Omron HJ-112 Digital Pocket Pedometer
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Customer Reviews of Omron HJ-112 Digital Pocket Pedometer
Customer Review: Great product despite a few minor issues
Summary: 4 Stars
After reading reviews of many different brands of pedometers, I decided to purchase this one: not only was it rated highly here, but also it got rave reviews from many users on the exercise web site I frequent. I've never owned a pedometer before (well, other than the freebie from the McDonald's promotion several years ago); although I exercise daily, I'm pretty sedentary otherwise, and so I was hoping that wearing a pedometer would encourage me to move more throughout the day.
Now that I have owned this pedometer for several weeks, I can report that I am happy with it overall. It has become like an extra appendage--it goes with me everywhere, and most of the time, I barely notice it. I was dismayed by my extremely low step totals during my first few days of use, but I've already started to make progress. Although I do like the pedometer, there are definitely some features that could be better, so I have provided a detailed breakdown below.
APPEARANCE: The pedometer is a sleek little thing about the size of a flattened egg. The edges are rounded, so I find it comfortable to hold in my pants pocket, although a bit smaller would certainly be nice. The main step display is large an easy to read; there is a smaller time display as well. I have never accidentally pushed the reset button, but I have accidentally pushed the mode button.
CLIPS: As other reviewers have mentioned, the main clip is definitely bulky and could've been better designed. However, I have never had any problems with it falling off when it is clipped to my waistband, and I don't find it to be uncomfortable. I also find that the smaller, safety clip is a bit bulky and awkwardly designed, and the way it is attached to the lanyard makes it stick way out (check out the photos that users have submitted). However, a BIG plus about this pedometer is that you have the option of using it in the clip--attached anywhere on your body--OR simply tucking it in your pocket or even a handbag. As far as I know, no other models offer that kind of flexibility.
SETUP: The initial setup of the unit is very basic. Once you put in the battery (included; there is even a little "screwdriver" tool for opening the battery case), you are automatically prompted to set the time (be sure to set the AM/PM correctly) and then your weight. Next, you need to consult the manual for instructions on setting your stride length--you simply need to take 10 steps at your normal pace and measure the distance that you travelled.
FEATURES: In addition to daily steps, this pedometer also keeps track of aerobic steps (steps taken after 10 minutes of continuous walking), calories (probably not accurate), and distance in miles. Each of these statistics is kept in memory for the previous seven days, a nice little feature to have when you are trying to keep track. Another feature which I really like is that the pedometer automatically resets to zero at midnight, so you never have to remember to reset it yourself. (For those of you night owls, you can still keep stepping after midnight--your steps will just go towards the next day's totals.)
ACCURACY: I have found that when walking at a steady pace, this pedometer is extremely accurate, regardless of whether I have it clipped to my waist, in my pocket, or wherever. However, there are some situations in which the Omron HJ-112 undercounts or even fails to count steps as all. The manual notes that "The unit may not be able to count the steps correctly in the following cases: 1) When you walk at an inconsistent pace, 2) When you shuffle or wear sandals, and 3) When you fail to walk consistently in a crowded place." Furthermore, it also notes that the pedometer will not begin counting until you have been walking for FOUR seconds. So, what does this mean in actual practice? For me, it means that when I am doing things where I am moving back-and-forth with frequent starts-and-stops such as emptying the dishwasher, putting laundry away, etc., the pedometer frequently does not advance AT ALL during this time. I have come to accept this as a minor glitch; it simply motivates me to move more. Others, however, might view this as a more serious flaw.
So, for me this pedometer was a great purchase. I'm convinced that despite its glitches, its accuracy is still well above average, and I don't think you will be able to find the convenience of being able to carry it in your pocket/purse in any other brand available. Definitely recommended but with some reservations as outlined above.
Customer Review: Excellent value.
Summary: 5 Stars
In trying to live a healthier lifestyle, I was curious about how much walking I do every day, and researched pedometers. I asked for this for Christmas last year and received it as a gift. I was additionally pleased when a Consumer Reports shortly thereafter listed it as a best buy.
