periods), monthly (also displayed in daily periods), yearly (displayed in monthly periods), or a straight running total of everything.

You can even set your own goals if you want e.g. calories burned, distance covered etc. and the results get displayed as a percentage against whatever your targets are.

One final point which is quite nice is that if you're doing a lot a walking etc, as long as you do a minimum of 60 paces per minute for at least 10 minutes, this records in a sub-category called aerobic steps and gets displayed in a different colour from the other steps recorded and in this way it easy to see when and for how long more intensive exercise was occurring.

If knowing these other aspects is of interest to you then I'd recommend this pedometer but if you're simply looking for a straightforward step counter then I'd recommend the Yamax instead.