Review : Ozeri Digital Pedometer

As a runner I'm used to getting my stats from my Garmin but rarely think much about how active I am the rest of the time. If I'm not running, cycling or swimming it almost feels as though it doesn't count. This is, of course, daft. As someone who's day job is sedentary I really should be thinking about being more active in small ways. The NHS 10,000 steps challenge is fairly well known; walking 10,000 steps a day can make significant improvements to your health even if you don't regularly take part in what I would term "formal" exercise.

Pedometers have been around for years and are generally accepted as one of the easiest ways to tack how far you walk in a day. I've tried using them before, both the basic ones and a couple of free apps, but with little success. I've found them unreliable and they tend to end up languishing in a drawer within the week.

But I may have found one that has some staying power. In the past week I've been testing out the
Ozeri 4x3motion Digital Pocket 3D Pedometer and I have been impressed. This particular pedometer has far more features than any I've used before, recording not only the number of steps you take but also distance, speed, calories and time.

The device is small and sleek. There aren't masses of buttons or menus to contend with, I found it relatively easy to use, once I'd set it up, without referring to the instruction leaflet just by pressing buttons.  It took me all of 2 minutes to set it up by entering the date, time, my stride length and weight. The device will store data for seven days and will allow you to view the total for that time period as well as the total for the day. A nice little touch is that it also has a backlight so you can still see the display in the gloom of an evening when you're out walking the dog, for example.

After wearing it for a few days I was surprised to see that as someone who considers themselves active I only walked around 4,500 steps a day. It seems that if I'm not going for a run, I need to make extra effort to get up and move around more often!

Pros

• It's small enough to fit into most pockets easily and comes with a lanyard so you can wear it around your neck. I found this great for when I was at work and it was still accurate.
• It's really easy to set up and the instructions it comes with are very clear.
• It even comes with a mini screwdriver so that you can replace the battery.
• If it doesn't register any movement for 30 seconds it goes into sleep mode to save power
• It seems to cope with running just as well as walking.

Cons

• It doesn't have a clip to attach to a belt so if you don't want to wear it around your neck and you don't have a pocket, you're in a bit of a bind.
• It costs £15.95 on Amazon at the time of writing which is more than I would think to spend on a pedometer, but I was very impressed with it.

Using a pedometer is a great way to get a view on how active you actually are and if you want something that has a little more functionality and accuracy than the free ones you may have amassed from cereal packets over the years (as I have) then this might be for you.

Disclaimer: I was sent the Ozeri 4x3motion Digital Pocket 3D Pedometer for free in return for an honest review.