I chose this unit over the less expensive models because of its two axis accelerometer vs. a single axis for the less expensive models. This means that you can carry it in a larger variety of orientations and still have it work correctly. I see now that Omron offers a three-axis model Omron HJ-303 GoSmart Tri-Axis Pocket Pedometer. I do not think this was available a year ago, or I would have likely asked for it instead. The only orientation in which the the HJ-112 will not work is with its body oriented parallel to the ground - unfortunately the orientation in which you would hold it to read it, so you either must stop reading or lose some steps while looking at it. I've also seen pedometers that clip to your shoelaces. I think that would be handy - when you have your shoes on, you have your pedometer, and it's out of the way. The fact that the HJ-112 won't work in this orientation precludes using it in this way, but its size would likely render it a bit unwieldy on the shoe. Anyway, with the two-axis accelerometer, you can pretty much toss this in a purse, backpack or pocket, and have it work, while a single-axis model typically needs to be attached solely to the hip.
The accuracy on counting steps is amazing. As an engineer, I wonder how the algorithms work that determine the number of steps. Clearly, it has to collect data for a few steps to determine the cadence, and then it starts counting. Do not worry however, it adds in those first steps so you don't miss anything.
The biggest disappointment has been the battery life. It has no power switch, so is effectively on all of the time. I don't know if it uses more power when counting steps or now. I wore it religiously for a few months after getting it, but after a while, mostly used it only when hiking. The original battery lasted about eight or nine months. Changing the battery loses your time, and step length settings, and requires a small jeweler's screwdriver to remove the battery. I don't know why the designers felt this necessary. The unit does some with a flat metal screwdriver. Of course, nine months and a move across the country later, I don't know where that is.
I was able to confuse the HJ-112 by bike riding with it. I did this experiment a year ago, so don't remember the exact outcome, but it seemed to either double or half the number of "steps" taken while pedalling. Just be aware if you are getting on and off a bike.
Omron now has the Hj-113 Pocket Pedometer. I cannot tell from the specs how it really differs from the HJ-112 except that it has one fewer button. In my opinion, many consumer electronic devices suffer from too few buttons, requiring difficult-to-remember sequences and multiple functions. I don't know if that the case with the HJ-113. They look awfully similar, so I doubt you can go wrong with either.
My druthers? Other than longer battery life, I can always wish it to be smaller, but I don't know if that's possible with the two-axis sensor design. It's size is one reason I quit carrying it regularly. Although it'll work in a pocket, the buttons are easily pushed, and I'm concerned about it getting scratched up with change, pens, pocketknives and various other pocket residents, so I typically wear it with its clip-on, snap-in cradle, and clip the lanyard to the edge of pocket, because it can, and on rare occasions, does, get knocked out of its cradle. When hiking, I just clip it to the shoulder strap on my daypack and it works wonderfully. Of course, my other druther would be a three-axis model, but Omron now covers that. At this point, however, I don't feel that it adds enough advantage to upgrade. The other Omron product worth mentioning is the Omron HJ-720ITC Pocket Pedometer with Advanced Omron Health Management Software which you need to step up to if you feel you need one that can download data to a computer.
Customer Review: The Omron HJ-112 Is a Highly Accurate and Highly Reliable Pedometer
Summary: 5 Stars
I have used the HJ-112 religiously to track my step count daily for more than two years. I purchased the Omron pedometer to ensure that I based my exercise program and diet on facts, where the step count acts as a surrogate for total overall activity. Using a step count as a measurement of activity can simplify your exercise program by reducing the activity component of your health plan to a single number. With one step count number you don't have to worry about whether you're running, walking or dancing: moving (taking steps) is the key.
The Omron is highly accurate and highly reliable. It will not add to your step count when you take 10 steps or fewer at a time, but this is a small inconvenience when compared to the problems that other pedometers have of adding steps when you aren't taking steps at all. I generally leave the pedometer in my pocket without the clip and check periodically to see where I am in my step count. Only once in more than two years has it failed to count accurately: it undercounted when I ran much faster than I usually do on a treadmill (in the rest of my hundreds of other treadmill runs and walks it has been incredibly accurate). The accurate count prevents me from being in denial about the amount of activity I have undertaken during the day. It also encourages me to find opportunities to be ambulatory. Instead of parking as close as possible to a store I park farther away to increase my step count. Indeed, the pedometer is effective at motivating me to walk wherever possible and to leave the car at home. The pedometer has also been useful in motivating me to dance regularly; with the exception of the Argentine tango and very slow waltzes, where steps are undercounted, the pedometer does a remarkable job of keeping track of your step count when you dance. You still have to watch what you eat -- intake is as important as output -- but the pedometer will at least let you know where you are on the output part of the equation. I am admittedly compulsive about keeping track of my step count but making sure that I have at least 10,000 steps logged each day has been a good way of helping me stay in good health via consistent and regular daily activity. The Omron pedometer has been an invaluable tool for an overall health program.
