Omron HJ-112 Pedometer Review
Best Step Counter Overall

Giving Basic Pedometers an Omron for Their Money

I have been told by my doctor more than a few times that I don’t necessarily have to work out until I drop, as much as I have to make sure that I get 10,000 steps in per day. I read up on it, and that seems to be fairly accurate. I still like to go to exercise classes and workout at the gym, but on days that I don’t have time or don’t feel up to it, the movements that I make regularly aren’t entirely wasted.

One of the problems that I’ve had is finding a pedometer that is accurate for my small stride. I’m 5 foot 2 on a tall day, so my little stubby legs don’t get me that far. I’ve found in the past that, even when I set the stride, I still didn’t get numbers that make sense. It was either way too much or way too little.

Omron HJ-112
See it at Amazon

Belt and Pockets and Key Rings, Oh My!

The great thing about the Omron HJ-112 is that it’s versatile in just how it gets used. It comes with a clip for the belt if you’re someone who wants to keep it hooked to your hip all day, but what I’ve found from looking into all of these is that a lot of people don’t want to or can’t have a pedometer on their waist. Luckily the Omron HJ-112 is just as accurate while hooked to the belt as it is when it’s in a pocket.

If you want to wear it all day without it being obtrusive or obvious, it can be slipped in to a pocket without the clip for an equally accurate reading of what you’re doing. When you don’t have to worry about it being in your way, you’re more likely to keep it with you all of the time and get credit for the walking you do naturally throughout the day. The device is sensitive enough all on its own to not worry too much about placement.

Take It All In Stride

The type of stride that you take can affect the reading, so the Omron has a feature where it keeps track of the intensity of the steps you’re taking. If it’s a regular step, it gets counted along the regular walking or day-to-day activities. If it’s a “brisk” step, like running or power walking, it is tracked under that. The differentiation tells you how much of your daily movement is coming from walking around your regular environment, and how much of it was intentional while you were literally or figuratively pounding the pavement.

Keeping it in Perspective

If you get the best level of exercise when you have a goal to beat, the HJ-112 will tell you what your previous seven days of steps were like so you know what the beat. The memory is stored directly on the device and doesn’t require any syncing to view. It holds the entirety of the previous week so that you can consistently work to post bigger and bigger numbers. Also, it resets automatically at midnight. There’s no getting in extra steps before resetting it to fudge the numbers. Just like Cinderella’s carriage turned into a pumpkin when the clock struck 12, so the HJ-112 turns the full day of walking into a clean slate.

Almost There

Omron isn’t trying to change the world with their step tracker, and there are still a few things that could stand to be worked on. First, devices that don’t have heart rate monitors can’t accurately tell you how many calories you’ve burned. While the HJ-112 says that it keeps track of calories, it isn’t possible for it to be accurate. It’s more like a highly variable estimate.

Also, for the sensitivity of the step tracker to remain accurate, it has to be perpendicular to the ground. This can be annoying for people who want to keep it in their purse or in a large pocket where it could slide around. Though the sensitivity of it is pretty stellar, it’s not guaranteed to be so if it flops over mid-run.

Tracked and True

For a small, lightweight device that does what it sets out to do without too many extraneous promises, the Omron HJ112 does a really good job of giving people the data that they need to keep moving in the right direction. It isn’t a perfect device, and it’s pricier than your $10 pedometer from the drug store, but the differences between them are astronomical.

Omron your way over to Amazon by clicking here, and give the Omron a shot for an easy-to-use, minimalistic device that does what it set out to do.

Further Information

• Omron HJ-112 Digital Pocket Pedometer