It ain’t cheap — $33 on Amazon — but the Omron HJ-720ITC is easily the best pedometer I’ve ever owned. Like most of Omron’s line of pedometers, the HJ-720ITC is about as accurate a pedometer as you’re going to find. It uses a dual axis sensor so it detects movement whether it is upright or on its side. One of the best features of the HJ-720ITC (and other Omron products) is that it doesn’t tend to detect false movement — for example, I can rock back and forth obsessively in my recliner without racking up hundreds of steps.
What the HJ-720ITC adds over other Omron products is the data recording and analysis functions. This pedometer displays 7 days of data and it stores the previous 41 days of data. The Omron can be hooked up to a computer via USB and then transfer data to a Windows computer using data tracking software that can be downloaded from Omron’s website.
Although you have to use the Windows software to transfer data, Omron lets users export data to CSV. It also goes beyond just recording basic steps. The pedometer tracks steps, aerobic steps, calories and distance, and tracks that data in hourly increments. So not only can I check, for example, how many total steps I took, but I can also check how many steps I take during the workday excluding my walking-based workout. In this way, I can track my general activity level throughout the day and week.
The software also does a nice job of producing graphs and tracking data over time, such as most steps in a day, week, etc., and total, weekly and monthly averages. It is extremely satisfying to log in and see how an estimate of how many thousands of miles I’ve walked since the beginning of the year.