The 7-day memory feature of the HJ-112 is a critical feature for tracking your exercise program. It means that you won't feel that you have to check the step count each night just before you go to bed and before the pedometer resets to zero at midnight. If you track and record your step count and your morning weight over a long period of time, you will find that eventually there will be high correlation between the two.
September 1, 2010 update: I have used an HJ-112 every day for three years to log my steps and have at times simultaneously used other pedometers (including a second Omron) to compare performance relative to actual steps that I count myself. I suppose one can say that I am meticulous and obsessive about quality control when it comes to logging an accurate daily step count. The HJ-112 is always the most accurate step counter I have encountered and that's why I continue to use it. I conducted performance checks against digital products that come with phones or can be added as applications; while other products are accurate most of the time (up to 80%), "most of the time" is not good enough for me when it comes to a pedometer. I'd like to say that the HJ-112 is perfect but it's not quite there at "only" 99+ percent: in addition to not counting steps when you take 10 or fewer steps in a short period of time, I found four instances in three years in which the pedometer under-counted steps by more than 10% during times I used a treadmill (when running much faster than my usual speed). Penultimate warning: the shift to and from daylight savings time will force you to reset (if you want to keep an accurate clock) twice per year. Final warning: if you use it every day, like I do, at around the 20-month period the coating in the back may begin to wear and you may want to replace the pedometer after two years of continuous use, though for cosmetic reasons only and not for functional ones.
Customer Review: I like it a lot, but it has shortcomings that you could live with
Summary: 4 Stars
Update 2: I just replaced the battery (CR2032) so I guess it lasts about six months. This pedometer is probably one that I have used the longest. After losing nearly 20 lb the first time I tried to clock 100,000 steps a week, I'm embarking on another 20+lb loss target.
Update: I've been using this regularly, and found that I can stick it in a change pocket where it does a great job of accurately reporting my steps. I've left the clip, holder, and cord behind, so it's a lot smaller now. I use the GMaps pedometer for distances and calories, but this is great to get accurate steps.
I hate to take away a star considering there are a lot of things to like about this pedometer. I've used many, and I'm hoping this one is the last I have to get. Or at least if I get another one, it may be this one. Still, the folks at Omron might want to learn something for the next revision.
What I like:
- I don't have to keep it clipped to my belt. It stays in my pocket all day, as do other objects like my wallet, keys, phone, etc. And it counts away fine.
- Although the buttons look like they could get pressed in a pocket by other pocketizens, like keys, change, fingers looking for stuff, they don't. Especially Reset, which I feared would get hit somehow. But yet, over a week into the product, I haven't seen a reset happening to my step total.
- I'm beginning to like that it resets itself to 0 every night, and also keeps a history of the past week. I can easily track what I did in the week and see what kind of activity gives me more steps. I don't like to chase step counts like some people, but I like to do things that up the count. After all, we're building a lifestyle here, not trying to win a count game.
- You may see lower counts, but that's because of no false hits. This device works like skip protection on a CD player. It doesn't start visibly counting even after you've started walking. This seems to be a defect at first, but this is what I assume is happening: The pedometer senses motion and starts recording it, and takes a few seconds to decide whether this is real walking or merely an occasional jolt. If the movement is a jolt or tap, or just a solitary step or two, the count is discarded before ever showing in the display. If the movement continues and has the characteristics of walking, the recorded steps are then added to the counter. So no bogus steps.
- Accuracy: I've walked 50, 100, 500 steps that I manually counted (sorry can't keep count more than 500) and the pedometer was off by a maximum of two steps for the 500 step walk. Otherwise it was off by 1 or exact. I've never had a pedometer that stays so true.
