At the start of the year I decided to buy a pedometer to see how many steps I was doing both at home and at work and as way of monitoring this to help me keep in shape whilst pregnant. As I have lost various pedometers in the past due to them falling off belts etc. and either being lost somewhere on my travels or breaking as they fall to the ground I was pleased to see Argos doing a value pedometer for £2.99 and thought it was worth a shot to see if it worked.

The look
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The pedometer is fairly basic in design made from blue and white plastic with three buttons on the front all around the small digital screen. The buttons here are for mode, set and clear and are surprisingly sensitive and I have found that on occasions I have reset things by mistake by knocking the machine. The clip to the rear of the machine looks and is fairly insubstantial and weak and I find that the unit does tend to move easily on my belt and hence contributes to the inaccurate readings I think by the machine.


In use
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The instruction leaflet is very easy to understand and gives clear instructions on how to set the machine up. The functions that the machine has are steps taken, calories burnt, distance, stopwatch, and time spent training. However the calories burnt can really only be an estimate rather than a true guide due to the lack of data inputted that would give a more accurate reflection such as weight etc.

The first time I tried this at work I was really pleased with it as it gave me such a high reading of the steps taken and I felt that I must be getting all my steps a day in by walking up and down the corridors to see patients and staff. The calories burnt also was quite high and made me think that it was ok to pinch a few chocolates from the stash in the office as I was burning loads off a day.

I then decided to try it around the house and for a day with my active 4 year old to see how many we did in our usual playing, going to the park etc. Again I was amazed at how much I was doing and pleased about the results it would give.

However this soon was all to fall flat around my ears, my husband was really rather startled when I was telling him the results about the day with our son and thought maybe the machine wasn't working properly. To prove him wrong I demonstrated my magical machine at going up stairs and wandering around the home and was shocked to find that it actually seemed to be counting each step as about 2 or 3 and even when stood still if it jangled on my belt I could do a few steps stood still. I tried over the next week or so different positions different sides to see if this helped give a more accurate reading but each time it always seemed to count more than I was doing. This coupled with the fact that it would on occasions get knocked and reset itself meant that it wasn't much use at all to me and the results that it showed were not to be believed.

Overall and recommendation
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Despite its cheap price I can't recommend this pedometer it doesn't record accurately, the buttons are easily knocked resting the machine. The clip for the machine is flimsy and in all likelihood would have broken if I had worn it for a good length of time and wobbled on my belt or trousers . At £2.99 it may seem a bargain price but I would put the money towards a better machine than this as in this case even at £2.99 it is not good value for money.