What I don't like:
- Limitations: Why would all users be less than 300 lb? Are people over 300 lb incapable of walking? The setup doesn't let the user go more than 300 lb, so the calorie counts are likely to be lower to start with. Then there's the following point.
- Assumptions: Every step is the same length. This is fine for people going walking as a regular exercise, but that gets old fast. At different times of day, different levels of energy, and different situations and terrains, steps are not uniform. So the mileage and probably the calorie count is probably off by a lot. I walked a known mile and yet the pedometer counted 0.7 miles because my step length was off. And the step length was determined by the manual's directions. In fairness, all pedometers that calculate calories burned and distance walked will have this problem
- Size - it's bulky, like a handheld stopwatch. I don't see why it couldn't have been smaller
- Visibility. It's hard to read from your pocket. The downside of the pocketability. It might have benefited from some thing like a light (maybe I haven't found it)
- Shape. It's too much like a key fob and I often pull the wrong thing out of my pocket.
Customer Review: The Gold Standard for Pedometers
Summary: 5 Stars
Surviving a heart attack 2-1/2 years ago belatedly made me a real believer in the 10,000 steps a day concept, thanks to the staff in the Coronary Heart Disease Reversal Program at the UC Davis Med Center. Daily exercise is one important component of their program, and a pedometer is a great tool to help you evaluate how much exercise you're getting, not just in 45 minutes on a treadmill or exercise bike at the gymn, but in your daily activities around your home, yard, and work. Using a pedometer daily can give you some surprising insights about your life-style. Who knew, for example, that shopping can qualify as exercise when there's walking involved? And insights often lead to positive changes.
I bought, used, and discarded a half-dozen cheap, inaccurate, poorly-designed pedometers. I would run 3 miles and find the pedometer had recorded 92 steps. I had clips break, cases split from being dropped, I jabbed myself on sharp case corners when bending over. Then I found the Omron HJ-112 at Amazon and it immediately stood out above all the others.
The HJ-112 is accurate -- within 1-2%, based on my experience. Accuracy with my other pedometers was more like 5-10%. And the HJ-112's accuracy is largely independent of wearing position -- clipped on a belt or shoe, hanging from a lanyard, loose in a shirt or pants pocket, it really doesn't matter. Most other brands need to be clipped at a very specific hip position to get accurate counts.
The HJ-112 can be easily used all day. When you're exercising, you'll probably want to use its clip or lanyard. But pedometers don't really go with business attire so when you're at work or out in public, just pop it out of it's belt clip and put it in a pocket. Omron says a purse will also do -- I'm skeptical -- but a fanny pack certainly works.
The clip is quite secure, and the clip attachment to the pedometer itself is excellent: very easy to insert/remove and in two years of use, I've never had it accidently pop off. The belt clip can work itself loose with repeated flexing if it's sandwiched between two surfaces like abdomen/thigh -- for example, squatting over pulling weeds. I learned this first hand while squatting doing repairs on the roof of a two-story house. The clip pulled off and the pedometer fell 20 feet onto concrete. It didn't survive. I chaulked it up as a life-lesson and ordered a new one from Amazon. Now when I'm doing that kind of work, I try to remember to carry the HJ-112 in my pocket. I have dropped the HJ-112 onto concrete and other hard surfaces from more reasonable heights up to 6-7 feet, with no ill effects -- the belt clip is soft, flexible plastic and a pretty-good energy dissipator. I regularly run 3-4 miles, and I've never had the clip come loose.
The best feature of the HJ-112 to me is it's Auto-Reset, which I didn't really appreciate until I used the unit for a couple of days. Each night at midnight, it stores the previous day's step count in memory and resets the current step count to zero. It stores a week's worth of step counts, which are retrieved with the Memory button, though it doesn't store any of the other computed info (Calories, Miles, etc.). This really makes it easy to use every day. No more frustration when you realize mid-afternoon that you forgot to reset the pedometer that morning. And since it has a clock, it's also able to evaluate steps per minute, which it uses to report "Aerobic steps": 60 steps/minute or higher, or 10 minutes of continuous walking.
The display is easy to read, the clock is remarkably accurate -- better than my iPod's -- though it doesn't handle Daylight Savings Time changes automatically. The buttons are nicely sized with a good, tactile feel. The battery lasts 18 months or so, and is easily replaced.
I recommend this product.